Ramblings of Naiveté

I kept thinking about how I should start this entry and if I should start a different blog or not, but I don’t want to use a different blog website since I already have the tumblr. Also, I’m already uploading pictures to both my dad’s smugmug site and facebook- I don’t want to have to update a fourth website… But anyway, for those that didn’t know, I am studying abroad at the University of Sussex for just the fall quarter this year so I’m in England until mid-December.

Most people don’t know this, but I was supposed to be in England by the 15th of September and have spent two full days in London. But, my sister and I missed our flight due to unfortunate circumstances and we didn’t get here until the 18th. Because we were three days late, we went straight to my dad’s cousin’s house in Harrogate and BOY! what a tiring trip it was. We spent about 12 hours total on the airplane, took an express train from the airport into central London, took a taxi from Padding Station to Kings Cross, took a train from Kings Cross to York, and took another train from York to Harrogate. All the traveling on the trains took approximately 4 hours altogether. Now that I think of it, we spent over half of a day getting to my aunt in Harrogate. o____O We did sleep for several hours on the plane and on the train… but only in 2-3 hour intervals, so we were still pretty sleepy by 9pm (UK time). During the flights over, I thought a lot about the upcoming quarter and being away from my good friends in San Diego and even further away from my parents. I felt a bit of that anxiousness similar to when everybody from high school split up to go off to their respective colleges. I kept thinking about how much I’ll be missing out on back in San Diego and how I’d be starting school in a new country not knowing anybody. But! I definitely prayed a lot on the plane about it and about being anxious/somewhat scared. I was also partially scared because before leaving, everyone was telling me different ways to be safe in a foreign country. My cousin was telling me all sorts of things that I should avoid doing while traveling on the airplane and on the train. I was paranoid of talking to strangers and had headphones in my ears during the majority of the flights since my sister and I didn’t sit next to each other during our 2nd flight. I was scared that I’d get pick-pocketed, lose something, or get lost. After praying about it on the plane and getting to the train stations, I felt better. I just remembered that I’m not in control of my life and that I should trust that God is always there to look after me. If I were to get pick-pocketed or lost, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. It would be unfortunate, but I would probably be okay. Also, the sun was out in London and while we were traveling when I expected it to be raining, so that helped my worries fade as well. It didn’t rain until my aunt pulled into her driveway! So, God’s timing was definitely another blessing for the day. :)

Once we got to Harrogate, we dropped off our stuff and then our aunt took us into town to eat a late lunch and walk around. We ate at Farrah’s of Harrogate, which is a small shop known for its sweets. They also had lunch food, so I ate a carrot and coriander soup and split a Victorian Sponge cake with Mia. Afterwards, we just walked around the shops and came back to the house to meet up with my cousins and make dinner. We didn’t do much, but Mia and I were both falling asleep very early while everyone else was watching the movie Knight and Day.

Today, we did a lot more but I’ll have to write about it some other time. For now, you guys can view pictures of our visit to Harewood House here [wow, I just realized that I’m forgetting a lot of my html knowledge… :(] because it’s time for bed… good night!