Finally!

After being home for quite some time, I'm pretty sure this post is long overdue. However, better late than never, right??

Last time I posted, I was ecstatic that I had made it through an incredible and challenging term at Oxford, and I was bound for France! So, I obviously made it back alive from France, and it was amazing! From Saturday to Tuesday, we traveled around Marseille and Aix en Provence. It was definitely relaxing. Bryce, Victoria, Charlotte, and I did nothing but get up in the morning, go to the beach, walk around, stop, lay on some grass, sleep, read, eat baguettes and cheese for lunch, walk around, plop, lay on some grass, and go to bed around 9. The first day we were there, actually, I slept for 17 hours! On Tuesday, we took the train into Paris, and had our first dinner at a sketchy kebab place because it was the only place that was open after 10 pm. The next day, the girls took the metro over to Versailles! It was absolutely beautiful! I've been wanting to go for so long, so I was so glad that I actually got to be there in the Hall of Mirrors :) On Thursday, we visited the Louvre and ate lunch (baguettes and cheese, of course) under the Eiffel Tower! Surreal! While I was there, I learned how to masterfully say, "I'm sorry, I'm Canadian." (My apologies, Christoph). Going along with my natural tendency to find myself in the most entertaining of situations, I caught a teenage Parisian girl trying to pickpocket my backpack. I fended her off by appearing as large as I could and making loud noises to appear more intimidating.They're more scared of you than you are of them.

I then traveled solo from Paris through the Chunnel (underground under the water!) into London, where I caught a bus back to Oxford. I stayed with my small group leader until I flew out of Heathrow the next morning straight into LAX. Insane! Needless to say, it was a very relaxing trip that was SO much fun!

So, I've been home for a little over 2 weeks now, and it's been crazy adjusting back to America, but not as hard as I thought it would be. This is probably because I was really excited to be home with my family, and it's been so fun since I've been back. Since being back, I've felt awkward saying "restroom" instead of "toilet," I've had to smile more at people here, and I could smell the smog when I landed. It's weird using my phone, I have a pantry of food rather than going shopping to have a shelf-full every week, everything seems louder, and I don't have to bag my own groceries. Palm trees are everywhere, I'm still not sick of the heat/sunshine, and Hulu and Pandora work on my computer. But I also miss good chocolate, riding my bike everywhere, and people saying Cheers! when I leave the store.

These experiences are always bittersweet because I'm fully aware that I'll most likely never see all of the people I met ever again. It's such a blessing to meet people from all over the country and world and become good friends with them, but it's always so hard for me to leave. Maybe some of you have experienced that feeling that everywhere you live for a period of time has become one of your homes, and you feel that the people that lived life with you have become a family to you. That's why it's such a hard thing for me to leave. BUT, even when I feel completely empty, God fills me up again and makes me feel whole. I don't know what I would do without Him. :) Overall, by studying at Oxford and living in community with so many amazing and wise people, I learned how to be more disciplined, think deeply about the world around me, and love people no matter where they're from. I've found myself having a consistent schedule every day since I've been back, and I randomly decide to research and study different topics that are interesting to me (which never, ever happened before). I've become more patriotic in the country where God has placed me, and I can appreciate the beautiful things that are unique to America (country music, 50's diner music, etc. :).

I grew so much in so many different areas because of this journey - I had a few good cries, TONS of laughs (especially late at night), and had so many meaningful conversations with friends. I had my views challenged, and I grew closer to God because of it. I found myself having more meaningful times with God (daily) than I have ever had at home because I really wanted to know what I believed about different things. I got to try my hand at cooking, the piano, the fiddle (thanks, Abby!), and Sardines in the Wycliffe corridors. This, by far, has been the most meaningful international journey I have ever taken, and thank you for coming along with me for every part of it. I loved sharing all of my experiences with you, and I hope it was, at the very least, an entertaining insight into what it was like for me to go through this journey.

Thanks for the support - it's been fun :)

AND...you didn't think I would forget, did you??

Here's the final list...

• Salad dressing vs. Salad cream: They don't put dressing on their salad - ever. They do have "salad cream" available in the store, but for the most part, you be getting a dry salad when you order it. I think we appreciate our variety of salad dressings.

•  Sprinklers = Hose Pipe. Sprinklers is just more fun to say. And it's a dance move.

• Santa = Father Christmas. I'm pretty sure we like Father Christmas more - or it just reminds us of Narnia which, in turn, makes us warm and fuzzy inside.

• Their American accents vs. our British accents: They may disagree with me, but I heard more British people say that certain Americans had good British accents, and I met one guy that had a convincing American accent - the rest just resorted to weird half-southern sounding accents. I can't tell them

I'm wracking my brain for more, but I've gone through the list on my phone, and I believe that's it for now, though the list could go on and on :) Which, I believe leaves our score at
England: 14, USA: 15.

Congratulations, 'Merica. You win this time :) Now let's get some Olympic wins!

Love you all!

P.S. - Since I've liked blogging so much, there is a sequel, should you choose to read on. Enjoy :)

http://californiasummerstories.blogspot.com/

Happy Jump!

I officially finished my academic work at Oxford!
I actually did end up having a mild case of the flu, and I did not have much fun with that as I was writing my final essay, but I completed it at noon today! I will save a longer post for later in order to save room for the mushy-gushy shtuff, but I just thought I would share the excitement that I'm feeling that it's SUMMER for me! I'm also incredibly devastated about leaving everyone, though, so it may cancel some of that happy feeling out! I am traveling to France this next week, and then I'll be on my way home!

xoxo

Scotland!

Hello All!
I just recently got back from Edinburgh (pronounced Edin-borough, more or less) in Scotland! It was SUCH an amazing time! I went with four other friends, and it was incredible. Here's a rundown...

On Thursday night, we took an overnight bus from 11:00 pm until 7:40 am into Scotland. So. Tired. FurRealzies. We walked out of the bus station and, outloud, we said: "So we're in Scotland. Now what?" It was raining and pretty dang cold, so we hid out in the only place that was open at 7:40 am on a Friday in Edinburgh: McDonald's. I have not had a McMuffin in quite a long time. That changed. Sometimes eating that kind of stuff is just good for the soul. Kind of maybe.

Pause......................
Just wanted to point out that as I write this, the people in the room I am in are literally having an intellectual debate on whether Scar from Lion King is a more admirable character than Mufasa. I may or may not have initiated the conversation of the three academic men next to me via my admiration of Mufasa. I also may or may not REEEAAALLLYY miss my housemates in less than a week because of these interesting conversations and events. Now they're discussing the possibility of making a Wicked-like musical named Scar to show his perspective and the fact that he's the victim and not really wicked.

Anyway...................
While we were in Scotland, we went to countless museums including the Portrait Gallery and the Scottish National Gallery. There were most definitely bagpipes everywhere I went, and kilts were definitely a thing with some of the men. (At least where I was!) We went to lunch at The Elephant House where J.K. Rowling actually wrote a lot of the first Harry Potter novel, and it was so yummy and fun!

We went to the Castle at Edinburgh, which is where Mary, Queen of Scots would reside occasionally and also where she gave birth to James, who would later be king. There was also the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny, which is the stone of all of the coronations of kings and queens in England. 

On Good Friday, we went to an evening service which was also amazing - it never ceases to amaze me that no matter WHERE the heck I am in the world, I can find people that I am connected with by the bond that we have in Christ. I am never alone!

On the rest of my journey, (and in London for Easter) I:

-was in an all-girls hostel in which I met a Finnish girl named Anna. She liked to complain about the noisy Belgian students down the hall. She had broken English and used it to talk about how wasted she got on the weekends. Not lying when I say I legitimately LOVE meeting interesting people...and she was one of them.

-woke up to two chit-chatty Australian dudes in what I *thought* was my all-girls hostel. They were pretty cool, just unexpected.

-climbed to the top of Arthur's seat and saw some ruins.

-met a Buddhist monk who was in a band and significantly pushed us into giving him money toward charity. Oh, but don't fear...we would receive his "Monk Rock" album for free. Go Scotland.

-saw Dolly the Sheep.

-went to Westminster Abbey for Easter morning service.

-went to the British museum and saw the Rosetta Stone. Not the kind in primary yellow boxes.

-went to Reality London for Easter evening service (woot!)

-observed SOOOOOO many people on the Tube (Underground) in London. People will legitimately avoid human contact at ALL. They close their eyes (or put on sunglasses...underground...), put in headphones, and ignore the world. Sooooo flipping funny. Ask me to tell you funny underground stories in particular. Pure comedy and free entertainment. Overall, amazing trip!

Uploading pictures isn't working for some reason for me right now, but I thought I'd give this update anyway. Pictures and videos to follow later.

As far as prayer requests go...
In the last 36 hours, I seem to have come down with the flu possibly. Nearly positive about a fever, have a sore throat, my sinuses hate me, and I'm SOOOO incredibly achy. Normally wouldn't be complaining on a post, but I have my final 4,000 word research paper due tomorrow and, though I'm chugging along steadily (with actually no distractions besides writing this!) I feel like curling up in a ball and sleeping for the next two weeks. Pray for an unnatural amount of vigor and motivation to spring up within me, if you think about it! I'll let you know how it goes! As of tomorrow at noon, I will be done with my studies at Oxford :)/:(.

Mucho love!
Me :)

Happy Holy Week!

We're leading up to my favorite holiday!!!

In honor of Easter this Sunday, I decided to make these yummy pieces of heaven called resurrection rolls! I made them once when I was in elementary school, but I haven't made them since, so I decided to give them a try. They were so delicious! The idea is that you put a cinnamon sugar-coated marshmallow (Jesus) in dough (tomb), and when they come out of the oven, the tomb is empty! If you want the recipe, you can get it here: http://eatatallies.com/2011/04/resurrection-rolls/
So that was my Monday :)

I also got the really fun opportunity to go to the Half Moon, which is a pub here in town, and every week they have fiddlers play while everyone hangs out. My friend Abby plays with them every week, so I decided to tag along and hear them play! Here's a funtastic taste:

Tonight I got to go to a Wales reunion, where we sat around the living room, eating dark chocolate, and listening and appreciating classical music. It was a lovely break from paper writing...which I should be doing right now...before I leave for SCOTLAND this weekend!!!

Can't wait!

Church, Essays, and much more.

I had Greek salad for dinner.

Thought I'd give an update and FINALLY throw down some more differences to keep the tally going.

School's been pretty busy - in the next 2 weeks, I have two papers due and two books to read. The paper I'm writing this week is on the anti-slavery movement in England that began in the late 1780's, so I've been Wilberforcing it up! In the meantime, I'm trying to finish my Oxford bucket list before I leave. This consists of having a picnic in the University Parks, possibly going to a formal dinner at a college, driving a car, and visiting Tolkien's grave and the Kilns. There's more random food places and libraries I've been wanting to visit as well. Speaking of Tolkien...

On Friday, everyone gladly watched Return of the King on my behalf! I had never seen it before, so naturally, it was necessary. It was INCREDIBLE. Most definitely, everything I expected and more. No wonder there were 11 Academy Awards squeezed in there - props, Peter. Samwise is the bomb diggity, too.

I'm sure I'll have a whole blog post dedicated to how much God has done in my life this semester, but I just want to take a moment to say how much my church, St. Ebbes, has blessed me here! Out of all the churches I've been to, I have never been with a congregation that displays the body of Christ so clearly. They are SO intentional about their community, and if you talk to anyone in Oxford, they'll say that this church is known for being welcoming! They include children in the large service as much as possible before they leave to go to their children's Sunday School. So, for example, they recognize children's birthdays and take a quick moment to pray for him/her as a congregation; they also give them little kid instruments to play on while the whole church is singing (and the music's so loud that it's not as if it affects or distracts people). It's just so beautiful to see a whole congregation worshiping God together! For the college group, we all eat together before Bible study at round tables, and then we split into our regular groups of girls or guys. I know this isn't the only ways that a church can run things, but I just see so much joy in the congregation and PASSION because Oxford is known to be very humanist and atheistic/agnostic. Really going to miss this church!

Here are more long-awaited differences!!! Dun dun DUN!

• Maths = Math. So, instead of saying, "I'm studying math," you would say, "I'm studying maths." Though I do quite dislike the sound of "maths," it seems to make more grammatical sense as it is derived from "mathematics." Darn you, England.

• Cluedo = Clue. As in the board game. The history of it is actually quite interesting. Here, take a gander. History of Cluedo. Cluedo is the original name, and you gotta give the creator some recognition. Here you go, Mr. Pratt - you just got yourself a point for the UK.

•  "You've Got Mail" vs. "You have e-mail." Here's what I hear every time I log on to AOL..."You Have Email". "You've Got Mail" is just too classic, though. Tom and Meg - thank you. US for the win.

• Chinese Whispers = Telephone (game). It refers to when European/Chinese first started interacting consistently, around the 1600's? The British could not understand a word of Chinese - hence the game name. Recently, the UK has come under fire because the name is thought by some to be racist/offensive. Hmm...sorry Britain...America's never racist, so we win this one too.

Current score: England: 13, USA: 12 (including the 3 bonus points from TGI Fridays giving me so much pride in my loud, crazy, and lovable country.) Oh, by the way, my friends and I put together a list of which countries would be which family members in the giant family of the world. America would be the young, hip aunt that everyone follows and loves but is known to be slightly irresponsible at times. Great Britain was the grandfather with a long life history who is more reserved and stern on the outside but secretly sweet and lovable. He smokes cigars and tells stories and occasionally rolls his eyes at said aunt.

Tonight I'm super excited because our program's student coordinator (the one that organized the Wales trip) is joining us for dinner tonight. He's bringing the pudding! (Bonus points if you remember what that's referring to!)

Oh by the way, I did not, in fact, have Greek salad for dinner. I fooled you on this lovely April day.

Around and About Oxford :)

'Ello Ladies an' Gents!
Jus' thought I'd 'ave a post 'bout me travelin' 'round Oxfordshire! (Do say this out loud with an obnoxious Cockney accent...the British just LOVE when Americans do that...

But really, here's some fun-ish shtuff you may enjoy while I walk about Oxford and the like :)

1.) I went punting on the Thames! All I could picture was Dick Van Dyke as Bert in Mary Poppins looking at his chalk drawing! Here's a lovely video to satisfy:

2.) One of my friends, Audra, played violin with the Oxford University Strings Ensemble, and this is a taste of their amazing recital in the chapel of Merton College, arguably the oldest college in Oxford.

Here are some fun pictures - captions are probably a must...otherwise, they just might not make sense.

'Zis is a cake of the RadCam!

Blurry pictures of Hall of Christ Church, which inspired the Great Hall in Harry Potter

My reading spot at Christ Church meadows :)

Fun stuff! More updates soon!

Peace.

Disney, London, and Trout, Oh My!

So the past few days, it's been common practice in the Vines (my loverly abode), to assign Disney characters to each person based on personality. Just to give you an idea of how my pals see me, this was their consensus...

Anyhow, just thought I would give a little bit of an update!
Last weekend I was supposed to meet up with Blake, who's studying in Italy, but she got stuck in Spain due to a stolen backpack! Grr! We bought tickets for Phantom of the Opera, and even though she couldn't go, I was still able to make it down to London in time with Miss Charlotte to claim our tickets. I was bummed I wasn't able to see Blake, but it was definitely worth still going into London, and we had a great time!

During the day, we went on a field trip to St. Alban's Cathedral, which was built in honor of the first Christian martyr in Britain. Here are some pictures :)

Outdoor Theatre

We had to go straight from St. Albans to London, and it was a really complicated process to get there because I had to take a train to the tube, and I hadn't taken either of those before, so it was most certainly an adventure! We got there no problem though :) When we got there, we picked up our tickets and were trying to decide where to get food, WHEN lo and behold, it came to us...We haven't had legit American food in 3 months, and we didn't realize this until we found ourselves desiring just a good 'ol burger with fries...not chips, but FRIES. :) Success! Walking valiantly into a TGI Fridays, we have possibly never felt prouder to be an American. Amidst a loud restaurant (never happens), a Harley parked in the entryway (yup.), "Restrooms" clearly marked out for our use ("Toilet" just gets old after a bit), and REAL HEINZ KETCHUP, we had it made. Posters of ET, Baywatch, Scooby Doo, and the Mighty Ducks (California, woot!) coated the walls, and we were home. Needless to say, oh yeah, sure, yummy dinner :) I got a little taste of the red, white, and blue for an hour. Very weird to explain, but we figured after living here for 3 months, it was worth it to have at least one American meal.

We weren't exactly sure at this point...

Please correct me if I'm wrong...but we were at King's Cross Station...and this was Platform 9...so Platform 9 3/4 should have been around this general area??

Tres more things...

1.) The other day, I went to a place called the Turl Street Kitchen, which is a restaurant for Oxford students. It was one of our friend's birthdays, so nearly 15 of us had a night out on the town and went to the schnazzy place to get some grub. I saw Cotswolds Trout on the menu, and I know their food is local, so I thought, "What the heck, Leah, you've never tried trout...go crazy." So I did. This is what they gave me. Looks pretty fresh to me.

2.) I saw a "lorry" (truck) for the first time here! I looked out the library window, and BEHOLD. They are pretty much non-existent unless they are big rigs.

3.) I'm seeing Hunger Games at 1 pm tomorrow Pacific Standard Time tomorrow. You know, just saying. No more waiting 24 hours before, Krikorian. Psh.

BTDubs...still getting a list going for 'Merica vs. da Brits. Soon and very soon.

Wales!

Apologies on the absolute fail of blogging in the last couple weeks!
Here's an explanation as to why :) ---
The week of March 5th (last week) was my last week of tutorials! Yay! If I failed to mention it before, my Oxford time is split up into two sections: the regular Oxford student phase and the longer classes after term to make up my American Biola credits phase. The permanent Oxford students have 3 terms instead of 2 semesters - Michaelmas Term (Sept.-Dec.), Hilary Term (Jan.-Mar.), and Trinity Term (Apr.-June). So, I just completed Hilary term of tutorials and lectures! Needless to say, Oxford has a bit less students and a bit more tourists.

So, what am I doing for the next four weeks, might you ask? Well, everyday I will be watching an episode of a documentary by Simon Schama (whom all of us students love dearly in a quite teasing sort of way) which is on British history. I will have 2 essays to write on British history from a theological perspective, which will take care of a Bible elective for me. I also have to read 4 historical Christian autobiographies (C.S. Lewis, John Bunyan, etc.), and to top it all off I will be writing a 4,000 word essay which will be taking psychological theory, applying it to literature, and seeing how they compare on the topic of children's grieving processes of death. Oh, and did I mention I get to go on field trips every week to different cities in England? Yay!

So I decided to make a blog post specifically about my spring break last week! WALES. Amazing.

Two of my program leaders, 10 students, and I went on the trip to the Brecon Beacons National Park in Southern Wales. We stayed at a large house in the middle of the countryside, and it was BEAUTIFUL!

My trip consisted of:

- Traveling to Caerphilly Castle, Castle Coch, Chepstow Castle, and Tintern Abbey
- Making and eating a homecooked meal by candlelight every night
- Watching The King's Speech, The Painted Veil, Romeo+Juliet, and How to Train Your Dragon
- Finishing the Hunger Games series - woot! (a nice easy read after 8 weeks of intensity!)
- Playing Bananagrams / Spoons
- Making friends with local sheep
- Hike under a waterfall
- Getting stuck in mud past my ankles. (My Sanuks hate me.)
- Throwing and catching marshmallows in my mouth
- Having lovely quiet times
- Hike up Pen Y Fan, the highest peak in Southern Britain!!!
- Hearing my Australian and British leaders attempt American accents
- See wild horses

All in all, the trip was a success :) Here are some pictures!

Castell Coch (Gothic castle finished in 1891 but on the foundations of a 13th century site)

Caerphilly Castle (Built between 1268-1271)

Me at the top!

Starting out in the morning

We're going up!

At the top

Jessica, Shannon, and me :)

We made it!

Part of the house we stayed in

Tintern Abbey

"And at once I knew, I was not magnificent..."

Chepstow Castle