Museums, Macbeth, and Manchester United!

Salutations!

I’m sorry that I missed writing last week. After the excitement of the weekend, and preparing for the next, I barely had time to manage my responsibilities for the week! I had a really wonderful time at the Manchester United game! The atmosphere was very exciting, and I really enjoyed being part of such an enthusiastic crowd! Our section was chanting and singing songs about the team, and I think we were the only section standing up the whole game. Old Trafford Stadium was really impressive, and we had an excellent view of the field. It was surely a once in a lifetime experience, and it was one of my favorite activities I’ve done since arriving in England!
By Thursday I had to be ready for my trip to Aberdeen. Rachel and I got a train to Aberdeen that left at 3:55 and arrived at 9:20. I enjoy traveling by train because it is a good opportunity to see the countryside. Scotland is very beautiful and I enjoyed seeing mountains to the left, and the North Sea to the right. I was really excited to get off the train and see my friends Jess and Ella! After grabbing a bite to eat we walked, and walked, and walked…… until we arrived at Hillhead where Jess and Ella live. We spent Saturday exploring Aberdeen, walking through a beautiful park, seeing where students have classes or hangout, and doing a bit of shopping in downtown Aberdeen.
Saturday night we saw the Scottish Ballet perform their fall show. It was really wonderful! I enjoyed all three pieces which were performed on point shoes in the genre of “modern ballet.” We went to a pub called the Blue Lamp afterwards, and that was exciting also because there isn't any sign to indicate that there is a pub located in that spot... there is only a blue lamp outside the door...

The next morning we went to the beach to check out a different view of the North Sea. It was gorgeous as always, and the waves were particularly irritated that morning. We walked along a river in order to reach the beach, and we spotted river seals on both our journeys! I didn't even know that river seals existed... It was hard to say goodbye to Jess and Ella (who were wonderful hostesses!) but Rachel and I had to catch an earlier train at 11:45 in order to be back in York by evening. All in all, it was another excellent weekend! I am so lucky to have been able to see so much of Scotland, considering how short my time is here.

This week I have had a bit of a soar throat, which will hopefully have cleared up by this weekend. I am focusing on organizing materials for my course essays, and planning future weekend excursions. I am looking forward to this weekend because, not only is it Halloween, the gang decided to stay in York! It will be nice to enjoy the holiday with our friends here and relax and recoup for our upcoming trips.

We are working on planning a trip that should take us to Wales, Bath, Stone Henge, and London. This is proving quite difficult, but hopefully we will be able to see some of those places. After that we are going to Paris with other international students from our program, and I am extremely excited to visit this famous city! There are also trips to Liverpool and the Lake District in our future.

I will try not to miss another update, and I hope this one finds all of you well. I would appreciate prayer for all of us here as we plan trips and attempt to stay on top of our homework. Also, that we would have patience if we encounter any problems along the way. Thank you so much for your prayers, and for continuing to read my blog! Miss you all, and hope you've enjoyed the update!

Sojourn to Scotland!

Greetings all!
This past weekend was really fun! Maggie, Rachel, and I went on a trip with the international students to Edinburgh and Stirling, Scotland from Saturday 10th to Sunday 11th. We had to arrive on campus by 7:00 AM Saturday morning, which was quite difficult for those of us who enjoy sleeping in whenever possible... The bus ride to Edinburgh was about five hours, but that includes a 50 minute stop in Alnwick, England. To some this may not sound very exciting, but to fans of the Harry Potter films it was simply wonderful! Alnwick Castle was used in the second Harry Potter film, and the fields surrounding the castle are where they shoot scenes set in the Quidditch pitch (Quidditch is a wizard's sport, played on broomsticks for those not familiar with the series).
Once we arrived in Edinburgh we were able to drop our things off at the Youth Hostel in Edinburgh, which was quite nice. Maggie, Rachel, and I shared a room with a few other international students, and we were happy that we at least knew some of the people we stayed with. That afternoon we walked to a park where bus tours leave from, and from there we took a tour of the city from on top of a double decker bus! I really enjoyed that, and it made it easy to see places like King Arthur's Seat, the Scottish Parliament, and the birth place of Sean Connery, which we were not able to visit a second time given our short amount of time in the city. The bus dropped us off outside Edinburgh Castle, and we had about an hour to explore the grounds. Here we saw the birth place of Mary Queen of Scots and her son James who became King James I of England. The crowned jewels of Scotland are also kept here, and we enjoyed examining those.
We asked an employee at the castle to suggest a traditional scottish pub for dinner, and she gave us the name of pub near the castle called "The Advocate." The food there was quite good, but we decided to head back to the hostel before it got too much darker. We left at 10:00 the next morning for Stirling, Scotland where the William Wallace Monument, Stirling Castle, and the battlefield where the Battle of Stirling Bridge was faught. The three of us decided to take a taxi to the monument, which is a ways outside town. After climbing up the wooded hill where the monument stands we were able to listen to a man dressed up like William Wallace talk about Wallace's life and the Battle of Stirling Bridge. I really enjoyed listening to him and asking him questions about Scotland's struggle for independence.
Rachel and I climbed the 264 steps to the top of the Wallace Monument, and it was well worth the effort! The view was breathtaking from the top of the tower. Stirling is set near a winding river, in the shadow of some beautiful mountains. It was a beautiful day, and we could see for miles and miles. I made a video from the top of the tower, but it may be a bit hard to hear me because the wind was pretty intense at the top. After we visited the Wallace monument, we trecked down the hill and ate lunch at The William Wallace pub :) We were quite excited about that! Finally, we visited Stirling Castle. We weren't able to go inside because we had very little time, but there was a very pretty view from the outside. After that we made our way back to the bus for a 6 hour ride back home. It's a good thing that Scotland's landscape is very beautiful because I might not have made it back otherwise...
All in all, it was a really nice trip! We saw a lot and did a lot in just a couple of days. This weekend should be very exciting as well! Rachel, Maggie, and I are going to see the opera version of Macbeth tomorrow night at the York Theater Royal. I have never seen an opera, or a play written by Shakespeare, so I get to do both in one night! Also, we managed to acquire tickets to see the football club Manchester United play Bolton at Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!! We were lucky that one of the people we asked about how to get tickets is a season ticket holder... That should be a really cool experience! I'll update you next week about that, and about a class on Christian Ethics that begins on Monday. Keep us in your prayers as we go to Manchester, and as we continue to plan trips for the fallowing weeks!
Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoy it!
Cheers!

Tales of Scarborough and the York Minster

Salutations!

I thought you might like an update on all that's going on here in York. In the past week I've been on a trip to the seaside city Scarborough with the Christian Union, celebrated Maggie's 21st birthday (which was a great success!), and taken a tour of the York Minster. I have also been doing a bit of reading for my classes, and I feel confident that I will learn a lot in each of my courses.

Our trip to Scarborough with the Christian Union was really fun! Maggie, Rachel, and I are meeting some really great people through this group, and it was so nice to be welcomed by a friendly bunch of people. On Saturday, October 3rd we left around 10:00 am and took a bus, or "coach," to Scarborough, which is south of Whitby on England's coast. Once we arrived we had fish and chips for lunch, and ate on the boardwalk by the beach. In the afternoon we played frisbee and "rounders," which is similar to baseball (although... in my opinion the two are very different, but there you are). The harbour is quite pretty, and we had beautiful weather all day. It was fun to walk along the boardwalk past the shops, arcades, and fish & chips joints.

Later, we climbed up the tallest hill in Scarborough to look at a castle which sits on top of the hill. From the top we had a very beautiful view of the village and the sea. The view of the coast from Scarborough is really pretty. There are some high cliffs on the north side of the village that we could see quite well from the castle hill. The long walk created a good opportunity for conversation and fellowship.

On Wednesday Maggie, Rachel, and I took a tour of the York Minster. The Minster is very large and impressive. The detail work on the inside and outside is incredible. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to work for so long on such a huge building! Construction began on the Minster in 1220 and it was not completed until over 200 years later. After exploring the many different sections of the Minster I can understand why it took that long! The stain glass windows are very beautiful, and the iron that holds the pieces in place must be changed every 100 years. It is an extremely difficult and slow process. We were not able to go up into the tower unfortunately, but I'm sure at some point during out time here we will get that opportunity.

This upcoming weekend I will be going on a trip to Edinburgh and Sterling with other international students, and I am really excited to get a little taste of Scotland! I can hardly believe that I've been here almost three weeks, and that I only have ten weeks left! There is so much to do and see during that time, and I mustn't forget to leave time for homework either.

Thank you all for your prayers! I know that God is listening because Rachel, Maggie, and I have not encountered any problem that we could not handle with God's help. I do ask for your continued prayers for our safety as we travel to Scotland this weekend.

Thank you once again for reading, and God bless!

Cheers!