Adventure to Paris!

Bonjour!

This past weekend in Paris was amazing and tiring and exciting and frustrating! Laura and I got to London at about 5 pm on Thursday, then ate dinner at a pub before going to the coach station. When we got to the coach station, we went to an information desk to find out where we were supposed to check in and we were greeted by a completely rude person who was no help, so we ended up in a sitting area (that had pigeons flying around!) hoping we were in the right place. We were, no thanks to the information personnel. At 8:30, we boarded the coach and were off to Paris.

We arove in Paris at 6:00 am, with no euros and no clue where we were. Without euros, we couldn't buy a map of Paris and metro (subway) tickets, so we were in desperate need to find an ATM, because oddly there was not one at the coach and metro station. All the surround stores were closed, which made it difficult for us to find someone to ask where an ATM was, but after a few inquiries at different hotels, Laura and I managed to find an ATM to get euros. At 7:30, we bought a map and metro tickets and, winging it, we were off to inner Paris. When we got off the metro, we were across the rue (road) from Notre Dame, so we went there right with our luggage away since we couldn't check into our hotel until 2. After wandering around Notre Dame and some surrounding parks for awhile, we set off to find our hotel. It was a tiring trip there because we had been carrying our luggage for over 7 hours, but we found the hotel easily and checked in with no problem. It was such a cute hotel!

Once we were there, we rested for about an hour, then headed out in food and things to do. We ended up walking through the Luxembourg Garden and seeing the palace, then ate at... ooh, I'm ashamed to admite it... McDonald's. But only because we were hungry and couldn't find a place I could eat at for a reasonable price. Afterwards we meandered until we found the Louvre and some arc that Laura thought was the Arc de Triumph (but wasn't). By that time it was getting a little darker, and the city lights were shining brightly... it was beautiful! And we could see the Eiffel Tower and monuments at a distance, simply stunning! We just stared out at the skies for awhile, soaking the city lights up, then made the long trek back to our hotel because we were tired and soar. We were in bed by 9.

9 am is when we woke up to a knock on the door... Aimee, my friend from Eau Claire who is studying in Northern France, had arrived! So Laura and I quickly got up and ready, and then planned out the day with Aimee. We did so much on Saturday - we ate breakest at a little French patisserie, we went to Sainte Chapelle, which is this beautiful church with stained glass windows depicting the entire bible, walked around some gorgeous parks and old streets, ate lunch, spent hours at the Louvre, then walked down the famous Avenue Champs-Elysees (which we ate dinner on) to the L'Arc du Triumphe. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower, which is amazing when it's all lit up at night, glittering and sparkling on the hour. Almost as beautiful as the tower at night was the view of the city lights from the top of the tower. When we finally made it back down to the ground after a long wait in line for the elevator, we enjoyed some cotton candy, then took a taxi back to our hotel. It was almost midnight.

Sunday was a little more relaxed. We ate breakfast, then went to Notre Dame and walked around the ile de cite. Then we went to Montmarte, which is the huge hill with an old church on top, and a view of the city that is breathless. This was followed by more wandering around, then we went to this French cafe for dinner - the food was scrumptious, but it took over two hours, leaving Laura and me in a panick when we realized it was already 7:30. We still needed to go back to the hotel, which is over a 1/2 hour walk away, to get our bags and be to the coach station by 9! We booked it to the hotel after paying for dinner, grabbed our bags, said a too-quick goodbye to Aimee, and were off in search of the nearest metro entrance. It was 8:55 before we found one, then we needed to find the route to get to the bus station. By the time we got there, it was 9:45! Luckily, they were still allowing people to check in - there were even a few people who arrived right after we did, out of breath just as Laura and I were. Laura and I almost collapsed in a mixture of laughter and happiness that all that panicking was over and we wouldn't miss our bus.

We boarded the bus at 10 pm, got back to London at 5:15 (almost an hour earlier than we were scheduled to be back), made our way to the underground, figured out how to get to the train station, and got to the train station. Literally two minutes before the train was scheduled to leave, we were on it. It was a good thing our bus was earlier, because the train ride back took 45 minutes longer than it was supposed to, and we didn't get back to Winchester until after 8, and we both had 9 am classes.

Perhaps we were crazy to take a bus to Paris and to push the time the way we did coming back, but it was worth every minute! And now, I have to adjust back to the reality of school and essays and readings... story of my life.

In Other News...

Hello mates!

I just wanted to start by saying that I was wrong about the squirrels in England. It has been confirmed by a Brit that there are indeed squirrels in England, of two different varieties: the red squirrel and the grey squirrel. The grey squirrel came over from the United States and chased the red squirrels into hiding. The organization that is trying to save the squirrels, though, is just another non-prof that targets uni students to tug at their heartstrings... and their pursestrings (the Brit's words, not mine). Imagine that...

I'm becoming more adjusted to life here. Modules are going well. Sacred Texts is such an interesting course, but my favorite module is Poetry. Bonkers, I know, since normally I dread trying to intrepret poetry. But for some reason, this class is just so - fascinating. And the theories I hear and learn - bonkers! Christian Union has been fun to go to, but I feel like a frosh (freshman) there because Hannah, Laura, and I are still new to it and don't really know anyone. Bible study through CU will start next week; I'm looking forward to being back in a small group! And the weather (oh, sorry to resort to such small talk) is getting cooler again and drizzly, but it's still simply lovely.

In other news, I am going to Paris tomorrow with Laura. Well, actually we are going to London tomorrow, and the will get on a bus at 8:30 pm tomorrow, and when we wake up, we will be in Paris. I am so ready to be there after all the frustrations of travel arrangements. Hopefully all will go well, but if not, it'll be quite the experience with quite the stories to tell. I would say, "what's the worse that could happen?" but we all know that those are famous last words...

So, I will check back next Monday with stories galore of travel adventures and Paris.
Cheers!

Of Squirrels and Twins

Wherever we go, bluebirds sing
And the flowers bloom
And the grass gets green
It's a curious thing
But it's just our thing
Wherever we go, the bees behave
In the treetops, squirrels smile and wave
It's a curious thing
And it's humbling
- Newsboys, Wherever We Go

This song has been playing through my mind for the last two hours, which is no surprise to me because it brings to mind so many images from the last two days...

Yesterday was another beautiful day, yet I didn't spend very much time outside. A very slow day, I slept in until 10:00, read for awhile, posted pictures on facebook, responded to some e-mails, and even did some homework. At one point I did leave my room to go to the learning cafe so that I could get some caffeine in the form of a double caramel latte, complimented by a pear and chocolate biscuit. Yummy. Then at 5:30 I went to dinner with Laura and Hannah and two other American students. Laura, Hannah, and I then went to Christ Church, which is the church Hannah and I had adventured to last week. Which, by the way, is only about a 4-minute walk from campus through the cemetery - last week, it took Hannah and me over 20 minutes to get there because we went the long way around... ah, silly new American students. After church service, which was about the parable in Matt. 13 and overcoming barriers, we attended Radical Living. Radical Living is sort of a bible/book study and discussion for uni students, and they feed us while we're there - does it get any better than that?! At Radical Living, I heard two of the best phrases ever:
1. Turn or Burn (in reference to a certain type of evangelical witnessing)
2. Mind the Gap (in reference to "the bridge" diagram of witnessing - really hilarious because at all the train stations, there are signs everywhere by the track that read "mind the gap")
After I got back from church and group, I spent a few hours looking up tickets to Paris, and then convincing Laura to come with me. Much confusion enveloped me and Laura as we tried to skype each other to talk while looking up tickets and schedules and costs and information. By 1 am, we had tickets book and are set to go to Paris next weekend... via a coach bus! yeah, that's about a 9-hour ride...

Today I had my normal 9:00 Monday module, Language and Society. Modules are composed of two parts: a one-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar (which is small group discussion). I'm really enjoying the class so far. Then I went to lunch with some Eau Claire students. After lunch, Laura, Hannah, and I took advantage of yet another gorgeous day (sunny with a high of 55!) and walked to the city centre. We first walked to the train station to figure out train schedules and prices, and then we walked to Blacks (an outdoors shop) to get backpacking backpacks. I'm sure there's a more technical name for them, but I don't know what that is. Hannah found a great deal on one, so I followed suit and purchased the same backpack. Turning down plastic bags to put our backpacks in, Hannah and I decided to wear them while we went to Sainsbury's (a food market) to get chocolate and toilet paper, of all the random combinations. But the silly part of all of this is that Hannah and I both have green pea coats, green side bags/purses, and the now the same exact backpack. We looked insane, like twins! Crazyness. We got many not-so-discrete glances as we walked through town in our practically matching get-up, eating chocolate oranges. At least we are able to laugh at ourselves :) We had a hoot!

Tonight I will go to Christian Union, and that concludes my accounts of yesterday and today.

And did I mention that on the way to Blacks, a man approached us, dressed all spiffily and holding a clipboard, and said "Have you heard about us? We save squirrels." Not sure what that was all about... if it was a joke, or some psychology project, or if there really was an organization trying to save squirrels. If such a group really does exist, they aren't doing a very good job, because I have yet to see a squirrel in England...

To Southampton and Back

The last few days have been the definition of beautiful. The sun is out, the sky is bright blue, the clouds are white cotton candy, and the air is fresh. Today was no different, and what better way to spend a lovely Saturday than to go exploring? So I went with six other students to Southampton - a place for museums and good shopping - for the day.

We met at 9 this morning and walked down to the train station. Once there, we purchased our roundtrip tickets to Southampton... only 3 pounds a ticket. What a bargain! And the world knows a Hinchley never passes up a bargain! By 9:52, we were boarding the train and soon speeding out of the station. My first trip on an English train had begun!

The travel time to Southampton via train is only about 15 minutes, so my first trip was a quick one. After we exited the train, we couldn't figure out how to get out of the station. We went out one exit only to find out that exit went to the other side of the city, not what we wanted. Oh, silly Americans! So we had to explain to a station worker that we went out the wrong exit, and they had to let us back into the station to go out another exit. Luckily they didn't charge us to do that! Eventually we managed to exit the right part of the station, and we hopped on the city bus to take us to our first stop. We wandered around the city for awhile before deciding where to go. The first place we went to was the Southampton City Art Gallery, where we enjoyed a nice stop in the coffee shop for some caffeine before we circled the gallery. There was some beautiful artwork there, such as a painting of Romeo and Juliet 1884 and lands. Optical illusions came in the form of a painting of Napoleon, in which it looked like his foot was turning as you walked by him. Crazy! Although I did not have a particular favorite, I really enjoyed some of the photography art, such as the study of unemployment in poor areas and what that leads to. Such amazing glimpses in peoples' lives, if only for a moment.

After touring the Southampton City Art Gallery, we went to the Millais Gallery, which is part of the Southampton Solent University. The exhibition, called Tha Click can be summed up by two key elements: experimental and techno music! The music was fun for the first 20 or so minutes, but then became irritating, and the "art"... well, that left a bad taste. Luckily that taste was washed away when, aftering once again wandering around the city for 30 minutes, we found a place to eat. I can't remember the name of the pub, but the food was scrumptious. I had the Bangers and Mash (which is mashed potatoes and some sort of sausage served with peas and gravey). It was a monthly special for the low cost of 1.99 pounds! Good thing, too, since I'm planning a weekend in Paris next week and need to save, save, save!

Food polished off our plates, we left the restaurant in surch of the Maritime Museum, where there was a special Titanic exhibition, called Titanic: Southampton Remembers. For those of you who don't know much about the Titanic, the Titanic left from the Southampton port. Many people in Southampton lost relatives or friends to the Titanic Tragedy. I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit and the information I learned from it, but am also saddened by it. Only 30% of third class children were saved. 30 percent! Mind blowing.

That was the last museum we visited for the day. We then did the "Walk the Southampton Walls" walk, which takes people along nearly half the Wall that was once a mile-long around the medieval town of Hampton. It was - wow! Really fabulous. Hopefully I can post pictures soon.
We ended the day with some shopping. Happily for me, I found 2 beautiful scarves, one solid dark purple and the other cream with light purple and silver throughout it. Yay! Success for the day was declared as we took the city bus back to the train station and went back to Winchester.

Ahh, what a wonderful day to go to Southampton and back! But I am glad to be back, because as neat as Southampton was and as wonderful as the stores it has to offer are, there is something so charming and beautiful about Winchester...

Fancy That

Hi, hello, it's me again.

To be completely honest, I am at a loss of how to start out this post. The perfectionist in me says that I need to start off with something clever, but I'm having what must only be known as a writer's block. I write a sentence, but I can't make it flow into my next line of thought. So the perfectionist in me than says that I need to start completely afresh. After innumerable attempts at creating the perfect introductory sentence followed by smacking the delete key, the realist in me decides that I will most likely never find the ideal way to start off the post. So I find myself at complete odds between my two thought patterns, with both sides relentlessly battling each other until the realist wins out by a thin margin. For the realist knows that if I sit and sit and sit until I come up with the flawless theme and flow to my entry, I will go barmy (crazy). Thus, I will just give an account of my past few days, straightforward. Here goes...

On Tuesday morning, I went to a poetry class that I was not signed up for. I did this primarily because I had nothing else to do, and also to see if it was a class I would enjoy and could take in place of that horrid inclusive working module I have on Mondays. The rest of my Tuesday was spent wandering around town and skyping family and friends. I intended to go to bed early so that I would be well rested for Wednesday, but everyone knows even the best intentions can go haywire. For me, it only happened because I made the decision to read a chapter of my book, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, before going to sleep. One chapter led to another chapter, and then another, until I realized it was after 1 in the morning. Grudgingly I put down my book and turned off my light. Within fifteen minutes I was asleep. And within those same fifteen moments I was also awoken. Not by a fire alarm, as I had been last week, but my my neighbors partying. So for four hours I laid in my room, wishing I were somewhere else, trying to get up my courage to knock on their doors and tell them to be quiet. But everytime I would get up my courage, it would start to quiet down a little, so I would go back to bed, only for it to get loud again. By 3, I was angry and resentful, but also to scared to do anything about the partying. I'm not trained to handle drunk people on drugs, so I stayed safely put in my room, with my door locked and my iPod turned on loud, trying to drown them out. I even called my parents to talk, frustrated and grumpy and panicky. Then I tried reading. This lasted for at least two more hours. I checked my watch, and it was a little before 5 in the morning! Next thing I know, I'm waking up at 9:30. I had finally fallen asleep, only to oversleep the first thirty minutes of my class! Hurredly I changed and brushed my teeth. I grabbed my coat and was out the door within minutes of waking up. I made it to class by 9:45. Ironically, the class I was late to because of other peoples' crummy lifestyles was Sacred Texts.

The rest of my Tuesday went better than that, though. After module, I went to a Christian Union lunch that is every Wednesday and FREE, a college student's favorite word! There I met a girl who also has celiac, and so there was food there I could eat. I had a bread roll for the first time in at least two years - it was splendid! After that, time has been a blur. I've spent most of my time meandering around the city centre with Laura and hanging out with other American students, since I'm done with classes for the week. Then today Laura and I went to O'Neills, an Irish pub, for lunch. The pub grub was delicious, leaving me tickled pink! I am in love with Irish burgers. Brilliant! And right before I started this, there was another fire drill in my dorm, but that's ok, because I'm learning to go with the flow and make the best out of things that might normally bother me.

So, despite the horrible moments I've had here, I've been having fun. For every minute that seems to go wrong, there's the promise of a better moment just around the corner. God's making sure of that.

Oh, and did I mention that it started snowing alittle while ago while I was outside for the fire drill, big soft flakes of pure glitter and magic? Fancy that...

Sorry I am unable to post more pictures at this point; every time I try to post a picture, I get kicked off the internet! Anyway, this is my favorite picture of the city centre so far!

Modules, Pictures, and Christians in Pubs

Today was the first day of the rest of my life. Kidding. Today was the first day of classes, or should I say modules? Anyway, classes are run differently here. Classes are scheduled in three hour blocks but usually run for about two hours each, and all the classes start at the same time, so there are no conflicts in schedules. Anyway, I had three courses today: language and society, social psychology, and inclusive working: organisations and services.I started at 9 and ended at 5. The first two went well and were fairly interesting, managing to keep me mostly alert. By 3:00, however, I was tired and running low on energy. But with high hopes that my last class of the day, Inclusive Working, would be some grand course and incredibly stimulating, I rumaged up what little energy I did have left and walked the road to class. Little did I know that road was not only a road to Medecroft (the building my class was in), it was a road to dire boredom and confusion. By the end of class, I determined I never want to take another social work class again, let alone ever be taught by a British professor, or tutors as the Brits refer to them. Which is really unfair of me, because I really liked the tutors I had for my other two classes of the day. So maybe I don't mind British tutors...

After class and grabbing a bite to eat, I spent awhile posting pics on facebook. And soon they will be available on this blog for your viewing pleasures, if you haven't got access to facebook. That's another thing I learned about England... the people here say "got" a lot. If you're confused as to why I threw that tidbit in here, just reread the last few sentences. You'll figure it out.

To cap the day off, Christian Union started at 7. Christian Union is basically an on-campus Christian Organization for students, similar to Intervarsity or Navigators or Student Impact or what have you. The guest speaker of the night talked about the importance of wittnessing and praying for others, very similar to what I hear back home at IV. But it was good, and the students are so friendly here. Afterwards, we all went out to a pub, which is a typical after-group thing. It was the first real European pub I've been to, and it was cozy and fun. All the students jsut sat there talking and joking and eating. A perfect way to end the evening. Which brings me back here, in my room, posting this blog.

And that, dear friends, is the end of my first Monday in Winchester. I miss you all and hope all is well back home. Good night!

"As it turned out"... Life More Extraordinary

Dear friends,

Today started out like any other day, but as it turned out, it was not like any other day. I woke up at about 9 am, read for a little while, and wished I could go to church. Only problem was I did not know where any churches were and I didn't have anyone to go with. So I did what I do on any other day when I don't have classes or church; I lazed around, reading. Eventually I showered and ate and went online. Then I walked to the city centre and bought a cellphone from Orange. Really, that's the name of the phone company... Orange. Gotta love it. So I bought a pay-as-you-go phone for about 10 pounds and topped it off, which basically means to add money for minutes and texts, with ten pounds. Ok, getting a phone is not part of my daily routine, but walking to the city centre is fast becoming part of it. Before heading back to campus, I explored Winchester on my own for a little while before it began to rain. Surprise, surprise. I am quickly becoming used to the drizzly weather here. I spent the rest of the afternoon skyping family and friends then I met up with some students from the states for dinner and met two students I hadn't met before. After dinner, I checked my facebook. Hannah from Eau Claire had responded to a post I put on her wall last night asking if she was going to church today. She said there was a service at a church she heard about at 6:30 pm and that if I got her message in time, we could check it out. I looked at my clock. 5:40. I went in search of Hannah, and we decided to try to find the church. It took us for what seemed like ever - but was really probably 10 minutes tops - to figure out how to find directions and know where we were going. At about 6:08, we set off in search of the church. We were on a mission with our umbrellas out to ward off the rain and our hopes high. We made it to Randeigh St. before we got lost, or what we perceived as lost. We saw a lady on a bicycle and stopped her to ask where Christchurch Road was, which is the Road that would take us to Christ Church. How original, huh? The lady told us that we were at the intersection of Christchurch Road, then asked us where we were going. As it turned out, after hearing that we were looking for Christ Church, she told us that was where she was headed, too, and how to get there. A short walk later, and we were at the church, a beautiful old cathedral.

The service was wonderful. I felt right at home, and the music was similar to music back at my home church in Eau Claire. I even knew two of the songs. There was a guest speaker, Mark Greene, who is the Executive Director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC). I liked him right away as he began his sermon by comparing James Bond to Johnny English. For those of you who haven't seen Johnny English, you haven't experience amazingly cheesy comedy. He proceeded to talk about Ruth and as it turned out, she was God's hands. He then spoke of how we are on missions and how in our ordinary day lives we need to live for the Lord, because living for the Lord has to do with everything.

Colossians 3:23-24 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."

By doing everything we do for the Lord, we are living life extraordinarily, even in the little things. Good work done in a good way is not enough, we need to live fully and faithfully for the Lord. We need to put love where love is not. At some point in time, the true meaning and purppose of the phrase "The Lord be with you" was lost and it became just another meaningless, empty expression. What does it really mean for the Lord to be with us? It means living a life honoring God, in all areas, and knowing God has us His hands, just as Ruth did. We are on a mission to live how God calls us to live and to have the Lord with us.

After service, a young woman behind me started talking to me and asked if I was new. Her name is Fern. Right away she realized I was from the States and I told her that Hannah and I just arrived in the UK a few days ago to study at the University of Winchester. Hannah and I started talking with her, her sister (Adrianne), and a guy who was sitting with them. I didn't catch his name. Fern and Adrianne gave me their numbers in case I needed anything at all while I was here. The were such sweet, lovely ladies. I'm excited to meet them over coffee. So, as it turned out, today was not so ordinary. I found a wonderful church, I made some connections, and I got yet another nudge from God. God is constantly finding ways to remind me of what life is about, and how simple, mere little things are far more than ordinary.

As it turned out... life more extraordinary!

May the Lord be with you, my friends.

A Time for Challenges and Change

It's half past midnight, and I can't sleep. My mind has been racing, faster than a speeding bullet... ok, had to reference superman there. Anyway, for the last two days, I have been completely confused with conflicting emotions and thoughts and ideas. Part of me is thrilled to be here in Winchester, probably one of the most splendid towns in the UK, if not the entire world. The other part of me is already missing family and friends and everything that is familiar to me. It didn't help that I could not access my internet on my personal computer to contact family and friends for the last 3 days and that I hadn't talked to my family since Wednesday. Then this afternoon, I found out I could not access my uni (university) records because I was unable to officially register here because I did not have proper ID to show at orientation yesterday. Thus, I could not get my module schedule. So not only was I feeling completely at odds about being here, I was frustrated with this whole registration process. I felt completely at loss, and so uncertain about everything. I had no idea when my classes are, I had no idea what classes I'm even really taking, and I had no idea where to go from here. And I have to not know where I'm going without the support of the people closest to me. Panick has invaded me, but I try to calm myself down by telling myself that I can bring my ID to wherever I need to bring it on Monday and I can get it all sorted out then. If I happen to miss a class before I am able to get it sorted out, it's ok. I'm in international student, after all. Disorder and confusion are bound to happen, right?

Despite these attempts at personal reassurance, I found myself thoroughly discouraged and anxious. I begin to question myself on why I even came... all this semester has brought me is change. And for most people who know me, they know I don't much appreciate most change. Sure, some change is good, but not when it means I have to leave my comfort zone. All this to say... these last few days have been emotional for me. I go up, I go down... I tell myself I can't do this... I can't stay here for 4 months. Finally this evening I was able to finally access internet on my computer and download skype. I was able to talk to my parents for almost 45 mintues, and then I got to video chat with my sister for 2 hours. I began to realize that even though I hadn't talked to them in a few days and that I was far away from them, I still had their support through prayer. After talking with my sister, I started reading my bible and eventually a verse popped into my head, a whisper from God...

Philippians 4:13 "I can do everything through him who gives me strength"

I'm quick to forget that no matter what life throws my way, I can overcome it by the strength of Christ. He will guide me through every day, and just when I think I can't handle the changes that come with studying abroad, God speaks softly in my ear and tells me I'm in his hands. How easily I forget this, when in truth, it is what should be on the forefront of my mind. If there is one thing I'm going to learn this semester, it is that I need to trust in Him more, and he's going to show me how. Through this, I'm going to change in ways only God can foresee, and that's alright. Because change? I'm learning it can be good.

Change, here I come!

Little Differences

Today was a beautiful day in Winchester. No snow, no rain, just a little nippy. I was woken up at 4:30 in the morning by a fire alarm, which was not a drill. The whole ordeal was so different than the States; after exiting the building, no one checked to make sure everyone was out or that the building was safe to go back in, such as the fire department. A little while later, security came knocking on doors trying to find some guy who had been running through the dorm during the alarm. Not the way I would love to start the day, but oh, well. I also got to go to Sainsbury market in Winchester with other international students, and it was so interesting to see all the different logos for international food brands. For instance, sunchips were called sunbites. When I looked at ingredients and allergen information, doritos bags said whether or not the item was appropriate for vegetarians or coeliacs. The rest of my afternoon was once again spent in the city center, shopping. The center is so gorgeous with all the old buildings and narrow cobble streets. And now I'm having some down time.

Hope all is well in the States! Cheers!

Finally Here

well, after a much anticipated year, I am in Winchester. I arrived at HTR airport in London yesterday morning at about 7 am and stayed there for over 4 hours. One coach (bus) ride and an hour later, I was on campus. Two hours later, and I was unlocking the door to my dorm room with a skeleton key. After unpacking, I went to an early dinner with some flatmates. The food was better than expected, not at all completely flavorless as I'd been told, although the chips (french fries) are quite a bit better in the States. Then I walked down to the city center with some other foreign students... Winchester is a beautiful old city, narrow alleys and all! Today I had orientation, then I walked to the city center again with some fellow Eau Claire students. While there, I saw a police officer chasing after a large group of young teens. It caused quite the excitement. And that, so far, has been my experience in England and it's ancient capitol. Despite how much I miss family and friends, I am excited to feel the history of Winchester and surrounding areas.