A Chinese Experience In the UK

 Well today being tired of the food in the refectory, Kasey, Grace, Elizabeth, and I all went and got Chinese food in Grantham. We went to a place called Hop Sing, and what better time than now during the Chinese New Year! We got a lunch special and got "mini pancake rolls" or Spring Rolls, and a main dish, I got mixed vegetables in a mushroom sauce, and they all got sweet and sour chicken Cantonese style. They brought us Egg Rice and some Noodles too for our table and then we got a Fried Pineapple Fritter for Dessert!

 It was SOO SOO Wonderful!! It was amazing!!! and the best part was it was only £6.95!! After eating Chinese We walked past a Bakery that had fresh scones! so I went and bought 3 for only £0.99!! I got them to eat throughout the week!! Overall today was a very good day, we have the Scotland briefing tonight and then after that we have a traditional Scottish holiday celebration called Burns Night!

Ireland here we come

Well now Elizabeth and I are booked for Ireland!! We finished up with about $300 total for 2 nights and 3 days with Hostel, a Paddy-wagon tour to Blarney Castle and Cobh, and the Guinness Factory!! Elizabeth is very excited that she booked the trip, I on the other hand am now an experienced booker after London ha! But it is exciting to know that in just 3 weeks I'll be going to Ireland!! Next week Scotland, then 2 weeks after that and it's Ireland!! Oh the Celtic places I will go :)

Secret Passage Ways and History of the Manor

Well this afternoon Kasey, Grace, Elizabeth, Julie and I all went on a history tour of the Manor, it was really fun and we got to learn some really cool things out about the Manor's history! We learned that the British Airborne group left from the Manor during WWII. We also learned that if we buy a Family Crest from GB and we leave lots of money to Harlaxton College they will design a crest in the state dining room for us. We also learned that the Manor was once a Montessori for Monks right after WWII, and we just got to learn a lot of history about who designed certain rooms, and what was original and what wasn't, which owner made what changes and so on. We also got to see the Senior Common Room, or better known as the Faculty Lounge!! It was the original Library, I have posted additional pictures of it in my Harlaxton Facebook Album.  I also am posting pictures of some of the Secret Passage ways because of high demand from my family (mom). I take one from British Studies to Seminar then from Seminar to Biology. They really aren't as cool as they look in Scooby Doo, but they can be quite fun, especially when you say oh yea I take the secret passage to class....you know the day to day life of living in a castle!! No the secret passage ways were all just really the ways the servants got around, much like the slaves quarters of the southern plantations. Just back stairwells and doors that lead into other rooms.

This is the faculty lounge. The original Library, it has a collection of books that a man from Grantham left to the college in his will because he didn't want his collection split up, I'd say from eye balling it there are between 1,500 and 2,000 books in there!! 

Do you see a door? 

it is built into the wall :) 

Now the next one is the one that I take to and from class.

I'll give you a hint look for a crack in the wall and it does not have the mirror on it 

 and that my friends is what I climb with a purse and a backpack (that is really a shoulder bag) full of books, to and from class! I DO IN FACT HAVE SOME BALANCE!! 

Well I hope you enjoyed learning a little about our manor and our secret passages, It's nearly 7:30 here and I need to do some homework!! 

our take-away

so I'm going to post some pictures of our take-away adventure......We got 2 10" pizzas, one veggie (corn [yea we forgot to take that off], mushrooms, and red onions) and one cheese, then got Garlic Bread. You gotta see what they brought us!! 

so the corn one really wasn't as bad as it sounds, it was just very different, but the cheese one was amazing, it tasted soo good!!! well I'm off to eat :)

New adventures in a new place

Well today was pretty lax, I got to just basically hang out since my classes are over by 9:45 am. Grace and I went to lunch with Kasey and then Elizabeth and I had a meeting for yearbook, and guess what you are now reading the blog of one of the co-editors (co-chairs here) of the Harlaxton Spring 2012 yearbook!!! :) :) After I got all the information for yearbook I came back to the carriage house and did some homework then went to dinner, and the food was terrible, and now Grace and Julie and Kasey are joking that I only survive on Bread, Carrots, Water and the occasional hot chocolate. After dinner Grace and I went with Kasey to the DVD room to hang out with her while she worked, we just watched Last Chance Harvey, a very good movie!! Then we came back to the carriage house and were starving so we ordered take-away!! We got 2 10" pizzas and a 10" garlic bread all for £10 that includes delivery!! It was buy one pizza get one free!! so we are still broke poor starving college students who can find great deals!!! Now we just have to wait about another 10 minutes to get the pizza and try it!! (I'm saying this even though they don't say it here) Cheerio!!

Back to the Boring life of living in an Historic Manor :)

Well Sunday wasn't so eventful, although we did figure out how to watch some of our shows from the US. Today I called about my phone and it is in Leeds!! I'm very excited!! I thought about buying a train ticket to go pick it up but the tickets cost £25 so I'll wait and call around 7pm and give them the address of the manor and they will post it to me!! THANK GOD I'VE FOUND IT!!! today is a day to get caught up on homework and on rest :) its great to be able to just relax. I do need to go into Grantham sometime and get a planner and I would like to find a set of play money from poundland to send back to my nieces and nephews and the kids at my School in Evansville so they can see how currency is different!! I've attached a picture of the bottom of the secret passage I take to and from British Studies, hopefully later today or tomorrow I can take a video of the front and you can see if you can find the secret passage. Well I'm going to go catch up on emails since I actually have to check them since I don't have my phone that automatically sends it to me, and do some homework. 

London

Well after 3 days and 2 nights in London, it actually feels good to be back at the Manor! Our London adventure started on Thursday around 3:30 with trying to get Sarah from class and her stuff into the room and on the shuttle in under 10 min, it all worked out perfectly though. We made it into Grantham to the train station with plenty of time to spare and we got some toastys. Sarah had a cheese and tomato and I had a cheese and onion, they were both very good! After being excited for my first "real" train ride we rode for about an hour and finally made it to London!! Where as soon as we got off the train Sam ran away looking for platform 9 3/3 from the Harry Potter movies. After we found it, it turned out to just be like a closet on the outside of Kings Cross (But still Platform 9 3/4 non the less). Then I got to see a red double decker bus and that was very exciting for me! After that little bit of exploring we were on our way to tackle the underground/tube to get to our hostel! Once we finally made it (no trouble on the tube, just the walking after the tube) we went upstairs to see our rooms and when Sarah and I entered ours (a 12 bed mixed dorm) we were taken aback by the fact that it was really a 12 bed mixed dorm! I'm not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't quite that, or I just wasn't ready for it, yet. We were very confused by the sleeping arrangements because we were supposed to have beds 4 and 6, and 6 was open so I put my bag on it, but 4 had someone else's stuff on it, it was fresh linen, just someone else's bags were on top of it. We dashed out of the room and down the stairs to the other girls' room and Kelsey told us to just go talk to the manager and get it straightened out. After we talked to her she changed the linens and took the bags off Sarah's bed and kicked the other person out of the room! We felt a little embarrassed but it was our bed so okay. We were very tired and after staying downstairs in the Pub area with Kelsey for a bit we decided to retire around 10 pm (oh the life of a college student!) It wasn't very much different than getting ready for bed like at a church lock-in or something else from high school where there were boys and girls, we went to the bathroom and got ready for bed locked our stuff up, and packed our very important things into our pillow cases and off to bed we went. Well I may have been in bed but I surely wasn't asleep. I slept on the middle bunk while there was a guy above me and one below me. The one below me snored ALL night long and in between snores he like made awful noises that sounded like chewing your gum with your mouth open, and sadly my iPod was locked up in the locker. I learned to deal with it and quickly realized if I was tired enough I would sleep! so I slept, for about 2-3 hours. The next morning Sarah and I started out pretty early after breakfast we headed to meet up with Grace, Elizabeth, and Kasey at their hotel, we finally got through the underground after about an hour, and then we got lost coming out of the underground because there were 2 Hotel Russel's on either side of the underground, but we eventually made it to their hotel, after about a 30 min walk :) We spent ALL day Friday doing a walking tour our school typed out for us, so we walked about 10-12 miles, but we saw ALL the tourists sites! It was great! We even ate Fish and Chips in the crypt of an old church in Trafalgar Square! We saw Big Ben, London Tower, London Bridge, and many other things! It was definitely an adventure! After the long walk we took a short power nap at the Girls's hotel and then we went to find dinner, we found this little place that for £5 you got a quart of pasta or rice, a sauce, and 1 topping, and then either a drink or a dessert! it was a bargain and it was very good!! it even stayed warm until Sarah and I got back to our Hostel! We ate our pasta, and sat down in the lounge/pub area and talked and met a lot of really nice people! We met a guy who worked at the bar from London who tried to teach us how to talk in a British Accent, and taught us British Nursery Rhymes. We met an Adventurer from Belgium, he was the first person to cross the Simpson Desert in Australia alone for 5 days, he is going to be an Olympic Torch Bearer this year too!! We also met a guy from Australia who came to London to look for work, and 2 girls from Rio de Janero but they had moved to Germany recently, and a guy from Lithawania. What a mixture!! Oh! did I mention We actually met a guy from INDIANA!!! All the way in London in a little Hostel we met a guy from Merrivall, Indiana who had been WWOOFING in Ireland. WWOOFING in Organic farm volunteering and they pay for your room and board and meals and you get to live in other countries. Then we went to bed, and after those 10 miles I was ready!! Then Saturday we got up and checked out of the Hostel, and Sarah, Kelsey and I met the girls at their hotel and we ventured out to find Abbey Road!! THE ABBEY ROAD!! Once we were there it was just amazing!! I was taken aback and I actually shrieked like a little girl!! I was too excited!! We crossed it and got our pictures and then almost got hit by a couple of cars who didn't look too happy with us and our cameras!! haha!! After Abbey Road we went back to Kings Cross, and ate lunch at a little Pub and I got Penne Mushroom Alfredo, and a Coke (with Ice) all for £6!! Sarah had Pizza and Kelsey had Brushetta, it was all very good, and cheap!! Then we walked around and bought some post cards then began our venture back to the Manor. However a series of unfortunate events took place and along the way between the train and the Manor I lost my iPhone :( I called the Taxi company and the driver didn't find it so I called the train company but their lost department isn't open until Monday so I won't even be able to find out if they found it until Monday. I really hope they found it and can get it to me soon, being 20 years old in a different country without your phone is a trauma! I know that sounds completely and utterly ridiculous but it is. It's been difficult and its only been lost for 6 hours!! I don't know how I'll be able to survive a whole 2 days!! I'll figure it out!! needless to say I got to talk to both my mom and my dad today and I also got to talk to my Aunt Dedra for a little bit since she was with my mom. I'm staying up waaayy past my bed time tonight so I can talk to my Great Aunt Marjorie tonight since they went down to visit her!! Well it's goodbye for now! I hope you enjoy the pictures I took of London!!

Grantham

Today Elizabeth and I ventured into Grantham! We wandered all around the nooks and crannies of the quite large city, and we found some neat things! First we found folders to fit their funny sized paper (A4) which apparently folders are a huge luxury ere because I couldn't find one anywhere!! Finally I settled on an accordion file folder. That will do. After we found the folders, we found an amazing surprise (you will hear about it Friday night) for a friend :) then we walked probably close to 1/2-1 mile to azda? Or adda? Something like that, it's kind of like Meijer, clothes groceries and pretty reasonable prices. When we walked in we immediately noticed it was 2 stories!! It had an escalator like thing (no stairs) that took you to the 2nd floor. After finding our way down again we entires around the sale shelves and bought a pillow and pillow case, since we only get 1 pillow here and it's close to the size of a hospital pillow (flat) we found some Capri sun that's flavor was blackcurrant, and some curry Marsala Pringles! We tried them tonight and they were really good!! After we came back from grantham we had our meet-a-family briefing, we learned the do's and the do not's. We meet them next week I think it is. And then a travel safety seminar which was mostly the mostly obvious things. After that we all came back to the room and found out our roommate is moving out and we are getting a new one, we met her tonight she sat at my table for the high table dinner, she seems nice. We will see. Well I have lots of traveling to do tomorrow so off to bed I am then!! Good night!!

Hump Day!!

okay for clarification sake, I guess I need to post my blogs earlier, because Sunday's posted on Monday, and Monday's posted on Tuesday, and etc. So I will try and be more diligent about that! Well anyway today Grace and Sarah and I went to breakfast and we met up with Julie and for about 3 days now we have wondered what this black sausage like looking thing is at breakfast, well Julie got it and much to my surprise it's called black pudding, well don't get too excited now, because I'm sure you won't like it, black pudding is actually cows blood and it has soo much of it is turns out black in a mass, but I could clearly see the red streaks on Julie's plate! so after managing to not get sick at breakfast I was glad that I only had 1 class, Environmental Science. I have the same professor I have for Biology, and I have it in the State Dining Room, It does have a good view and is kinda distracting because of all the family crests, but at least its not the Gold room! I am excited about this class, we have to give presentations and we are allowed to leave the manor and tour things for our presentations, she said to be extra creative and extra fun! so Kristie I may do Recycling or something to do with Recycling, just for you :) haha! Well after class we came back and I read an awfully boring 5 page document from the 11th century, it literally bored me to sleep!! After a nice nap we went to lunch where we had shepherd's pie, Sarah really liked hers but my vegetable one wasn't as appetizing, but they had a whole baguette (okay so like actually 1/2 size but whole for our refectory) and I ate that and stole another one to eat as a snack! After lunch I met with my British Studies group to go over our presentation for tomorrow, yes only 1 day in the class and we already have a presentation, it actually turned out to be much more work than we thought so we met again later on in the evening. Well after all that I came back and did some homework with Grace, went to dinner with Sarah and Elizabeth where I got a vegetable Stroganoff, that had no sauce, or any vegetables, it was much like warm pasta with italian seasoning (only it was just pepper) and Italian dressing (only it was either just water or mostly water with a little butter) Strange, but it was edible! they had the whole baguettes again where Sarah and I went up and stole one and decided we would lose a lot of weight this semester because we have to act like Oliver Twist and say "Please Sir, more Sir" :) it was hilarious after that we came back where Elizabeth and I talked and annoyed Sarah, then Sarah proceeded to hit me with her sock monkey, which is actually kinda hard, but all in good fun :) Then we went to the ceilidh (Kaylee) and that is where an Irish band came and played traditional Folk music and taught us Traditional Dances, I could only stay for one though because I had to meet with my British Studies group again. And that brings us to now. Where I am currently uploading pictures to Facebook and blogging about my day :) 

First day of Classes

Well today was the first day of classes in the UK!! I was pretty lucky to start out with got up, got showered, got ready, Grace, Sarah and I met Kasey in the Manor for Breakfast, and right as we sat down we heard what sounded like a bird, just repeating, soon we found out someone's hair dryer had set off the fire alarm in the carriage house, so we just missed it!! Phew! Crisis averted!! After breakfast we went to British Studies Lecture, with all 183 of us students, it was kinda over my head for the most part, but that was because it was an overview of the entire semester, then an overview of the first 5 weeks!! joy! After the lecture we had seminar, the quickest way for me to get there is to take the secret passageway from the long gallery to the music room, then walk from the music room to the Culpin room (the dungeon). After seminar its back up to the long gallery for Biology, so back up the mildly dangerous spiral staircase for me!! Biology wasn't that bad, I think the professor will be good, which is good for me because I have her twice! Everyday of the week in fact!! After Bio was lunch and it was burgers, luckily they had a veggie burger, it is very very different than the ones in the states, it had a breading on it, much like a chicken patty, and peas, and carrots, and I think celery in it, weird; but good. we also had "chips" or fries! they were pretty good!! We explored some more and ended up going (somehow we're not quite sure yet) from the 5th floor of the manor all the way down and across to the library, so basically across the entire manor and down 4 floors, without even knowing it! After exploring we then went to dinner, where it was BBQ chicken and a baked potato, but I had a vegetable pasta, and the sauce was the weirdest thing, it was like jelly!! I swear there was gelatin in it!! After dinner Sarah, Elizabeth, Kelsey and I went to an SGA (Student Government Association) meeting, I'm going to be on yearbook staff!! I'm really excited for it!! I loved yearbook in high school!! After SGA Elizabeth, Kelsey and I went to the bistro and got a drink and a Cheese Toasty! When I asked the guy what a cheese toasty was it was hard for him to think how to describe it, he did find a way in saying it was a bit like a cheese sandwich. turns out its a grilled cheese on a panini press!!  It was even made with American cheese, and I'm not sure if I have ever tasted anything soo good in my life!! haha!! I have estimated that it will cost approximately £43 so not bad for 3 days and 2 nights!! That's traveling on a budget! I also found 3 girls (looking for 1 maybe 2 more) to go to liverpool for about £30 to do a 3 hour Beatles tour!! I really want to do the Beatles tour soooooo bad!! but we will see, without finding 2 others it would be about £50 and that just isn't worth it :(

This was my class before anyone was in it, and the other one was my cheese toasty :) Well since I have to be in class in exactly 8 hours I need to go to bed!!

Sunday happenings

Well Sunday was pretty uneventful, we slept in then went to brunch, where they had hash browns, poached eggs, pizza, and fresh French bread. I think they had some meat too but I wasn't paying much attention to that. After brunch we had to get our school ID's taken and Sarah went with me so I didn't have to go alone, much to our surprise she tried her camera once more and like a miracle it worked!! So while I was getting my picture taken she took pictures. After that, we went back to the carriage house and just sat around waiting until 4:30 to roll around to go to a travel lecture that actually had a lot of information. Then we went to dinner and then got ready for class today!!

Inch by Inch, Row by Row

so today we Started off with a good ol' American Breakfast; Cereal and Milk and Toast! haha! then we went to the induction convocation where we were officially inducted into Harlaxton College, there was a bagpiper and we sang both the American National Anthem and the British one, "God Save the Queen", help the poor Queen if the students of Harlaxton College have to sing to save her!! Then the Principal gave a speech that was all about a song he heard in an Irish Pub "Inch by Inch and Row by Row We're gunna make this garden grow all it takes is a rake and hoe and a piece of Fertile Ground, Inch by inch and row by row someone bless these seeds I sow, someone warm them from below, til' the rains come tumbling down". We literally sang that like 6 times!! haha!! but then we went to Lunch and we had an American comfort lunch, Macaroni and cheese and curly fries, bacon, a roll and a doughnut. I obviously didn't eat the bacon. The curly fries are called Spicy fries here. Then we went to buy books, 98£, Oh! and their Change is called Pence!! After that HUGE cost we went into Grantham! We went into the Issac Newton Shopping Centre (no I spelled Centre right) then we came back and I went to the Harlaxton Boutique and  bought post cards, I'm going to send them out hopefully Monday. After that I took a nap and then we got ready for the High Table Dinner. We had what was I think a Cocktail hour, and they gave us white whine cocktails with a cherry at the bottom! they were pretty good!! Then suddenly from the door out walked a bagpiper, nearly running into Sarah and I, we were practically running to the wall!! he walked up and down the room a few times playing his bagpipes then he did a head nod and we followed him into the dining room!! We were literally piped in and out!! it was kinda strange!!  We had Salad, and Chicken, and Greenbeans, and Carrots, and wine. The wine at dinner was bad, it tasted like drinking rubbing alcohol! We got a mousse cake too, and it had a chocolate cake bottom, it was very good!! Now I'm waiting to get tired after a huge meal and lots of fun today!!

28 hours and counting

Well after an exhausting day(s) and being up for 28 hours I hope this post makes some sort of sense. I'm trying to let everyone know I made it safe and things went well! or they may say, "smashing!" I'm uploading pictures to facebook and hopefully can figure out how to attach a few to this post. Once we arrived they had us all in a pretty big room to welcome us to Harlaxton, then we went to the refectory, to get some food, and after that we unpacked and ate again. then we went looking/exploring around the manor and the grounds and the carriage house. We are living in the Carriage house, luckily I am rooming with my roommate from back home and another girl I am friends with then one last girl I haven't gotten to meet her yet!! Tonight I still have a lecture for Brittish studies and then another meeting then after that my friends and I decided to go down to the pub and celebrate us being in England! at Harlaxton!!Well this is the 5th time I've fallen asleep into my computer, so I think I should lay down for an hour before I need to get back up!! Soo long for now.

I'm off....to the airport

The day started early, and I'm very very nervous! I woke up today after a nightmare about customs. I'm on my way to the airport in Chicago now and I'm ready to just board the plane so I don't have to nervous about my bags, or security, or anything else. I just keep telling myself it's okay, you'll make it. I've got all my bags packed and weighed and measured, and let's just hope those extra 8 inches my bag is too big aren't apparent to the lady that checks my bags! This will be my last post from the US, in just a little under 12 hours I'll be in London!!