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!!!