Monday, February 22, 2010

Lots of Walking









Another week has come and gone. My mother reminded me that there are only 5 weeks till her and my father will be in the same country as me once again. I am excited for them to come see the beautiful country I have fallen in love with.

Last week contained a lot of work and a lot of fun as well. I had my first of two presentations for my Seminar Topics class. It went alright, but it showed how challenged I will be in that class, which will be good for me. This is one of my favorite classes because it forces us as students to retain pretty much EVERYTHING we’ve learned thus far in your life and apply it. I’ve met some people that are pretty knowledgeable in several areas of study.

After the class I was having a conversation with a couple people from that class. We were having a conversation about conservation of our planet when the subject quickly switched to Christianity by my professor for that class who suddenly appeared out of no where. Apparently from some of the comments I had made in our class discussion he had an inkling that I was a Christian, and decided to probe around and find out. He is not a Christian, but of course he has his own ideas on things. Needless to say I spent the next couple of hours trying to explain my views on things from a Christian perspective, and was able to explain the Gospel to a couple of people. While it all could have been very frustrating I know God will use all that was said for His glory. However, if you could pray for me, my professor, and for the individuals I talked with that would be greatly appreciated. I know God is already working and preparing a way for me. So many people here have so much “earthly” knowledge that it hinders them from knowing and accepting God’s truth.

Friday I got to play my favorite sport…Volleyball!! They have a club here that meets a few times a week and has matches on the weekends. I am for sure joining this club. There are a few other girls that are international students who are joining as well. We all seem pretty compatible in our experienced so that makes playing fun. After that ended my new friend from Moldova and I went to check out the “Dance Sport” club. It’s pretty much a ball dancing class, which I’ve always wanted to learn. I’m still considering whether I should join this club or not. It was a lot of fun though. I learned how to dance the Quickstep and the Jive. I couldn’t believe I was finally learning some ball dance moves. It’s sort of difficult to participate though because I don’t have the proper shoes. We’ll see what happens ;)

Saturday was a LONG day. Laurine, my friend from France, had never had an “English Breakfast” before so she invited some other international students to join her and then go on a hike after. Of course I wanted to be there to witness this new experience so a few of us met at 11AM at “Lord Beechings” (a restaurant/ pub). The only people who responded were me, Nuria (a girl from Barcelona), and Paulina (a girl from Poland). Only Paulina and Laurine “took an English Breakfast” but we had a lot of fun. It was a huge breakfast consisting of a fried egg, two pieces of toast, one HUGE sausage, two slices of bacon, a hash brown, two mushrooms(Paulina seemed quite appalled at how soaked in grease these were), a load of baked beans (yuck), and half a tomato. It was huge to say the least. I’ve included the picture as proof : ) It still amazes me that they eat baked beans for their breakfast here, but I love their bacon. It’s a larger cut of meat compared to America, and is better prepared.

After their feast Paulina went home to recuperate and Laurine, Nuria, and I set off on our 3.5-4 hour walk. Yeah, it was long. I’ve included some pictures of that as well. I kept Laurine pretty entertained by falling down randomly. It had snowed the past couple days so it was slippery in places. We had a splendid time trekking through sheep pastures trying to find a suitable way home. I had to take an hour nap after we got back around 4:30 or so before I could do anything else.

Then yesterday, of course, I had signed up to go on my first official walk with the walking club on Sunday (not the smartest idea). It went alright, but I’ve determined that I will save more money by doing my walking around here on the weekends, which I already do plenty of. On the drive to where we walked which was called “Elan Valley” I got motion sickness for the first time in a LONG time. Since there are so many hills here the roads just wind all around them. So we just kept moving left and right and back and forth. Not fun. While on the walking trip, however, I think we finally determined why the British drive on the opposite side of the road from the majority of the world. I say majority because Australia is different as well. The theory is that in the medieval times the knights carried their javelins under their right arm to fight their opponents in battle; the same idea with sword fighting. Since the majority of people are right handed it is thought that is easier to protect oneself by keeping to the left side. And of course it can be thought that America did the opposite just to be that much more independent from their mother country. Ha ha... I thought it was pretty fascinating.

I’m slowly becoming better acquainted with the people in my hall. I met a few more people for first time today. There are a total of 16 of us in the hall (8 guys, 8 girls). They are all in their first year so their ages range from 18-20. I’m sure I’ll, as I somehow instinctively do, take a motherly role among them, but not to any extreme ; )

It has been beautiful weather the past couple days. Some how I don’t think it will last for too long once spring arrives so I’m enjoying it as much as I can.

Have a splendid week!

Kelli

5 comments:

  1. Just so you know what's going on in the pictures:
    1st: me falling while climbing up a hill
    2nd: beautiful drawing from my cousins in MI of my cousins and I from MI (LOVE IT! decoration for my BARE wall)
    3rd: the view from my room...pretty sweet
    4th: Nuria and I at the top of the hill
    5th: Laurine and Paulina eating an English breakfast
    6th & 7th: picture of my room
    8th: The major dam in Elan Valley where I went with the walking club

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  2. Hey Kelli,
    It's a joy reading this blog and hearing about all the good and the not so good things about your new life in a new environemnt. However,you've managed to remain true to who you are and I want to encourage you to continue doing so! I'll keep you and the concerns on your heart in prayer.

    God bless! Love you!
    Kosi

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  3. Kelli, I'm just so proud of you I could bust! I will continue to pray for you and the people you are sharing with! I saw your mom Saturday evening and she was sharing how excited she is about coming over! Love all the pictures.

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  4. Kelli- your mom gave us your site. We are really enjoying your comments. You will really appreciate having this later as a diary almost. It's all good. You have really blossomed into a beautiful young woman. I know, I know, shut up! I will, but just so ya know! We love you!

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  5. Great to follow you on here, Kelli. Wonderful to see how you're spreading your Christian testimony wherever you are. Miss your smiling face. We love you!

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