Long Time No Update

Things have been busy since I've been home, with friends and family and everything. The 8 hour flight was really nice. A fluke allowed me to upgrade to First Class.

My brothers and a friend are up in Wisconsin Dells for a couple days, enjoying the water parks. I'm enjoying the lack of boys in the house.

Tonight I'm having a small New Years Celebration. I was hoping to go midnight sledding, but the weather is fluctuating constantly and I don't think the snow will hold up until tonight. The other day, the weather was actually England like. It got above freezing and rained.

Luckily, I got a picture of my house on Christmas Day, before all the snow started melting:

Sorry its been so long. I'm getting a laptop before I go back to Capernwray, so hopefully my updates will be more regular from now on. =]

Day After Thanksgiving

The day after Thanksgiving means nothing here, seeing as there is no Thanksgiving. Capernwray, however, did have an international Thanksgiving last night. We had turkey and mashed potatoes and apple pie. It was really nice. The dining hall was all decorated. Then we celebrated in the evening by watching Shaun The Sheep, an English children's claymation. It was cute, but I can't get the theme song out of my head!!!

Saturday was our trip to Liverpool, where we visited the huge cathedral and went to the Liverpool Philharmonic. The Orchestra performed two one-act comic operas. The series was entitled "Ladies with Secrets." The orchestra and the singing was excellent, and it was hilarious. The choreography in the second one was well well put together. It was a bit hard to watch and read the subtitles on the screen at the same time, but I could understand a bit of the French so that helped.

Tonight we're having a Comedy Sports type night, with improv games, and tomorrow night is some sort of costume party. Or, as the English say, a fancy dress party. I'm going as a Greek person. Thats all I could come up with.

Only 20 days left until I return for Christmas!

My friends and me at Hadrian's wall.

Hadrian's Wall is a stone and turf fortification built by the Roman Empire across the width of what is now northern England. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the third of four such fortifications built across Great Britain, the first being from the River Clyde to the River Forth under Agricola and the last the Antonine Wall. All were built to prevent military raids on Roman Britain by the Pictish tribes (ancient inhabitants of Scotland) to the north, to improve economic stability and provide peaceful conditions in Britain, and to mark physically the frontier of the Empire. Hadrian's Wall is the best known of the three because its physical presence remains most evident today.

A significant portion of the wall still exists, particularly the mid-section, and for much of its length the wall can be followed on foot. It is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern England, where it is often known simply as the Roman Wall. =]

Wednesday, November 12th

Newcastle was great last weekend. It took about 2 hours to get there, and after getting to Jonny's house we walked aroud a bit and went to the mall. Then we went out to the ocean (which you can see from Jonny's house) and explored for a while before walking to church for the mission's report. Back at Jonny's, we watched Black Hawk Down and made it partially through Without A Paddle before going to bed. On Sunday we stopped at Hadrian's wall on the drive back.

This Saturday, I'm going on a hike in Silverdale. So I'll be spending another Saturday on the ocean, but this time it will be on the opposite coast.

I finally got some picturers off my camera, so I figured I'll throw one in. This is me with Capernwray's infamous "pig-sheep" or "demon-sheep." It is the most hideous sickly animal I've seen. It was headbutting a tree when Karena and I approached, but stopped when it noticed us. I wish the picture could capture how awful it is, but you can't even imagine it until you hear the snorting noises. So, after much anticipation, here it is:

I still live in a castle, and the novelty hasn't worn off yet!

The week after travel weekend went by very quickly, and now its Friday again. Yesterday we had a quiet day, which was really refreshing. We spent the day in private prayer sessions, group prayer sessions, and worship and Bible reading sessions. This weekend, I'm going with a group of friends to Newcastle for the weekend for a missionary report at my friend Jonny's church. Newcastle is on the ocean (yes!!!) and I'm looking forward to hearing about mission work in the Congo. Tonight is Capernwray's talent show, aka Capernwray's Got Talent. That should be at least mildly amusing, considering the performances include acts such as animal impressions. I'll let you all know how it is in my next update.
Love,
Erin

Travel Weekend!

I'm back from a great four day weekend in Edinburgh! I stayed at Budget Backpackers hostel with Karena, Elisabeth and Eva. There were other from Capernwray scattered throughout our hostel as well. It ended up being a really fun and nice place to stay. After our four hour bus ride there on Friday, Karena and I wandered around and found a Tesco to buy dinner at, and then just explored in the city for a while.

On Saturday morning, we took a really fun historic walking tour. Our guide was from Manchester, but was in Edinburgh as a student. He was really informative as well as really friendly. The tour ended up being pretty much all Capernwray students. I felt bad for the two in our big group who weren't from Capernwray. I'm guessing we were pretty intimidating all together like that, if not just completely obnoxious. The afternoon was pretty much occupied with shopping, and we went to a jazz bar for live music in the evening. We also sampled some of the local food. The deep fried Mars bar ended up being really good. Jack shared his deep fried haggis with us too, which wasn't so good. It was really gross, in fact. A couple of us went on a nighttime ghost tour, it being Halloween weekend and all. It wasn't very scary. Mostly historic. The biggest threat during the tour was the muddy cemetery ground. I didn't want to fall and get my new boots dirty.

On Sunday morning, Karena and I went to the National Museum of Scotland, followed by an unsuccessful search for an open hair salon. We did some more exploring in the afternoon, and met some Capers at Starbucks for cards and catching up. In the evening, Karena, Luke, and I went and saw the new Bond film. Sunday morning we went to an amazing Art Museum, then got back and the bus and headed home. I unfortunately don't have much time for details about the whole weekend right now, as the Internet room closes in two minutes. I had a great time though, and took lots of pictures that I'll share later. Thanks for reading!!!

My birthday

is today! Some of my friends here threw me a surprise birthday lunch party of sorts. It was really great. They made pizza and we had brownie mix and trifle (don't ask) and cheese! It was one of the best birthday parties I've ever had. Karena, Allie, Johnny, Sam, Laura, Bethany, Jack, Gimpy (Luke), Dan, Stephanie, Jon, and a couple others came.

We leave for Scotland on Friday! I need to pack. Before I pack though, I need to write my "Alive in Christ" book report. I'm going to go do that now!

Another rainy Saturday...

Things haven't been very eventful around here, besides lectures and other school stuff. Last night was social night, which was pretty fun. There were different activities around school and the area. I played Wii with some friends. I got some pretty hilarious action shots that I'll upload when possible. Today was supposed to be an oceanside walking trip, but that was unfortunately canceled due to another gorgeous English day. That's probably a good thing, seeing as now I'll actually get some work done. Time is going by really fast now. There are only 51 days until Christmas break. I'm looking forward to going home, but I'm having a great time here!

Computer Failure

Well, this is my first update from the computer lab in the basement of the castle. My laptop has been giving me a plethora of blue screen errors and taking the liberty of shutting itself off while I'm taking lecture notes. This is my second resort until I can figure out the issue... or get frustrated enough that I take it to an IT guy. I finished my first homework project today, but have little time to pat myself on the back because I have three more current projects to work on. They aren't due tomorrow, (my procrastination hasn't kicked in that badly yet) but they are due within the next couple weeks. Fortunately, the research and subjects are actually applicable to real life, so I am learning more than head knowledge by completing them. I'm also compiling a book list of recommendations made by the lecturers. I'm really looking forward to reading some of them... when I actually have the time.

I booked a hostel with a bunch of friends going to Edinburgh at the end of October. Did you know that Edinburgh is pronounced "Edinboro?" The wonders of the Scottish... anyway, the hostel is only £12 a night, and our next decision is what we're going to see while were there. If any of you have been there and have any suggestions of sites worth seeing, let me know! I'm hoping to go to Glasgow for the day, and definitely tour the castle in Edinburgh, but beyond that, we're open to ideas!

I love Saturdays!

I'm currently in the preparation room, which becomes the internet room during wireless hours. There are about fifteen of us in here with our laptops, doing various things. Karena and I are looking up accommodations in Scotland right now for the travel weekend coming up at the end of October. Capernwray offers a coach to Edinburgh at a pretty good price, but their hotel deal is pretty expensive. Edinburgh has a lot of nice guest houses and bed and breakfasts, so we'll probably just book a big group of us in one of them. The one we're looking at right now is 13 pounds a night and seems legit.

I went exploring with some friends yesterday afternoon, and we took a big loop hike around the Capernwray area. It's really gorgeous hilly farmland around here.
I also have a couple pictures uploaded now:

shopping in Lancaster

wandering around the fields of sheep
English countryside

Due to the slow internet, I do not have all of my pictures uploaded, but you can view more of them on facebook!

Outside Communication!

Hello all!
I finally have wireless internet, so my plan is to post updates regularly at this location! The problem with the wireless is the ridiculously slow speed, so I'm not sure yet if picture posting will work out. But at least I can let you all know I'm alive! Which I am, and doing very well.

Its beautiful here, and its a great sunny day today. Sunny days are rare, and usually I'm outside on them, but I couldn't resist the internet today. I'm really enjoying lectures so far, and just the atmosphere of Capernwray in general. The schedule is pretty course intensive, but its all information with real life application, so its easier to listen to than, say, calculus. (No offense, math buffs.)

I went to Lancaster yesterday, mostly just for a change of scenery. (I get sick of the castle sometimes... not!) Its the closest city, and its not very large, but it has a mall. Unfortunately, with the current exchange rate, shopping is not very beneficial to me.

I also have band practice soon, as I'm on one of the rotating worship teams. We are scheduled to play on Tuesday, and I'm really looking forward to singing again.

I'm planning on trying to upload some pictures soon, but I've taken so many that I don't really know where to start. I guess you'll just have to take my word for it when I tell you that its gorgeous!

Well that's all for now, welcome to my blog!
Cheerio!
Erin

PS- here's a preview of my room... and me with my laptop!