Welcome to Harlaxton!

So, I am finally here :) I'll just take you through everything that has happened the past few days. Wednesday night consisted of lots of packing and not much sleep. I basically crammed everything I own into two suitcases, a little carry on bag, and a backpack. Thursday morning I woke up an hour before I needed to leave and Dad helped me weigh my bags. Together, they were 15-20 pounds overweight which would add $50 on top of the $50 I'm already paying for a second bag. I frantically started throwing stuff out of my bag and finally, we got each of the bags to about 50 pounds. We got to the airport about 45 minutes after I had intended, but it was no big deal. Mom, Dad, Mackenzie, and Megan (Mack's friend) got passes to come back to the gate with me. We hung out with Katie and her parents for a little bit then it was time for us to leave. As we were walking down the ramp to get on the plane we looked at each other and tried to hold back our tears. "No, no, no. Notttt going to cry" is something like what we said. Our first plane was TINY. The flight went smoothly, and we met up with other WKU people at the gate in Chicago. A group of us enjoyed our last American meal at Macaroni Grill. Our flight was originally supposed to take off at 5:05. It was then pushed back to 6:05, 6:45, and then we boarded around 7:00, I think. We sat on the plane for an hour, and finally were on our way to London a little past 8. I slept about 7 hours of the 7 1/2 hour flight :) Once at the airport, we went through customs, got our bags, and then boarded the coach for the 3 hour drive to Harlaxton. I slept about half of the way but would just wake up whenever the driver would break (I think I kept thinking we were almost there or something). Anyways, we finally arrived here and the snow looked so beautiful on the manor! Katie and I had the very front seats of the bus, so we just took it all in as we drove down the mile long drive way. Being in the front seats, we got to be the first in the manor :) We picked up our room keys and headed to the refectory (the cafeteria). I then went to my room and my bags werent there yet so I went with Whitney, Eileen, Anna, and Shaylin to take pictures outside. At this point I still didn't feel like I was really here, and even kind of still don't. It's so weird that I have been talking about going to this place for over 2 years and now I am actually here. Later, I met my roommates. Two of them, Shandra and Whitney, are from University of Evansville and the other one, Stephanie, is from University of Southern Indian. (Can't get away from Indiana roommates!) Our room is wonderful, and we have a fabulous view overlooking the front of the manor. This weekend we went into Grantham to walk around and get a few things at the grocery store. It's such a cute town! Saturday night we had the High Table Dinner. They served wine punch at the reception before dinner and it was incredible and didn't taste a thing like wine! The dinner was delicious - chicken, carrots, potatoes, and this amazing cake for dessert!  Sunday morning, the local Harlaxton Church held a service for us. The church was built in the 1100s and had no source of heat and no way to retain any heat. I could see my breath inside! That was seriously the coldest 1 1/2 of my life. Yesterday, Monday, was our first day of classes. Bright and early the entire school gathered in the Long Gallery for our first British studies lecture. It was truly the worst class I have ever attended. First, I am not the least bit interested in history and second, I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. Thankfully I had a break after lecture to re-cooperate, then headed to British Studies seminar. My professor for seminar is definitely the cutest professor here so I thought that would make this better.. I was wrong. Didn't like seminar much more than the lecture. Later in the afternoon I had two business classes, Management and Marketing, and I really enjoyed those :) They are both in really pretty rooms, so that is a plus! Last night I played basketball with some WKU and UE kids, along with one of my professors. I now know why I no longer play. It was so tiring.. I would much rather watch! After, we went to the Bistro to hang out. The UE kids are hilarious (and two of the girls are AOII!), so I'm sure we'll be hanging out with them a lot. Today, I only had my business classes so I just laid around most of the day and then went to the London trip meeting. I AM SO EXCITED! I cannot wait to be there this weekend! I now need to go do British Studies homework so I will write more later :) Check out facebook or photobucket for pictures!  I miss you all! Skype me anytime!