Almost Missing Class, the Belton House, & an Evening of Relaxation

Soo earlier today I forgot to mention my little late fiasco....class was

at 9am, which sounds like a fairly reasonable time...haha welll my alarm went off at 7:30am, I pressed snooze and the next time I looked at my clock it was 8:55....whoops! haha my roommate was still sleeping as well and I was sure if she had class or not so I woke her up and it was a good thing I did because she had class at 9am as well! Yeahh it definitely had me flustered because that is NOT common for me.

Class ended up going well though. We discussed yesterday's events and then talked about the economy. I have a reading assignment to do over England's GDP which I'm actually quite interested in learning about.

Today we travelled to the Belton House in Grantham which is run by National Trust tourism. National Trust of England is a non-for-profit business entity that works to preserve the cultural and environmental treasures of England. When we arrived, Melissa Maynard, a National Trust tourism specialist talked with us for a while. She informed us of what her company does and gave a brief background of the property. The house was beautiful; massive in size and adorned with gorgeous paintings and furniture. My favorite part was probably the elegant canopy beds. After the house we toured the rest of the estate which included incredible manicured gardens, a greenhouse, a chapel, a cemetery, and numerous trails. 

Around 5pm we left and headed back to Harlaxton for dinner. Tonight they served a beef goulash, buttered greens, steamed vegetables, pasta, and a chocolate mousse. They have a salad bar available every lunch and dinner as well. When we finished a group of us decided to watch movies in a lounge area. We watched "The Blues Brothers" and "The Big Lebowski." If you are familiar with either of those two movies....you'd probably be able to guess that the guys picked them out. haha they were alright but most of us were falling asleep during both.

Speaking of sleep...I'm hoping to catch up on that tonight! I have learned how to sleep in an upright position on a coach...be it for 5 minutes or 2 hours....haha there's no time to sleep at night so we make up for it where we can. 

OH! And weather.....oh my goodness! We were informed that it was going to be rainy, windy, cold, and occasionally sunny. Yeah well that "occasionally sunny" has only occurred ONE DAY!! I did not realize it was going to be this chilly over here! It's alright though...I purchased a Harlaxton sweatshirt today to keep me warmer :)

Well I think I am going to try and upload some pictures to facebook before it gets too late (it's 11pm here).

The Town of Lincoln, Wine & Cheese Reception, and Accents

May 15th we had lecture at 8am...that was a little rough but the material was interesting so that helped a lot. Professor Edward Bujak (of Harlaxton) talked to us about the history of Lincoln and how it came to be. He also explained the characteristics of the architecture as they had both Roman and Gothic features. To be quite honest it felt like I was in a Humanities lecture all over again haha but this time I knew the material ahead of time.

We then travelled to Lincoln and oh my goodness, it was absolutely gorgeous! We were able to see the last functioning Roman gate (it's the only Roman gate that is still in good condition from 313AD and is being used for its original purpose...to let traffic through). We walked up and down High Street...which is basically the name of our "Main Street" in the US...meaning every town has a High Street. The boutiques and food shops were so beautiful and quaint. 

At 11:30am, we had a guided tour of the Lincoln Cathedral. Wow! It was definitely a sight to see! I have many pictures I will be posting when I can but the pictures do not do it justice. After the Cathedral we had free time so a bunch of us went and ate at the Magna Carta pub...even though Harlaxton had provided us with packed lunches. It was an interesting place. Once 2pm rolled around we went to the Lincoln Castle. Unfortunately, while most of the architecture was very beautiful, our experience was not the greatest. A few areas were under construction, there were no signs posted to help direct you, and we unknowningly walked into a working Magistrate while a hearing was taking place...of course we were, not necessarily yelled at but it was suggested that we should leave. Haha but yeah it was fun to walk on top of the Castle pathways (around the perimeter). Another thing that was down played was the Magna Carta. There are only 4 "original" copies of this document and Lincoln houses two of them...one would think with a document as important as this, the display would be phenomenal. Rather, it was simply a maze that had various descriptions of the document and ended with a viewing of both copies. It was really neat to see it, but a lot of us felt that they were not effectively sharing it. (This may have to do with the fact that England does not necessarily teach the Magna Carta in their school systems, which was later made known to us by a local).

After the Castle, Emma Tatlow spoke to us. She was a partner manager from "Visit Lincoln." She talked with us about her work and how she and her colleagues are trying to raise awareness of Lincoln to gain more tourists. Emma also told us a lot about the town and how they have been called the "Christmas Capital" due to their large annual Christmas festival.

We then headed back to Harlaxton after she talked with us. We had dinner and then it was time to get into our "Smart Dress" otherwise known to us as Business professional attire. We had a Cheese and Wine Reception with various seasoned business professionals from England. They were all extremely helpful and eager to get to know us. I was able to network with a big time "headhunter" and we exchanged information...hmmm maybe creating a job opportunity in England sometime in the future ;) haha not too sure how the parents would feel about that one though... haha but yes, we had a lovely time.

A few of us went out to a pub then and were able to converse with a bunch of locals that were more our age. They were quite interesting! A few of us girls met two girls, originally from London and Wales, who worked with us on our accents. haha it was absolutely hilarious to listen to them try to speak with an American accent; one of them was actually pretty good at it...but both depicted American girls as valley girls. When we tried our British accents for them I was told that I have a very good accent and it sounded as if I had been here for a few months  :) of course that made me happy. haha but anyways, I must go as it is lunch time here (11:45am)...I will most likely blog this evening in hopes to share today's events with you!

The Manor, First Legal Beverage, & Bacon Fries!

This was supposed to post last night but it never went through. I am posting it now and then I will write about today's (May 15th) adventures later on.

It is now 11:50pm here and I am about to pass out! Instead of relaxing, a few of us girls decided to explore the manor, which was a lot of fun! Many, MANY pictures to come from that adventure! I don't think I'll post any tonight though because I am too tired.

Tonight's dinner was hot and spicy chicken, rice (that was rather bland), cooked zucchini, salad, and a fruit salad. It wasn't too bad...typical cafeteria food though.

After dinner we had an official guided tour of the manor. All the guys were concerned with finding secret passages haha and there were a few...but the stories behind the architecture were absolutely amazing! I was able to make a lot of connections with the artwork and styles to the information that I have learned in my humanities classes at Marian....of course many of the other students thought I was a nerd for doing so :) but hey! it's nice to feel culturally literate.

After the tour we went to the Bistro...which is located in the basement of the manor. We hung out there for a while and then decided to walk to a local pub. (We were all exhausted but too excited to go to an English pub so of course we had to go haha) We ended up walking down the mile lane to the pub which I believe is called "Gregory's" after the original owner of the manor.  And yes.....I purchased my first legal beer :) haha it was exciting. I had a Birra Moretti, which is a lighter Italian beer. It was pretty good and I enjoyed sitting and talking with the girls. On the walk back it was raining....and we were super hungry. haha needless to say that mile trek back was not very fun but we made it back to the bistro in time to purchase food before they closed. It was here that I had my first misunderstanding...my roommate Briana and I saw that they had "bacon fries" listed on the menu...so of course starving us decided that sounded delicious.....well when we ordered them the clerk handed us basically what I would describe as a bag of potato chips that were bacon flavored! haha yeah NEVER again! I like bacon...and I like chips....but that combination was not good at all!

Well, class starts at 8am tomorrow...and I am about to fall asleep while typing haha so I shall bid you all adieu and wish you a pleasant evening!

Goodnight!
Sharisse

Arrived Safely and Trying to Get Acclimated

The flight went well! Everything was on schedule and there was minimal turbulence. I ended up watching Hansel & Gretel: The Witchhunters and Hotel Transylvania.....I suppose if you do your calculations you can correctly guess that I did not sleep much. I only got about an hour of sleep 😒. The two babies that alternated crying sessions did not help with this....I have never been one to be annoyed with babies, but with minimal sleep and a long flight....it quickly became extremely annoying.

Once in the UK, I went through customs (mind you this is at 8am London time, 3am Indiana time)....the lovely man working with me found it his job to interrogate me...casually look around....then decide I was clear. Haha it was only about two minutes but those were the longest two minutes of my life!

I picked up my luggage then ventured to "The Meeting Point" haha there was literally a place with that name at the airport....we waited until all members arrived and then took a coach to Harlaxton....which was about a 2hr drive. I tried to stay awake to view the country side....but one can only see so many green open fields on an hour of sleep. 

We arrived at Harlaxton around 2pm in the afternoon. We are now settled into our rooms and relaxing/napping until dinner at 5pm. I have a roommate named Briana (and no it's not Briana Schrock haha), she just graduated this past Saturday from Marian and is with the Sociology department. She seems fun :)

 I am going to try to post pictures on here but if that doesn't work I will for sure put them up on facebook.

Sending love from England!

Sharisse

May 13th....a day of travel

Well I am well on my way now...mom and I had an emotional departure....surprisingly more so on my end than hers. haha although I don't know what happened when she left me :P

We did see a few people we knew of course including a lady who had attended Clinton Christian. It's a small world!

So far things are going smoothly. Despite the few tears, I am so excited for this trip! I am actually enjoying my independent travels thus far. I made it through security with no problems at all! :)

I talked with a flight attendant for quite a long time while I was waiting. She was the sweetest elderly lady and of course took me under her wings and gave me a lot of advice.

I am going to try to get some sleep though because I will be losing 5 hours....meaning my internal clock is going to be all screwed up haha we'll see how that works with class in the morning!

Preparations!

Well, two more days until my flight leaves for England! I am super excited!! :) 

 I have never blogged before so I apologize in advance if I am not the greatest at it. I suppose I should begin by explaining what exactly I will be doing.

May 13th through 25th  I will be in England with the Marian University School of Business with 13 other students and a professor. There are a few other departments that are traveling with us as well: Nursing, Sociology, and I believe a few from Humanities and Education. I will receive 3 credit hours for my experience...so obviously this trip will not be solely tourism. I will be studying 'The Modern British Service Economy' and am quite excited about it.

 The 13th to the 20th I will be residing in the Harlaxton Manor in Lincolnshire, England. It is the British campus of the University of Evansville and looks very much like Hogwarts from the Harry Potter series. I will be sure to post pictures! My last few nights in England I will be staying at the Royal National Hotel in London. Throughout the two weeks I will be visiting many sites. The following is a list of a few locations: the Lincoln Cathedral/Lincoln Castle, Belton House in Grantham, Nottingham Forest Football Club, Lea Valley, London's Olympic site, Cambridge, Burghley House, Museum of London, UBS London, Lloyd's of London, the Bank of England Museum, etc. There will also be a few days that I will have free time to explore other various attractions.

So this is the first time that I will be traveling alone, not just without my parents but without anyone that I know. But, as most of you reading this know, that will not last long as I will make conversation with those around me :) Prayers will still be greatly appreciated!

England has always been at the top of my "bucket list" of travel destinations and I feel so incredibly blessed with this opportunity! I am hoping to be able to share majority of my experience with you via blog and pictures! 

Thanks for all your support,
Sharisse