On November 29, we got to meet and talk with an MP (Member of Parliament). Jeremy Corbyn is the representative for Islington North which is a small borough within Greater London. A county is broken up into boroughs. So, in the county of Greater London, he represents the section called Islington North. He was very nice but tended to drone on and on. But I'm not trying to complain; I realize what a great opportunity it was for us to be able to meet an MP and get a tour of the Houses of Parliament. It was amazing to be able to sit there and talk to an MP and get to see all of the Parliament. While wandering around I would just get overwhelmed by where I was and who I was listening to. It was great!
On Friday, November 30 I worked on a little homework and then my science class met at the Science Museum and we wandered around for a while. After looking at a bunch of the things we had studied (which was really neat!) we explored a little by ourselves. I looked around a medical exhibit which did a brief history of medicine. It was really interesting to see all the advances that have been made and how ingenious people had to be. After that we headed over to a pub where we sat around and talked for a while.
Then we all headed back to the Janet Poole House to get ready to go see the Royal Concertgebouw. They performed Schumann's Manfred Overture, Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5. I thought it was a spectacular performance, especially compared to the London Symphony Orchestra concert we went to at the beginning of the term.
Saturday, 1 December, I just worked on papers and then on Sunday I went to EveryNation church with Laura and David like normal. The rest of the day I worked on papers again.
On Monday, David, Laura, Mary, Heather, Andrew, and I had our own little Christmas party. Laura, Mary, and Heather had just discovered mulled wine (I had already had it in Germany) and so they wanted to try it. So we had mulled wine, Christmas crackers (the kind with horrible corny jokes and little prizes in them), and after that we watched 'Love Actually'. It was a lot of fun to just hang out together. We had a ton of fun with the Christmas crackers. There were a lot of very random, yet useful prizes in them. One of the prizes was fingernail clippers; another was a pen and later on I got 3 little star-shaped erasers. The jokes were horrible corny English jokes. We thought they were really funny while someone who had just arrived in England might not get them. :-)
I had been worried about doing my paper, since the library is only open from 9am to 9pm every day except for Sunday, when it isn't open at all.... But Andrew let me use his computer that night since he said he didn't need it. All of my friends were so kind! Whenever one of them didn't need their computer, they would let me use it. Since I had my portable hard drive, I didn't have to save anything on my computer or mess with sending myself emails with papers in them and crazy things like that.
On Tuesday we had class and then Laura and I went to our last Queen Mary Connect Group. There weren't many people there that week, but it was still great to be there. And they actually gave us goodbye presents! I was very surprised and happy. I didn't think we had made that much of a difference, but it was nice to know that they would miss us. :-)
Wednesday we had class and I worked on papers...of course. And that night Mary let me use her computer to finish my WWII paper. On Thursday we all met at 6pm to turn in our WWII papers like our teacher had asked us to but he never showed up. I mean, that's not really surprising because he's pretty scatterbrained and would usually get to class late and stuff like that, but we were kind of irritated that he asked us to come in at an odd time to turn them in and then didn't even show up.
But it was fun because we all just hung out together in the basement of the Winston House for a while and then after about an hour gave up on him and people sort of went there separate ways. We didn't really have a goodbye party or any sort of real closure of the semester, which a lot of people thought we should have had. But I didn't really mind at that point because I was hungry... I ended up going with Heather, Laura, Mary, and Christina to have dinner in the crypt at St. Martin's In the Fields. Afterwards, we took pictures of the huge tree in Trafalgar Square. Norway has given England a gigantic Christmas tree since 1947 in gratitude for their support during World War II. We also took pictures as we walked up St. Martin's Lane, Monmouth Street, Shaftesbury Avenue, and past Neal's Yard back towards Tottenham Court Road and home. I took a picture of the theatre we saw Carmen in.
The next day I went to Oxford. And I'll tell you about it in my next post! :-)
Being Back in America:
Another thing that I noticed coming back to America is that, although we so much more space here, people have much less personal space. In England, you made concerted efforts not to come into physical contact with anyone. During rush hour on the Central Line, however, this practice was given up for a couple of hours each day when everyone crammed on and we were stuck like sardines in a can. That would be a horrible time to have anything bad happen on the line. But, most of the time, people have a relatively large amount of personal space. Coming back, especially at school, people stand much closer to each other when talking and just in general. I have managed to get pretty used to that by now though.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Stratford-Upon-Avon
Let's see, I last updated to the Sunday after Thanksgiving, which is 25 November. So, most of the time after that I was working on papers and reading and studying for exams. But I did take a couple trips and do some stuff around town.
On Monday the 26th, I went to Stratford-Upon-Avon. It was very pretty and there were way too many things to do and not enough time/daylight. I went to see Shakespeare's Birthplace, New Place, Nash's Place/Hall's Croft, and Holy Trinity Church. I got to Stratford-Upon-Avon at about 11am and then I went to Shakespeare's Birthplace and by the time I got out, it was already time for lunch! So, I found out about cheap places to eat and found a little sandwich place.
After having lunch, I went to see Nash's Place which was really interesting. Nash was Shakespeare's brother-in-law and was also a doctor. He had a really big house and I just wandered around in there for a while. I thought the kitchen was the most interesting place. It had a huge fireplace where you could cook all kinds of food. It gave the impression that the kitchen was definitely the warmest place in the house, which would be really nice in the winter time, but not really during the summer...
But after that, I headed over to Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried. When I got there, there was a really nice old lady who I talked to for a while and then I wandered around the church and saw all the little monuments to Shakespeare. I got there a little while before they closed, so as I was leaving, they were locking up the gates and it was getting pretty dark. So, I headed slowly back to the train station. I stopped to see the river on the way back and take a couple pictures.
Then I got to the station and there were tons of kids there! It was jam-packed with kids who apparently had just gotten out of school. There were train attendant people who were herding the kids around. After a while a train came and took all the kids away. It was then that I figured out that I was a whole hour early! I was kind of disappointed but there wasn't much else to do in town and it was already dark so I just sat and waited.
The next day, 27 November, Laura and I met our small group from our Connect Group at Weatherspoons for dinner before our Connect Group meeting. It was a lot of fun to just get to hang out together for a little while. And of course, I had my classes on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 27th and 28th.
Being Back In America:
It's been weird because there are so many things that I got used to in England that are different here. I think in each post I'll talk about one. The first thing that sticks out is, of course, the accent. I have gotten used to hearing the English accent everywhere and being back in America has been weird. In London, you'll either hear the English accent or another language. By the end of my time there, I was used to that and would stare (or try not to) at any American who wasn't in my group because I didn't expect to hear it. So, coming back, when I hear an English accent or a different language being spoken, I don't really react, but when someone comes by talking with an American accent, I have to work hard not to stare.... I think I'm starting to adjust, but that was one thing that struck me that I was certainly not expecting! :-)
On Monday the 26th, I went to Stratford-Upon-Avon. It was very pretty and there were way too many things to do and not enough time/daylight. I went to see Shakespeare's Birthplace, New Place, Nash's Place/Hall's Croft, and Holy Trinity Church. I got to Stratford-Upon-Avon at about 11am and then I went to Shakespeare's Birthplace and by the time I got out, it was already time for lunch! So, I found out about cheap places to eat and found a little sandwich place.
After having lunch, I went to see Nash's Place which was really interesting. Nash was Shakespeare's brother-in-law and was also a doctor. He had a really big house and I just wandered around in there for a while. I thought the kitchen was the most interesting place. It had a huge fireplace where you could cook all kinds of food. It gave the impression that the kitchen was definitely the warmest place in the house, which would be really nice in the winter time, but not really during the summer...
But after that, I headed over to Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried. When I got there, there was a really nice old lady who I talked to for a while and then I wandered around the church and saw all the little monuments to Shakespeare. I got there a little while before they closed, so as I was leaving, they were locking up the gates and it was getting pretty dark. So, I headed slowly back to the train station. I stopped to see the river on the way back and take a couple pictures.
Then I got to the station and there were tons of kids there! It was jam-packed with kids who apparently had just gotten out of school. There were train attendant people who were herding the kids around. After a while a train came and took all the kids away. It was then that I figured out that I was a whole hour early! I was kind of disappointed but there wasn't much else to do in town and it was already dark so I just sat and waited.
The next day, 27 November, Laura and I met our small group from our Connect Group at Weatherspoons for dinner before our Connect Group meeting. It was a lot of fun to just get to hang out together for a little while. And of course, I had my classes on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 27th and 28th.
Being Back In America:
It's been weird because there are so many things that I got used to in England that are different here. I think in each post I'll talk about one. The first thing that sticks out is, of course, the accent. I have gotten used to hearing the English accent everywhere and being back in America has been weird. In London, you'll either hear the English accent or another language. By the end of my time there, I was used to that and would stare (or try not to) at any American who wasn't in my group because I didn't expect to hear it. So, coming back, when I hear an English accent or a different language being spoken, I don't really react, but when someone comes by talking with an American accent, I have to work hard not to stare.... I think I'm starting to adjust, but that was one thing that struck me that I was certainly not expecting! :-)
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Alive and Home
I am back at home with my family again. My mom and I got back from England at 1:30am Thursday, 20 December. We had a very very long wait in the JFK airport (6 hours in the terminal and another 2 on the plane), but we finally made it back. In the coming days, I will be looking back to the last couple of weeks that I was in England and telling you what all I did. I hope everyone had a good Christmas!!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Pictures of Scotland!!!
This is a view of a Loch between two old mountains. This was around where the highlands began. I think it's beautiful!
Here is me at Loch Ness! It was pretty cold...but the water was even colder! It was also very very windy. Some of the guys in our group actually got in the water too!!!! They were crazy...
This was a stop we made on the second day on the Isle of Skye. Aren't the mountains beautiful??
There's our bus!! (with the website conveniently on the side.) ;-)
This was the 'fairy castle' that we got to see. There were lots of little hills around it that we had fun climbing on. This was probably our longest stop aside from the hike we took earlier in the day. It was a ton of fun!!
This is looking around from the top of the 'fairy castle'. You could get a very good view of everything around.
This is Angelina, my friend from Alaska, and me on the Isle of Skye right before we headed back to Edinburgh. 
Here are two of the 'Three Sisters'. Aren't they AMAZING?? It was so neat to be down in the valley and just look up at them. So majestic... 
This is the famous 'hairy coo', Hamish. We had fun watching him eat snacks from one of our more crazy members of the group... :-) Scotland is an amazing place! I'm sure this doesn't need saying, but if you ever get a chance to go there, definitely go!! :-D
More Scotland! (a little late...)
On Saturday, we drove around the Isle of Skye. It is a pretty big island, compared to the little islands we on our coast. I had a great time! Most of the day it was raining and freezing cold, but inspite of that, we had a wonderful time! We took a long hike up to the Mountain of Storr, through very very dense, quiet woods and we also climbed up on a 'fairy castle' (it was basically a small mesa) and climbed on all the hills around the fairy castle. And of course, our guide, Neil, told us tons of stories and myths to go along with all of the places we saw. We got back to the hostel in time to see three fourths of the qualifying football match between Scotland and Italy. Sadly, Scotland lost to Italy who are apparently great at football. But it was fun to watch it anyway!
The next day was our trek back to Edinburgh. We started off at 8am and we stopped to see the Three Sisters, a group of mountains. That is probably my last and best memory of the Scottish Highlands. They were beautiful! We stopped in a valley that the Three Sisters surrounded. It was gorgeous. I am so glad I got the opportunity to see the Highlands! After that we headed hard for Edinburgh. We stopped at a little gift shop place to see a famous highland cow, Hamish. Some of the people fed him (you could buy snacks for him in the gift shop). After that we went to see the Braveheart memorial. Neil pointed out that it was very ironic that the statue of Braveheart (with Freedom engraved on the front) was locked up behind bars every night to protect it from vandals.
We made it back to Edinburgh at about 5:30pm and I headed back to my friend's flat. We (Becky, one of her flatmates, and I) went to see Elizabeth: The Golden Age. It was a pretty good movie. Probably not the kind of movie I would pick myself to see, but it was better than I expected it to be.
Then I spent the night there and got up early in the morning because I had plenty of things that I wanted to see in Edinburgh. I left at 8am to climb Arthur's Seat. It took me a while to figure out which cliff was Arthur's Seat...I finally had to ask a nice lady who pointed me in the right direction. When I got up to the top, I could see most of the city as the sun was rising (behind heavy cloud cover, of course) and the wind was buffeting me around. It always came from one direction and there was a stone column proclaiming that this was Arthur's seat so I pinned myself to that for fear of being blown off! But all was well and I made it down safely.
Then I went to the Holyrood House which is where the Queen stays when she comes to visit Scotland. It is right across from the .....interesting..... Parliament building. The people of Scotland don't really like the Parliament building...it's pretty ugly and they spent millions of pounds on it, too.
But after I saw that I met up with Becky and we went up to Edinburgh Castle which we explored until it was time for me to meet my train back. So, I went back and grabbed my stuff and left. It was a nice trip back. There weren't as many people on the train so I was able to stretch out some and I think I even slept a little, which is odd for me. :-)
On Tuesday and Wednesday we had classes as usual. Tuesday night Laura, David, and I went to our Connect Group. That has been a lot of fun. We've gotten to meet more British students and really have some fellowship with them. They've always been so welcoming and kind. It's really been great.
On Thursday, we had a Thanksgiving dinner at the University Women's Club. It's a really nice club (Judi Dench is a member!!) and they had turkey (we think..it was all sliced so we couldn't really tell) and pumpkin pie! That was a surprise...but I am spoiled by my mom's cooking so I didn't like the pumpkin pie much...I didn't really eat much... But, I got to talk to my family before I left for dinner!!! It was so much fun to talk to them!! :-D It made me really happy! It also made me miss home more, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make to be able to talk to them! It'll be good to be home...as the end of the semester approaches, we are more and more ready to go home... While I am ready to *visit* home, I am not ready to leave London/Europe for good... It's really been a wonderful trip. I have been so blessed to be able to come on this trip and travel so much!
Anyway, back to the play-by-play. ;-) Friday and Saturday I wasn't feeling to well so I drank loads and loads of orange juice (since Tropicana was on sale!!) and watched lots of TV shows and movies and slept a lot. It was good. Then on Sunday I went to church and then afterwards, I just wandered around for a while since the sun was out. I hadn't realized how little sun I was getting. The sun rises at 8am and sets at 4pm and since we are in class most of the day, I wasn't getting much sun. So it felt wonderful to just wander around a little park/cemetary in the sun for a while.
Oh!!! How did I forget... On Friday we got a tour of the Houses of Parliament!!! O.O It was sooo neat!! It was amazing to get to see where all of Britain's legislature is made and it was really fascinating to get to learn a little about how their government works and some of the traditions that happen. Britain is very very dependent on traditions, we have found. Not that that is bad, it is just very different from the US, perhaps since we are such a young nation comparatively. Sadly we were not allowed to take pictures. But it was amazing just to be able to go in and see that place!! (Especially since there are guards EVERYWHERE around the Houses of Parliament...)
I will tell about this week perhaps tomorrow... things are getting stressful with lots of papers to write so I will make no more promises about when I'll update, that way I won't break any promises! :-)
Prayer requests: Focus and diligence on my papers, strength and less sleepiness (I've been pretty worn out this whole week, perhaps from all the traveling and now the absence of light for the majority of each day...). Thank you so much for all your prayers!!
The next day was our trek back to Edinburgh. We started off at 8am and we stopped to see the Three Sisters, a group of mountains. That is probably my last and best memory of the Scottish Highlands. They were beautiful! We stopped in a valley that the Three Sisters surrounded. It was gorgeous. I am so glad I got the opportunity to see the Highlands! After that we headed hard for Edinburgh. We stopped at a little gift shop place to see a famous highland cow, Hamish. Some of the people fed him (you could buy snacks for him in the gift shop). After that we went to see the Braveheart memorial. Neil pointed out that it was very ironic that the statue of Braveheart (with Freedom engraved on the front) was locked up behind bars every night to protect it from vandals.
We made it back to Edinburgh at about 5:30pm and I headed back to my friend's flat. We (Becky, one of her flatmates, and I) went to see Elizabeth: The Golden Age. It was a pretty good movie. Probably not the kind of movie I would pick myself to see, but it was better than I expected it to be.
Then I spent the night there and got up early in the morning because I had plenty of things that I wanted to see in Edinburgh. I left at 8am to climb Arthur's Seat. It took me a while to figure out which cliff was Arthur's Seat...I finally had to ask a nice lady who pointed me in the right direction. When I got up to the top, I could see most of the city as the sun was rising (behind heavy cloud cover, of course) and the wind was buffeting me around. It always came from one direction and there was a stone column proclaiming that this was Arthur's seat so I pinned myself to that for fear of being blown off! But all was well and I made it down safely.
Then I went to the Holyrood House which is where the Queen stays when she comes to visit Scotland. It is right across from the .....interesting..... Parliament building. The people of Scotland don't really like the Parliament building...it's pretty ugly and they spent millions of pounds on it, too.
But after I saw that I met up with Becky and we went up to Edinburgh Castle which we explored until it was time for me to meet my train back. So, I went back and grabbed my stuff and left. It was a nice trip back. There weren't as many people on the train so I was able to stretch out some and I think I even slept a little, which is odd for me. :-)
On Tuesday and Wednesday we had classes as usual. Tuesday night Laura, David, and I went to our Connect Group. That has been a lot of fun. We've gotten to meet more British students and really have some fellowship with them. They've always been so welcoming and kind. It's really been great.
On Thursday, we had a Thanksgiving dinner at the University Women's Club. It's a really nice club (Judi Dench is a member!!) and they had turkey (we think..it was all sliced so we couldn't really tell) and pumpkin pie! That was a surprise...but I am spoiled by my mom's cooking so I didn't like the pumpkin pie much...I didn't really eat much... But, I got to talk to my family before I left for dinner!!! It was so much fun to talk to them!! :-D It made me really happy! It also made me miss home more, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make to be able to talk to them! It'll be good to be home...as the end of the semester approaches, we are more and more ready to go home... While I am ready to *visit* home, I am not ready to leave London/Europe for good... It's really been a wonderful trip. I have been so blessed to be able to come on this trip and travel so much!
Anyway, back to the play-by-play. ;-) Friday and Saturday I wasn't feeling to well so I drank loads and loads of orange juice (since Tropicana was on sale!!) and watched lots of TV shows and movies and slept a lot. It was good. Then on Sunday I went to church and then afterwards, I just wandered around for a while since the sun was out. I hadn't realized how little sun I was getting. The sun rises at 8am and sets at 4pm and since we are in class most of the day, I wasn't getting much sun. So it felt wonderful to just wander around a little park/cemetary in the sun for a while.
Oh!!! How did I forget... On Friday we got a tour of the Houses of Parliament!!! O.O It was sooo neat!! It was amazing to get to see where all of Britain's legislature is made and it was really fascinating to get to learn a little about how their government works and some of the traditions that happen. Britain is very very dependent on traditions, we have found. Not that that is bad, it is just very different from the US, perhaps since we are such a young nation comparatively. Sadly we were not allowed to take pictures. But it was amazing just to be able to go in and see that place!! (Especially since there are guards EVERYWHERE around the Houses of Parliament...)
I will tell about this week perhaps tomorrow... things are getting stressful with lots of papers to write so I will make no more promises about when I'll update, that way I won't break any promises! :-)
Prayer requests: Focus and diligence on my papers, strength and less sleepiness (I've been pretty worn out this whole week, perhaps from all the traveling and now the absence of light for the majority of each day...). Thank you so much for all your prayers!!
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Scotland update!
Well, this past weekend I went to Scotland for 5 days. It was a great trip! I left London at 10am and took the train to Edinburgh. The train ride is about four hours and forty minutes long. I spent most of that time looking out the windows at the changing scenery. :-D So, I got to Edinburgh at about 2:30. I hadn't had lunch so I went and grabbed lunch at the place that me and my friend, Becky were going to meet. She showed up right as I had taken my first bite. So, we headed back to her place to drop off my bags and then we decided to go down the Royal Mile.
The Royal Mile has the Holyrood House at the bottom, the official residence of the Queen when she comes to Scotland, and at the top is Edinburgh Castle. Edinburgh Castle is at the top of a huge hill and Holyrood House sits at the bottom of that hill, so there is a definite 'top' and 'bottom' of the Royal Mile.
Becky lives right off the Royal Mile about halfway down, so we walked down the rest of the Royal Mile and then we decided to climb Calton Hill. Apparently it is one of the highest points in Edinburgh. We got a very good view of the city as the sun was going down.
Then we headed back and I met her flatmates. They were all really nice and hospitable. Becky and I watched North and South after grabbing some dinner. North and South is a good movie, comparable to the Pride and Prejudice story line. It was a good movie and they have several clips of Edinburgh in it although it is set in a fictional town.
The next morning I headed over to High Street Hostel at 7:30am (just as it was starting to get light....the sun rises at 8am and sets at 4pm now that it's winter here in Great Britain.). Every city in Great Britain has a High Street, it is just like our Main Street in the US, usually the middle of the town with the most shops and restaurants. I had to be there at 7:45am for the MacBackpackers trip that I was going on. It was a wonderful trip! If you ever go to Scotland, I suggest you take one of their trips! They are cheap and wonderful! Here is the website!
We drive around on a small coach (bus) that can carry 26 passengers. There were 21 of us plus our tour guide, Neil. There were five girls from Hong Kong and Thailand who were just taking a holiday trip, five students from Illinois who are studying in London, one girl from Alaska, one guy who is originally from Illinois but is now traveling around, three Australians, a couple who were from the US but are now living in Edinburgh, three people from India on the trip and me. I became friends with the girl from Alaska, Angelina, the American who is traveling around now, Tim, and one of the Australians, Al. It was a lot of fun!
Neill, our guide, would tell us tons of historical stories and myths and faerie tales as he drove us around for the next three days. We would pass a lake, a town, a mountain, a castle, or anything, and he would start off on a story about it. He was a good story teller so it was really entertaining to listen to him. We drove up to Loch Ness (Loch means Lake in Gaelic, I found out) and saw a bunch of places on the way there. Loch Ness was HUGE!! It's really deep and really really long (as in several miles long).
When we got into the Highlands, the number of people and houses that we passed dropped sharply and suddenly there were hills and mountains. They are beautiful and awe-inspiring. I'm sure they are even more beautiful in the summer, but they are beautiful in a different way now. I learned that 'iver' means 'at the mouth of' in Gaelic, so Iverness means 'at the mouth of Ness'.
We stopped at a forest called the Hermitage that had been the basis for Shakespeare's Birnham woods in Hamlet. We also got to see 'Dunsinane'. But the Hermitage was really pretty!
Then we got to see the 'hairy coos' (hairy cows) that they have up in the Highlands. Those cows are very very hairy! The hair is in place of a layer of fat to protect them from the cold. Apparently they are very well adapted to the weather in the Highlands.
We also stopped at a battlefield where the British and Scottish had fought over Scottish independence. The Scottish fought under Bonnie Prince Charlie. It is called the Battle of Culloden. It was very flat there and aside from the constantly blowing wind, it was really really quiet. After the battle, the British had made the defeated Scottish bury their dead in mass graves so they had divided them up by clan and then put a stone over each clan's mass grave. I saw the stone for the Clan Donald. 'Mac' means 'son of' so MacDonald is of course 'son of Donald'.
The whole time we were heading for the Isle of Skye, where we stayed for 2 nights and one day. We spent all of Friday driving to Skye and all of Sunday driving back to Edinburgh. The hostel we stayed it was really nice and really cheap.
Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story! ;-)
Prayer requests: Please pray that I would be motivated to get out and explore London more in the last 2 weeks and that I would be able to focus and get my work done quickly and well. Also, I've been pretty tired out lately. I don't know if it is just from all my traveling or if my body is trying to fight off a sickness. I am hoping and praying that I won't get sick before I go home. Thank you for all your prayers!
The Royal Mile has the Holyrood House at the bottom, the official residence of the Queen when she comes to Scotland, and at the top is Edinburgh Castle. Edinburgh Castle is at the top of a huge hill and Holyrood House sits at the bottom of that hill, so there is a definite 'top' and 'bottom' of the Royal Mile.
Becky lives right off the Royal Mile about halfway down, so we walked down the rest of the Royal Mile and then we decided to climb Calton Hill. Apparently it is one of the highest points in Edinburgh. We got a very good view of the city as the sun was going down.
Then we headed back and I met her flatmates. They were all really nice and hospitable. Becky and I watched North and South after grabbing some dinner. North and South is a good movie, comparable to the Pride and Prejudice story line. It was a good movie and they have several clips of Edinburgh in it although it is set in a fictional town.
The next morning I headed over to High Street Hostel at 7:30am (just as it was starting to get light....the sun rises at 8am and sets at 4pm now that it's winter here in Great Britain.). Every city in Great Britain has a High Street, it is just like our Main Street in the US, usually the middle of the town with the most shops and restaurants. I had to be there at 7:45am for the MacBackpackers trip that I was going on. It was a wonderful trip! If you ever go to Scotland, I suggest you take one of their trips! They are cheap and wonderful! Here is the website!
We drive around on a small coach (bus) that can carry 26 passengers. There were 21 of us plus our tour guide, Neil. There were five girls from Hong Kong and Thailand who were just taking a holiday trip, five students from Illinois who are studying in London, one girl from Alaska, one guy who is originally from Illinois but is now traveling around, three Australians, a couple who were from the US but are now living in Edinburgh, three people from India on the trip and me. I became friends with the girl from Alaska, Angelina, the American who is traveling around now, Tim, and one of the Australians, Al. It was a lot of fun!
Neill, our guide, would tell us tons of historical stories and myths and faerie tales as he drove us around for the next three days. We would pass a lake, a town, a mountain, a castle, or anything, and he would start off on a story about it. He was a good story teller so it was really entertaining to listen to him. We drove up to Loch Ness (Loch means Lake in Gaelic, I found out) and saw a bunch of places on the way there. Loch Ness was HUGE!! It's really deep and really really long (as in several miles long).
When we got into the Highlands, the number of people and houses that we passed dropped sharply and suddenly there were hills and mountains. They are beautiful and awe-inspiring. I'm sure they are even more beautiful in the summer, but they are beautiful in a different way now. I learned that 'iver' means 'at the mouth of' in Gaelic, so Iverness means 'at the mouth of Ness'.
We stopped at a forest called the Hermitage that had been the basis for Shakespeare's Birnham woods in Hamlet. We also got to see 'Dunsinane'. But the Hermitage was really pretty!
Then we got to see the 'hairy coos' (hairy cows) that they have up in the Highlands. Those cows are very very hairy! The hair is in place of a layer of fat to protect them from the cold. Apparently they are very well adapted to the weather in the Highlands.
We also stopped at a battlefield where the British and Scottish had fought over Scottish independence. The Scottish fought under Bonnie Prince Charlie. It is called the Battle of Culloden. It was very flat there and aside from the constantly blowing wind, it was really really quiet. After the battle, the British had made the defeated Scottish bury their dead in mass graves so they had divided them up by clan and then put a stone over each clan's mass grave. I saw the stone for the Clan Donald. 'Mac' means 'son of' so MacDonald is of course 'son of Donald'.
The whole time we were heading for the Isle of Skye, where we stayed for 2 nights and one day. We spent all of Friday driving to Skye and all of Sunday driving back to Edinburgh. The hostel we stayed it was really nice and really cheap.
Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story! ;-)
Prayer requests: Please pray that I would be motivated to get out and explore London more in the last 2 weeks and that I would be able to focus and get my work done quickly and well. Also, I've been pretty tired out lately. I don't know if it is just from all my traveling or if my body is trying to fight off a sickness. I am hoping and praying that I won't get sick before I go home. Thank you for all your prayers!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope it has been a great day, remembering all that we have been blessed with! I have so much to be thankful for! It is late right now and I am exhausted. I had a bad migraine yesterday and when I get a really bad one, it really wears me out. So, I will have to tell y'all all about bonnie Scotland tomorrow. :-) I just wanted to let you know that I am still alive. ;-) Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!
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