Saying Goodbye

Well, this is it. The last blog. And I have no idea how to end. I could write about the struggles of learning an entirely new education system and how I had to force myself to write in passive voice after a semester of getting it beaten out of me......Or I could write about the crazy (literally) people I've come across over the semester. I just am not sure. So here goes an attempt to cover four months of pain, laughter, sweat, tears, and ultimately, change.
Since that dreadful evening of arrival on February 2, many things have changed. I feel like Anne of Green Gables. I went looking for myself outside of my town, and realized it was home all along. I love Scotland to death and would gladly return. I have learned so much about the people, the culture, the weather (;)), and the lifestyle. You know your Scottish if you have a dog you walk everyday and always have a pipe and a walking stick and an accent no one can understand unless you're a Scot too. If I use words like 'quite' or 'rather' or 'knackered' or even let loose a British swear word, do bear with me. Even being surrounded by Americans mostly, I have still been affected. You never go to the pub until after 10 and always stay for at least two drinks before moving on to the next one. Socializing is key. Whether in the pub or treading in on the polo pitch, it's all about communication. I think that's one thing that we can learn from them, especially outside the city. The weekends are for walking into town for no other reason than to be out in town. When the sun is out, you go to the beach and heaven forbid you bring an umbrella because who wants to block the sun! Take a book to the coffee shop when it rains, and take it to the beach when it shines. No hurry, no rush to a destination. The only running done around here is running for exercise! Scotland is a place I love, but I love home more. Oh yes, I am a traveler at heart, but I am a homebody heart and soul. I am an adventurer, that will never change. But I think being away in another culture for so long makes you miss things you never thought you'd miss. Currency for one thing! Half price appetizers at Z'tejas. Dad's Saturday morning breakfast. The Dollar Theater! Even school back at VU. Mom clutching a pillow over her face during a movie and asking what's happening :). One thing about the students over here, even the ones a part of the Christian Union: Once they have a group of people they hang out with, they don't really change. Sure we get invited to things, but there is no follow through of "oh we are leaving at 7 you should come with us" or anything. I miss the excitement of students back home when someone new shows up and there is a scramble to meet them and get to know them. This has been an experience I will never forget or regret. I am so glad I went through the crazy process of applying and freaking out about EVERYTHING so I could really experience a UK University. It was totally worth it.
So while this last post may seem a bit negative towards Scotland, don't believe it for a second. I don't think I believed such a beautiful place could ever feel like home, but it has been for the last four months. I can't wait to share photos and videos and stories because it really has been a once in a lifetime experience. But it's time to come home :) So start up the BBQ, let in the sun, and bring on the summer, cuz in four days this Scottish Cali girl is coming home!

Cheers for the last time!

Exams....Harry Potter style

Hello all,

Things are winding down as you know, and I have achieved the goal I set out to do: GET THROUGH A SEMESTER OF UK HIGHER EDUCATION ALIVE! Yes, I survived. However, being thrust into an entirely knew learning system, writing system, and exam system was needless to say a bit harrying. I won't lie, my face did NOT look good for a while during revision and exams. (don't worry mom, it looks great now :) ) I must tell you though, these exams are very intense. My first exam was for my Drama reading and performance class. It was held in the Sports Hall because it was a large class. I live literally a two minute walk from the Sports centre. I was good though, I said I would leave with 20 minutes to spare.....get there early and all that Jazz. Well, apparently I didn't get the memo about getting to exams in the Sports Hall 30 minutes early, so while I wasn't the only one walking in there quarter to two, I was taken aback at how full the hall already was with students, and they were already making announcements and such. I hurriedly put my bag at the back (the exams were all very AP style) grabbed my pens and ID card, and turned to face the hall. Ok, our class was not the only one there......there were actually three. So.....where is my exam? I thankfully found someone I knew going down one extremely long row of desks, and followed them. Phew! Ok, there is an empty desk with an exam with my module number on it. I quickly sat down before anyone could take it. Then I looked at the exam.....oh right, these kinds of exams come with pre-exam stuff. Little papers to fill out and numbers to right in and all that jazz. I quickly filled it out with two minutes to spare. The man on the microphone said 'Begin', and the enormous hall was suddenly silent except for the opening of exam booklets. I looked at the first question......then I looked at it again.....and again. I literally had to look at it three times before I understood what he wanted me to say! Golly, starting off well aren't we? After that rough start things went a bit more smoothly. Then a man came up to my desk and I almost jumped....oh right, collecting the slips and checking IDs.....good grief! So you know in Harry Potter 5 when they are taking their exams in the Great Hall....yeah that's pretty much what this was like. Old people watching you from the front, a clock on the wall (maybe not as big or cool as the one in HP, but still), hundreds of kids leaning over exams. I half expected fireworks to go off! Or something akin to that to happen.
After that first exam experience, the others went more smoothly. My second was smaller and NOT in the Sports hall. It was also Shakespeare so it was the one I knew the most about. The third was back in the Sports hall. Divinity......oh dear.....you see the thing is, they don't believe in study guides over here and all exams are cumulative.....like I said, completely different education system. I felt so unprepared going into my final exam, and felt horrible for it. Then I turned it over and realized that I'd actually studied all the right things! Who knew.....;) By the time there were five minutes left, I was ready and done. I read over my essays one last time, and closed the book. I was done!!!!!!!!
So while I don't think I did marvelously well on my exams, I believe I passed them all! (of course, we'll find out soon enough!) Thank you to all who were praying for me. It helped!

Cheers!

Scottish bonfires....

Just something fun for the end is near! Thank you all who've put up with my slacking off, and forgetting to blog and so on and so forth. We are in Revision week! (great, a whole week to study and pull my hair out....fantastic...)Anyways the end is nigh, and as I am holed up in my room surrounded by Shakespeare and theologians, I thought a fun blog would do. This weekend marked the beginning of the end and to celebrate, (mostly because I'm broke and couldn't go to May Ball which cost £70!) we headed to Waltzing on West Sands, the equivalent to the ball. At 7pm, we put on sundresses and sandals, packed up some blankets and sweatshirts, got a subway take away dinner, and headed to the beach! Of course, since we had some time to spare and the sunset was gorgeous, we detoured to the Weak Bridge on the Old Course for some more pictures. No golfers potentially endangering our lives this time....;) Once we'd had our fill of group pictures, solo pictures, and of course funny pictures, we headed down to the beach. We pitched our little camp (which consisted of Hailey's beach towel and my scottish blanket) and settled in for some food and a good time....that lasted about twenty minutes and then we started getting freezing! Hailey, Meg and I ran down the beach a bit to warm up and by the time we got back they had started a bonfire, so we moved our little gang to the heat. It was quite nice just standing around a warm fire talking with friends, holding a Dr Pepper (we chose to forgo the alcohol route). You know how back home when we have beach bonfires, they normally get to the point where someone pulls out a guitar and starts singing tunes.....well, in Scotland it's a bit different. Here, guys pull out their bagpipes and start a ceilidh! It was quite amusing to see people just shout out a dance and people running around to get in line. It really was quite nice. We were there until about 10:30, so we really didn't have a drunk people problem. It was genuinly a group of students just having a good time around some bonfires on the beach. It was lovely. A good way to end one period and start into another....the study mode.....super fun...My first exam is in four days, so start praying! This could be interesting...

Cheers!

What students do in a small town.....

Well, it has been an eventful, yet not so eventful time since spring break ended and we returned home to finish our last weeks. I had an essay due the day we got back, so I jumped right back into the academics. However, it was not just school work waiting for us. With the end of April going by and May coming around the corner, the students get to have a little more fun. For one thing, we attended the CU (Christian Union) Ball on the following Saturday of our return, which was lovely. It was held in the building where we attend church on Sundays, and there was a wonderful sit down dinner that we were served by our fellow students. We then had a time of worship, and then we got down! We had a ceilidh, a bop (basically a DJ and dancing) and had the time of our lives, dancing reels, mixers, and other such fun dances. Hailey, Meg and I hung out with some of the other Baylor kids, and one of their roommates from Sally's, a British guy named Jaime who is the equivalent of a California boy. He surfs quite a lot, and unlike other English people, actually tans! He apparently takes a dip in the North Sea every month, which leads me to our next adventure - the pre-May dip.
Each year, the students of the university do what is called the May Dip. Basically, they all run into the North Sea at dawn on May 1st. I think they are absolutely insane, and do it because there is not much else to do. But anyways, we few decided we would do a dip before the big day. We woke up Monday morning, Hailey, Meg and I ran to Castle sands, and waited for our partners in crime to arrive. It was a beautiful day and I can safely say if we were going to dip any day, this was the day to do it. The rest of the group arrived, and we (That is, Hailey and I) decided to jump in cold turkey......that was interesting....it makes me realize now how quickly the Titanic people died.....the water was FREEZING! I kept thinking, why are we doing this?! We are cer-azy people! But it turned out to be a fun thing to start off the week, albeit cold....And it all led to the big day.....
April 30, 2010, 9:50 pm. I decide, hey I have to get up at 4 am tomorrow morning, I'm going to go to sleep early.....well, you see the thing is, students over here don't believe in going to bed the night before the May Dip. They stay up, drink, talk, and have a jolly good time at the expense of the few people actually trying to sleep. It felt like an afternoon, not the middle of the night, in my corridor, with doors slamming and people laughing. Finally at about 3:15 in the morning, I heard a few people enter a room a few doors down, and they must have been waiting for whoever it was because I heard a jubilant cry of "To the Beach!" and a mass of people heading out. I finally gave up after getting about two solid hours of sleep, and around 3:45 received a text from Megan asking me if I was awake. My reply: Unfortunately :/ I tumbled out of bed and threw some random clothes on, and made my way to our usual meeting point. As I arrived, we all asked ourselves the same question. "Who's crazy idea was this?!" But as a JSA, you just have to do everything.....So we arrived at Castle sands...to total mayhem. The cops were controlling the groupings of people going down, because the sands is a very small beach. I felt like I was at a concert, because I literally had no control over my body. I was moving and swaying with the crowd we were that packed together. When we finally reached the sand, we were surrounded by screaming people running into the water, a dozen little bonfires with shivering people huddled around them, and yes, the occasional nude male (thankfully nothing was seen by any of us) who'd gone in with his friends without any attire. Mhmmm. We quickly stripped to our bathing suits, and amidst the crowds, ran into the water. Meg was the bravest of all of us, running in and diving under. Nobody else made it that far. But we sure didn't stay in for long! We ran back out and found a spot by a smoking fire for a few moments to try to get some feeling back. Making our way back up the hill was a bit interesting, but we finally made it out, and made our way down the deserted Market Street. The sun had risen and the cool morning light was coming over the town. I parted ways with Meg and Hailey and made my way back to New Hall. I thought that since I was awake, it would be impossible for me to go back to sleep. It was about 5:30 am. I stayed up for about an hour, then thought "what's the harm in trying to sleep?" and so turned out the lights, and got into bed. about three hours later I woke up, saw it was time for breakfast, and didn't care one bit. I went back to sleep and finally got out of bed at 11:30! Oh yeah, it was good :) To finish the evening off, I met Meg and Hailey outside Uni Hall, and ended a good week with fireworks! Legit fireworks too, not pansy, stupid ones. It really was fantastic. And we were close enough that we actually saw the firemen setting them off. That was pretty cool. So while in the UK, at least in Scotland for sure, there are very few things to do in a small town that closes up at 9, the students make do, and make up crazy things like May Dips and other such health risking events.......gotta love it.....

Cheers!

In Dublin's Fair city.....to Galway Bay

If I knew how to spell it, I would start with an Irish greeting. It's been quite a few weeks since my last post. After a week of vegging, (literally we did nothing at all, it was quite fantastic) we headed off to Glasgow for Easter weekend with our friend and old girls youth leader from back in the day, Jenny Jack. It was lovely to go somewhere not only that you'd already been to, but had a friend to stay with as well. JJ was so welcoming with a lovely Easter gift waiting for us when we arrived. We didn't feel the need to do sight seeing, so it was a very relaxing weekend. The first day we got there, JJ's friends came over for dinner after hill-walking, and it was lovely to meet them. They were so nice to chat with and just be around. The next day, we all slept in and then Meg and I headed to Buchanan street to do a little leisurely shopping. It was a nice day and the one time it rained we were in Waterstones having a cup of coffee. We came back and just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. JJ again had friends over for dinner, which we loved, and she made Mexican! Woot! The next day was Easter so we all got dressed up, and JJ made this amazing breakfast that I totally plan on making when I get back! It was fantastic! It's called baked oatmeal, and it's an old Amish dish. We opened our cards and then walked to church. It was nice to walk in and immediately be sought out by JJ's friends we'd met the other day. We felt very welcomed. The service was lovely, and afterwards we had a balloon release, which was actually quite fun! We had a few people over for a nice lunch and then JJ, Meg and I chilled for the rest of the evening, going to be early since we had to be up at 3 30 am! gah!
After waking up at 3 30 to meet a taxi at 4 to take us to the bus station to meet the prestwick bus at 4 30 to get to the airport at 5 15, to make a 7 am flight, we arrived in Dublin around 8. And then we had a bunch of time to wander around. We had a bit of a fiasco with Bus Eirean. I truly believe they don't communicate with each other. We went to make sure we knew when our bus to Doolin left, and the info guy said that we had to take the Limerick bus. We said we didn't want to go to limerick. He just kept saying we had to take the Limerick bus and to be back at 2 30 when it would leave. So we did some sightseeing, walking O'Connell street, Grafton street, wandering inside Trinity College, and heading over to the Medieval section of town, and throwing in a jaunt down to the theater turned hotel where Handel's Messiah premiered. (we were totally the only people there!) After grabbing lunch, we headed back to the bus station to try to figure out what was going on. This time we went to the ticket guy. He said yes, we have to take the Limerick bus, but he continued to say that there we change buses to go to Doolin, which the info guy had failed to tell us...thanks. So we got excited to go, got on the bus....and the bus driver told us we would not make Doolin tonight, because the last Doolin bus leaves at 5 30 and we wouldn't get into Limerick until after 6. Great. We went back to the ticket guy and he assured us we would get there. Went back to the Bus driver. He was sure we wouldn't . He went to talk to the info guy, who finally informed him, yes, the Doolin bus would be there, and we would make it. Unbelievable....they don't talk to each other. So after a three and a half bus ride to Limerick, an hour wait, and then another two and a half hours to Doolin we finally arrived at 9 30 in the rain. While we did travel the cheapest way, we both agreed we'd never travel this way again!
We woke to cloudy skies, however we had not long been walking to breakfast (which we were actually just looking for since we hadn't bought food yet) and the sun broke through. Yeah, the California girls are here! After a filling breakfast, we got bikes from the hostel, and headed to the Cliffs of Moher. Of course, even though they were only 6 km away, the fact remained that to get to cliffs, you have to go uphill. Needless to say it took us awhile. But man was it worth it when we got there. I had seen pictures of the cliffs before, but it's nothing like seeing them in person. They literally took my breath away. I couldn't believe it. They really were absolutely incredible, carved and broken away by the hand of God, no doubt about that. The part you were allowed to walk around had walls, because the cliffs were in erosion and such. However there was a part you could hop over the wall and there was a trail. It was the kind of situation where even though there's a sign saying don't, everybody does anyways. It's like in the Sistine Chapel where there are signs everywhere saying no pictures and everyone takes pictures anyways. Yeah, that's what this was like. And I must say the affect was so much great without a barrier. It really was a spectacular sight, and a moment I'll never forget. We went into the gift shop to look around and get some lunch, and lo and behold, it began to rain. We though, "oh crap our bikes are getting wet and we have to ride back in the rain". But then we got ready to go, and it stopped! Like I said, the Cali girls are here! Needless to say the ride back was easier (aka, all downhill!) Once we got back, we decided to walk around the village and went down this little road that led to the ocean which was really quiet and pretty. We made sure we got groceries for the days we'd be there, and headed back to the hostel. The next day we were a bit unsure what to do, since the Cliffs had been the main thing we'd wanted to see. We had a brochure about the Aran Islands, and so we walked down to the pier just to see what times the ferries were running if we wanted to go. Five minutes later we were on our way to Inisheer, the smallest of the three Islands. There was no real tourist attraction, but there was one of the most beautiful beaches in Ireland, an 8th century church and graveyard, and lovely walks around the only 3 km wide island. It was a lovely day and we enjoyed the quiet of the island, the lovely beach and especially the church. There was a beautiful old carving at the head of the ruin of Christ on the cross. It was lovely and still in great condition. Everything was so peaceful. That night we decided to go out to hear the music. Doolin is known for it's live pub Irish music. There was a pub literally two doors down call MacDairmods that we decided to go to. It was quite fun to sit at the bar, listen to the music and watch the locals.
I got a bit sick the next day so we decided to keep to the town. We walked to the little 14th century church and graveyard across the street from the hostel and took some pictures, then headed to fisher street and walked around all maybe five shops there were there! (It really is the tiniest town I've ever seen) Doolin doesn't even have an ATM machine. The closest one is the cliffs. On our last day we decided to get bikes again and go the other way opposite the cliffs. We didn't really have a destination except wanting to bike the coast road around the burren (supposedly very lovely), but from some local advice we acquired along the way, we ended up taking the coastal road to Fanore, where there is another lovely beach. We didn't really feel the distance, but Fanore is 16 km away. We spent a few hours at the beach enjoying the sun and watching an unsuccessful surfer. More paddling was needed to catch his waves. It really was a lovely time. That took up most of our day, and we headed back to Doolin for our last night. We then had a bit of a scare when we overheard Carmen (who runs the hostel with her husband Mattie) telling a new hosteler that she didn't take credit cards.....oh crap. We had no money and had counted on her taking credit cards. We had a bit of a crisis but then Mattie drove us into a town a few km away to an ATM so we could get cash. That was another bit of a fiasco, but I won't go into that. The point is, we were able to pay. The next morning we were off at 8 on the bus back to Dublin. We arrived around 2ish, headed to O'Connell street for a bite and some last minute shopping at Carroll's, and then decided all we wanted to do was get to our hotel. We arrived at the travel lodge....and felt like we were at the ritz. We'd been so deprived with no internet or tv or anything like that, so when we walked into our room, saw the tv and bathroom, we decided then and there we were holing up for the rest of the day. We took baths, watched tv, and got snacks from the vending machine. It was a good night. (who knew we'd be so technology dependent :) We woke to grab a taxi back to the airport at 6 30 and were back in lovely Scotland by around 10. From there on, the traveling was easy. We grabbed the bus back to buchanan, arrived, and our bus to St Andrews was right next to it. We hopped on, and 2 hours later were home. Never had we been so glad to be back. Don't misunderstand, the trip was lovely, it was just the technology and wanted to NOT live out of a backpack! After two weeks, we were ready again for routine, even class yes!

Cheers!

It is a truth universally acknowledged....

A weekend of bliss and traveling back into the past. I can only describe to the best of my abilities what I take to be the most beautiful house and grounds I've been in. The Burn house was built in 1791 by French prisoners of war. It is unique because unlike most old buildings here that have been gutted and remodeled on the inside, the Burn house still has its old fashioned interior, so all the rooms look like they should in a house like that! It was fantastic! It has been privately owned all the way up to the 1940s, when the current owners', the Russell family, son was killed in Italy in WWII. After that tragedy, the house was abandoned, until it was finally given to Goodenough College, London, to use as a student retreat. Now that is it's only use. Students on holiday, retreats, or who can't get home for a holiday stay at the Burn house. 15 of us from St Andrews were lucky enough to have the entire house to ourselves for the weekend. It was a perfect way to start of spring break. We arrived at the house around half five, and settled in. As we pulled up the drive, I know I gasped, as I am sure many other girls did, for it looked right out of a Jane Austen novel. I resolved then and there to call it Longbourne. We entered the large reading room to a roaring fire, and friendly staff waiting to welcome us. As we were shown our rooms, we got to pick, and Meg got into one particular room first, and got dibs on it. I'm so glad she did for it was the sweetest, most beautiful corner room I'd ever seen. Yellows, greens, and all colors of pastel flowers covered the duvets, the curtains and the chairs. We had three large windows looking out on the grounds, and our own tea set to make morning tea, which we resolved to do.
Dinner was lovely, especially after constant hall food! The dining room was so cozy with lovely table settings, and we all had a wonderful time. Our table in particular was soon laughing quite loudly, and now I can't even remember what it was about! After dinner, the chef, who by the way is the most Scottish person I've ever seen, took us on a tour of the cellars, and dungeons :) We had a grand time making up stories about the people who'd been forced down there in the dark and we wrote our names on the walls beside many others who'd done so. We found names from 1925, which was very neat. After a very fulfilling evening, Meg and I called it a night, and went to bed. The beds by the way were soooo comfortable!
We woke up the next morning to sun streaming in all of our windows and making us nice and warm. We lazily started the day, and made ourselves some tea in our room to enjoy as we looked out onto the morning light over the grounds. We went down to breakfast, which was the best breakfast I've had since I've been here, because I got to make pigs in a blanket! Soooo good! I was very happy. The chef then informed us that in the evening, we would have an 'Address t' the Haggis' supper, so we all had to dress up in something Scottish, and we chose a clan chief who was going to cut the Haggis, and it was going to be grand. With that on our minds, we decided to walk to Edzell, the little town that can be reached by walking along the river. A journey that normally takes about a half hour-forty five minutes took us nearly two hours because we kept stopping to explore the little paths that led down to the water's edge. This river was right out of The Lord of the Rings. It had steep cliff drops and paths that led down and we had many adventures, most involving muddy clothing, climbing up and down the bank. Needless to say, we had quite a bit of fun exploring. By the time we got to Edzell, we had a bout five minutes, then we turned around and started back because of course, none of us wanted to miss lunch!
After lunch, we all went to attack the bin of random clothes they'd left for us to choose from for the night's festivities. We all looked very silly putting on everything from Scottish flags, to old lady clothes, etc. when we'd finally made our decisions, we went out to play croquet, which we all did in our outrageous clothes. The Baylor kids then went for another river walk, and Meg and I took advantage of the Putting green, and the tennis courts, both of which were interesting....needless to say it would probably have been quite humorous to have been a bystander watching us!
We then decided to take our own short walk along the river going the other way for a little bit, and I am here to tell you we found Lothlorien. Not even kidding. Long smooth trees covered in moss, and old stone steps covered in fallen leaves leading down to the water....oh yeah. After our little adventure we decided to bring it inside. We went back to the house and took advantage of the coffee and tea tray always available, which we did many times I must say. We took our tea and biscuits into the library, a beautiful old room with big windows and cozy chairs, and Meg brought something to write, and I grabbed an old, beautiful copy of Great Expectations. It was a lovely time of reading the right book in the right setting with our tea and view. I couldn't get over it! The Baylor kids got back soon after, and it was time to start preparing for our Address t' the Haggis! Meg actually ended up being the Clan chief's wife because she fit the dress provided....I ended up looking sort of like a rebel Scot, with leggings, a tartan scarf around my waist, a plaid vest, and a crazy beanie complete with long feather sticking out of it. I was a mixture of rebel and Robin Hood! Three of the guys were shown by the chef how to wrap themselves in an actual kilt, not just the kind you can rent for dances or anything. He showed them how to take a piece of tartan cloth and fold it into a kilt. It was very interesting to watch! Once we'd all donned our apparel, we sat in the beautifully decorated dining room for Robert Burns' 'Address t' the Haggis'. It was quite good. We had a decorated table with pictures or Robbie Burns, whiskey bottles, and complete with claymore. We were then served a full Scottish meal, complete with haggis and potatoes as the first course, and meat pie and vegetables as the second course. The meat pie even had a thistle, not a real one, cooked into it for decoration! It was lovely. Our desert was of course a kind of fruit and chocolate pudding flambe. It was such a fun evening. We finished off the day with a game of hide and seek in the house, and learning how to play snookers in the game room. A fun, satisfying, relaxing day all around.
The next morning the Baylor kids had to leave at 9 30 to meet their train to London. We all had breakfast and then wished them well. I felt like we were the Bennet family wishing our guests farewell because we all stood outside the door of the entryway and waved as they drove away. There were then only five of us left. We weren't leaving until 12 30. Meg and I decided to go upstairs and practice our Snookers a little more. Around noon, we went outside to get a last breath of air and enjoy the grounds before we left. I was sad to leave, but it had been a very satisfying weekend, and a perfect way to start off spring break. I will always have that image of the Burn house as Longbourne now :)

Cheers!

God is good.....always

Again, I apologize for my lack of consistency in blogging. It's been a rough last two weeks I'm afraid. I have had quite a few venting moments, and have said many times "screw this, I'm going home"! But, I'm ok now, especially with Easter break only 6 days away. I had a bit of a crisis moment on Tuesday. For those of you who don't know, I've worked the last two summers at Lost Valley Ranch in Colorado, and it has been a constant blessing and way to have an income. I received an email on Tuesday saying that I had not been offered a position. The reasoning made sense, sort of. What with the current staff they have, who are staying on, they just wanted to give LVL some new faces on staff. It just came as a surprise to me. Then to top it off, I returned to my room and my adapter had been confiscated because apparently it is illegal in the UK. That kind of did it for me. I sort of....no wait, I DID have a break down! It was just a bad day. I had a horrible chat with the housekeeping manager who'd taking it, and she basically said she wouldn't give it back to me unless I went out, bought a new one, showed it to her and write a note saying I will NEVER use the other one again. Meg got hers back with very little difficulty, but apparently New Hall likes to make their tennants suffer. It was not a good 24 hours for me. I vented about how St Andrews is horrible at advertising, and warning students about certain things, and how I missed the U.S. and hated the UK.....blah blah blah....you get the idea. I feel better now, those are just 24 hours that I want to forget. I know most of my blogs have been fun and light, and I'm sorry to write such a horrid one, but I guess blogging is about everything that happens to you, whether good or bad, so there you have it. I have been constantly reminded since then that God closes doors for a reason, and who knows what could happen this summer because I'll be home. He is good in everything he does, even if it is painful at first. I promise the next blog will be good, most likely because it will be about EASTER BREAK!!!!!!!!!

Cheers