Today started as kinda a lazy day (: Haroun and I watched this really great show called Sarah Jane Adventures. If you know Dr. Who, its about one of his assistants after he leaves. Haroun loves Dr. Who and is building a tardis in the sitting room!! It's so cool, I love it! Later on in the afternoon, I tested my bus skills by going all the way to my school. It takes about twenty five minutes or else I can walk, it takes about fourty five minutes to walk. I'm thinking that I will probably take the bus to school and walk home. So, after I found my school I walked into Headington and looked around at all of the shops. It is such a great town! They have some really nice shops and I bought a cute skirt for school from this really awesome store called Peacock Beautique. It has really nice clothes and they're all really reasonably priced! Then I took the bus back to Barton and made cauliflower cheese with Haroun which was quite fun. Haroun a very exciting kitchen partner! Its an early night tonight because tomorrow we're getting on the bus for London! It may be a few days until my next post because I don't think I will be using the computer there but I'm sure I will have plenty of exciting things to share when I get back.
Emma xx
Monday, August 29, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Blenheim Palace and First Trip to Cardiff
Started off Thursday really well by going round to one of my classmates' houses for coffee. She's a bit younger than me but her parents know Heather so she set it up. It was really fun and the girl seemed really sweet and gave me some pretty good advice! Then we went to Blenheim Palace with one of the neighborhood boys. Blenheim Palace is where Winston Churchill was born and its his family's palace, his uncle was the duke there. The palace is also the palace in the new movie version of Gulliver's Travels. It has really really beautiful gardens and lots of good history! I had a great time there! The next morning we left for Wales! We stayed with Heather's friends who were very nice and welcoming towards me. Their house was abolutely gorgeous!! I was in Cardiff which is a beautiful city right by the sea! Today I went to see the ocean! It was sooo lovely! I completely loved it! We also went to a place sort of like Living History Farms for my Iowa readers. Its kind of like a look into the past. It was really great and went all through Welsh history. It featured a traditional Welsh manor house during the Elizabethan era. I really enjoyed it! We saw all the traditional "Cardiff sights" which was nice (: after the three hour drive back to Oxford I'd say all in all it was a pretty good bank holiday weekend! Now its late though! Soooo more some other time!
Emma xx
Emma xx
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Days Three and Four sorry for the lateness!
Hello blog-world!
I apologize for missing Tuesday but it was very busy and I was far too tired to update the blog! So I suppose I will start with what I did on Tuesday. I went to Oxford with Heather which was very, very exciting! I guess I should explain this, I'm not quite sure all the names for everything yet but basically I think there's Oxfordshire and then within Oxfordshire there is a bunch of towns including Oxford and the village where I am living called Barton. Now, the other thing is that Barton is a little town so on my mailing address I'm actually in a city called Headington which is much larger and that is where we usually go to the shops and where I will be going to school. Sorry, I bet thats a bit confusing. Anyway, yes so we went into Oxford which is the biggest town in Oxfordshire. I'm not quite sure the population but it seemed to be a bustling city! I enjoyed it quite a bit! There were lots of shops and we looked all around. There's tons of history there which was really interesting to me. One famous spot we went to was a place where three men known as the Oxford Martyrs were killed. The men were Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmar who was the Archbishop of Cantebury at the time. This all happened when Mary Tudor took over as the English monarch after her brother Edward died (Mary is the oldest daughter of Henry VIII, his only child with his first wife Catherine of Aragon). Sorry for the history lesson but I am quite interested by it! We also saw some gorgeous botanical gardens! Later we had lunch in the very pub where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien sat where writing their famous books. Its been my first pub stop here and I had a ginger beer (unalcoholic I must say). Afterwards, I went to see Heather's school with her. It's quite lovely (: Then Haroun and I walked back to the house and made Heather golden rod toast and meringues for tea! Then I phoned up my Aunty Moira and my Aunty Lily and spoke to them about having a visit!! I am very, very excited! Later, Heather and I talked about travel plans which I'm sure I will update you on them once they've become more final! Okay that was mostly Tuesday! Then today, we woke up early to go this little village called Cumnor because Heather and Haroun needed to see someone there. So, I went for a bit of a wander! My oh my! The town was beautiful! Very, very cute. I saw loads of little thatched houses and things, it was kind of a traditional English village, I took lots and lots of pictures. Later today I went to my school for my official interview! It went very well. Except for the beginning! Apparently, there was a mix up about my appointment! But no bother, I spoke to the head of sixth form and he was quite nice. He helped me quite a bit and answered all my questions. I think I will be enjoying my time there very much!! When we got back, we walked into Headington and then Haroun and I went to the shops and took the bus back while Heather walked their super adorable dog Bea! We had a nice tea but now we're watching a movie so I'll write more some other time. That was pretty much the past few days. Tomorrow I get to meet a girl that will be going to my school next year as well, she's younger than me but still I'm excited! Alright, yes! Movie! Bye!
xx Emma
I apologize for missing Tuesday but it was very busy and I was far too tired to update the blog! So I suppose I will start with what I did on Tuesday. I went to Oxford with Heather which was very, very exciting! I guess I should explain this, I'm not quite sure all the names for everything yet but basically I think there's Oxfordshire and then within Oxfordshire there is a bunch of towns including Oxford and the village where I am living called Barton. Now, the other thing is that Barton is a little town so on my mailing address I'm actually in a city called Headington which is much larger and that is where we usually go to the shops and where I will be going to school. Sorry, I bet thats a bit confusing. Anyway, yes so we went into Oxford which is the biggest town in Oxfordshire. I'm not quite sure the population but it seemed to be a bustling city! I enjoyed it quite a bit! There were lots of shops and we looked all around. There's tons of history there which was really interesting to me. One famous spot we went to was a place where three men known as the Oxford Martyrs were killed. The men were Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmar who was the Archbishop of Cantebury at the time. This all happened when Mary Tudor took over as the English monarch after her brother Edward died (Mary is the oldest daughter of Henry VIII, his only child with his first wife Catherine of Aragon). Sorry for the history lesson but I am quite interested by it! We also saw some gorgeous botanical gardens! Later we had lunch in the very pub where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien sat where writing their famous books. Its been my first pub stop here and I had a ginger beer (unalcoholic I must say). Afterwards, I went to see Heather's school with her. It's quite lovely (: Then Haroun and I walked back to the house and made Heather golden rod toast and meringues for tea! Then I phoned up my Aunty Moira and my Aunty Lily and spoke to them about having a visit!! I am very, very excited! Later, Heather and I talked about travel plans which I'm sure I will update you on them once they've become more final! Okay that was mostly Tuesday! Then today, we woke up early to go this little village called Cumnor because Heather and Haroun needed to see someone there. So, I went for a bit of a wander! My oh my! The town was beautiful! Very, very cute. I saw loads of little thatched houses and things, it was kind of a traditional English village, I took lots and lots of pictures. Later today I went to my school for my official interview! It went very well. Except for the beginning! Apparently, there was a mix up about my appointment! But no bother, I spoke to the head of sixth form and he was quite nice. He helped me quite a bit and answered all my questions. I think I will be enjoying my time there very much!! When we got back, we walked into Headington and then Haroun and I went to the shops and took the bus back while Heather walked their super adorable dog Bea! We had a nice tea but now we're watching a movie so I'll write more some other time. That was pretty much the past few days. Tomorrow I get to meet a girl that will be going to my school next year as well, she's younger than me but still I'm excited! Alright, yes! Movie! Bye!
xx Emma
Monday, August 22, 2011
Dayyy two!
Hello all!
Second day has been lovely as well! I slept far too long this morning I'm afraid, till noon, but I am sure tomorrow will be better; I was tired from the plane. Then we had some excellent brunch, including brie!!! yummy yummy (: I went to look at my new school with Haroun and Heather, it looks very nice. Afterwards Heather and I did a bit of shopping in Headington which I must say is a fabulous town! I'm sure I will have lot of adventures there!! When we got home we had a very nice campfire with some of Heather's friends and went on another walk through some beautiful farmland. I'm off to bed now!
Emma xx
Second day has been lovely as well! I slept far too long this morning I'm afraid, till noon, but I am sure tomorrow will be better; I was tired from the plane. Then we had some excellent brunch, including brie!!! yummy yummy (: I went to look at my new school with Haroun and Heather, it looks very nice. Afterwards Heather and I did a bit of shopping in Headington which I must say is a fabulous town! I'm sure I will have lot of adventures there!! When we got home we had a very nice campfire with some of Heather's friends and went on another walk through some beautiful farmland. I'm off to bed now!
Emma xx
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Day One!
Hello blog readers! All though I don't believe there are any of you yet...
Today I arrived at London Heathrow around noon and my flight was excellent! I absolutely adore the scenery here!! So far, I have unpacked and explored Oxford a little. I am really enjoying spending time with Heather and Haroun!! They are really very excellent. The neighborhood is adorable and I am looking forward to meeting more people! However, right now, I am very tired and would like to catch up on the sleep I missed out on while sleeping on the plane.
Good night!
xx Emma
Today I arrived at London Heathrow around noon and my flight was excellent! I absolutely adore the scenery here!! So far, I have unpacked and explored Oxford a little. I am really enjoying spending time with Heather and Haroun!! They are really very excellent. The neighborhood is adorable and I am looking forward to meeting more people! However, right now, I am very tired and would like to catch up on the sleep I missed out on while sleeping on the plane.
Good night!
xx Emma
Friday, August 19, 2011
See Ya Later America!!!
Well hello! This is my first blog so I suppose I'll start out with an introduction. My name is Emma and I am seventeen years old. I am from a tiny town in Iowa, USA and in one day I am moving to Oxford, England to study for a semester. I created this blog so that my family and friends can follow my adventures while I'm gone! Tonight is my going away party and suddenly things are becoming a bit more real to me. I'm going to miss everyone sooo much but I'm really looking forward to meeting new people and having some exciting experiences. I leave tomorrow at 9:45 pm from Minneapolis and will arrive at Heathrow at 12:05 pm! Time to get on with my day, more later!
-Emma
-Emma
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