Hello Texas folk and friends! I live in Canterbury 9, just a short walk from town (my house is cooler than Canterbury 10:) )! First day here was, in a word, strange. We went on a short walk with our host professors, then they left us to fend for ourselves, and get back home by using our map. It kind of felt like an international and intentional initiation (man, look at that alliteration) which was kinda funny. Kinda. But we made it back basically in one piece. Brady, Lyndi, and I then made our first meal of tortellinis (food of champions OF COURSE) which I failed to take a picture of. During this lovely meal we talked of denominations of churches to recycling to our freaky kitchen light to banana boys working the corner to kicking the crack. To explain all of this, we were talking about denominations for some reason and I said, "I think denominations are stupid." Brady agreed and Lyndi asked how they separated them into divisions. Brady started to explain, "Well, it's all about tradition..." to which Lyndi responded, "No...the recycle bins..." Memory #1 = CHECK. Then our kitchen light randomly came on when we had been sitting in the dark for a good thirty minutes. It is motion censored. A tad bit delayed I think. The next day Lyndi tripped on a crack and told Brady that she was merely kicking the crack which is now a common phrase among our Oxford family. Brady also explained his job as a banana boy where he would stand on the side of the street dressed up in a giant banana and dance. He said "I worked the corner as the banana boy..." to which I of course responded with "Oh, is that what they're calling it these days..." Memory # 2 = CHECK. Following our awkward meal (lupper because we had it in the awkward time after lunch but before supper) we had a giant movie night with our Oxford family so we could escape jet lag's grasp. We watched the King's Speech and Hot Fuzz, a British comedy which would take a whole other blog to explain. I don't really understand exactly what happened myself haha It's only day three and we have made so many memories and so many great friends, basically we are having the time of our lives just as we thought we would.
Today Lyndi and I got up and went exploring/got lost in Oxford and had a very successful trip. We found Jericho and did some light shopping and then discovered Primark down on Queens Street, which is where we got down to the nitty gritty of shopping. Oh. My. Gosh. This place was heaven. It was like a super cheap Forever 21 AND it was right next to Pound Land. Score. Pound Land was a lavish dollar store that had actual name brand things (shampoo, chocolate, toilet paper, you know, the finer things in life) that were actually only a quid (a pound, that there is an English term :] )! Then we stopped at Costa which is like an English version of Starbucks and had a quick snack and headed home. We were home for only a short while because then everyone else decided in honor of the beautiful day we should go to University Parks and play ultimate. When we arrived Lyndi, Brantly, and I came to the conclusion that our time would be better spent by climbing a tree, walking around the park, and talking to old ladies. Which we accomplished fantastically. While walking around the park we came upon the most adorable two older ladies eating ice cream and sitting with their pup.
After a few minutes of whispered arguments of strategy, we decided to approach them. Lyndi came up to them with the guise of wanting to pet the dog. Little did they know that we just wanted to talk to them in a non creepy fashion. Then we began a conversation with our two new friends whose names are Mary and Joy. We talked with them for about 15 minutes about school, meaningless pennies/pence, and cameras/photos. They were the most adorable ladies I have ever met, so funny, so cute, and just so darn English. They reminded me of my Oma which made me smile. Anyways, Lyndi and I are going to their church tomorrow to see them. They explained it as, *read with a British accent* "Oh we go to St. Andrews, yeah. There's an eight o'clock service with communion, a nine forty five service, that's the one all the families go to and the children make it quite rowdy, and then there's the eleven fifteen service which is the one all the Nannies go to, there's no ruckus in that one." "Oh unless we start it Joy." "Oh yes, that we could except we don't want the wrath of God on our shoulders haha!" Just through that tid bit I am POSITIVE you can see how adorable they are. Lyndi and I then stayed behind after everone else went grocery shopping and laid in the grass and read books and chatted for a while. That was quite nice. And then we went home, skyped with our dear friend Abigail Phipps, made grilled cheese halvses/disgusting Spaghetti O's tomato soup, and fulfilled our duty to introduce Brady to Singin' in the Rain.
In other news, I now have a boyfriend. Yes, Mother and Father will be so proud. Grandpa is going to do a backflip. Here's the story on how he asked me out, it's SO adorable. We're so cute together. I saw Brady skyping with his family so I of course meandered over, interrupted, and said hello to them just to discover that he has a five year old little brother named Brenden. I started talking to Brenden and asking about his little stuffed puppy dog and telling him about my little buddy named Cash and then the heat turned up real quick. He started giggling and said really quickly, "Are you Brady's girlfriend?" And I said, "Oh. Ummmm...Brady and I have only known each other a few days, so, no, he's not my boyfriend haha" And just as I finished saying no, Brenden blurted out, "Will you be my girlfriend?" to which I of course responded with, "YES." He proceeded to tell me he was getting me a pony for Christmas and then I showed him my superior guitar skills and then he showed me his mini guitar skills and I told him we could start a band. The night/our first skype date ended with Brenden and I exchanging air kisses and goodbyes. I know it's moving fast. I know. But I've got it good. REAL good. No need to tell me twice. Photos of the boyfriend to come soon. I'm sure there will be a Christmas card.
Anyways, that was round-a-bout my past couple of days! I apologize for the wait and for the length of this blog, I will try to do it more often. Just wanna give a shout out to my two amazing sisters, BFF Abigail, my parents, my bro, and Cash and Clara, I love you guys so much, miss you all. I am having a blast here with all my friends and new friends and am so glad I can share it with all of you. Thank you Mom and Dad for this amazing opportunity and for pitching in financially. Love you all!
Cheers from across the pond,
Mallory Jean
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