Last two days in London- Finale.

The arctic cold has decided to descend upon London in the last couple of days. The temperature has more or less been freezing since Monday. I foolishly waited outside in Leister Square for 3 hours to say 'Hello' to Colin Firth (for those of you who don't know Mr.Firth, he's a very famous British actor... most famous as the original Mr. Darcy in the BBC Pride and Prejudice). I did manage to shake hands and say hello to him at his movie premiere, but at the cost of going into a mild stage of hypothermia. I also got to see Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian), but not before us girls in the crowd were rained on, sleeted on, hailed on, and then blow with freezing winds. Apparently that night was the first time it's snowed in London in October since 1938... of course it would snow on us waiting on the edge of the red carpet. Some of my friends waited for 11 hours yesterday to see Daniel Craig at the World Premiere of the new Bond movie. I decided not to go. There were way too many people, and it wasn't worth wasting the day in London waiting in line to get a spot on the side of the red carpet.
Luckily, after the snow episode, the clouds cleared the next day, and since then all we've had in cold, crisp days. Perfect for walking in Hyde Park. Our hostel is located right on the edge of Hyde Park, which is wonderful for walks, jogs and playing with all the geese that line the little body of water in the middle of the park.
Tomorrow, after our literature final, all the girls from the trip are going to a fancy tea together, followed by a walk in the park and preparing for a fancy dinner with the entire group. Many of the girls bought dresses for dinner (sort of our mini-prom, to celebrate), and I ended up buying a less expensive dress that I could wear to all the weddings I'm going to in the next year (I'm good about recycling dresses).
I'm very excited to make the journey home on Saturday. Hopefully I'll be home Saturday night, but I might have to wait over night in Seattle and fly home Sunday. Either way, I will be home, in my OWN bed (hooray!), by the end of this weekend.

Pictures to come...
Lots of love,
Giselle

I should do my own UK travel show... I could make good money.

Below are the Top 10 "Must-See" places in the UK, rated by myself on their beauty, inspirational quality and the sheer joy I felt in the moments spent in these areas. If you're planning a trip to anywhere in the UK... try and visit these:

#10: My first 'Wicked' performance in London was definitely a moment of joy...see it, it's amazing.
#9: Westminster Abbey Evensong- If you go to Westminster on a Wednesday night at 5pm, you will be greeted by the worshiping voices of an enormous boys choir... it's amazing worship.
#8: Walking along Hadrian's Wall- beautiful views and lots of sheep
#7: Hiking part of the Kerry Way- Mom and I walked a part of this trail the runs around the Ring of Kerry in Southern Ireland... very peaceful.
#6: Evening on the Thames- just go near the National Theatre on the Queen's walk, the sound of the waves and the pale blue lights in the trees make it incredibly romantic.
#5: Walking along the Aberystwyth beach, Wales.
#4: Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland.
#3: The Cliffs off of the Aran Islands... spectacular. I likes them a lot better than the Cliffs of Moher.
#2: Biking the Dingle Pennisula out to Slea Head (Ireland)- amazing day with beautiful views of the Irish coast.
and finally... drum roll...
my #1 spot is the Lake District, northern England... specfically the hills (fells) around Grasmere. The heart of this area has tons of great hikes and picture perfect villages... my dream come true.

Being collegiate at Oxford.

Just wanted to quickly reiterate how beautiful and fun Oxford it. I would love to go to school here... although I feel quite under dressed and not up-to-par intelligence wise. The college quads are just gorgeous, there are some great old second-hand book stores (including an enormous book shop called Blackwell's-- I dropped a bit of money there yesterday), fun old pubs, and great fast food in general, which is typical of a good college town. I purchased a lovely Magdalen College sweater yesterday (Magdalen is where C.S. Lewis taught and tutored), it also came with a free cap, which I wore yesterday.
I need to get rid of this awful cold and runny nose so I can go out tonight to all the great pubs (Thursday nights are when all the students go out), maybe I'll have a dramatic recovery-- I'm crossing my fingers.
Down to just about a week left!! That's amazing... it has gone by fast.

Oxford, students and bikes!

We made it to Oxford early this afternoon by train, and I the a revelation that I only have one more train ride before I head back to the homeland! These past three months have gone by incredibly past... particularly the last month or so. I'm excited at the prospect of not having to pack up all my clothing and books every few days. What a wonderful feeling to spread out once more (anyone who has seen my room at home knows that keeping my clothing confined to a small space is a challenge for me... I like to spread out). I have less than two weeks left now to wrap up my experience across the pond, and I know it will fly by, so I'll try to make the most of this last week and a half.
Oxford is very beautiful, definitely a college town. There are hundreds of bikes all over the place and an equal amount of students wondering the city centre. I never knew that Oxford University was made up of sooo many different colleges (my favorite being "Jesus College", I think I'm going to by their code of arms sweatshirt)!
I can't lie, I've been a little homesick recently. I've been looking forward more and more to coming home and relaxing. I'm also SUPER excited about visiting Whitworth (Novemeber 7th-11th for those of you Whitworthians) and I will be spending my 21st birthday with my best friend Kelsey at her school, Sonoma State, in California!
Not much time to relax, I know, but I'll be in Juneau from the 15th of November all the way through Christmas, hopefully substitute teaching.
Well, I will write more later... Lots of love!

Stratford: Land of Shakespeare... and tourists.

Our group traveled across England yesterday from Grasmere to Stratford upon Avon. Train rides are usually pleasent (at least this one was) and it gave me lots of time to catch up on reading and journaling. We arrived in Stratford and it seemed extremely flat compared to the beautiful terrain of the Lake District, tourists flooded the streets filled with Shakespeare toursit shops... not exactly what I had in mind. Our hostel is about a 35-40 minute walk from town, which is both fortunate and unfortunate. While the walk gives everyone a good dose of fresh air, it also is far enough that it's super hard to motivate ourselves to walk downtown. That also excludes any pub visits or evening activities... probably planned that way so we would read rather than run around town!
This morning our group went to the Holy Communion Service at the Holy Trinity Church, (the same church where Shakespeare is burried). The service was quite nice, and there were two baptisms! We were amazed at how many children they had running around the church. The English don't have the same urgency to rush their screaming toddlers our of the church like many Americans do. Usually when a baby starts to cry in an American church service, it's a race for the door, trying not to disturb the preacher. In contrast, this morning there were babies yelling, screaming, talking loudly everywhere, and the parents just gave a polite "shhh" (which did nothing) and continued trying to focus on the sermon. So, while I enjoyed seeing all the beautiful English babies running around, I wished that they could install some sort of temporary 'cry room' in these massive old churches.
I have two weeks left of living out of my backpack (hooray!), and two more destinations: Oxford and our last week in London. I'm beginning to miss home very much, and I'm craving a good spelt-banana waffle from the Waffle Co. in Juneau... that means I'm ready. ;)

In love with the Lake District!

I can now say with complete confidence I have found the most beautiful place in all of England! Our group boarded the train out of Manchester and headed North to this glorious piece of creation--- definitely a blessing to all who visit. I have absolutely fallen in love with Grasmere, the town we have stayed in for these last couple of days. Grasmere (one of the small towns nestled in the area) is surrounded by rugged green hills, tons of public footpaths, shimmering lakes fed by streams that are lined with moss and trees. The valleys are speckled with little gray stone cottages among the vibrant green pastures. It truly looks as if this little area came directly out of a Grimm's fairy tale.
The first afternoon we arrived, my friend Zach and I headed up the most epic hill we could find! We were giddy as children running through leaves, hopping rocks across steams, climbing as high as possible. Today I hiked with three other friends along the side of a beautiful waterfall that fell down into the main Grasmere valley. The trails are everywhere, and each one leads to an amazing view. This has definitely been the best point out of the whole semester.
We're heading into the last two weeks of the semester (crazy!)... I wish I could spend the rest of the time exploring all the little towns of the Lake District. But I will be back again, I know I will.

Understanding Northern Ireland.

I know it has seemed that the majority of this semester abroad has been a breeze academic wise, more exploring than actual class work, which is partially true, but this past week in Northern Ireland has stirred my heart, draw intense emotion out of me, and challenged me in more ways than I could've imagined.
Many students my age are virtually clueless of the political/religious issues of Northern Ireland, since the height of the conflict seemed to be right before my generation was born. But the conflict itself is still very present. The prejudice runs so deep, deeper than I have ever experienced or heard of. Many Catholic students do not actually meet any member of the protestant community until they are eighteen or nineteen, and vice versa for protestant students. The majority of children are educated in segregated schools (protestant vs. catholic) and are not informed of the issues that took place just in the past forty years. The knowledge of Ireland's history comes from family, and along with this comes deep prejudice and hatred--- possibly sorrow for a loved one killed in the conflict. High walls still divide up Belfast like a jigsaw puzzle, and still more walls separating communities are being built for genuine fear and terror. Children continue to throw stones and petrol bombs, purely because that is all they know: they are protestant (or catholic) and they hate anyone labeled with the opposite religion.
These issues are so complicated, I can not even begin to go into the political system here that is struggling to agree on any decisions and how the issue does not have to do with religion at all... it's just a label. I have been crammed with historical information about the conflict to allow me to comprehend just a small amount of what we were witnessing while staying in Belfast.
During my stay here, I visited Stormont, the center for the Northern Ireland government, and heard representatives from all 5 main political parties that come from both Unionist and Nationalist background. Like any new country they are struggling to make political decisions... let alone meet in person! In the last ten years, the Northern Ireland Assembly has only met for 4 years and is just now being able to come face to face with the opposite leaders.
Our group was fortunate enough to get three individual walking tours around different areas of Belfast, the first was from an American missionary working with the presbyterian church (who originally came to Northern Ireland through the UPC deputation-- a program at University of Washington), then our second tour was of the Shankill Road(original struggle area) given by a former Ulster Volunteer Force gunman. This man was in prison for 16 years until the Good Friday Agreement for being involved in several different murders of IRA members. Let me tell you, it is a surreal experience to watch and listen to a man who was a part of the conflict walk through the area where he lived an fought. He explained to us why he was so eager to join to cause and the loved ones he lost. Very stirring in itself.
The next morning we went on another walking tour through the Falls, a predominate Catholic area that was hit hard during the conflict. We walked and listened to a former IRA snipper, who was also sent to prison for 14 years, and is now giving tours to better inform tourists, such as ourselves, of why he did what he did--- why they did what they did... and how at the time there seemed to be no other option. He was moved to tears when he walked us across streets where some of his close friends were shot.
To complete that day, we watched a movie called H3 about the Hunger strikes in the prisons, led by IRA members who were imprisoned as political prisoners by the British Army. Following the movie, we actually interviewed two men who were a part of the hunger strike in the H-block prison. We listened to these men talk about their experiences and friends lost... sickening to think of the things they did to oppose the British in those prisons. But when those men spoke, there was no doubt for their cause... it was still fresh, still so real. They still heard Bobby Sands voice, still felt that pain--- and will always reach towards their goal of a united Ireland.
Today our group of Whitworth students took a trip to Derry, the site of Bloody Sunday, when there was open fire by British soldiers on a Catholic civil rights march. We spent the day walking with a man who was at the Bloody Sunday march and was actually friends with the men who died. He was able to point himself out in pictures in the museum, he stood in the places where each man died. He walked us through his thought process as the shots began to fire and where he ran. I couldn't even imagine what that man was going through in his heart as he pointed out the bullet holes in walls where he was shot at and escaped. I cried. I couldn't even believe what I was hearing.
I'm moved to tears now thinking about it, thinking about how fortunate I am to grow up in a place where I do not have to worry about making life or death decisions each day.
I am blessed. God has truly blessed me.
Well, I'm out of time on the computer, but I will suer to post more later.
In Christ's Love,
Giselle

Belfast

Our group arrived in Belfast day before yesterday (Saturday) and settled into out hostel. The city is quite dirty... mostly because the city council has much more important things to pay attention to and put their money into: conflict resolution. We attended a Presbyterian church on Sunday morning that was working towards a better relationship with near-by Catholic parishes. They prayed throughout their service for peace and talked of youth programs that invited both Catholic youth and protestant youth. I was so impressed by the steps this church was taking towards helping their youth grow into a new society: one without boundaries. Our group was fortunate enough in the afternoon to get a guided walk from a Presbyterian peace volunteer through some of they very segregated neighborhoods. A large portion of Belfast lives in areas where 90-100% of the residents around them are part of the same social political party. There may be virtually no killing anymore, but there is still very very deep roots of division. The man who lead our group actually went to college at UW in Seattle and he did the deputation program that UPC provided and ended up going to Northern Ireland... and now he's still here! He hosts about 8 young adults a year to work in childrens after-school programs and promote peace.
This afternoon our group will be splitting up into small group to work with after-school programs around Belfast. I will be leading an after school program for an hour and a half with my friends Jordan, Ashley, Elizabeth and Allison. It should be a great experience. We'll be playing lots of camp games I know and doing a couple skits, it should be a blast. I will definitely write more about the experience later.
This entire week we will be meeting important figures in Belfast who are working towards peace in the area, and this morning we will be meeting some members of city council, which should be very interesting.
More soon... miss you all, love, Giselle

Good old Galway...

Our group spent the last two days sight-seeing out of Galway, on the west coast of Ireland. We spent a day bus touring towards the Cliffs of Moher, with lots of great stops along the way, including a short hike and many, many great stories about The Fairies. The Cliffs were gorgeous, but it was freezing cold!! It's definitely October over here in Ireland... lots of chilly winds blowing off the Atlantic. Today's weather was much better, but still a bit cold. We took a ferry out the the Aran Islands off the coast and explored all day.
I had a short stint of homesickness last night, and I'm getting quite tired of sleeping in the same room with seven other girls... and unfortunately, I am sick... it had to happen sometime. Everyone on the trip has had a cold at one point or another, but I've been healthy all the way up until this week... bummer.
Anyway, I'm off to an early bed time, I need to get rid of this cold ASAP.
Lots of love,
Giselle