Week 2! Weird Sand Worms and Looe

This is called a pasty. No, not pay-stee like we say but pah-stee. I have decided that I am going to return to the states and start my own franchise, make my money early and retire so I can write. Sound good? :) I discovered these flaky bits of heaven, filled with steak and potatoes, this week while wandering on my lunch break. So. So. Good.

I also discovered raspberries growing next to my flat!! On a path I walk almost every day, there are these little beauties!! And you're allowed to pick them and eat them. So of course I did. YUM.

This beauty I stumbled upon as well, and I just wanted to share. You know you're an Arizona kid when you really appreciate the flowers.

I went on a quest to find this mysterious Elizabethan house and garden, and this was part of my walk on my little excursion. Isn't it pretty?

This was also on my walk. Sorry, the lighting was really too bright but I love that the marina is framed by buildings as you come swooping down this great hill. It's really gorgeous.

This is another view, further down. I was still on my quest.

Wow. Just, wow.

After wandering around little shops and streets, I finally found it! But it was all locked up. So, I will have to go back, I am desperate to see that garden! And the house... but mostly the garden.

I got to assist a graduation ceremony today at St. Andrew's Church, turns out it was the church I had photographed earlier on. Inside is even more beautiful, it feels like you're in a castle. I got to watch all of the academics robing and getting all spiffied up, and I even got to escort the man receiving an honorary degree from the robing room to where he was supposed to line up! Well, it turns out that he is a world- class violinist, and he even played a little during the ceremony. That was real treat, because the acoustics in the church were great. I also talked to the Vice Chancellor briefly and also talked to the mace bearer some. Yes, they are cool and have a mace. Here they are coming out of the church.

The mace is what he's carrying, and he leads the procession in with it and then out when it's all finished. Neat!

This evening, my supervisor and her family took me to a little town called Looe. Here is part of our drive, I can't seem to get enough of the English countryside.

And this is Looe when we first drove up.

Isn't that just picturesque?

And they had tons of little shops and things, like this one here...

It really had that small- town feel to it. I loved it.

And then we got to the ocean. There is an estuary running through the middle of town, and here it is on our walk down to the sea. It's like a story book.

And the sea! Gorgeous!

Here's me, not the greatest picture but proof that I really was there.

And there were lots of climbing rocks.

They were just perfect for exploring and climbing on.

I mean come on, what more could you ask for?

There were, however, these disgusting things I was quite fascinated with.

No, that is just sand but if you thought "worm" you are correct. They burrow in the sand and to burrow they eat it, and naturally it comes out the other end. Eww. But these weren't all over the beach, just by the rocks. Thank goodness.


This was very much like a postcard. Just really pretty, the whole thing was. I know I sound like a broken record, but really it was beautiful.

Walking back through the village, we were looking for some food and came across this!

It used to be on a really old war galley. Cool!

Well, I tried the good old fish n' chips. Because I had to, it was England. I don't even like fish, but I still got it. Actually, it wasn't that bad! It was very fresh, and while I don't think I'll order it again it was much better than fish in Arizona. Much, much better.

And then, there was a choir going on of fisherman! A fisherman's choir.

It was so neat to hear them sing old fisherman's songs and songs of the English countryside. Very nice.

And this is the inside of a little boat I took, along our way back out. There is a dock that runs the length of the town down to the sea, and lots of people had little buckets and were catching little crabs. It was neat.

Then on the way back to Plymouth, we took a ferry!! The car just drove right on, and I was excited.


This is another view from the ferry of the other boats.

And this is where the Royal Navy builds their ships! It is really enormous. It might not look like it in the picture, but it's HUGE.


And that is about it for now, I need to catch some sleep. Tomorrow I am going to a big jazz festival if the weather is nice! I can't wait!!

First Weekend in England!

A view of the marina, so close to where I'm staying:




My "exciting" weekend plans changed, but it was still a good weekend.

IT RAINED!!!! I was very excited. The ladies in the office rolled their eyes and laughed, and asked me: "why don't you go out and dance in the garden deary" with a chuckle and merry eyes. Honestly, I was tempted.

After work got out on Friday, I decided that it was too rainy to go anywhere.

Saturday, it rained in the morning but in the afternoon the sun did make an appearance! I grabbed my chance and headed down to the sea. I had hot chocolate at this place on the water called "The Terrace," and it was gorgeous.
This is the view from where I sat, sipping warm chocolaty goodness.

The tree was sort of in the way. Sorry.

Ok, here are those famous Mayflower steps! Granted, I don't think those are the original ones... Plymouth has been built on since the colonial era, but still. Cool.

Here's an only slightly better view.



So that was Saturday, and I also looked for a church to attend on Sunday. I found this:

Isn't it so old- fashioned?!

And this:

I love how tall these clock towers are in the churches. They are really, really, really tall. And here's the door just below it:

It's sooo pretty! At least I think so.

But, not as pretty as this:

Yep, life is just rosy over here. :)

I found a little baptist church to go to, so I headed there in the pouring rain Sunday morning.

Oh. My. Goodness.

It was a very small congregation in which I was the only young person present, and the rest were sweet, austere elderly couples. They welcomed me, and I enjoyed the service very much.

After the service, all the little old church ladies with clutch purses, dainty white gloves, hats, and pearls, were all a- twitter to hear I was from the desert!

*In a very British accent, unnaturally high-pitched voice like Meryl Streep did in Julie and Julia: "Ooooh my, you simply must join us for tea! Oh, and look at those pretty brown eyes, sorry we have no young gentleman here deary, but do, just do come have tea with us!"

Well, like I could turn that down?! They gave me tea with milk in a little English tea cup, with a saucer, and there were little cookies and things. It was just "lovely," in every sense of the word.

They were scandalized that we had snakes and scorpions, and little Ethyl said, while clapping her hand over her mouth, "ooh dear, I don't think I shall be visiting Arizona any time soon" and they all gave each other those "church lady" looks, you know the ones I'm talking about?

So, I had to explain that we were really a popular tourist place for elderly people in the winter, and had these things called retirement villages that kept all the young people out, and they were very interested in those. "Ooh, you mean you have to be older to live there? Well that sounds a bit smart!" and they chuckled.

Veronica, the friendliest of them all, asked me if we still had cowboys. Ha! I guess many still think of Arizona as being cowboy country. I said well not like in the movies we didn't, but that we did have cattle farmers still. They wanted to hear all about those. Their husbands wanted to hear too, about them; and wondered where we got our water from and how the economy was. It made me think of my great uncle dave, he would have liked talking to them I think.

And so much more. Oh, it was a good time! I haven't enjoyed myself that much in a long time, and I will be back this Sunday I think.

Even though my original plans didn't pan out, I can check this off my bucket list: I had proper tea with little old English church ladies, and after church even!!!! How fun is that?!

I will treasure that forever.

After I got back to my flat, my supervisor picked me up to have dinner with her family.

They took me to this fancy restaurant on the water called "The Waterfront," and I had this yummy pasta dish. It was very, very good. But the view was even better! Right outside our window was the ocean, and I saw tugboats and the ferry to France going by. Such fun!

Next weekend I'm supposed to go exploring, and see a bit of Exeter. We'll see!

First Week Recap

I'm sure most of you are wondering what it is I'm actually doing over here, so I will explain.

The first few days have been very busy, filled with meeting lots of new people, settling in at the office, taking tours of campus, and of course working. I can't believe it is already Thursday!

They have me doing a variety of things, from writing Citation speeches to be read at the honorary degree ceremony (out loud! to the public!), editing other speeches the Vice Chancellor will be delivering, meeting with their alumni team to discuss how ASU runs their Alumni operation and the Medallion Scholarship program, writing website biographies for important staff members, and more.

I have also been setting up appointments with different university VIP's, including Deans and senior administration. My task is to meet with them, discuss what they do, and write a report comparing it to ASU's system and anything that I might suggest improving or just anything that struck me.

Today, the Vice Chancellor paid me a visit and said she would like me to meet England's Secretary of State when he visits here! How exciting is that?!

I am having a great time with the work, and I really enjoy it, and I cannot believe how much God has blessed me with this incredible opportunity.

This, ladies and gentleman, is why I have worked so very hard all these years! With God's help it is paying off!

I also got to hear a speech from the Lord Mayor of Plymouth at the university's memorial union, and he was wearing fancy gold chains and had a very distinguished "Janner" or "Jenner?" accent. My colleague James told me today that that term is used for Plymouth people, and that his accent was a very traditional one. It's so much fun hearing people speak over here! As silly as that is, it's true. At work today, this same James did an American accent for me and I laughed so hard! It was quite good actually, I think he's practiced that before.

Well "I'm going to go rest my poor little eyeballs, actually," a phrase I picked up today. I love it!

I'll let you know how my weekend goes, I've got some fun things planned... :)

PICTURES!! And Video!!!

I finally have internet in my room!! So here are the promised pictures.


The First day, I was settled into my absolutely gorgeous office. It's not mine forever, of course, but I do get to borrow it for now. Lucky me, I could do cartwheels in it (well, if I could) it is so big!

This is the view from my desk.

Across from my desk






The office, it used to be a house.

The sign outside the building!

The best part about this whole gig though is that the ocean is within walking distance from my flat. No, it isn't a beach and the water is very cold, but still!! This is me today.

I know. Life isn't fair.

These are the steps I was sitting on


This has a very interesting name, which I will get to in a minute...


Isn't that just incredible?!


From the other side. I sure am getting good exercise over here!



There was a kayak training class going on when I arrived. How neat!

And here is a video I took of them. It's not very long.

And this was down a bunch of steps.
And that is actually a swimming pool right by the water, and it is free and open to the public.


Ok, back to what this is called. At least England is kind enough to warn you!

No, it isn't what we take it to mean. It is the name of this beautiful place.

....but still really funny.

HA! Oh come on. You know you're laughing too.

They have a ferris wheel set up for the summer, kind of neat.



Well, here are the 360 degree views of the place. My camera really just didn't do it justice.

The red-and- white- striped lighthouse is called Smeaton's Lighthouse. What a fun word. Smeaton.

Well, I will post more of the town and university later, but right now I have to go. I hope you enjoyed them!!

Plymouth, England!

I am afraid I don't have a way of posting pictures yet, but I will as soon as I can.

Plymouth is absolutely gorgeous, with breathtaking views of the sea, lots of nice green grass, and fresh sea breezes. It is just lovely. "Lovely" is a very British word, everything is just "lovely" or "brilliant." I have been learning British lingo, and they are very amused with my questions. Did you that a lolly is a popsicle? Or that a bumper shooter is an umbrella? So much fun!

Yesterday I arrived at a little after 5 (we are 8 hours ahead of Arizona time), and was picked up by the Vice Chancellor's assistant and another person from the university. They were very friendly and showed me around the town, got me to my room, took me to dinner, and explained a little more of what it is I will be doing here. We ate at this lovely (great, I'm already beginning to sound British!) Greek restaurant for dinner, close to where the famous steps to the Mayflower are! I got to see the place where the pilgrims got on the boat. How neat is that?! Very historic. There are lots of plants and flowers here, and aside from the fresh air and ocean another big difference is the noise. Seagulls, seagulls everywhere! I woke up to their screeching today, and I imagine I will be for my stay here, but oh well. They are such funny creatures. Already, one has tapped on my window, begging for bread, and at the office this morning I was startled when one landed on a skylight and scared me! There are lots of squirrels, too. I love squirrels.

The biggest difference, though, is the temperature!!! I got to escape the scorching desert heat and am really enjoying the weather here. It is just perfect, a little on the chilly side even. I have to wear warm clothes and carry a jacket with me! In the summer! Weird. But brilliant. :)

I do not have the internet hooked up in my room yet, but as soon as I get that figured out I will post pictures. I can't believe I am here! It's like a dream. Until then, bye for now.

I'm really going!

Well, here it begins. I will be flying to England tomorrow afternoon! So exciting.

I will be arriving in London on Sunday, and I get to take the train. I have never been on a train before in my life. Wow, foreign country, foreign train, foreign currency... this is going to be an adventure!

I'll be keeping you posted along my journey in England.