Oh, Tesco's

Things have gotten a lot better for me here. Thursday night, I went to a group called Christian Union (kind of like the Dive). It's just a time where Christian students gather to worship, listen to a speaker, and basically just enjoy community together. I ended up sitting behind two other American girls, one from Tennessee and one from Indiana. Later, some Irish girls came over and talked with us. They offered to show us around a bit the next day, so I was excited that I was finally going to be able to see some of the country.

The next morning, I met Sarah and Carrie (the American girls) for lunch, and then we walked into town. It takes about half an hour to walk, but it was extremely windy and we kept stopping to take pictures, so it took a little longer. We just wandered around Coleraine and window-shopped for a while, then we walked over to Tesco's (the grocery store) and got some groceries. As we left the store, we stood by the doorway, waiting for Rachel and Ashley (two of the Irish girls) to come pick us up. Some teenage boys came and stood a little ways away from us. Soon after, this little old bent-over lady walked by us and started muttering, loudly enough so that we could hear. She was saying, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven!" Here she turned around and stared at us all. "You all be good and go to HEAVEN!" Then she turned back around and walked away. We were all just speechless- we had no idea what to make of this. After a few seconds, we all just looked at each other and started laughing. I guess you have no idea what will happen at Tesco's.

Rachel and Ashley picked us up and took us to the beach. It was still very windy and it was starting to get dark, but it was still nice to walk along. It was Sarah's first time seeing the ocean (any ocean), so she loved it. We met some friends of Rachel and Ashley's, Becky and Guy. Afterwards, we went back to Rachel's apartment, meeting more of her friends- Ashely (another one), Richard, and Gary. She made us a big home-cooked dinner- salmon, bacon-wrapped chicken, roasted vegetables, stuffing, and cheesecake for dessert. By far the best meal that I've had since I left home. We just sat and talked for a while- it was really really nice. Later, everyone wanted to watch a movie. They were thinking about it, then Ashley said, "Oh! We have this movie that we've been meaning to watch for a while! Have you heard of Napoleon Dynamite?" I couldn't believe it, that I came all the way to Northern Ireland, and the first movie I see here is Napoleon Dynamite. Before the movie started, I warned everyone that the US is nothing like the movie. I think it's a good thing I did, too.

As I was talking to the Irish students, we began to discuss how things (especially foods) have different names here than in the US. For instance, "biscuits" here are cookies, and "scones" here are biscuits. One of the Irish boys (I don't remember his name!) mentioned how he had spent some time in Kansas recently, and that he got nervous when he was told that he was being served biscuits and gravy for breakfast- he was expecting cookies and gravy. He said that it was definitely a lot better than he was expecting.

Another cultural difference: Everything in the US costs more. Not just because of the exchange rate, either. Some of the girls yesterday were commenting about how expensive universities are in Europe. I asked how much it cost per year, and they said about 3,000 pounds. I almost laughed. They were absolutely shocked when Carrie, Sarah and I told them how much college can cost in the US (not including books and room and board). Apparently, there's a government cap on tuition here that might be liften within a year or two, which has many people nervous. There's also free healthcare for everyone under 18, and within a few years all prescription medications will be free for everyone. I found this interesting: people here want to have dyslexia. If you get tested by the government for dyslexia and are diagnosed, you get a certain amount of money each month, and you get a free laptop (you get to choose it). It's an odd concept to me.

Here are the pictures from our excursion:

we passed this house on our way into town- it's supposedly haunted


St. Patrick's church in Coleraine


Carrie and Sarah in front of St. Patrick's church



Even in Coleraine, there's a Starbucks...


the beach at Portstewart



Carrie and I on the beach


Sarah, Carrie, and I
it was Sarah's first time to a beach, so she was really excited!

Tomorrow, I'm going to go to church with Carrie, Rachel, Becky, and Guy. The church is called the Vineyard- I was excited to learn that they have those here! I have some friends who go to one back in Ohio.

Lots of love and hugs!
Erin

Settling In

I apologize to everyone for not updating in a while. I guess I've just felt like since nothing new has really happened, there's nothing really interesting to write about. I'm (very slowly) starting to become adjusted. I've been in town a few times, and I've had fun taking pictures of everything. I'm still struggling to get classes settled and everything- I don't think that will happen any time soon, though. I did finally get a roommate, but only one. His name is Kevin (pronounced KEE-vahn), and he seems pretty nice, though I rarely see him. I don't know whatever happened to the other two people that were supposed to live with us, but they're MIA. It's really not that bad- I just don't spend a lot of time in the apartment. I'm on a waiting list to move into a place that's actually on campus and has an Internet connection- hopefully I'll get to move soon.

the front of my apartment


my room

The weather has been pretty nice here, for the most part. Today is the first day we've had so far that's been completely overcast and stormy (and very windy!) all day. The other days, it was mostly sunny, with maybe some clouds once in a while and occasionally some rain. It seems like it's a far cry from what everyone's experiencing in Ohio at the moment! I do miss the snow, though. Send some over to me? I won't be seeing it until next November or December. It's probably been in the forties, or at least the high thirties, since we've gotten here. We're only about three miles from the Atlantic Ocean, though, so I think the ocean helps keep it warmer here.

When we first started to travel here, and for the first few days we were here, as soon as someone found out that we were American, they would ask us about Obama and the inauguration. Unfortunately, we were flying while he was actually being inaugurated, so we weren't able to see it, but we definitely heard all about it from almost everyone. Echoing Andy's blog, it seems like everyone's really hopeful that relationships between respective countries can be repaired, or at least strengthened. The fervor has died off a bit, and I imagine that it has in the US as well, but it was surprising to me how many people abroad actually care about American politics. I guess I always thought that others viewed us as "stupid Americans" and didn't really care what we did unless it made them mad. I'm learning, though.

The other day, some of the other students from Kent and I went to a grocery store called Tesco's (kind of like a cross between Giant Eagle and Marc's). As I was shopping, I saw someone in a kilt, a kid probably about 14 or 15. I thought it was odd, but then I figured, "Hey, this is Ireland" and didn't think about it anymore. Then a few minutes later, I saw a girl, probably about 13 or so, also wearing a kilt. And then I saw a grown man. I was really curious now. I didn't know that people still routinely wore kilts- I thought that as I was preparing to leave, someone would have at least mentioned it. When I checked out, I saw a whole crowd of kilt-wearers of all ages. It was pretty amusing- they were all crowded together at the front of the store. Then one of them started to play the bagpipes (!), just like he was warming up or rehearsing or something. Then a few more joined in. And then they all moved off into a corner and started playing all together, with drummers and everything. It was bizarre. Cool, but bizarre. I asked one of the students who was here last semester as well if this happened often. She just said, "Ummm... no." It was pretty random, but I'm glad that I got to witness it!

the bagpipers and drummers

I want to thank everyone for being so encouraging and loving to me! I feel really overwhelmed by all the support that I've gotten, and I want you to know that it really means a lot to me. I do feel lonely over here, but it's so comforting to know that there are so many people back home (and elsewhere) praying for me. I truly appreciate it, and I feel very blessed! Thank you all!

Love and hugs!
Erin

Not Quite What I Expected

As you might guess by the title, things aren't going that great here. I don't want to sugarcoat anything, so I'm sorry if what I say makes you worry a bit, but... this is what's happening.

Picking up where I left off...

The flight to Belfast was relatively smooth. There was a bit of turbulence, though, and there was a really fussy baby in the row behind me, so it was hard to sleep. Then we took a bus from Belfast to Coleraine. I took a few pictures of Belfast and the outskirts, but I fell asleep pretty quickly.

An old church in Belfast


the Irish countryside


if you look closely, you can see sheep!

Before I fell asleep, though, I was talking to this really nice older English couple. They were actually going to stay for a few days in Portrush, which is fairly close to Coleraine. We then got off the bus and took another bus to the campus. In about seven or eight minutes, we were on campus. The bus took us to the student center, and we got off with all our luggage. As the bus pulled away, I saw a guy on the top deck of the bus waving at us and pointing in a different direction. I had no idea what he was trying to say, so I just waved back. I soon found out.

Turns out we got off at the wrong stop on campus. We asked around, and we got two different sets of directions. So we're walking all over campus, hauling our luggage and everything along with us. I was getting slightly annoyed at this point, because everyone that drove or walked past just stared at us and kept on walking. You would think that if you saw eight kids with lots of luggage, looking around confusedly and pointing in different directions, you would guess that they might need help and maybe even ask if they needed something. But nope.

After a bit, we walked by an official-looking building, and Julie (one of the girls in our group) went in to ask for clearer directions. The rest of us stood huddled together on a sidewalk in the rain with all the luggage to wait, watching more cars and busses and people go by and stare at us. Eventually, she came back with two girls who took us to the accomodations' main building. There, we each got our housing assignments, and went our different directions. Everyone else got put in two buildings, though, so they're relatively close to one another. I, on the other hand, got put in a university-owned apartment across the street from campus, about half a mile away. One of the accomodations ladies was nice enough to drive me over, and then she introduced me to my temporary RA, handed me the key, and she and the RA left. There are supposed to be other people in my apartment, but they won't be coming until later (sometime this weekend). So I was all by myself, hungry with no way to get food (all the places on campus had closed, and I didn't know how to get to town or anything), and exhausted. I just broke down and cried for a looooong time. I didn't have a cell phone yet, and the apartment isn't capable of receiving Internet connections, so I didn't even have a way to get a hold of anyone.

I went and knocked on the RA's door, but she didn't answer. Then I noticed a phone booth in front of the apartments. I tried to call her (she had given me her cell number), but she didn't answer. So I tried to call home, but I couldn't get through. I went back to my apartment, but every half hour or so I would go back to try to call home. Later, my RA stopped by, and I asked her for a towel so I could at least take a shower (I had forgotten to pack mine). She got one for me, and then I showered and tried to call home again. She stopped by again a bit later with some pasta for me, but unfortunately by this point my stomach was upset and I couldn't eat anything. Eventually I was able to get through to Mom and Dad, and I talked to them for a long time. It was almost comical: I'm standing there crying in an old, drafty, leaky phone booth at night while it pours down outside. Mom said it was like a scene out of a bad movie, and I have to agree. I felt so much better after I got off the phone with Mom and Dad. I went inside and tried to lay down, only to get sick. After a while, I was able to finally get to sleep.

The next morning (Thursday) I felt slightly better. The sun was shining outside, so that helped a lot. I found the International Office (the buildings here are absolute mazes!), and asked about switching houses to one with more people in it. The lady was really nice, but basically just told me that there will be people coming soon. I ran into the rest of the people from Kent, and I went with them to the orientation for international students. It was pretty boring. Afterwards, we worked on scheduling classes, and I found out that of the three classes I am allowed to take, Kent may not give me credit for one, one was cancelled, and another I may not be allowed to take. So this is basically going to be a waste of a semester, academically. That's such a huge frustration for me. I keep thinking that I made a mistake coming here.

Later that day, I went with Alan, Kelly, Emma, and Rachel (all from Kent) to take a train into town. It was at this point that I realized that my apartment is literally about eight feet from the railroad station. It made me a bit more determined to move buildings- it's probably completely safe, but it makes me feel uneasy. Anyway, we went into town, and I was able to (finally) buy some food and other things, including a cell phone. I was able to get a few pictures of the town, but it was getting dark by that point.

the town "diamond" at night


the town hall in the middle of the "diamond"

It was nice to get out- it felt like I was doing something more productive. I got back to my apartment and got my laptop and headed for the library so I could use the Internet. I was able to skype with my parents for a while, and again it made me feel better. But then I started to feel sick again, and I had to miss going to a pub with everyone from Kent (we may go tonight, though). My mind was racing all night, and I kept shaking. It took me a while to finally fall asleep.

So far today, not much more has happened. The sun is shining, which is nice, and I saw a rainbow earlier. I'm going to pick some classes that will hopefully work out and try to get registered, and the rest of the day is free until this evening, when I'm hanging out with everyone from Kent again. I really want to be able to go explore Portrush and Portstewart, two neighboring towns, and I want to go back to Coleraine and explore there some more.

I'm sorry that I don't have any exciting details or anything yet, but I haven't experienced anything exciting! I'm honestly not sure what I'm doing here, with my classes not working out and all. I know that God has brought me here for a reason, and I keep praying for Him to show me why, but it's hard to be optimistic at all. It makes it even worse to think that if I were home, I could be doing so many more productive things. I know that there are lots of people praying for me, and I truly truly appreciate it! If you could, would you please pray that God shows me why I'm here and that he gives me direction, comfort, and peace? If there is anything that you would like me to pray for for you, please let me know!

Wow, this was a long post. Sorry about that!

Love and hugs,
Erin

Hurry up and wait

As I type this, I’m sitting in one of those hard, fake-cushions-that-are-really-plastic chairs in Heathrow Airport in London. The flight to the UK actually landed about an hour sooner than it was scheduled to, so now we have an additional hour to do… nothing. The flight to Belfast doesn’t even board until 10:15, and it is currently 6:15 am. So I figured that I may as well get a head start on my blogging.

Leaving was a lot harder than I expected it would be. Like I said before, it never really hit me that I am actually doing this. It finally clicked around 11 this morning (yesterday morning?) when I was finishing packing. If there were any way that I could have changed plans and gone back to Kent, I would have. But I obviously couldn’t at that point, so… here I am.

As soon as I was on my way and met up with the other students, it became a bit easier. There were other things to focus on rather than what I was leaving behind. The flight to DC was really cramped, with one column of seats on one side of the aisle and two columns on the other side (luckily, I got a window seat). The flight went smoothly, though, and we landed in DC in the early afternoon. The airport was crowded (probably something to do with the inauguration), and it reminded me a lot of the halls at Revere (RHS grads will know exactly what I mean). To add to the feeling a bit, I saw a pilot and a flight attendant pass each other. As they walked by, the pilot asked, “Hey, where are you off to?” and the flight attendant replied, “Albuquerque” and they went on their ways, kind of how like two friends might pass each other as they hurry to class. It amused me, the way that they were so matter-of-fact about jetting across the country.

Anyway, we didn’t have to wait long to board our flight to London. Again, I got a window seat (yay!), and this jet was much bigger. It was already dark by the time we took off, so I didn’t get to see the Atlantic or anything. Occasionally, I’d see what I assume were ships or something, but they looked like stars floating in the middle of the darkness below the plane. I tried to sleep, but I would wake up every twenty minutes or so to a different noise or movement in the plane. (It’s gonna be a loooong day…) As we neared London, I could begin to see lights. It looked like a three year old randomly drew shapes with a glue bottle on black construction paper and then added gold and silver glitter. It was pretty- I managed to get a few pictures.

it was so nice to see the sun again! the clouds were amazing!

the plane that took us from DC to London


the view of England as we flew overhead


just inside Heathrow airport

These signs were all over the place in Heathrow. I think they're supposed to represent a traveler arriving and leaving, but it just looks like someone with antlers to me.

As we entered the airport, and we were surrounded by all the British accents, I noticed myself beginning to think in a British accent- I hope I manage to keep mine for at least a few weeks! We’ll see. The security was pretty tight as we entered; we went through three or four checkpoints (and we still have more to go). I’m thankful that they’re being so cautious, though. One amusing note: as I went through the checkpoint where they make you take off your shoes, some of the guards were singing “I’m Too Sexy for My Shirt.” In British accents, of course.

For all the males reading this- there are not one, but TWO sweet cars. Don’t ask me what kinds- I don’t know. One is orange and one is red. All I know is that they look amazing, and that the lone male in our group stopped at each of them and started to drool. I took pictures for your benefit(s), so you can decide among yourselves what they are and leave a comment about what an ignorant female I am.

Car A


Car B

So typing this has taken me all of forty minutes- it is now 6:55 am. Still three hours twenty minutes to wait- woohoo! Fun fun.

As I have nothing more to write, and I feel like I’ve been blathering on the whole time anyway, I’ll let you go do more productive things. Not that I’ve been keeping you here. But whatever.

Love and hugs from London,
Erin

P.S. It is only 2:00 am in Ohio right now on the 21st of January (there’s a five hour time difference). However, the Internet service here costs money, so I’m just going to wait to upload this. Just fyi. K bye.

I'm here!

Hey all, just a quick note to tell you that I'm here safely and everything. I can't update right now though, I'm late meeting some friends to go into town to get groceries and phones and stuff. But I'll update as soon as I possibly can!

Love and hugs
Erin

Packing packing packing

I never really realized how much I actually hate packing until now. But then, I've never packed for anything like this before. My clothes and suitcases and books currently take up about half of the living room. Supposedly, everything is supposed to fit into two suitcases by tonight. I have my doubts.

It's starting to hit me that I'm acutally leaving. Over the past three or four days I've been getting together with friends and saying goodbye, but it always felt like I would be seeing them again within a week or two. I think all the (ugh) packing has made it more real.

So I have to admit that the only reason I'm updating right now is because Andy mentioned it in his blog. Since really the only thing that's going on right now is packing and all that jazz, I figured that no one would be interested in reading this right now. However, Andy must have thought differently. So here you are. I'll update later, when I actually have something to say (most likely when I'm in NORTHERN IRELAND)!!!

Hugs to all!
Erin

10 days til takeoff

So this morning, we dropped Andy off at the airport around 7. He's now officially landed in Houston, and in a couple hours he'll get on another flight to Quito, Ecuador. I've been waiting to prepare for my trip until he was gone, and now I don't really have an excuse. It's hard to believe that in less than twelve hours, he'll be on another continent, and in ten days, I'll be on the other side of the world from him! Goodness.

So now, I have to start getting ready. My luggage hasn't arrived yet, so I feel like I can't start packing, and I need to figure out how to do my banking while I'm over there. And there's still so much to do to wrap up Kent stuff and the apartment hunting... I'm not even close to being ready to go.

not yet leaving

I have been told (by Andy) that I must post on my blog NOW, even though I am not leaving for another two weeks, just to make sure that people know I'm "serious" about this blogging thing. So. I am serious. But as of right now, I really have nothing interesting to write about, other than the fact that I leave in less than two weeks and haven't started packing yet. Actually, I'm really not sure that I even have a place to stay in Northern Ireland...