We found the oldest school in the world.

So Kevin and I were exploring the town the other day. We found this great used book store. It's a small store but it has some great treasures. I found books that date from the 1800's; that's crazy. I got a English bird book from the 1920's. 
Side note: The Dharma initiative here on campus. Sorry, if you don't understand, it's a reference from the show, LOST.

We were walking around the city trying to find St. Augustine's abbey. We thought we found it until we saw a sign that said the King's school. The King's School is the oldest school still running to this day. It was founded by St. Augustine himself in 597. 

Because it is a school, we weren't allowed to go in but we took pictures from the outside. It looks like Hogwarts castle. By the way, there really are headmasters and headmistresses. We have a master of our college here at Kent Uni.I feel like I'm living in Harry Potter's world.

We had our church's small group last night. We talked about Mark 2 and the healing of the paralytic. It was was a great time of praying together and worshiping our God together as a family in Christ. I am so thankful that God has provided me a church and friends that fully follow after Him. It was one of the things I was worried about. God knows and has a plan, I don't know why I was worried. 

This weekend, Kevin and I are going to Paris for his 21st Birthday! We are going to meet up with Janice and our other friend, Angela, who is also studying abroad in Spain. Bread, cheese, steak frites, macarons, pastries...here I come!  

Sea Beans and the English Walmart.

I just posted about my adventures at ASDA, the English Walmart and a recipe for sauteed sea beans and mushrooms on Salt & Spatula. What's a sea bean? I'll give you a picture hint.

Cheers!

the Ancient Blean Woods

On Saturday, we went hiking in the Blean woods which are right by our university. The county we're living in, Kent, is know as the Garden of England so we decided to take an advantage of it.

The whole fall colour things hasn't set in here yet but there were chesnuts littering the ground. They look like bright green baby hedgehogs. That's the other thing. Kevin and I are determined to see a hedgehog and a badger before we leave.

We were hiking around the forest and then we hit the end and entered an English farm, I guess that's the garden of England part. It looked exactly like English countryside. I still can't get over it. The time has flown so fast, I can't believe I'm halfway through my time here. I am excited to see family and friends again but I know I will miss England and everyone here A LOT.

We headed back and started to work on our papers. I have two. One on Greek coins for Greek Art and then another on Chthonic gods (Underworld gods) for ancient Greek religion. We worked for a few hours and then we both had enough of the library. I decided to make japchae for dinner. It's a Korean noodle dish using cellophane noodles made from yam starch. They different than the Chinese ones in that those are based from mung bean and they are more fragile than their Korean counterparts. 

Sorry, I didn't blog this on Salt & Spatula, I will someday. It's pretty simple, cut, prep, all your veggies and meat. Soak and cook the noodles and mix them with sesame oil, soy sauce, and sugar.

Since we didn't leave the country this week, we get to go to church! I am so excited! I wish I could freeze time so I can travel to other countries and then be back for church on Sunday.
Cheers!

Switzerland: climbing the Alps, chocolate and cheese

Switzerland is one of my new favorite places in the world. This past weekend, Kevin and I traveled to this land filled of mountains, clocks, and of course, chocolate. We left Friday night with the whole walk to bus to bus to airport thing. We spent the night there which is actually not as bad as I thought; however I did have the last Harry Potter book on hand to pass the time. We flew to Zürich the next morning at 6 am.

 

Zürich is located in the center of the nation and is the the largest city in Switzerland. It's a really cool place to walk around. Most of sites are all around the downtown train station.

The Fraumünster and St. Peter's which has the largest clock face in Europe

After a few hours in Zürich, we traveled by train to Luzern/Lucerne. Luzern is a smallish city about an hour away from Zürich. 

There is quite a lot to see in Luzern including Mt. Pilatus and Lake Luzern. The entire city is walkable.

The Kapellbrücke, or Chapel Bridge was built in 1333 and is the oldest covered wooden bridge in Europe. Sadly, the bridge caught fire in 1993 and destroyed a majority of the original bridge.

The Lion Monument was created to honour the fallen Swiss guards who protected the royal family during the French Revolution in 1792.

View from the city walls built in 1386

On Sunday morning, we went hiking towards Mt. Pilatus. The mountain is named after a local legend which says Pontus Pilate was buried there and haunts the mountaintop. There are cable cars and the world's steepest cogwheel railway to get up. It was a foggy and rainy day so it wasn't really worth going. We would see white, and more white. So we decided hiked up to Kreisenregg, which is about a third up the mountain.
We passed lush Swiss hills and mountains.

Then through a forest changing its colors for autumn.

On our way down, the Forbidden Forest from Harry Potter appeared. I was looking around for centaurs and You-know-who. 

Things I have learned about Switzerland

1) It is a beautiful country full of lush green mountains, forests turning into rich reds, yellows and oranges and crystal clear lakes complete with swans.

2) The fountains all over the cities have water free for drinking. It's pretty tasty too.

3) It is expensive. Although the dollar is about equal to the Swiss franc, the prices still got lost in conversion. Try $12 for a big mac or $7.50 for a tall hot chocolate. We went to the local grocery store and cooked most of our food. Of course, we got some chocolate and cheese. I'll post on Salt & Spatula soon.

Colorful Swiss Francs

We ended our trip sitting by Lake Zurich feeding the ducks and swans. This was such a great trip. I would really love to come back and do some more hiking in the Alps. We were able to see the wonders of God's creation all around us. We're staying in Southern England this weekend, maybe a day trip to Dover or Whitstable is in order. We'll see.

Barcelona, Spain: the land overflowing with tapas and Gaudi.

This past weekend, Kevin and I traveled to Barcelona. 

This was our first trip out of the country. Janice is studying abroad in Cordoba, Spain and we wanted to meet up since I haven't seen her since June. The whole process of getting there, or any where really, is kinda complicated but its well worth it. We started out at the Uni of Kent. We walked about 1.5 miles into town to the Canterbury bus station. From there we traveled to the Victoria Coach Station in London which is about an hour and half ride. Then we traveled by train to the Gatwick airport which is about an hour outside of London. Then from Gatwick we flew via Ryanair (this is a whole other post) to Girona, Spain which is about an hour and a half outside Barcelona. Then we took another bus from the airport to Barcelona, Gard de Nord Station. Then we took the metro to the gothic quarter. Then we met up with Janice and walked to our hostel. By that time we were seasoned travelers of public transportation.

Monument to Christopher Colombus.

Barcelona is such a great city. Because it is located in northwestern Spain, it has a lot of Catalan influence. Catalan is primarily spoken but people do speak Spanish. That night we grabbed some tapas at the normal Spanish dinner time of 10pm. 

Pulpitas a la placha (Grilled Octopus)

The next day we traveled all around Barcelona on the amazing metro, the day pass was only 6 euro. We saw many works of the famous architect, Antoni Gaudi, built all over the city. 

Casa Batllo

Parc Guell

That's rain not sweat.

View from Parc Guell

Gaudi's famous lizard

Then we went to the Parc Ciutadella which is the most central park in Barcelona.

Arc de Triomf

Parc Ciutadella

We wandered over to the Sagrada Familia, which is one of Guadi's works. It's been under construction since 1882 and still has over 20 years to go. What a project!

Gaudi's hospital

The next morning we started our day off with the ever so healthy, chocolate con churros. Fried, crunchy churros to dunk into a thick, creamy glass of hot chocolate. This has to be one of the best ways to start a day. 

With our stomachs full of chocolate, we walked around La Rambla which is the main touristy street full of flower vendors and people dressed up as statues. Then we went to the Mercat de la Boqueria. What an amazing place! I wrote about the food of Barcelona on Salt & Spatula.

This was such a great trip, especially to see Janice and catch up with her. However, the excitement wasn't over yet. We were sitting at the bus stop to return to Girona aiport when this shady man comes over and starts to muttle something in spanish to Janice. He was getting too close to her so Kevin and I directed our attention to him. He wandered off and we were thinking that that event was kinda strange. Only five minutes later, did Kevin realize that his backpack had been stolen and our bus left in only 20 minutes. We knew about pick pocketers especially in Barcelona, so the whole time we were watching each other and our bags. Our back packs were on the ground between our legs. We were so baffled at how he had gotten his bag. After a minor panic attack, we prayed together and asked God to give us peace and that the issue would be settled. Praise God that Kevin had his new dslr camera in his lap, and his passort and wallet in his pocket. There were clothes, an older ipod, and copies of travel documents in the backpack but nothing too crucial. We talked to the security who directed us to the police station. They were very helpful but they said honestly, there wasn't much we could do. Across the street, we were able to print out bus and airplane boarding passes so we were set. We boarded the bus and Kevin called our UC advisor and let her know what had happened. Then God showed us a rainbow and it was a reminder to that everything was going to be alright. Looking back, I am very thankful to God. Nothing too important was taken, we were not hurt or harmed, we were all together so we could work together, and it made us realize that we aren't in control and that God is, all the time. I find such peace in knowing that. Most of the time we ask for safety when traveling, but God used this incidence to grow closer with Him.

I learned this trip about how God is the one who hold us and watches over us. It was such a blessing to talk with Janice and learn how God is working through her in Spain with her host family. In terms of the incident,  we were being cautious the whole time. I don't think we would have done anything different, that guy was just too good. 

Tomorrow morning, Kevin and I are leaving for Switzerland. Time to practice yodeling. Cheers!

I really want stuffing right now.

It's been such a good week. I am much more freed up now that my presentation is done. I think it went well for the most part (nothing like my student council president speech, that's for sure). 

People here are really great. The only bad thing is that I'm only here for 3 months and I wish I could get to know them better. We talked about what a typical Thanksgiving is with the turkey, yams, pilgrims, and the most important stuffing. This will be the first Thanksgiving away from home. I'm really sad, hopefully, I'll be there via skype. But no sticky rice and turkey this year. That is really sad. I think we are going to make some Thanksgiving food and have a huge dinner with our English friends. That is something to be excited for. 

Tomorrow Kevin and I are going to Barcelona. I am so excited. The city is beautiful with Gaudi's architecture and I can't wait for tapas, and churros con chocolate. I think I'm going to pop with excitement. We also get to see Janice, who we haven't seen since June. 

Alright, time for bed. We have to get up at 5am tomorrow. Cheers!

Tuesday Night is the new Friday Night, apparently.

So it's Tuesday night and since 96.8% of people have no lectures tomorrow they act like its Friday night. It doesn't bother me really, honestly. Right now I am hanging out with Nick, Shelty and Kevin via tok box. PTL for technology. 

I love it here so much. Though the one really annoying thing is that every Wednesday morning at any time between 7:30-9:30, they test the buildings fire alarms. Once a term, I understand. But every week? Last Wednesday, it went off 3 times before they stopped it. Oh well.

Last week I had my first week of classes...though I still feel like I'm in summer. This is the BIG boondoggle my mom has been talking about since I told her. I am only taking 2 classes and I'll get 24 UC units back. So one would think that I would have to camp in the library the whole time. Well, it turns out that I only have 6 hours of class a week. Two hours Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. It's kinda amazing, I have to admit. I am taking Greek Art and Architecture and gods, Myths, and Heroes:Religion in Ancient Greece with 20 people in each. They both are so interesting and it's a nice change from the normal 300+ science classes that I'm used to. I hope to do some of my reading on this huge grassy hill overlooking the city and cathedral.

Despite all of that scholastic greatness, this week I am pretty swamped with a 20 minute presentation on the sanctuary and temple of Poseidon in Sounion that I am giving this Friday. That's the main reason for the lack of blogging. 

It's been great here. Kevin and I are starting to get really connected with friends here as well as the Christian Union and City Church. God is good, really really good. I can't wait to see what He has in store for the next few months. 

We were in the city the other day and I had the best fish & chips that I've ever had. Perfectly battered and golden brown and delicious (as Alton Brown would say GBD). The cod was tender and moist. A splash of malt vinegar and a sprinkle of salt was all that my soon-to-be-clogged arteries needed. 

This weekend, we are going to Barcelona. We are meeting up with our friend, Janice, who is studying abroad in Cordoba, Spain. I am so excited and can't wait to go tapas bar hopping. 


Alright, off to bed. Cheers!