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.