Getting in the swing of things...

I think it's safe to say I wont be the most avid blogger. But, none the less, I will do my best to keep you updated:)

The last week and a half has been full of transitioning and learning. I'm finally over my jet lag! The time here is 6 hours ahead of my usual Texas time, so I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep at nights... but that is over. I'm also understanding people better and better everyday. Though, my bladder is struggling to get used to the constant tea/coffee drinks, hopefully that will change! The family I'm living with, the Barnsley's, are just lovely. They are sweet and easy going making the adjustment that much easier! It helps that Holly is a native East Texan as well. Plus they have an adorable little boy, Dylan.

I've taken the journey into the town center several times now. It's about a 30 minute walk and maybe a 10 minute bus ride. Although the bus is faster, I tend to walk, unless it's raining or snowing, cause it's quite a nice walk. Speaking of snow... I did get to experience a decent snowfall here- but that really isn't anything spectacular since most of you just got snow too.

Here are some pictures of a little bit of the snow/the city:


This is St. Peter's Church in the town center between snow falls.



This is part of the town center. I took it from inside while trying to stay warm waiting to meet a friend.

Traveling opportunities are popping up too! Next weekend, the 19th, I'm heading to Brighton with Bea to visit a friend, Lindsay. And at the end of March I'm going home with my friend Sally to Northern Ireland. We'll be riding up to Scotland and then taking a boat over to Ireland. And yesterday I went with my friend Rachel to an beautiful nearby town called Bridgnorth. The market was out and there are some super cute shops. I'll have to post a picture of that soon!

Lots is going on, and I look forward to see much more happen!

The journey

Well I made it safely, I have that to be thankful for- and believe me, I am! My flight worked out well because it left around 11 p.m. UK time and arrived close to 7:30 a.m., giving me the opportunity to sleep all night here and not have to deal with jet lag. I slept about 6-7 hours of the 9 hour flight, but that didn't catch me up. I was still exhausted all day, but refrained from napping so I could sleep all night. That, indeed, did work :)

As for getting off my flight... customs decided to detain me for about an hour. After questioning me for about 20 minutes, they gave me a detention slip and put me aside to go call Ellis, the husband of the couple I am living with. They questioned him for about 30 minutes wanting to make sure I wasn't working/volunteering illegally and I'm pretty sure they thought I was dating Ellis- until I told them he was married. Finally, when the guy came back, he talked to me for another 5-10 minutes and let me into the UK. YAY!

Ellis and Bea were waiting for me when I got my luggage, and we headed to Wolverhampton!
Note: Bea is a student here at the university ("uni"). Bea is not Ellis' wife. Holly is Ellis' wife.

I am already learning lots about the vocabulary and culture. I have had to stop people in conversation many times to make sure I knew what exactly they meant. It's still so funny to me how we can speak the same language, yet so differently. Let me see if I can remember some of the things I learned:

Pitch=field
mousy= light brown hair
ginger=red hair
dummy= pacifier
nappy=diaper
pram= stroller
boot=trunk

That's all I can think of right now. Another thing I'll have to get used to are the sinks. Instead of one faucet that you can change the temp. of, there are 2 faucets in the sink- one for cold water and one for hot. I'm sure there will be much more learning every day!

Tonight people from the Vintage (the church) are meeting at our house. It's a usual thursday night thing. I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones!