Free Sandwich Day

Day 36

Woke up @ 1000. lets just say it was rough getting up and leave it at that. Well it was hard getting up until I realized it was FREE SANDWICH DAY!!!!  I quickly ate a bowl of cereal, got ready and ran down to MRKT. It was another great class. We are still talking about Consumer Behavior and it is super interesting.  AFter class, Grant, Wyatt, Natalie, Becca and I went to OTH and Grant and I had our free snadwich day. I chose to celebrate it with Tom's Le Club....Bacon, tomato chilli, cajun chicken, mozzerella, salsa....GLORIOUS!!!!! It was everything they said it would be....a messy, addictive monster. I also tacked on some fresh banana bread...well worth it!!!Grant got the Sicilian. He thoroughly enjoyed it.  AFter OTH, we came back and picked up allison, Cailee, Sydney and Kel. We went to go feed the ducks. Got some more good pics.  I attempted to feed a duck mouth to mouth. I chickened out. I will prevail though.  We then headed to the open flea market deal that is on thursdays. it was closing so we headed to the Swan Castle Pub. they ahd a deal...fish, chips and tea...2.99. I didnt get any food. I sat there talking while they ate but I ended up falling asleep. I woke up to a stanger poking me telling me my mates left. both my legs were asleep and my left are was killing me. I had drooled all over. I quickly grabbed my bag and left only to find them waiting for me at the door. They had asked the guy to go wake me up. It was pretty funny. well it was until a good ways home I realized my nalgene was not in my backpack. No one went back with me to look for it (pooper scoopers) but I went and looked and no one had seen it. I dont think the workers were very concerned about finding "a green water bottle".  Oh well. My first casualty of the trip...I think.  I swung by Sainsbury's and picked up some frozen pizza and milk. I should mention that during this whole entire outing it has been raining and of all days I decide to try out my umbrella and just wear my fleece. Bad decision bc my umbrella might be a little small for me so my pants were soaked and my fleece was not much drier. It wasnt horrible but definitely a lesson learned to just wear my rain jacket.

When I got back, I started working on my hw. I skyped with mom and during that I was "invited" to dinner at the Lytle's with some other peeps. I was pretty excited. It was delicious spaghetti with salad and bread...classic! AFter dinner, I decided to go with Natalie to St. Aldates college group. Best decision in awhile!!! There were probably about 100 peeps there. We causght the very end of dinner and found Kel, Sydney, Brittany, Cailee and Allison.  The worship was awesome even though I didnt know any songs but one. That is sometimes the best though cause then I really focus on the words.  It was cool cause we jsut pickedup the table and chairs and sat on the ground. The lesson was about the speck and plank in Matthew. The youth pastor's (?) wife gave the lesson. She reminded me so much of Cailee. But what was crazy was the worhsip leader...looked like Jgroves' Irish twin!!! if Corbo and Jgroves morphed to become a super being....it would be Chris. I will get a pciture to prove it. It made me almost question Jgroves of his apparent duplicity (word of the day).  But the lesson sparked a great convo with Cailee, Allison and me. We covered so much. I really need to start recording these convos I have been having lately. God is really putting me in these positions of convo.  It is great. Engaging is the word that I keep hearing and seeing in the situations I am in. Engaging. Be engaging for God. Doesn't really make sense upfront and it can be taken a few different ways...all the better.  One of the points that stuck with me from the lesson is Love without judgment is unreliable(unrealistic) and false. It is so intense and so challenging to the ways of thinking many Christians hold.  In today's church, God is losing his "bite" and just getting more and more fluffy. God loves and He is love but with love comes judgment...hard judgment. There is almost not even a balance between love and judgment, but a coexistence...a reliance on eachother for true existence. Love without judgment is unreliable(unrealistic) and false. At church I heard a deep new song by an English artist Tim Hughes called "May the words of my mouth". Intense with meaning! Oh and I missed the first day of the 40 Days reading but I am going to do yesterday's today and just catch up tom hopefully. Im excited!! (you're excited?)

After church, natalie and Brittany stayed to go with a lot of the peeps to a pub which they do every week but we left to do hw.  I came back, started hw adn have been working towards getting to bed since then.  I have nothing standing in my way now seeing as how I finished bible and my mission statement and core values for MGMT on monday so....

Go GB Women's curling!!! Another dominate performance against Russia today. and now....

Im out like a bullet from a gun...eyes locked tight before my head hits the pillow.
Laters Chums

Time Flies When Your In A Foreign Country

Day 35

Woke up @ 1215. Realized it was day 35!!!! what the heck?! There is no way we have been here this long! Grant, Wyatt and I looked at the travel calendar...there is not much time left open for trips! We are coming down to the wire here...already. Its ridonkulous! oh well. Its been fun and we do still have a lot of time left but so much has gone by already...must be positive.

Today I had a nice big bowl of cereal with bananas. Nothing special except my milk was frozen. I dont know which way to turn the temp dial. Do higher numbers mean colder or warmer?! After breakfast, I worked on bible til OTA which didnt start until 1415 today because our tour at the Boldiean Library was not until later. The library was fantastic! Very prestigious place. They get a copy of every book and magazine printed in the UK thanks to the forsight of Thomas Boldiean. Genius. They have so many books that they store them in salt mines and in miles of tunnels underneath oxford. I really wish we could have seen the tunnels and the trains they ride through them to retrieve books.  lucky oxford students. ha

After the tour I went to Sainburys with Cailee, Kel and hannah.  We were supposed to feed the ducks but we never got there bc I went to the self checkout lane and it was the worst experience EVER!!! not only did two of them break, leaving only 1 working, a guy decided to buy half the store and do the "fastlane" self checkout. And of course he had never worked one before and had to search intensely for every bar code and then couldnt get it to read it.  It was horrible. I spent over 25 minutes in line and I could have gotten out but i was at the point where I had invested so much time already that it was not worth it to go to another line bc I just knew things would pick up eventually...WRONG! geez it was bad. But i jsut chilled and watched people...very interesting.

Well after the store, we came back. I ate at Ali's. Got the jacket potato and i realized Im not a huge fan of them. next time im getting the chicken wrap! Jacque, Ruh va nee and Lauren decided to come with us to switzerland so it shoudl be fun. they actually got on the same flight and bus as us to the airport and might even be staying at the same hostel so that will be awesome! its me and five girls...suh weet! haha We did book our bus tickets tonight and they came out to only 11lbs round trip which is awesome! our bus leaves at 1am. should be a fun long long long long long long long day. Besides booking the bus, I have just hung out with a few peeps trying ot figure out the next breaks trip. Still not sure what I want to do but Im not too worried.  I have been working on my mrkting research interview write up about price and ryanair for way too long but I have to say I have a sweet set up. the big screen tv right infront, speakers on either side of my and my notes and books spread all around me in a large wel lit room. Oh and food to munch on...Thanks Nane. I did actually finish my write up and I am very happy with it. now to see the grade I get.

Well, that has been my day. One thing to add is that I have realized that i really really enjoy curling! It is such a peaceful thing turned into such fierce, non agggressive competition. very intriguing.  What other olympic sport can the girls wear makeup and keep their hairdo's going strong? Brilliant.

Im out like I just got clobbered with a curling thing-a-ma-jib being hurled at bone breaking speeds.
Laters Chums

The Day of George

Day 34


Woke up @ 1130 with the test of the fire alarm. Realized I didnt need to be up so I went back to sleep. Woke up for real @ 1230. Took a shower. Went down stairs to make another delicious breakfast sandwich and realized that I was out of bagels and didnt have bread so off to OTH it was. OTH was super busy but amazing as usual. Came back to study for MRKT with Kris. Got through it super fast and then went off to class.  Class was pretty informative.  We are into Consumer Behavior which is a pretty cool topic.  Rick finally let back on the hw. We still have the survey thing due thurs but we didnt get any more hw.  And of course we still have the marketing journal to constantly be working on...which I havent started. Well I have...just not very much.


After class, I went to Green's Cafe with Kris to work on Bible. It was a case study about homosexuality and Christianity.  I went real deep in it.  It was about George, a homosexual who served in the church.  We had to state our stance on it and research it in the Bible and see what other people thought.  Many stances the Christian websites took were very attacking and not about showing God's love at all.  I had quite a few deep convos today with Kris, Natalie, Jacque, Bradyn and Brittany.  I probably spent close to four hours on bible when it could have taken about 45 mins.  I enjoyed it alot.  I cooked hawaiian pizza for dinner and then had a snack of the brownies that Nicholaus got as a Valentie's gift but gave to me cause he doesnt like chocolate and milk.  It was great!  Now I am chilling in the classroom with Ryker and Kris.  They were dancing and now I we are watching the Women's snowboarding. It's legit! So many people are wiping out! An American won fifth. not too shabby. Of course, a Canadian won first.


Well thats it for today. nothing too crazy. Im heading off to bed soon after a little Marketing work. so...
I'm out like the Cowboy's in the playoffs...every single year!
Laters Chums

The Day the Package Arrived

Day 33


Its been almost a week since my last entry. I have been so busy with school and what not but I have been recording on my VR. I did break my streak though of recording every day on Saturday. I was so tired. I tried to record about it on Sunday but I forgot what I did. There in lies the reason to record every day what happens. My memory stinks. But anywhoozers, its been a good time. Valentine's Day yesterday was awesome. Serenading Ruh va nee went flawlessly and ironically here presently were all kojo kai colors and the face towel I got here was cinderella which is what they are doing for sing song...it was all a very nice coincidence. haha But now for today....


Woke up @ 12:05. It felt like I closed my eyes and then just opened them right back up. Well that is actually exactly what I did but you get the point... I was super tired! My package from home finally arrived. It was well worth the wait. It was loaded with enough snacks and toiletries to open up my own convenience store! After corting out the goods, I made another delicious breakfast sandwich with fried egg, cheese, bacon on a bagel. Had grapes and some apple, raspberry and grape juice. Always a good way to start off the day. I then read my letters that came in the package from the fam. Made me miss them but they were nice to read. I then read for MGMT and printed off Mom's survey about me she filled out.  Class was intense today. I realized that I dont have a big idea for life besides wanting to help people. I dont really even know what a big idea is. Im going to talk to Rick about it soon and just digress a bit.  Im glad I record the classes though cause the one today will be one i can go back and listen to a few years from now and refresh myself of stuff. We talked about Ronald Reagan and his leadership abilities and we talked about the allegory of the cave. We read a pretty funny version of it. It was all about seeing other people's perspectives and what to do with the info once you know where they are coming from.


After class, i started my hw. Ive been doing it ever since. That is not completely true, but close to it. We were supposed to go feed the ducks but hw got in the way. Humanities class has a huge test Wed that everyone is studying for. Thank the Lord I didnt take that class!!! combined with my other classes...I would lose it!! I worked on bible and that took me awhile for some reason even though it was easy. I really dont know where the time went today...it was just one of those days. I worked on INTS until midnight when it was due. I really enjoyed the article and I like my response to it.  I had tomato and mozzerella tortellini for dinner. It was not half bad. I still prefer going out to Ali's. haha I didnt have lunch today seeing as that I woke up at noon.


I found the perfect study spot in the classroom. I just hooked up the speakers in the room and finally had LOUD music while I was doing hw. It was so nice. After I finished my hw, Kris came in and we danced a little to Nat King Cole. She says im good at dancing....yeah.  We tried to do the Jitter bug/pretzel thing...It was interesting to say the least.  haha


Well I was trying to get in bed fairly early tonight, meaning before one. Count that as a loss.  I really need someone to vivify(word of the day) me.  I am out of gas but I was about to wrap up my stuff when Durko walked in and we talked for well over an hour about everything from sing song to MGMT class to how we are getting to know people on the trip to leading people of different religions and such to Christ. Found out that we both like to play Devil's advocate in class because sometimes MGMT just gets too one way thinking.  There are people other than happy sheep ready to be led and follow a decisive well-mannered person. ill just say the convo was crazy! I wish I had had my voice recorder on me to record it. ha I really enjoyed the talk. He did the exact opposite of vivifying me...the talk made me think too much and now im more tired. Overall, it was a good day...wait it was a great day because God made it and...its the day my package came! glad its bed time though.


I have to read a little MRKT before I close my eyes but
Im out like a clumsy dumb thug who has a gun but doesnt use it and decides to fight Walker Texas Ranger(aka CHUCK NORRIS).
Laters Chums

Overcoming the Bummer Day

Day 27

Woke up @ 1300 seeing as how I didnt get in bed until 0400 last night.  Today was a rough day. For some reason I just wasnt feeling the sweet breeze blowing my way. Things just looked dim. As the day progressed though, it got better I think because of prayers for me from back home after I skyped with them.

I got ready for the day and headed to OTH where I got my first cold sandwich. It was red pesto chicken salad on a baguette. Delicious as always. Just four more sandwiches until I get my card full!! That translates into free food for Jacob. I then went to do my normal study session with Rah va nee, Luz and Kris for Marketing.  I was not in the mood to study and nothing clicked.  Luckily in class there was no quiz.  Class was great as usual! learned about Walmarts marketing through a marketing strategy company who does nothing but collect data. At the end of class, we found out we have a test thurs and ontop of that we got slammed with more flippin hw. It will be interesting hw seeing how we have to interview people again only it has to be about our product we are doing our marketing journal over.  we have to do a survey, record the results and read ch. 5 all while studying for a test. We do have until tuesday to do the hw stuff though.

After class, I did Bible/work on 9@9 lesson/listen to music/facebook for a good 2.5 hours. Bible was cool bc we had to describe our perfect worship and critique churches ways of worship. Very thought inspiring.  While doing this i soaked my jeans to try and get the stains out.  Since we didnt end up having sing song, I went and did laundry finally since they were all taken for a stinkin long time.  I then left and went to Ali's with Kel and Cailee. Well we didnt leave right away because Kel and Cailee hid in their closets for 15 mins waiting to scare me when I came in looking for them.  Little did they know that i was downstairs watching a movie, perfectly content, waiting for them.  Eventually I went up but they were getting out as i came up so epic fail for them.  At Ali's, I got a jacket potato with (stay with me now) cheese, butter, chicken curry, lettuce, tomato, burger sauce, some hot sauce and fries....for 3lbs!!!! I think he remembered me cause he kept saying how he was adding stuff just for me.  he didnt charge the extra pound for the butter and cheese so maybe he was being sincere.  Anywhoozers, It weighed more than what it cost. I literally had to switch hands on the walk back bc it was so heavy.  I then went to the laundry room to move my stuff to the dryers only to find out one of my washers didnt start. I proceeded to move the clean clothes to the dryer and put in money only in the wrong slot so it just added time to the girls dryer below mine. I put ore money in the right slot and chilled for 35 mins until the washer was done. I took out my dry clothes and put in the wet ones. My stains in my jeans didnt come out AT ALL!!! They might have even gotten more dirty. I took my wet, stained jeans and my nice dry clothes back to the house and watched A Knight's Tale until the dryer was done. I then hung out for a while waiting for Kel and cailee to become available to do our Switzerland trip stuff.  We finally went over the plans and figured out what hostel we are staying at.  We ended up booking our hostel, the Lazy Falken, and im super happy with it. So now, hell or high water...more like hell or freezing mounds of snow...we are going to switzerland some how.  Tom we are going to the train station to work out tickets to the airport for the flights we want and then we are booking our flights.  Sounds a little backwards but when your plane leaves at 0700 you need to make sure trains will get you there in time first.

So that was my day. It was one of the less happy-go-lucky days I have had here for some reason.  It is probably the lack of sleep which I am not helping right now.  As the day went on though, it got better until I could barely stop laughing with Kel and Cailee while planning our trip...again probably due to sheer exhaustion.  Not having Sing song definitely helped out the day too.  How could a Christian school put on something so evil?!?! Only two more years of sing song...just two more years.

Oh, I went down and hung with the Lytle's for a bit today because I had a question about the stain remover I was using.  It is always a pleasant trip to the Lytle dungeon. And while I was down there, Hannah and I called Luke and Alice(the people we met at church on sunday) to get them our number. We are friends on facebook now too.  i also had two run-ins with Rona today while doing laundry. Three completely random meetings in the laundry room all three times I have gone there...intriguing.  I figured I would never see her again but now since I didnt call her after the first meeting I felt...awkward. We are now friends on facebook so that will help out.  I think hanging with her and her friends would actually be pretty interesting.  Shes pretty crazy. She plays collegiate rugby for pete's sake! Well thats all folks.

Im out like Al Pacino's cash.

Laters Chums

Sing Song is EVIL

Day 26

Yesterday I did not get a chance to type my blog due to the crazy amount of hw I had, but I did voice record it.  So how about those Saints?! CRAZY!! Anywhoozers...now for today.

Woke up @ 1200 and read a little for MGMT. Went to OTH with Corbo and got the BBC (Brie Bacon and Chicken) on a bap. it was heaven in sandwich form!!! Went to MGMT. It was another awesome class. We did a case study which I could go on a tangent about but I will refrain. It was very interesting about the idea of building a Latino Cultural Center at a university. Class today was a lot of discussion. I didnt talk much at first because of my back hurting and me not really wanting to talk but towards the end I couldnt resist.

After class, I worked on my INTS reflection over the Prime Minister Questions and the football game we went to.  Took forever to get that done because I was uploading pics and messing around on the pc. Went to Sing Song practice at 1900. I might have caused some problems because I was bored out of my mind! The biggest thing I did was light bradyns paper on fire without him knowing....it got big real fast! HILARIOUS...at least I thought it was. Not to knock everyone else but I got the motions and the words for the song super easy and we just kept going them over and over. I dont know how I will make it through real sing song next year! Our act is pretty much a full blown real act only we are putting it together in three days. Pretty impressive.

After practice around 2300, I started planning Cailee, Kel and mine's trip to Switzerland. It is going to be amazing!!! I just cant decide which hostel to stay at and whether or not to fork over a little extra dough and spend another day in Geneva. or to just not stay in Interlaken for three nights and spend one in Geneva...decisions decisions. I worked on the trip until about 0315 and now Im headed to bed. Pretty uneventful day. Didnt even leave the house except for OTH and to go to the other house. I ate my pizza for dinner so now I have no food in the house. Sainsbury's is calling my name tom!!!!

Oh. I found out today that PPP's(actually I dont know if I can call them that anymore), Ben and I are doing 9@9 this sunday and I am doing the lesson. Im super excited. Im already almost done with it. It was about Mary and Martha preparing the meal for Jesus so it was pretty easy to do.

Well thats it. The internet has been super homo here lately. Hopefully that gets straightened out.

Im out like roadkill.

Laters Chums

Down by the Sea, Where the Watermelons Grow

Day 24

So....Whitby and York were more than incredible!! I will try and shoot off a quick summary due to the asinine amount of hw I have due Monday. We are talking 124 pages plus 5 worksheets plus an analysis thing of one of our readings. And then on Tues we have a 500-700 word reflection due over our experience at the football(aka soccer) game we went to and the Prime Minister's Questions. I did record everything down on my voice recorder so what I do not write I will remember still. This blog thing is just way too addicting for something that takes so long!! So for the summary....

York was awesome. ACU decided to give us 10lbs to help cover the cost of attractions since it was a group trip. It was awfully nice. In York, it was super cold and the ancient city walls that you could walk on were closed due to ice. Becca and I climbed the tower of the York Minster. 275 steps. Super high. Then we went to the train museum FOR FREE! it was crazy cool! we ate at the most haunted site in York called the Golden Fleece. Got Lasagne. It was good. Left for Whitby at 1630.

Whitby was covered in fog when we got there. Our hostel was right next to the abbey and a huge graveyard with dates going back to the 1700s which all looked super creepy in the fog. Plus the stinkin church bells rang non-stop whenever they pleased and the door to the church was wide open. That just adds to the creepiness.  That night, Ben, Corbo, Bradyn and I hung out on the rocks by the cliffs. hung out means climbed we climbed them along the base of the cliffs by the ocean. Super cool....

This is taking way long and I need sleep and to read so here is the super duper quick version of the trip.

The next day we all went off on our own ways and the group I with had an awesome time! we found the coolest playground ever, hung on the beach, climb rocks to avoid the tide, found whale bones and just walked around the place. Oh, in the morning a few of us got up for the sunrise...epic fall seeing as the sun doesnt really ever show there until April we found out. That night some of us went back to the pier area and hung out. I talked to Brittany about how interesting waves were. haha They are actually really amazing and I got pretty deep about how they represent/mimic Christians really well. Another long story short...I went for a little swim in the North Sea. Tried to run on some rocks in the ocean. Didnt make it before the next wave and I got soaked past my waist. I then ran back the mile or so and up 199 stairs to the hostel to change before I got hypothermia. Sounds bad but it was awesome!

Today on the way back we went to a Nottingham Forest football game vs Sheffield Wednesday. It was pretty intense!!! The SW fans got really crazy when their team scored to tie it up at 1's. The security had to run out and tackle and hold them from getting on the field. pretty stinkin cool!! NF's Reds(Their mascot was robin hood...Sheriff of Nottingham and we drove by the Sherwood Forest) scored their first goal on a penalty kick which was awesome and then they scored another one later which I got a pretty good pic of. Great game! Good showing of culture. haha

When we got back around 1930, I went with some Ryker, Kris, Grant, Wyatt and Steph to Peppers and had a great burger as always. Figured out about church tom and then caught the end of Hot Rod which I had to watch seeing as it is one of the best movies of all time!!!! that is in my opinion of course.

Well that was the trip for the most part. It was so incredible. Now to the not so fun part of studying abroad.....studying. bleh. but....SUPER BOWL TOMORROW!!!!! (technically its on monday because it will be on around 0200 over here) oh...I missed the England vs Wales rugby game today but I got to hear a little of it because Dave our bus driver was listening to it upfront. England won like usual but I am watching Scotland vs Ireland tom. Its almost as big of a rivalry, if not bigger for a lot of peeps. tom will be a GREAT day for sports. we shall see how good of a day it turns out to be for doing hw.

creepy churches, oceanic oceans and fierce football made quite a nice trip. Im out like an innocent convict (because I am imprisoned by hw but really want to go to sleep...get it?)
Laters chums