Guy Fawkes Day!!

November 5 is one of the most celebrated holidays in England. On this day in 1605 this man tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament to protest the Protestant rule. This day is now bonfire night. We have been debating in the office on what exactly they were celebrating. I was invited by a few British friends to go to a bonfire with them. So I put on my wellies and joined the crowd of 20,000 people. My friends told me that they are celebrating the fact that he was caught and didnt succeed in blowing up parliament. So they have a huge bonfire and put a dummy on top.
Then there is a ceremony to light the bonfire with torches. The fire eventually goes to the top of the bonfire to engulf the dummy in flames. They put fire crackers inside of the dummy so when it burns completely they all pop like crazy. Now you know that guy fawkes is completely dead. Then everyone cheers.

The next piece of the entertainment of the night is a huge fireworks display. Everyone turns the opposite direction and watches the fireworks

It was a great night and the highlight of the weekend. Here is a picture of my friend and me as we enjoy the night.

USA, USA, USA

Yes, I went to the gymnastics world championships. It was the womens all around competition. I have never been so excited for an event as I was this when I found out it was in London. It was incredible. Jessica even came from America to go. I have always wanted to see something like this.
Here we are in the nose bleed section in our gymnastic shirts.


It was a fantastic evening. It helped that USA is definitely number 1.
It was so nerve racking to watch, but USA pulled out on top taking gold and silver medals. It was so cool to have won and to hear the national anthem. Here are the USA girls in pink on the podium along with the Japanese girl who made me really nervous at the end.




And of course the flags flying high.

What country am I in?

I decided to take a day and go into London and check out some Turkish neighborhoods and see what was there and if I could get involved there. It was so overwhelming as every culture I could think of collided in this area. There was a market with stuff from Africa, Turkey, the Middle East, India and so many other places. At the end of the street there was a grocery store. I was so overwhelmed and couldnt figure out what language to speak. They had British food, Turkish food, and American food all in one store. I bought a few things but it was a bit of culture shock. I couldnt figure out what country I was in. Then I walked, walked, and walked some more. I came to one street that was just so diverse I couldnt believe it so I took a few pictures to document my time.

The one on the left is definitely a mosque and the below picture is a Baptist church. They were right next to each other. I thought that was interesting.



























So I took more pictures. Here is a Turkish restaurant literally across the street.

Then I walked just a bit further and guess what I saw. You guessed it, a Mexican restaurant. Before this, I thought I had seen a piece of every culture in my day out but I was obviously wrong. By this time, I was exhausted but I decided to walk a little more. Next I came upon this
I am not sure what is going on here but for about a block of walking I saw men and boys dressed up like this coming from every corner. I was so amazed at all of the cultures I could come in contact with in just a few short hours.

Same language, different words

The language here is English, but very different English. It takes just as much concentration to understand someone as it does when they are speaking a whole different language. There are words I have to learn to say or not to say. I decided to share a few new words and meanings I have learned here.

British English vs. American English
Biscuit.........................Cookie
Scone...........................Biscuit
handbag.........................purse
purse...........................wallet
floor...........................pavement
tiles...........................roof shingles
trousers........................pants
pants...........................underwear
to fall over....................to fall down
to run down.....................to run over
garden..........................backyard
Lolly lady......................traffic controller at crosswalks
zebra crossing..................cross walk
take away.......................take out/to go

Some things are a lot more confusing than they should be

It doesn't rain here

My parents and Patrick came in August to visit. We were blessed with amazing weather and didn't get rained on while they were in London. Now they dont believe me when I say its cold and rainy. It was warm and sunny every day they were here. It did rain in Scotland every day we were there, but it was still fun. Here are just a few highlights of things we did while they were here:

.rode the train a lot
.visited Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London
.rode bikes in Amsterdam
.went on a cruise down the Rhein in Germany
.explored a castle on the Rhein
.ate a lot of ice cream in Germany
.saw the tower bridge
.ran to get a seat on the train
.walked in the rain in Scotland
.ate an amazing burger
.climbed a mountain in Scotland
.wore a kilt
.walked 500 miles
.saw a big pile of rocks some people like to call Stonehenge


It was quite the vacation. We did a lot but had so much fun

What country have you lived in for the past 12 months?

I went to Turkey to visit some friends. I had so much fun with them. Here is a picture of us in Ortakoy at the jewelry pazar.
It turns out traveling from Turkey to London takes a whole lot longer than it should especially since it is a 4 hour flight. On my way home I left my friends house at 4:45 am, which is really 2:45 am England time. I took a taxi just to the metrobus. Then I rode this for 30 minutes, got out to transfer and waited 20 minutes. Then I got on the next one and rode 20 more minutes. I said the word for airport and the Turkish men started screaming 'Yabanci' until the driver stopped to let me off. Apparently they thought I should get off there. So I got off and followed the nice gentleman's directions to the metro. This took me directly to the airport. Finally I got through passport control. They didnt really want me to go through and had to make some phone calls because my previous exit stamp was on the same page as my visa. I finally get to the terminal which is behind security where there are no restaurants so you cant take water on the plane. That is annoying. Anyway, my plane landed at 10:00 am england time which is really noon turkey time. At this point it has already been 7 hours since I left my friends house.
I flew through Heathrow, which is a nightmare. I was so happy I made it through passport control with only a few questions. I was then stopped by this lady who was doing a survey. Her first question was "What country have you lived in for the past 12 months?" I spouted off my 3 countries and she looked at me and with a weird look and said 'thats all I need to know.' I thought great I dont really want to sit and talk anyway. But it made me think that I have lived in 3 countries this year. That is pretty crazy. Quite an accomplishment for me.
Anyway continuing with the trip. I lug my bag through 2 tube stations and finally reach my last train at noon making it now 9 hours of traveling time, and sit down with a very large iced latte and a bagel happy to be 30 minutes from home. It turns out that the signals were messed up and all of the trains from that station were canceled. Great. So I get out, go back to the tube and take 2 more trains that lead me to another station. I had never used this station so I had to figure out how to find the right train to take me home. I figured it out just in time and jumped on the train. This was the long train which stopped at every single small town between London and Redhill. Why am I not surprised. So I finally got back to Redhill, took my luggage home, and ran to work making it there by 3:00 which is now 12 and a half hours since I began my journey on one hour of sleep. Needless to say, I was exhausted.