I MADE IT!!!!!!!

Ok everyone, I made it to Bath, England safely! The plane ride was intense. I believe over 8 hours- nonstop to London. Of course I couldn’t sleep, so instead I watched 3.2 movies. YES there is a point in there. I watched three full movies but by the time of the forth movie, everyone was waking up and talking so I had no idea what was going on in the actual movie. In that forth movie was the guy that Daniell, Bianca, and Allie love so much from P.S. I Love You. The airport in London was a little crazy… Going through Boarder Control was like being interrogated by the FBI. *I guess someone in our group took an earlier flight and they didn’t pass Board Control… Now he/she has to be flown back to San Francisco to only fly back to England.* Once that plan was figured out, the rest of us were on our way! We drove to Bath in a bus. After about three hours we arrived at Bath Spa University to meet our host families.

My host family is lovely! They are so sweet and kind. They said they love my accent and could listen to it all day long.They have a dog named Tia who is crazy wild. Loves to jump up on you, give you kisses, and play. She also eats fruit (reminds me of Kiana's dogs). Very loving though. Last night we were sitting and watching TV actually. I was with Tegan and Tracy while the boys were out… OMG on the channel we were watching, a shark beat a toaster up!!! *Of course it was people dressed in a shark and toaster outfit.* Oh, also there was a show on all the political figures of the USA and their mess-ups while on national television/ or just dong daily routines… No wonder why the world things we are so dumb.

Today our group walked around Bath to see where the main shops were. It was rather fun walking around and seeing everything. I just hope I remember it for tomorrow! Lol. We got to get some shopping in afterwards as well, which was nice. Luckily once our little tour was over, it deiced to rain then hail. Of course it rained again after hailing, so we got to walk in slush. That is when I decided it was time to head back to my host family. But I got some main shopping done. 65 pounds later I had gotten a new SIMs card (other one had expired), minutes on my phone (20 pounds worth... which actually has 40 pounds on it now cause of special deals that were going on- makes me happy), an umbrella, and bath stuff (shampoo, soap, toothpaste, razors, etc). Pretty good I think :-)

And school shall start tomorrow! I don’t want to go! Lol. Although I do not even start classes till noon tomorrow. I have it rather easy I guess. It all feels very real now…

Getting a hold of ME!!!! For all those who want to talk to me... I have news! Very very good news actually :-) First the cell phone! So I officially have a cell phone now. I think it is around 4p (pence) to 15p per minute and 15p per text message. I am really not sure about the exact cost but it is fairly good! so as of now I have 39.80 pounds left on it. My number is 0776741380. Now for you to call me, I believe you have to put 011 4 in front of it... I actually just called my mom and dad, that only cost about 50pence so... really good, but I do not know how often I'll use it. I would rather use skype and emailing for the majority of communication with people. Which brings me to our next way to get hold of me. So my host family has wireless... They gave me their password and said I can use it whenever I want. Sooooooooo internet is limitless for me! While... as long as I am here (in the house). But that is good! So I will probably be on often! Well for now, I think that is about it. I am really loving it!

Love you all very much!

*yes mom... after talking to you I decided to put more than 3 pictures up :-)

So it starts...

This past weekend I had my going away party. Man oh man was it crazy. Crazy good. Although having so many people there was overwhelming. So many different people all got together, to see me! I felt truly awful that I was not able to connect on a one-to-one level with anyone. Seems that I have so much I want to do, so many people I want to see, and so much I have to do... Yet time is constantly against me. The party was wonderful though for even though I might not have been able to say what I wanted to who I wanted, I got to see so many of the people I love. I got to feel their presence around me and know that were there to share this amazing experience with me. I am so very thankful for everyone who came and took part of the party. To me, it brought others together as well. I look back and remember just watching everyone talk with someone else. Seeing people caught up in different conversations. Great memories were made.

It also made it seems all so real. This whole time it has not really hit me that in a few short weeks I will be in a whole new world. I will be forced to embrace something new, doing so without anyone safe to help me along. I will be going with a group of people but I am not close to anyone who will be there. *I know I have been called a "social butterfly" but stepping out is not one of my stronger characteristics.* This could be a great thing though! Right?? Lol. I hope so. This might be one of my chances to step out of the normal and find something I have been searching for. I am getting excited to go and see how this experience change me. Which you will get to see/ read as well from these blogs...

I am lucky to have all of you back home who will be helping me on this journey. Without your support, care, and love, I do not know if 1. I would be the person I am today who could do this. 2. that the experience would be the same at all. 3. That even though we will be far apart, you will still be there for me. Thank you.