Greetings from England!

Well I have arrived safely in England. My day (or days) was quite hectic getting here. I woke up at 3:30 in Olympia, got to Seattle at 5, left for Charlotte. I then arrived in Charlotte at 3:30pm, (which is 3 hours ahead of Seattle). I had about a 4 hour layover, then got back on the plane at 6:45pm. We then starting the long journey to London, and arrived at about 8:30 in the morning. My student teacher director picked me up at the airport, and I really wish I could have gotten a picture of my name on a white board being held up for me. I felt like a rockstar!

Paula then took me to her house, for my host family was going to be out of town for New Years Eve and I would head there tomorrow. Paula suggested I take a short nap to get ready for the long day, which I thought was excellent too. I went to bed around 10am, and I woke up around 3pm, which didn't feel like nearly enough but I knew I didn't want to sleep too late. Anyways, I woke up to a familiar sound in the living room. I walked down, and surely enough Paula's son and husband were playing Beatles Rock Band. It was quite an introduction to England, let me tell you. After impressing them a bit with my guitar skills (thanks Matthew!) we ate dinner, and rested and played games until about 11. I was exhausted, and another girl who will be student teaching close to me was also tired, so we headed to bed. The other girl's name is Heather and she is from Wisconsin, and will be student teaching at a primary school close by. We headed off to bed, thankful that we had arrived!

I woke up rather late, and groggy from jet lag around 1. Although I had slept so many hours, I was still exhausted. I ate breakfast, then Paula took me to my new host family! They live in Dorking, Surrey, which is rather famous apparently. I will have to look up information on it to let you guys know. My host family is great, and the house is quite cute. I live about 3 minutes from the middle of town, and about 10 minutes driving time to the school. Should be an exciting town to live in!

Here is my Room! My desk, wardrobe, and you can see the foot of my bed.

Here is my bed, and the entrance to the doorway. Small, but very cozy, and I fit perfectly!

I am still in a bit of awe that this is all happening. Heather and I were saying how surreal it still feels. Still feels a bit like a vacation, so trying to come to terms with everything. I miss home a lot, and go through sad phases, but Skype, Facebook, this blog, and Gmail will hopefully keep me sane while I am gone.

P.S.- learning some new words too!

- Crisps = chips (our kind of chips)

-Chips = fries (our kind of fries)

- lollies = Popsicle sticks

- boot = trunk of car

And that is just my first day!

Till next time,

Jamie

This is my arriving to my new home!

Rather jet-lagged still, but hopefully by the end of this weekend I will be better! School starts Monday!