Dealing with...withdrawal.

     Well, it has been about a month and a half since I have been home from Britain and I am having serious withdrawals.  (It also doesn't help that at the moment I am watching 'North & South', a film based in England...).
     I have been thinking a lot about what I learned on my trip, sort of as a way to say goodbye to Great Britain.  Obviously it has taken me a long time to think of exactly what I want to say. :)
     One thing I miss greatly is the hustle and bustle of London life.  The more time that passed while I lived there, the more I felt like it had become my home.  Brooke and I often joked that Soho was our place.  I also loved the connection I felt with Scotland because of my family ties to it.  When we went we to the Battlefield of Culloden, I was overcome with emotion when I thought that MY past ancestors had fought for freedom right where I was standing.  The thing that I miss the most, however, would have to be the countless opportunities I had to share the Gospel with people.
     I dare not compare my trip to a mission, or make the claim that I can't have as many missionary opportunities here in Provo, but one thing that struck me was the likeness my trip was to a mission.  Not only did I have opportunities to talk specifically about the Gospel with individuals who had never heard of it before, but the way that the members of my group dressed and acted was a manifestation of our membership to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  One one account, we had all gone to the Tower of London as a group that day.  I happened to be wearing my Young Women's Medallion when a man at the register in the gift shop asked me what building was on my necklace.  I told him that it was the Temple of my Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  He asked if it was a christian church and I told him that it most certainly was.  He then proceeded to tell me that it was a very beautiful building, and of course I agreed with him.  After that experience, I was filled with the love and excitement that I imagine fills a Greenie's heart his/her first day out in the mission field. 
     I came to appreciate so much the life that I had back in America, one filled with numerous opportunitites (like the opportunity to study abroad, for example), and even more the life I have had as a member of the Church.  I know that the happiness I have experienced in my life has been because of the blessings I have received from the Gospel. 
     Ultimately, I loved my time in Britain SO much, and I would never trade any of my experiences for the money I might have saved if I had stayed home this summer. :)  I know I will go back one day!...especially if I am going to retrieve my soul from that one beach in Ireland. :)  Here are some pictures from the last two weeks of my trip (mostly from Scotland).

Did you know that the Fraser Clan is known for being redheaded? :)

Me atop Hadrian's Wall

At Lake Lochness...and yes, I actually saw the monster.

I don't think I could make it into the army at Stirling Castle...mostly because I am not wooden. :)

Driving through the Scottish countryside...absolutely beautiful.

     Oh, before I forget, I better mention how much I love my professors (and their families) from my trip! I will forever think of each one of them as my own family member! Here are a couple of pictures of them, just as a little tribute to how awesome they are!

The Gardner Family...I love them! From left to right: Grant (he's 11), Bro. Gardner, Sis. Gardner, Owen (he's 15), Neal (he's 18), and Spencer (he's 21).

The Anderson Family...I also love them! From left to right: Bro. Anderson and Sis. Anderson. :)

Until next time everyone! I'm sure I will still be talking about my Study Abroad trip then too. :)

     So a lot has happened since the last time I blogged…let’s just say that I have been a little busy. Over the last couple of weeks I have been doing so many new things with my group and it has been great to say the least. I went to a Globe Theatre performance (All’s Well That Ends Well), I went to Paris for 3 days, I took a walk through Kentish countryside, I went on a punting ride in Cambridge, and not to mention I saw Harry Potter 7.2 at the midnight showing in London. What’s so cool about that, you say? Well I saw it about 7 hours before everyone else did…J.

     What has been going on this last week has been exciting, but also very exhausting! We took our leave from London last Monday (sad, I know) and started our journey north. On Tuesday we stopped in Stratford-Upon-Avon to see Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Warwick Castle, then Wednesday we made our way to Liverpool to see the Beatles Museum, and then to York on Thursday to see Fountains Abbey, and then to the Lake District on Friday to see Beatrix Potter’s House (the author of Peter Rabbit), and then finally arrived in Edinburgh on Saturday evening! Whew! So much traveling! Of course there are many more things that I saw, like the birthplace of William Shakespeare and Hadrian’s Wall, but this is the basic outline of last week.

     I have to say that I was so happy when we got into Scotland. When we were first driving into the country, I had been sleeping, but almost the instant we crossed the border, I heard bagpipe music blaring from the front of the bus. It immediately woke me up and I opened my eyes and said quite loudly, “Yes! We’re in Scotland!”, while throwing a fist into the air triumphantly.  I came to find out that it was my professor, Bro. Gardner, who was holding up his computer for everyone to hear MoTab sing ‘Amazing Grace’ accompanied by bagpipes. Pretty much the best.

     I have now been in Scotland for about a day and a half, and I can honestly say that I think Scottish accents are the coolest! I mean I think I can pull off an English accent or maybe even an Irish accent, but Scottish is just so different from American English that, for me, it is so hard to imitate! I love it! Anyway, today we went to church in the Edinburgh ward and then took a little hike up a hill to see this place called Arthur’s Seat. Arthur’s Seat is the place where the country of Scotland was first dedicated to have the gospel preached in its borders. Quite amazing. The hike was a little rough, but the opportunity to see everything at the top of the foothill was priceless. Absolutely beautiful.

     So tomorrow I go to Inverness, where Lake Lochness is. I’m really excited about that, mostly because my niece Sydney really wants me to get her a postcard or something from there. I think I might also look for a tartan or a kilt, yes a kilt, with the plaid design from my family’s clan. I will have to write more about the experiences that I haven’t written much about yet when I get home. You see, I have a very limited amount of time on the internet here. Love you all.

-Katie

Kentish countryside with my best bud, Brooke. We are like two peas in a pod, or as she likes to say, "peas and carrots".

At the Imperial War Museum.

Being Egyptians at the Obelisque in Paris. We're totes cool.

Eiffel Tower!

Shakespeare's Birthplace

Beatles Museum! And yes we are matching in our 60's mod dresses...

Beautiful hills of Scotland and the city of Edinburgh in the back. I wish I could capture just how pretty is really is....and Dad, I know you would love it here!



a little sight-seeing :)

The London Temple! It is so beautiful!

At the gates of Buckingham Palace

Gardens at Westminster Abbey

Big Ben!

Brook and I standing on the Millenium Bridge. This is the same bridge that is used in the 6th Harry Potter film, and it also crosses the Thames. Pretty cool!

Speechless

     I am in complete shock right now. Something happened today that I thought would never happen while I was here in London, but it did....Guess I was wrong, huh?
     Don't worry everyone! I am making this sound completely dramatic for effect's sake. I think now is the perfect time to tell you what happened to me today...........I got a ticket to the World Premiere of Harry Potter 7.2!!!! I'm talking red carpet, over 8,000 screaming fans, and the Weasley twins up close and personal. My life is officially complete.
     You may be asking how did such an impossible feat get conquered? It literally was impossible to tickets earlier today, but we just happened to be in the right place at the right time saying the right things. (And by the four of us, I mean me, Catie L., Kelsey F., and Cydnee S.).
     We were actually on our way to go to our first Broadway show in London, The Phantom of the Opera, when we walked by Trafalgar Square. We had stopped by earlier this afternoon and a man had told us that there was no way that we were going to get tickets that late in the day, so we decided to just forget about it and do something else. However, at about 6:45 pm (45 minutes before our show started) we noticed that the line was unusually short and that some guards were still handing out tickets. Spontaneously, we jumped in line just to see if we could get tickets, with the intentions/expectations that we probably wouldn't. Alas, when it came to about 10 people in line ahead of us, the guards kept saying,"No more, no more.". We got a little anxious, but we persevered nonetheless. At about 3 people ahead of us, I decided to scream out, "It's my birthday tomorrow! Please, I need to be at this premiere on my birthday!". I honestly thought that the guard handing out the tickets was going to look at me and laugh in my face while muttering, "Nice try", but he actually smiled at me and told me to come on down as I would get the last ticket they had. I was in a complete state of shock, and I'm pretty sure the girl in front of me gave me a death glare, but all I could do was rejoice because I have been dreaming about this for only the last 6 months!
     After the first moments of shock wore off, I realized, "Crap! I can't go to this alone! I'm not allowed to be in the city by myself!". So I started to beg the guard to please give my 3 friends tickets too. I knew the guards kept telling everyone they had no more, but that was obviously a lie because they kept giving more and more tickets out. We literally had to fight our way through a group of Uraguayan girls, who were elbowing us in the faces, and an old Spanish grandma in order to beg for more tickets. I don't know if it was something we said, or if we were being especially nice to the guards, but they looked at us four little, mormon girls and relinquished the remaining 3 tickets into our hands.
     We were practically falling all over this guard while saying our 'thank you's', and we found out that his name was Andy. I told him that I really could prove that it was my birthday tomorrow, and so he looked at my driver's license and said with a surprised look on his face, "Wow. You really weren't lying". We all laughed and then asked him what time to show up tomorrow and what the best seat was going to be. After all of the hassle we had put him through, he was still willing to answer our questions. I am SO grateful for Andy!
     All in all, it was a fantastic night! After we attained our HP tickets, we went straight to 'The Phantom of the Opera' on Broadway and I would have to say that that was the cherry on top of a big, huge sundae!
     I can't put into words the electricity and the energy that was present in Trafalgar Square today. I know that tomorrow is going to be the event of a lifetime and I am SO happy that I get to be a part of it! I will have to let you all know what happens and if any of the Weasley boys profess their love for me and my red hair. I love you all! -Katie

Can you guess which one is my arm? :)

Again, showing off our bracelets. You would think they were made out of gold by the way we were treating them.

And last but not least, a close up of the bracelet/ticket.

Stone Henge & London!

Yesterday (the 4th of July) my group went to Stone Henge and then arrived in London! Here are a couple of my favorite pictures I took yesterday...

Brooke & I jumping in front of Stone Henge

Upon arriving in London, this is the first thing I saw...

Warmest welcome I've ever had :)

Wish I could have been home to celebrate 4th of July with you all, but I really can't complain! I will post more pictures up as soon as possible! Now that I am in London, my classes are starting and so hopefully I will have more computer time in order to keep in touch with everyone. Much love! -Katie

Riverdance, Castles, & Healing Waters

So this last week and a half has flown by, mostly because my group has so much to do every single day! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE IT!...it can just be a little exhausting. :) 
On Tuesday, June 28th, my group went to RIVERDANCE at the Gaiety Theater in Dublin. It was absolutely incredible! I thought I went in with pretty high expectations, but I was blown away by how talented the Irish dancers were! I definitely think that was my favorite part about Dublin. 
After Dublin, we took the ferry to Wales and spent the first night there in a little town called Beaumaris. There was a castle located approximately 3 blocks away from our hotel, and it was beautiful to see. The Welsh castles are different than Irish castles, in that they are more intricate and a little easier on the eyes. After Beaumaris, we traveled to Cardiff, the capitol of Wales. Before leaving Cardiff the next day, we stopped to look at Cardiff Castle. Let me tell you...it was gorgeous!!! This castle was my favorite to visit so far. 
Next my group traveled to Bristol, England. I cannot tell you how much relief and excitement I felt to finally be in English country! Wales was wonderful to see and drive through, but that's pretty much all we did in Wales...rode on a bus. 
I have been in Bristol for about 1 day now and I absolutely love it! The amount of good-looking Welshmen and Irishmen pale in comparison when it comes to Englishmen. :) Last night we went out for a night on the town, and found some pretty great pubs/dance clubs. It seems crazy to me, but literally the night starts in the UK at about 10:30 pm every night...however, that is coming from a girl who grew up in Idaho. 
Today we went to Bath to try the healing waters. It was so cool to be in a place that gets mentioned in classical literature all of the time! The water itself tasted nasty, but I tried it anyway. :) We were taken on a 2 hour tour guide through the city of Bath, and I can honestly say that I learned a ton! We also stopped by the Jane Austen Center and got to see the house she lived in for about 5 years of her life. It was so great! 

 

Brooke and I in front of the Gaiety Theater...if you can't tell we are super excited to see RIVERDANCE :)

Cardiff Castle in all its splendor.

Overall, this last week has been a blast! I wasn't able to fit in everything I have done in this little post, but I did write about a couple of my favorite parts about this last week. I would post pictures right now, but my camera just died...sorry. I will post more pictures soon! Love you all! -Katie

Ireland=Awesomeness

Hello Everyone! You were probably all wondering when I was going to finally post...well you probably weren't thinking that, but here I am on the third day of my trip blogging for the first time. So here goes.
Tuesday and Wednesday were terrible. I traveled practically for 48 hours straight. After my flight from SLC to Chicago, I was to fly to Manchester, England. Well because of 70 mph winds and thunder/lightning storms, we didn't leave the Chicago Airport until 5 hours after our intended departure time. So because we were running 5 hours late, I missed my flight to Ireland and therefore the first touring site with my group. Thankfully, there was another flight that left at about 9 pm that night, and I was also with four other girls from my Study Abroad Program.  
Finally after arriving in the Shannon Ireland Airport at about 10:15 pm Wednesday night, we had another 2 hour drive to a place called Dingle where the rest of my group was.  Fortunately, our taxi driver was really great (and Irish) and he told us a lot about the country and its history.  After arriving in Dingle at about 1 am, the five of us finally breathed a sigh of relief because we were now with the group. 
Today, however, was a great day!!! Well mostly....I woke up this morning feeling really sick, and so I tried not to eat to much breakfast at the B&B we were staying in. Unfortunately, the little that I did eat decided to come back up while we were driving to Killarney...yep, I threw up.  (Sorry, but I just had to share that.)
After that incidence, I was feeling a lot better, even though I will probably be known as the girl who threw up from now on, and I was able to enjoy my first day in Ireland!  
We went to Ross Castle, Muckross House, and a little town called Killarney where we took Jaunting Car Rides (basically horse drawn buggies).  
Everything is so green here! And beautiful! The scenery is absolutely magnificent. We took a boat ride out to Killarney Lake and then later went to the gardens of Muckross House. Wow. Later we checked into our (nice) hotel in Killarney and walked down quaint, little streets there.  One of my favorite parts about today is that we went to a few pubs and listened to traditional Irish music Live.  I had so much fun!  The Irish people are so friendly and were asking us to sing along with them! It was great. 
Anyway, just wanted to let you all know that I am doing fantastic, and that I am loving every minute being abroad!

The picturesque, almost Pemberly-looking, Muckross House. Gorgeous!

The gardens at Muckross House. And look, I am already making great friends. :)

Thinking of my twin. I saw these at the Manchester Airport and just had to take a picture. (They are a bag of potato chips if you couldn't tell.)
Love you all! -Katie