a good day

so today was a pretty good day for several reasons:
a) i only had one class
b) we went to the market and got food
c) we got paid (meal plan money into our bank accounts).. it was exciting
d) we went shopping because the had several sales going on into town
e) not too much homework
f) tonight at 7:30 we went to st. aldates school of theology lecture. it was fascinating. jackie (our history teacher) had talked about it and how interesting it was to hear simon (the theologian) to talk about discussion topics. tonight's topic was "anti-christs, beasts and dragons" basically we listened to his point of view on if the anti-christ already appeared or if we should expect a future monster. if this was a personality or a political structure. he gave a history of it all and explained everything in such great detail, at the end of the time was about 30 minutes to ask questions and to make comments. when we left, they gave us copies of what the lecture for tonight's lecture and the one last week was on (Signs of the times- What scriptures tell us about what to expect, what to look forward to as time reaches its fulfilment, if there are events in todays culture and nature which indicate if the end of time might be near) and a copy of the notes he used while giving the lectures. it was extremely intriguing to look at. it didn't end until 10pm, so it lasted pretty long but it flew by. it was one of the most interesting things i have been spoiled with since my time here.
g) we planned our first travel break. next weekend we are taking a class trip to london with the whole acu community. we are going to see parliament and im not really sure what else, but they have a whole weekend planned- but this was all planned out for us for the most part. tonight though we went ahead and made our reservations for our first 4 day travel break!! so that was real exciting booking everything and finalizing plans!!

pictures

these pictures are from friday.. when we didnt have class and didn't have a trip planned for the weekend we decided to wake up and walk around the town. we went to jericho (a little town south of market and the main way we go) and into town just to see the town during the day and just go shopping and stuff.

and the one of us all in a circle is after we had our first test.. we were waiting on meiko to finish the test because it takes her longer and we wanted to go so we were cheering for her and then when she got done she was excited so we decided to have a group hug and then take a picture of our group hug. haha it was funny, one of those things where you had to be here.. but minus the two boys- they are my roommates!


this is high street...where we walk usually everyday and where the grocery store


the boys weren't as excited about this picture as us






elise and trevor


sarah and brian


the girls!


us-- starting from the left: meiko, sarah, brian, me, elise and trevor!

last class

this is all from thursday i just forgot to publish it when i was done :o)

tonight we went to church for a college night they have. when we were leaving we decided to take the bus, but since this was our first time we so we had our last day of class for the week.. on thursday. which is fabulous not to have class on friday. i don't know why its so good but it just is. so that night we decided to go to st. aldatesdidnt really know which bus was the correct one and so we are at the bus stop and apparently unless you stick your hand out for the bus to stop, it wont. so once we got to the bus stop and stuck our hand out we got on the bus and we wanted a round trip ticket so we could come back on the bus- cause its cheaper then buying two singles. but if you dont ask at the beginning they tell you its too late and look at you really mean cause apparently its a huge hastle to change your ticket once he has already printed it up. so we ended up just trying not to make a scene or act like we were foreign. which didn't work out to well but oh well, we decided it was a nice evening to walk back.

so we got on the bus late and then got off early cause we didnt really know where the stops were. there is a street called high street that is a pedestrian street with shops and little restaurants. so since the church is right past this street we figured the buses wouldnt go over there. so we walk this street and then right when we cross the road about a quarter of a mile down the road a bus is dropping people off right in front of st. aldates. so that was kind of annoying but funny. after we got there it was a nice surprise to find out that they serve dinner. which was nice because it was our first real, hot, close to normal meal we had eaten in quite a while. during dinner we talked to some really nice people that went to oxford or brooks and got to trade questions so that was fun. oh and also-- for dessert we had these little ice cream bars which were amazing because they are store bought, but taste like nana's grasshopper pie. and thats one of my favorite desserts she makes, so that was exciting and totally unexpected.

during worship there were a lot of songs i didnt know or recognize but they were still good and it was good to see other kids, still my age, but across the globe worshipping the same God. it was a really good evening then after that we just walked around parts of the town we hadnt seen and tried to discover new little places. after grabbing a few groceries we headed back to the houses for a fun night of chatting playing games till all hours of the night

first day of classes..

so today we had our first day of classes.. it was humanities, it was an hour and a half but we meet every day... not too bad cause all of our other classes only meet once a week... but since humanities is a 6 hr block we have to meet everyday. the teachers here are fabulous.. all of my classes are so interesting and today we were talking about the history of the anglican church and stuff which was crazy cause i went to one yesterday for the first time and could relate to a lot of the stuff they were saying and traditions that are upheld. nuts. anyways we talked about when queen mary, and when she killed those priests in the middle of town because they werent catholic.. and the first day when we went into town and every day since we pass the statue dedicated to those priests. because it happened right here in oxford. it was pretty insane. usually history is my worst and least favorite class but this semester its like a huge story and i get to see where everything happens so i feel like im going to like it a lot better..

after classes we took a nap and hung out and stuff then after we went and walked to the city center to get school supplies and stuff. thennnn we went to the eagle and child pub.. its a place where c.s. lewis and j.r.r. tolken used to hang out and write.. its really famous so it was fun to go in and see everything.. the food wasnt too bad either

this is the little pub, it doesnt look that big but it goes back pretty far, its real relaxing and there is a fireplace and stuff all inside

elise and sarah

trevor, me, and brian

day of rest

oh man.. so last night, major major jet lag.. elise, sarah, and i were laying awake for quite a while.. after getting up and getting food, chatting in the kitchen for about 2 or 3 hours we decided that we weren't really tired.. so we figured everyone else must have major jet lag as well.. so we decided to creep up to the guys floors even though its not allowed cause of rules and stuff and see if we can get one of the guys to play cards with us.. keep in mind it was 5am here.. haha so that was fun, we had no luck and ended up just getting spooked out because this is an old creepy house and it makes lots of weird noises.. but thats okay it was fun. so we ended up going to bed at 530 only to wake up at 815 for church the next morning..

815 came extremely early.. but its okay, we were planning on using this to get our sleeping schedules on track... so we went to christ church college.. it was BEAUTIFUL.. i have pics but i havent figured out how to put them up.. anyways.. it was amazing.. it had a huge quad campus and along with the dining hall and some other random places inside are shooting locations for the harry potter movies.. it was amazing, its everything it looks like in the movies but better. also inside of the college there is works from Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo... the church service itself was fabulous.. it was a high Anglican church that was extremely traditional. i have never been to anything like it where you stand up and sit down and stuff but it was neat. the boys choir sang for a good portion of the service and they did very well.. it was an experience.

the entrance to the cathedral

the view when you walk in.. the entrance to the chapel is straight ahead

the view on the side, when walking to the cathedral.. early in the morning when the sun is still rising.. gorgeous

what you see immediately when you walk in, straight ahead

the entrance, its a really long hall so you cant really see the door, there is a little podium in the middle of the floor but the preacher stood in this little cubby on the wall.. haha i dont know what its called.. but its little and in the left side of this photo

this is where we sat.. its hard to see but we were in the section closest to the choir, on the same side as preacher

after that we just walked around down town and got some groceries and went to the little mall shopping area that had places to eat and buy stuff.. we just walked around it was a beautiful sunday afternoon.. we then came back to the houses and cooked some lunch and took a nap.. our little nap ended up being all afternoon kinda so we ended up missing the church service we wanted to go to but thats okay.. we had 9 o clock worship/devotional in the commons room and it was fabulous, we just talked about a bunch of stuff and sang and hung out together... after that we walked down to the city center and got some ice cream and coffee and it started to rain a bit.. it was the first time we have seen rain since we have been here but it had stopped by the time we left

alrighty.... uh well today was a bit stressful, at least at the beginning... we went to bed last night around 8:3opm and didn't wake up till this morning around 1:15 pm. (yes thats almost 17hrs)... so we wake up and panic a little bit because we are supposed to meet the group outside of our house at 130... so we get ready quickly and as we run outside we spot our group wayyyyy down the path at st. hughs college (where we will be meeting for some of our classes).. buttt we catch up with them and then have a 3 hour orientation about life in oxford and expectations, rules and regulations, all that fun stuff. it was a boring afternoon. but then once we get done we walk around and they show us where the laundry room is, how to use it, where the computer lab is, so by the end of this little afternoon thing it was 430 and we hadn't eaten anything in forever.

okay well once we got done with orientation stuff we came back to the room and had some tea and biscuts as a little snack and then we headed down to the town center (which is about a mile walk that has shops, little restraunts, coffee places, and pubs) for dinner and we sat in a little book store to talk about what we needed to buy as well as trips we were planning on taking during the semester... i would say in all it was a good night.. we almost got hit buy a bus but that was not my fault.. well thats it until tomorrow i guess, God bless!

exhaustion

so the day started at 715 this morning. we met up at the buses at 9am and headed for dallas around 10... a 3 hour bus ride into dfw and then we wait for our plane to get here. We left dfw at 440pm and arrived at 115am dallas time... 9 hrs later at gatwick airport in london.. here in london it was 715 so with hardly any nights sleep and a 2hr bus ride ahead of us we start our first day together in england...

... once we got all of our crap unloaded, set up our rooms and then had a little lunch, the morgans(the people that live and maintain the houses here in oxford) walked us all around oxford and showed us the university, where market is, and where we would be spending most of our time.. it was absolutely beautiful.. there is a meadow about 10 min away on foot that is gorgeous and we go there every once in a while to have bible class and where we can just go and be alone with God

after walking around for about 4 hours we decide to stop at a pub, cause thats what they do here in england, and get some dinner. yes it was only 430 but we were planning on getting in bed early.. so we go to the pub and try to order but dont really know much about beer so we just tell him to give us whatever he would recommend for people that dont drink beer. it was a light beer he said but it was absolutely disgusting. we tried to chug it because we felt dumb leaving a whole 1/2 pint of beer left on the table when it wasnt much to begin with.. but it was disgusting and we felt sick once we tried to chug it. so we ended up just living a few pounds on the table as a tip and making a quick exit. at least we tried it, but i dont think it is something that i will get again..

well its about 5:30pm here and so we are going to try and stay awake till 8 if not at least 7 and then hit the sack for a good nights sleep... ill try and post pictures later once i get some to put up.. until then, GOd bless!