Come Together

Hey everyone! I feel really bad about not blogging for pretty much a whole week!
Let me try and remember everything that happened.. Which, honestly, isn't much seeing as nothing has really happened..
Sunday: Didn't go to church but had dinner with a friend (Carrie) and her flatmates.
Monday-Friday: Nothing much, just school and homework. Tuesday did has tea at the church, but other than that, nothing.
Saturday: Nothing... I'll post more on that later.
Sunday: Church and a lovely lunch.
Today: Amazing library and a great movie!

Okay, so I know a lot of you probably expect pictures galore and wonderful adventures and tales. Sadly, this update (although I have surpassed a large gap of time,) is barren. You can skip it or skim it, either way, I promise it won't hurt my feelings.

Sunday night our friend Carrie invited us for dinner. She and her flatmate Julia were going to make us chicken stir-fry with noodles and some other things. We took the tube to the nearest station and met up with Carrie and Julia. The place they live in is really nice, and apparently new. It seems a lot nicer than the dorm we live in, but they also pay about 110 pounds a week (i think..) and have their own bathroom in their room. When we first got there, Carrie and Jennifer (they're in the same class) started working on some stuff for class, and I read Beowulf. After awhile, Julia asked if we could start making dinner because she was hungry, so we went into the kitchen/living room and started. It turned out really good! I think Jennifer has some pictures, but I don't think she put them up. Anyways, it was really good, I really enjoyed it! Afterward, Jennifer and Carrie went to work on their homework and I ended up staying and talking with Julia. She's really nice and we liked some of the same things. She's from America, but she's staying all three years to finish her degree. Then another flatmate of hers came in. Her name is Megan and she's from Liverpool! Man, I love the Liverpool accent. It's so awesome! We sat there and talked about different things (somethings like Harry Potter and of course The Beatles came up..) and it was really cool. It started getting late, so Jennifer and I (with Carrie, who was going to stay at a friend's house because of the tube strike) hopped on the tube and went home. Thank goodness we had a relatively easy trip back. All sorts of stations were not working!

Again, Monday-Friday were uneventful. But, Jennifer and I went on Tuesday to have tea at the church. They do an international thing on Tuesdays where they have games and tea and coffee for international students and just some fun. It was fun (although, there were a lot of Chinese people. Everyone thought Jennifer was Chinese!) and we left a little after tea was served.

Friday was fun. I had to go to the Globe for my Shakespeare class. We had a presentation on the Globe history and what an actual 'history play' really is and the structure of the Globe. After that we had a lunch break where I got some really good vegetable gyoza soup from EAT (seriously, that's what it's called!) and some water. After that, we met back up in our smaller groups and had a workshop with an actress from the Globe. It was a little embarassing, but fun! She treated us like theater students and we did little exercises. After that, we rehearsed a dialogue and went ON STAGE and backstage! It was brilliant, to say the least! I was so excited to actually be on the stage that I had looked up at in awe at a week prior. After that, we went into one of the lord's boxes where the QUEEN sat. It was a really fun time, and I'm really glad that I got the opportunity! The Shakespeare class isn't my favorite, but it definitely made it better! After that though... was nothing... Saturday.. I did nothing. I was going to have a Harry Potter tour with Jennifer, but she's finding new friends and she got invited to parties and stuff. I was a little upset about it, but I understand that we can't hang out all the time. This is a chance where we get to meet new people and go out of our comfort zone. I mostly spent my time doing homework or something because the friends I had made were out of town or busy already. So, while it was kind of hard (and made me realize that I was a little bit homesick,) I think it was a learning experience. I have always been dependent on people being there with me (Chris, Kristen, Jennifer,) and I need to learn that being by myself is not a bad thing. Going places alone is not bad. Sometimes you just need that time to be alone and reflect on yourself. In the end, there may not be someone there for you. But I'm good, I promise, family members and friends, that I am alright, and I am planning to make friends to spend time with and not be alone ALL the time!

Sunday! Sunday was great. I needed to go to church for the message and for interaction with people. I had talked to one of my flatmates, Alice, but otherwise I had pretty much just been alone. So I went and met a German girl name Ohla (I'm not sure how to spell it!) who is doing her Ph.D here. She was really nice and it was good to meet someone new! The service was lovely. It was the first time I had heard the head pastor, who is American, and I really liked the way he preached. It wasn't Pastor Hagee, but he is one of a kind! After the service, I asked Dorothy (an older lady who is really sweet) if she could pray for me because I was having a hard time this weekend. She did, and we exchanged e-mail addresses so that if I needed to e-mail her, I could. She was really nice, and we walked back to another room where they served tea and coffee and little cakes and things. I talked to another older woman named Barbara who offered to have me over her house for lunch this upcoming Sunday. It was really sweet of her! I think I'm going to take her up on the offer. After I finished my tea, I made my way to leave, but was stopped by the Pastor and another guy. I feel bad because I don't remember his name, but we talked about my classes and Shakespeare and things like that, and I ended up seeing Shannon and Wendy. I said hi to Shannon and talked to her a little, and she ended up asking me if I wanted to head to lunch at a woman named Rachel's house with them. I agreed and we walked to Rachel's house, which wasn't too far from the church or Queen Mary. It was me, Shannon, Wendy, Daniel, Chun, John, a guy and a girl I didn't know, and another guy. Rachel's house was so lovely! I really liked it, and if I ever go back to live in London (which, I am considering,) I want a place like that! She cooked us some pizza's and garlic bread and we just sat around and talked. Turns out Ohla was invited too, so I got to talk to her a little more. It was really nice to be around people and talk and just relax after studying and being by myself! Afterward, I headed back to my flat and just chilled out.

Today! Okay, so today was good. I woke up (by cleaning lady.. if I haven't talked about her yet, please tell me and I will tell you about her..) and got ready to go to... the library!
Yeah, I know, for some of you that sounds MEGA boring, but it was really fantastic. I really like planning things out and going by myself on the tube now. It makes me feel.. more independent, like I'm facing my fears. So, with homework in my bag and my Oystercard fully loaded, I walked to the tube station and made my way to the Senate House Library. It's not like I just went to go though, I had to go to register there for my Literature class. The area around it was really beautiful. It was a sunny day today, and I got to walk through Russell Square, a nice little park. The library is a part of the University of London, and it's HUGE. It is 7 stories high and is being renovated, but it was still amazing! It took me a little to find the entrance, but I did and got through registration. The only bad thing was that the guy took my picture so fast I didn't have time to realize it.. but it still came out okay! The library itself is amazing. It's huge and lovely and QUIET! I found a desk and finished my Japanese homework for later that day. I plan to go back for any big time studying I have to do. It's sad that I have to take the tube so far for it, or else I'd go anytime I please! The Queen Mary library is alright, but this one is definitely brilliant! After that, I came back and Jennifer wanted to go to Budgens to get a few things food-wise. So we went there, and then to Tesco and a little grocery store for a couple of things we needed, and headed back. My Japanese class was at 4 and it was already 3, so I just went back to my room and skyped with my parents and my sister. It was really nice to see and talk to them!

After Japanese (which is always fun!) I went back to my flat and made myself a grilled cheese. Jennifer and I were planning on seeing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at the school church, and it started at 7:30. We went at 7:20 because it isn't that far and we ended up being the first people there. The movie itself was phenomenal. My tia Terri told me that I had to see it, and I really really liked it. It was a little graphic in some parts, but it was really good. It's a Swedish film so it had subtitles, but I've never had a problem with that before! After the movie we just came back to our flat, and here I am now! There's some people in our kitchen, but hopefully they won't be too loud.. I'll update later, probably tomorrow. I'm going to have lunch with my friend Bonnie!

Cheers!
<3