Capsized in the Lake District!

Yes, Karen, Katie, and I climbed a tree...

View from my Run on the First Morning

There were LOTS of sheep! I spoke to them, and they ran to me!

This past week, I have been very busy with school work, lots of paper writing, and studying.  Each assignment seems to make the week busy and fly by even faster!  This week, I also went to my host family's and spent time with their grandson Harry!  I got to read him bedtime stories, and we sang Old McDonald had a farm repetitively, which was ADORABLE.  This weekend, my travels stayed in England, but we moved northwest to the Lake District.  We stayed in a small town called Ambleside in a hostel that was right on a lake with a beautiful mountain background.  Activities of the weekend included shopping, eating great food (which included an amazing hostel breakfast as well as Katie, Karen, Albert, and I doing some cooking), scenic runs, hiking up the mountains, kayaking, and ghyll scrambling. The atmosphere of the town was very fun because it was very outdoorsy.  Almost all of the shops sold gear for about any sort of outdoor adventure you could ever dream of.  It was VERY tempting to buy a backpack for backpacking; however, I was able to resist!  The kayaking on the lake was also very beautiful!  It, however, ended up being a very wet experience, as I fell in the lake after about ten minutes of being in my kayak while we were playing a competitive game.  What a shocker....me, competitive? NEVER!  I was attempting to steal a rock off the back of Dr. Taylor's kayak, and I was leaning towards his boat, he paddled away, and I fell in, camera in my pocket and all.  Fortunately, my camera was in a plastic bag within my waterproof jacket, so it survived being submerged!  After the previous evening having already jumped into the lake for kicks and giggles and "because we are only in the lake district once," I truly felt that I had gotten my fill of the chilly lake in the overcast, 50 degree weather!  Ghyll scrambling was a very interesting experience, at points fun, but at others terrifying.  If you can imagine a large creek in the smoking mountains with waterfalls and trying to climb up them through the water, that is precisely what we did.  When there wasn't a large falls area and we were just climbing over rocks and wading through the water, it was a very cold, yet fun experience.  When they harnessed me and told me to scale a 40 foot waterfall, right through the middle of the "slippy" (slippery) falls, it became quite scary.  About two thirds of the way up, I got stuck and was unable to find a place to put my feet, which left me stuck in the cold current for about five minutes, I literally froze in place, may or may not have shed a few tears of panic, and had to be rescued by one of the guides.  Needless to say, ghyll scrambling was not quite my favorite activity, but it was still overall a very positive experience prior to climbing the waterfall.  To conclude the trip, we spent Sunday afternoon in Keswick, where I visited Hope Park, saw more beautiful views, and enjoyed a nice lunch out.  Overall, the lake district trip was wonderful, and beautiful.  I also enjoyed it because it was a large school sponsored trip, so it allowed me to spend time with a lot of different classmates throughout the weekend and get to know some people better.  It was nice to enjoy the nature and get away for a relaxing, laid back weekend!

Beautiful Views!

Hiking! 

Chicken Curry, Rice, Fried Bananas, Salad, and Bread=YUMMY! 

Yes, My Idea of Paradise is Scout Camp...in the ALPS!

This past week has been yet another crazy week of manor life.  With approximately 5,000 words of essays (roughly 18 typed pages….), leading my Christian fellowship group, choir, visiting my host family, and participating in my school “variety show” (a talent show), I have once again been very busy!  The talent show was definitely one of the highlights of the week, and I really enjoyed singing with my friend Nicole while another friend Jesse played guitar for us!  I hope to post a video on here soon of the performance!  We also had a field trip this Tuesday to an old workhouse for half a day, while the other half of the day was spent learning more about the history of the Harlaxton manor.  The workhouse was a very unique and interesting experience.  In Victorian times, these workhouses were used for the poor who could not find work and needed a way to survive.  The living conditions were not pleasant, families were split apart, and members were split into groups based on gender, age, and work ability.  It was not an option that anyone would desire, but it could be chosen out of desperation.  It was a very unique way of dealing with the poor and was very intriguing.  At the manor, we learned all about what different parts of the manor used to be used for as well as how issues of the times affected the design of the manor.  For example, servants have various secret passageways and stairwells so that they would not be seen by the high class of the manor, and corridors were constructed in a way that males and females could not sneak to each other during the late evening hours.  Learning the previous uses for the manor was also a very interesting experience. The weekend prior, I also did a day trip visit to Cambridge, which was beautiful, as well as an overnight trip to Surbiton to visit my high schol best friend Rachel Milne!  It was a great time, and I enjoyed catching up with her.

THE Swiss Alps

This past weekend, I went to see one of the most spectacular views I have ever seen, the Swiss Alps.  After a very long transport to Kandersteg, a thirty minute walk to the scout base, and a bit of guessing at where reception was in the dark, Ellyn and I finally arrived at our destination for a good night’s rest. Unfortunately, this was the start of a weekend of illness for me.  On a positive note, Ellyn brought some ibuprofen with us, so I managed to make it through the weekend and enjoy most of the weekend activities!  The first day, we explored the scout base, took lots of pictures, and then spent the afternoon doing what I like to refer to as “extreme sledding”.  We walked into town to the gondola, sleds on our backs like backpacks, and went to the top for what was the most thrilling sledding I am sure I will ever do in my life.  It was like being on a very wild inner tube water slide.  At first, we laid on our stomachs on the sleds, but we quickly realized this resulted in lack of control and ourselves and the sleds flying multiple feet into snow banks.  Sitting on the sleds and steering with our feet was just as thrilling, just with a lot more control!  It was amazing flying down the mountain, with the beautiful mountain views of snow, rock, trees, and streams.  We even saw an small "avalanche" as we called it!  I also was able to try some authentic Swiss cheese on the walk back to the Scout Centre!  That evening, the other girls went into town to listen to some live Swiss music, but I stayed behind to work on some homework and get to bed early to rest for a full day of skiing the following day. 

Avalanche!!

Ellyn and I

Down the Sledding Trail!

Group Shot!

Conquering the Alps on Skis!

The next morning, we headed into town to get our gear, then went up to the top of the mountain on the gondola for a beautiful day of skiing in the Alps.  It was around 60 degrees, so I skied in just a long sleeve shirt and ski pants!  We had a few interesting experiences with the new type of “ski lift” that was not the normal chair lift we were used to, but we managed to make due, and even did a difficult run that went from the top of the mountain to the bottom. Unfortunately, I eventually was defeated by my fever, and had to sit out for a bit at the top of the mountain, but I sure had a great view to enjoy up at the lodge!  I got to see lots of paragliders too!  Over an hour later, I was starting to wonder where they were, and eventually I got the news that Ali had been rushed to the doctor because she had torn her ACL!! But outside of that, the skiing experience was amazing and absolutely breath taking in the heart of the Alps!

Switzerland was amazing because of seeing the Alps, but also because we got to stay in the Kandersteg International Scout Centre.  Being at the scout center, we got to see many other scouts from across the world.  I really enjoyed being in the environment of something that I have grown to become such a part of at UE.  It really made me miss Venturing Crew 365!  Overall, Switzerland was amazing, and will probably be one of my fondest memories of my entire study abroad experience, despite having to fight illness!!  It was a great change of pace from the frenzy of sightseeing in the major cities, and a great way to enjoy scouting and nature.

Scout Promise and Law!

View out my Bedroom Window