The Wild Bride

First of all, another beautiful day in Oxford!!! I only had drama today and then I left school with the year 13 drama class to see the play The Wild Bride. Ohhhh my gosh!!!!! It was so great! I really loved it. It was really strange but at the same time just so amazing. It kind of reminded me of the ballet we saw of the Little Match Girl (Grandma Katie). It was that type of style.

Yes, I'm really bad with computers but here my attempt at trying to show you a little trailer for the show. It doesn't really explain anything about it but I'm really tired now. No school tomorrow!! So, I'll try to write a short description of it or else feel free to look it up yourself. It was a Kneehigh Theatre production.

That's all for now.

xxx Emma

oh! happy birthday Daddy!!!! xxxxx

A Beautiful Day In Headington :)

Everythings been going really well here. I've been really busy with school work though. I had a great time skyping with Heather, Sophia, Dad, Cora, Judy, and Kent Sunday!! It was so great to see all of you xxx. Speaking of my dad, I'd like to wish you a lovely birthday (one day early) I hope you have an excellent day and you should be expecting a call from me and a special surprise I think so check your email!! :) Anyway, today it was amazingly beautiful outside!! Not a cloud in sight and it was about thirty degrees! Sooooo gorgeous!! I went to the park with a friend and I'm pretty sure I got sunburnt. I think this is the happiest I've ever been to be sunburnt haha. I think its supposed to be like this for the rest of the week!! Tomorrow I'm going to a play called The Wild Bride put on by the Kneehigh Theatre. I think it should be really great, its apparently also sort of in the style of Brecht which is what we're studying in drama right now. Friday I'm going to my first English party fun times, fun times :) Time to do some more work!!
xxx Emma
ps. I burnt my finger today making shortbread :(

Warwick

Had a great week at school! Although, I am getting more work right now which isn't as fun. This weekend we're going to Warwick which should be really fun. I will be going to Warwick Castle tomorrow and then Sunday I'm going to mass at St. Mary's church which is apparently really beautiful. They also have four choirs which I am really looking forward to hearing!! Anyway, time to go get ready for the trip!!
xx Emma

One Month In England!!

First off, I have to start with this, I HATE THE NEW FACEBOOK!!!!! Sorry, back to my normal blog! So as you can tell, yesterday marked the anniversary of my first month in England. In general, it has been fabulous!! Sunday was great, I'm really getting to know people here. Its soooo fun!!!! I have been getting some more homework in my lessons though. Today I almost finished my college applications. Wish me luck, only a few things left to do before I submit them :) That's pretty much it for now!!
xx Emma

Second Full Week of School!!

Hello! Sorry for not posting this week, school was kind of busy. I really enjoyed my first full week though!! Wednesday I went to a record shop with a friend which was really exciting! The only record shop I've been to before that is the one that's inside the Vinyl Cafe and I don't really think that counts. Anyway, the record shop was really cool. School went really well this week but I ended up dropping one of my subjects. Now I'm only doing four which is what most people do. My subjects are, English Lit, history, drama, and philosophy. I really love all of them. Friday, we all went to Heather's friends restaurant again, it is sooo excellent!! I love their food!! Heather's sister and niece met us there, her niece just got a flat across the street from the restaurant. Today, I went to a food festival in Oxford. It was really amazing!! There was food everywhere!!!! I got a banana toffee ice cream at this super cute stand that was inside an old mini camper (mom you would have loved it, the style was so you!!). I took some pictures so I'm sure you can all see them when I get back. I might go back tomorrow and pick up some tablet (yummy Scottish fudge) or else I'll just make some!! Heather wants me to try to make some yummy sausage rolls or something like that as well. Puff pastry adventures here I come!! If you have any tips let me know :) We just got back from Heather's friend's birthday party, it was pretty fun. Tomorrow one of my new friends is showing me around Oxford. I am quite excited!! :) Hopefully it goes well.
xx Emma

Some Exciting Days of School!

So yeah.. second day! Just as awesome as the first!! I had performing arts which was amazing. Sorry Nevada High School Players buuuuuut the eight people in my acting class are amazing actors. My teacher is really crazy and eccentric but amazing!! We did some improv which surprisingly I really enjoyed and did somewhat alright I think anyway (: and at lunch I got to talk to some people all about music!! It was really amazing!! I also had world development where we'll talk a lot about poverty and things like that. It was kind of funny because one of the first things my teacher brought up was that everyone thinks that America is such a wealthy country but its the most in debt. History was good too! One teacher will be teaching the Italian Renaisance and the other Tudor England, I'm super excited!! Then today I had English lit in the morning which I think should be fun. I also had history again which was good, we watched a British comedy about Elizabeth I. Philosophy was my last class of the day and I loved it!! Its probably my favorite class so far I think. We did our first presentation which my group kinda winged but it went really well so its okay!! We also had a discussion about some pretty controversial topics (Abortion and gay adoption)!! I was really surprised that almost everyone thought they should both be legal! Yay!!!  Time to make pizza!!! (:
Emma xx

First Day of School!!

Hello world! I completely loved my first day!! I met up with one of the girls I met Monday at orientation and she introduced me to all of her friends. One of her friends was also new to Cheney so after the assembly we stuck together because all the new students had to have a little meeting with the head of sixth form. I found out which college I'm in and then got a tour of school. Then I saw some more people I knew from Monday who introduced me to a girl in my next class, Philosophy. So we went off to philosophy and I saw more people I knew! We got assigned a short project and I'm with two really cool guys (: I have two philosophy teachers and sort of two parts of my philosophy class. Today I had double philosophy so one of my teachers taught one of the classes and the other teacher taught the other class. After class, I hung out with the super cool people in my group plus this other guy. When I got home I got to skype with Nolan!!! (: In general, it was super fabulous day! I'm meeting the same girl again this morning for our performing arts class. Isn't that amazing? I get to act for a class!! Its going to be sooo amazing. After performing arts I have world development and history. Time for breakfast!!
xx Emma

Last Day of Summer!!!

Today was my last day of summer! Haroun and I spent it together. We went to Saint Gile's Fair in Oxford today. Saint Gile's Fair is one of the oldest fairs in England and dates back to the middle ages!! Unfortunately, now its just like any other fun fair but being a fun fair it was of course fun (: Haroun and I ate lots of candy floss and went on all sorts of little rides. We had Cornish pasties for lunch which I loved!! No meat of course but we got mushroom, cheese, and onion. They were really, really yummy but I'm still pretty sure that my dad's were better and he's not even Cornish! At the end of the fair, I experienced some more typical English weather aka a huge rainstorm. Haroun and I were soaking wet when we got home so we made some hot chocolate and watched some TV. I'm really excited for my first day of school tomorrow, probably more excited than I've ever been for school but also probably more nervous than I've ever been for school! Hopefully it goes well! I'll keep you all posted (:
xx Emma

Orientation

Today I had orientation for my school!! It was very exciting! I even met someone on the way to school, we were chatting on the bus and exchanged numbers. I love public transportation!! So, at orientation we just kind of talked about expectations and stuff like that, pretty boring. However, afterwards I met some new people!! We all stood around talking while we waited for our time tables and then just happened to continue talking afterwards! We're meeting and walking in to school together (: Tomorrow Haroun and I are going to St. Giles Fair which is a street fair in Oxford. I'm not exactly sure what it is but I'm sure it will be fun! Time to skype (:
xxEmma

Fish and Chips?

Sorry for the delay in blogging, skype is up and running now so I've been quite distracted with it! My skype name is emcarrollwil if you wanna skype ever (: So on Friday we had fish and chips! If you don't know, I am a vegetarian but sometimes I give fish a chance. I was very excited for this classically British meal however, I just could not bring myself to eat more than a few bites. I did really like it I must say but I just couldn't get over the fact that the fish used to be alive! Ahhhh!!!!! I wish I could though really. Anyway, then yesterday I got a new phone! Yay!!! Its way fancy haha I don't know how to deal with it. After I bought my phone we went to this really cute village called Islip, its really close to Barton. Islip is famous for being the birthplace of Edward the Confessor. Who, unfortunately, I don't know very much about! There is a shrine to him in the church which is now an Anglican church. However, it does have this really old tapestry upstairs that has the Catholic Profession of Faith on it. It was beautiful and I just felt a huge spiritual connection there. Then Haroun and I came home and made a giant Victoria Sponge!!! If you don't know, a Victoria Sponge is a two layer sponge cake that has strawberry jam and whipped cream between the layers. Yummy, yummy, yummmyyyyy!!!! We made the cake because Heather's cousin Alaster and his wife Lynne came to stay the night! They live in New Zealand and they are just finishing a three week tour of Great Britain. They are really great, fun, and interesting! Today we went on a picnick at Blenheim Palace with Lynne, Alaster, Heather Haroun, Heather's sister Caroll and her kids Alice and Timothy. This evening I got to skype with my amazing friend Nolan! I've really missed him and it is great to be able to talk so easily! Tomorrow morning I'm going to school for some kind of orientation! I hope it goes well!! Wish me luck!
xx Emma

Oxford On My Own!

Short post now since I just did the one about London! But today I went to Oxford all by myself! Only for a few hours but it was still quite an accomplishment for me. I spent a lot of time going to all the shops on the main shopping street. It was really exciting but awful at the same time because I loved absolutely all the clothes but have promised myself that I won't spend all my money on clothes. I got lost once and asked three people for directions but not one of them spoke any English at all! So then I decided I should just probably figure it out myself! I worked it out so it was just fine. Then I came home and watched Dr.Who with Haroun. Great show!!! Everyone should watch it (: That's it for now
Emma xx

London Darling!

Hello! Well let's just start off by saying, London was amazing! I adored it! Okay, so we started the day on the bus to London which took just under an hour which is great. When I first stepped off the bus, we went to see Big Ben, London Eye, Houses of Parliment, and Westminster Abbey. BEAUTIFUL! Outside the Houses of Parliment were tons of camps set up protesting various things. Many of them were there protesting the war in Afganistan. I must say, to me it was amazing to see all those people protesting. I admire them so much for having that kind of determination, I can only hope someday I will be as passionate about something. After that we walked down to the River Thames. There we met London Louise! We all jumped on a boat and saw the sights by boat tour which was really exciting and gave me an interesting perspective. My, oh my was it beautiful. We saw so many things however, my favorite, I must say, was The Tower of London. I am just so facinated by it! I will no doubt be going back for a tour of it. We ended our boat journey at Greenwich. This is the place where the line is that divides the eastern and western hemispheres. That is why many people come to Greenwich and I did have my picture taken with one foot on each side of the line but I was much more interested in another part of the city. Just down the hill from the line of the hemispheres, in the same park, is Greenwich Palace. King Henry VIII spent many hours chasing deer in the woods there, Greenwich was his favorite palace. It was amazing to think that the very ground I was walking on had once been touched by Henry VIII and his courtiers. Of course, his daughters Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I were both born here as well. While we were there we also saw the Naval Museum which was quite interesting. After Greenwich we went on to Brick Lane. It was amazing! Ramadan started the night before so the area was bustling with party goers in gorgeous clothes! We stopped at a great Indian restaurant where Louise and Heather both used to eat a long time ago. They had some really good curry there! It made me think of Sahib's back in Minneapolis haha I wish he was still open! After that we took a little walk to London Louise's house which is lovely. Its a three story, terraced house in a perfect location! Lousie is amazing and it seems like we have a lot in common! We both love theatre, museums, history, baroque music, politics... the list goes on and on! She's also just a really good person to talk to! It turns out that not only did she know my mum (which I already knew) but she also met my dad! She said of him, "nice bloke, strong accent but very handsome..." haha (: we had some really nice chats. The next day I woke up to some excellent porridge! That's right folks, I know love porridge again! Then we spent the rest of the day at the Natural History Museum haha. My favorite parts were probably the dinosaurs, ancient mammals, and the path of humans. I got to see the skeleton of Lucy!!! For those of you who don't know, when I was eleven I was in a play about Lucy playing the part of Lucy the skeleton! I must say, at the time I did quite a bit of research on her so it was really cool to see the bones in person. I really enjoyed it but I can't wait to go back to London to see some more of the city. Then we had to say goodbye and take the bus back to Oxford :( I can't see why anyone would ever want to leave! (cough, cough, mum and dad, cough!)
Emma xx