My Summer Abroad: I'm an international traveler!

All I can think is HOLY COW! I have experienced more in the past 3 days than I ever thought I could. I started to write this entry last night, but I was so tired my mind could not string thoughts together, so I'll make up for it with an extra detailed post now. :)

We left for Atlanta from STL on Sunday at 3:20. That flight was nice, and there was no turbulence, but I was still nervous because it was my first flight EVER. It was very sunny, and I looked out the window a lot. The guy in the seat next to me was nice and talkative, so we also talked part of the way. We landed in Atlanta around 5 (Atlanta time), and were starving, so after finding the E terminal (that airport is HUGE) a group of us ate dinner at TGI Friday's. It tasted so great and was nice to be waited on and be with the people in my group. The layover in the airport lasted until 10, and our plane took off for England at 10:30pm!

That flight was not as bad as I was warned it would be. The city lights were great, and we flew up the East Coast so there were lots of them. I think we flew over (or around?) DC, Boston, and parts of Canada. I tried to sleep (with the help of Tylenol PM), and the plane food also wasn't too bad. We also flew over Ireland while eating breakfast, so that was really neat to see. It really is as green as everyone says! When we landed, it was 12noon English time, but 6 am STL time, so the day was a little disorienting.

After the flight, we caught a bus to make the 3 hour drive to Harlaxton Manor. It is 3 miles outside of the town of Grantham, which is approximately 75 miles north of London. We drove past lots of fields and tree-filled areas on our way up here. It really is the English countryside! We stopped for a late lunch around 3pm, and guess where it was...McDonald's. I still can't believe my first official meal in England was McDonald's. Definitely NOT what I had been expecting! The food was good, but it did taste a little different from back home. Someone told me that the Brits use a different type of beef in their burgers, so maybe that's it? We finally got to Harlaxton around 4pm on Monday, and after 24 hours of traveling, it was so worth it! Harlaxton Manor is a large manor house, but to me it's more like a castle! (See pictures below). It has so many hallways and amazing artwork and woodwork. It is beautiful, and everytime I look around I still can't believe I'm living and going to school here.

Last night a group of us girls went to the pub/get together place in the basement of the manor. It's called "The Bistro," and there are comfy couches, benches, tables, a big tv, and a bar. I had a "Strongbow," a British beer. (The legal drinking age is 18 in the UK-I didn't even get carded!) It's a cider, so it was fruity and light, and tasted really good after 2 days of traveling. After, a few girls and I explored the Manor a little more. It was kind of creepy at night, and the shadows made areas seem scary. We found an awesome room with a staircase and lots of wood carvings and a mural on the ceiling. We went back today and took more pictures, and I can't wait for the tour tonight!

Today we had our first classes, and I think they are going to be challenging but fun. I'm excited about doing the History of the English Language (my capstone class) and that I'm going to be researching it while in England. Just thinking about it makes me excited! After class and lunch, we took the school van to Grantham, the town about 3 miles away. It's small and quaint, just how you would imagine a British town to be! There were lots of shops, and Katie and I wondered around looking at things, taking pictures, and browsing at the different stores. I bought a Diet Coke (it tastes the same-yum)--it was my first since the small cup of soda I had on the plane to Atlanta--and it was great. I think my caffeine addiction is going to be one of the hardest things because our cafeteria doesn't have a soda fountain, haha! There is a soda machine, but I'm trying to save my money for more worthwhile things, like a trip to Ireland! :)

So far, the most different part is definitely the money. The 5 and 10 pound bills aren't too bad, but the one 1 and 2 pound coins are confusing since I'm not used to having coin dollars. The pence are similar to US pennies, but there are 1, 5, and 50 pence coins. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it, and I'm already getting better at doing the pound-dollar conversion in my head.

We have a class trip to Nottingham on Friday, so that should be super fun, and as I mentioned earlier, I think we are going to plan a trip to Ireland for the weekend. We still have to work out the details for that, though.

I have to go to homework now before dinner, and then we have a complete tour of the manor after, so I will probably take a lot more pictures. I've posted some on my Flickr, so check that to view them (in the links on the right hand side of the page). Here are some of my favorite that I took yesterday:

Katie and Me in front of the Manor!! We're finally here!