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!!

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!

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!

Germany!

On Wednesday I had class and got all packed up and ready to go to Germany the next morning. Then, Thursday morning I woke up at 3am and headed to the airport. It was weird to be traveling around at that time of night. But it was pretty uneventful.

I got to Germany, Dusseldorf at about 9:40am. Jens, my friend from camp, picked me up and we had breakfast at a little town called Kevelaer. After that we went to a bakery to pick up some bread for his mom. Then we went back to their house which is in Duisburg. Then I met his parents and sister. They are all really nice. I've noticed that people in Germany don't speak as much English, in general as people in Holland. After that I took a short nap because I hadn't gotten much sleep the last night...

After that we went for a walk along the Rhine river. That was very pretty...on one side...on the other side it was packed with industrial machines and factories. But the other side, the one we were on had farms and fields and was really pretty. I saw a bunch of different birds!

Then, that night, after dinner, we went to a local school, where Jens's mom works with the kids after school to see the St. Martin celebration. St. Martin was apparently a knight who was riding along one day (I think returning from a battle or something) and found a poor man who was very cold. St. Martin cut his coat in half and shared it with the beggar. But there is a tradition now for the kids to make lanterns and walk through the town singing. After the main celebration, the kids break off into groups and walk from door to door singing for candy. It's kind of like Halloween but with a definitely more Christian slant and nowhere near as sinister sounding. That was fun and I got to see another Fresian horse!! :-D

On Friday, we went to the zoo in the town that Jens will shortly be moving to. It was a lot of fun! It was very very small after going to the Ashboro zoo, but it was really neat. We also fed one of the elephants! And then he stretched out over the moat thing and we got to touch his trunk!!! (we found out later we weren't supposed to feed or touch them...there was a little sign off in one corner.) But it was so much fun!! I took a bunch of pictures! Part of the time it was raining, but I didn't care. :-) Then we went to the place that he has lectures, which is right on the border of a botanical garden. We didn't get to go into the garden, but it was very pretty to look at from the outside! After that we went to see a nearby race track. It was deserted, but it was fun to walk around it in the woods. That night, after dinner, we went to a nearby landscape park with his sister, Lena, and his mom. That was really interesting because it was an old steel (I think) factory which had been made safe for the public and they had put a lot of flourescent lights all over the structures. We went up to the top of one of the huge structures, and we could see several cities....it was crazy! We were so high up.... But it was pretty cool to see! I'll have to put up pictures later.

On Saturday, we went with Mrs. Hilgert to go grocery shopping and after that we went to the Farmer's Market. That was a lot of fun and it took up the whole morning. After lunch, we just hung around the house.

On Sunday, we had planned to go into town and wander around, but it was pouring and the wind was really strong, so they changed plans. We decided to go to the mountains, because it had snowed there the last night!!!! So, we got all ready and then drove up to the mountains and tramped around in half a foot of snow!! I told them that was probably more snow than I would see for a looong time...yay for NC.... :-P But it was a ton of fun!

On Monday, the good weather had returned and so we went into the town and went to an aquarium. That was really fun because they didn't *just* have fish and water animals. They also had some desert animals. It was really interesting to see and they had a lot of funny looking fish there. After that we went back for lunch and then Jens had to go to class so I took a nap. After that I had tea with Mrs. Hilgert and then Mr. Hilgert took me back to the airport and I left for London.

When we were boarding the plane, there was an American guy checking tickets! It was really weird to hear an American accent in Germany and after hearing a lot of German over the past 5 days. But it was also really nice to hear the accent. :-) Then I made my way back to the flat and made guacamole for my dinner. :-D

Yesterday I had class and we went to a concert for a famous string quartet from Budapest. They were really good! Today I am going to Regent's Park to take pictures for my friend! And hopefully, if I have enough time, I might go into the zoo. :-) Tomorrow I leave for Scotland for 5 days! I'm really excited about that! Laura, David, and Mary went this past weekend and they really enjoyed it and said it was beautiful. So, it should be a great time!

Prayer requests: Safe travel to Scotland and around Scotland in the next 5 days. Also, that I'll get enough rest and that I won't get sick. It seems like more and more people are getting sick.

The rest of Holland!!

On Saturday, we got up early and drove to Amsterdam. We parked outside of the city, since it would be cheaper, and rode the metro into town. The first thing we did was take a boat tour of the city, since it has canals everywhere. That was a lot of fun and we got to see a lot of the city in a very short time. The houses are very interesting because space is such a premium that they make the stairs in the houses narrow and very steep, so it is hard to move things, so each house has a pulley at the top of their house, outside for moving furniture and big heavy things up and down stairs. It was really interesting to see all of the different houses. Also, all of the canals are completely man made.

After that, we went to have lunch with Paulien and Gijs's aunt, uncle, and cousin. That was a lot of fun! On the way there we saw the US Embassy from a distance. It looked like small fortress and Gijs told us that it was very very hard to get in there and that the security was extremely tight; that you could only take in the necessary papers and you could not take in even your cell phone or anything like that. But then we got to their aunt and uncle's house. Their son, Sam, is 8 years old and is learning English in school. His dad tried to get him to ask for our help with his English homework, but he didn't want to. But by the end of our visit, he was asking Jemima (my friend from Australia) if she was a kangaroo and if she had a pouch and he was asking me what kind of food we eat in America. It was a lot of fun to see another typical Dutch household and they were very nice and welcoming.

After that we wandered around Amsterdam some more and Jemima and I went looking for birthday presents for Gijs since it was his birthday the next day. We got stuck behind some police on horses (I didn't mind that!!) who were flanking an animal rights demonstration. But finally they moved out of the way (herded by the mounted policemen) and we could continue with our shopping.

After that we went and looked at the flower market. That was a lot of fun! They had a lot of tulips, but they also had other flowers and plants including bonsai!!! I looked for a long time at the bonsai but finally decided not to get one for myself.

When we were done with that we went looking for an Indonesian restaurant, but couldn't find one that was any cheaper than 15 or 20 Euros per entree. So we finally ended up going to a Mexican restaurant where we ran into their uncle and cousin! They ate with us but finished before us and headed out. After dinner, we headed back home.

I have noticed that traveling around Europe, whether on the train, plane or by car, I always watch the countryside. Sometimes I try to sleep a little or something, but usually I watch the countryside go by. I think I am trying to absorb as much of it as I can in the short while that I am here. It's also very interesting to look as because it is so different from what I am used to seeing. And, because Holland is so flat, you can see a lot of stuff as you drive around.

On Sunday, it was Gijs's birthday so Paulien and her mom spent the morning making good snacks for all the relatives who were going to arrive in the afternoon. When they were done with that, Paulien took Jemima and me to see one of the windmills that was close by. It wasn't running that morning (everything shuts down on Sunday in the whole of Europe, it seems) but thankfully it was open so we climbed up and saw how it worked and got a picture of us there and all that. It was really neat to see how they grind up the grain using wind power. We also got to see the kitchens where they make different breads and pasteries every day.

After that we headed back and got ready for the relatives to arrive. While we were waiting, Gijs, Paulien, Jemima, and I started a game of Monopoly. Soon the relatives started arriving so we put it away for later. For a while Jemima sat around and greeted the guests, but Paulien said we didn't have to stay and could use the bikes (everyone in Holland has bikes, we've found) to ride around. Jemima was getting restless so we headed out for a while. We tried to go to another mill, but it was closed so we rode to another close by town to look for a present for me to Gijs, but all the stores were closed. So we just rode around for a while. It was a lot of fun despite being pretty chilly.

Once everyone left, we had some good tomato soup with some good fresh bread. Taoh, their dad made the soup and it was very good, if a little bit spicy. But I found out why it was spicy...he had put sambal in it! Sambal is ground up red peppers (the really really hot kind) with oil that you can get in Indonesia. After dinner, the whole family went to watch a show they watch every week about an emergency room. It was really interesting. It was a Flemish show with Dutch subtitles...and I could still understand what was going on and what they were usually talking about!! It was fun to watch it. :-)

After that we continued our Monopoly game, until only Paulien and I were left. :-D Then we headed to bed.... I went very reluctantly, knowing that I was leaving the next day. I definitely did not want to leave... I had a fantastic time there and it was so much fun being with my friends and seeing their way of life and getting to meet their family.

The next day, everyone but Jemima and me had work so we headed to Eindhoven, where I was flying out from for the day. I finally was able to find a present for Gijs and gave it to Jemima to pass on. We wandered around town, having lunch in a nice little park. At 4:15 we went back to the train station and I got on the bus to the airport and she got on the train to go back home.

I was very sad to be leaving them all. I had such a good time there and it had really begun to feel like another home to me. They were all so very kind and seemed to really enjoy talking to me. Coming back here was hard because I don't have anyone as close to me here as Jemima, Gijs, and Paulien are. But I am so glad that I did get to see them! And hopefully I will be able to visit again soon.

Well, today I had music class and science class. They were both good. Afterwards, I met up with David, Laura, and Shannon and we went to Nando's which is a sort of typical American restaurant and got food and FREE REFILLS!!!! (which are almost unheard of here....) and after that we went to our connect group for church. I don't know if I have told you, but we are going through the Purpose Driven Life book as a church and we have connect groups which meet during the week and we watch a DVD by Rick Warren, the author and discuss what we've learned. Laura, David, and I have been meeting each morning to read each days reading together and talk and pray about it. That has been really good and I've enjoyed it a lot. I believe we're all going to learn a lot from this.

Tomorrow I have Shakespeare class and WWII class and then some of us are going out to eat or get coffee with Heather's parents who are here visiting. They want to meet us all. That should be fun! And then after that I will finish packing for Germany since I am leaving at about 3 in the morning to get to Stanstead Airport at 5 for my flight at 7:05am. Apparently, my friend, Jens, has my visit all planned out. It should be fun!! :-)

Prayer requests: More sleep since traveling is pretty tiring and safe travel to and from Germany. Thank you so much!!

Holland!

Sorry I haven't been updating recently. Until November 1, I was working on a paper and not doing much else. But on Thursday, I left for Holland to visit 3 friends from camp! I was really excited!

I left at about 1:45 to get to the Liverpool Station to take the Stanstead Express (a train that goes straight to Stanstead Airport and back) to the airport. I sat around waiting for the plane for a while, having to get there 2 hours early... I thought about changing my money (from pounds to euros) but decided that I'd do it when I got there because I thought I'd have more time. Anyway, the flight was very very short. We had been at cruising height for about 20 minutes when we started descending.

When I got out of the plane and into the tiny, tiny airport at Eindhoven, I was kind of overwhelmed by the language change.. I knew it would be weird, but I was tired and so I was kind of overwhelmed by it.

My friends were not able to pick me up at the airport so I had to get a bus to the train station and then catch a train to a town closer to them. But, there was no place to change my money there since it was such a small airport!! Thankfully they had an ATM and I had my credit card... To make a long story short, I had a lot of trouble getting a bus ticket, getting in contact with them, and getting on the right trains...but I finally made it! And I was sooooo happy to see them!!!

We went back to Gijs (the closest American's can get to saying his name is 'Hi-sh') and Paulien's house, going through Belgium--I was in 3 different countries in 1 day!!! I met their parents and they heated up some food for me since I hadn't eaten since lunchtime. And then we headed to bed.

On Friday, Paulien had to work so Jemima and I went to a town in Belgium called Brugge. We took a boat tour of some of the city since it was interlaced with canals. Then we wandered to the city centered and looked around. As we were heading back to the train station, we had some Belgian waffles and Belgian chocolate! They were both really good! It rained about half of the time we were there, but it was a London sort of rain, really really light with tiny raindrops. We found a shop devoted entirely to TinTin, the cartoon character who originated in Belgium. We had a lot of fun just wandering around aimlessly.

When we got back home, Paulien's mom fed us a late dinner. She gave us mushroom soup, which I was rather wary of at first, but it was wonderful!! It was very creamy and had chives, bits of ham, and slices of mushroom in it. It tasted great after wandering around in the cold, wet all day. Then we had some more typical Dutch food, mashed up carrots and potatoes with sausages. It was really good too! Then we headed to bed for an early night so that we would be well rested to go to Amsterdam the next day with Paulien and Gijs!

I'm going to finish my Holland update tomorrow...I'm tired from traveling and need to get my clothes washed in time to be ready for Germany in 2 days!!

Prayer requests: that I would get enough sleep and that my trip to and from Germany would be safe and go well. Thank you!!!