And I thought I was busy BEFORE!

Friends, (we are reading George Fox - the man who started the Quaker movement and he called everyone 'Friend'- I think that's nice...and I can apply my learning;))
I am busy. But I'm still having FUN! Let me tell you...
This past week has been great, the weather - not soo good, but people say the third week is always the worst – for homesickness, for all kinds of stuff – like the honeymoon is over. I will admit, Week 3 has been...unique. First of all, I missed the train Monday morning so I stayed in Charlbury all day and read John Bunyan’s Grace Abounding for the Chief of Sinners and drank tea- loads of tea. The weather was dreary all week and I had a never-ending headache. Then on Tuesday my group had a meeting to plan our meal for Friday so we decided to have it at the pub. Wednesday we went to another pub for the quiz (second place this week), and Thursday we went to the Eagle and Child again because Phoebs and Em hadn’t been there yet. Then that night we went to Mad’s house to make our food for our Friday Co-op meal – chicken pot pie. And then on Friday we had our last Art and Architecture class with Glena :(and then we ate our delicious Chicken Pot Pie!
Friday afternoon, Chloe, Phoebe and I caught the train to Oxford to go to our first football (soccer) practice (called 'training' here)! We had to get some boots (cleats) but I was able to borrow some, Phoebs brought hers, and Chloe bought some - she has teensy feet! I don't know if I mentioned this already, but we joined the Regent's Park/Balliol College club football team. It was so great! The girls on the team are super and skilled so it looks like it will be a good season, and we Canadians could contribute - they were really happy we came out! So that was encouraging. Then when we trained it back to Charlbury, we ended up in the same coach as Sue's eldest son, Sean - it was pretty funny because Phoebe and I thought he looked familiar and he had seen pictures of us so we all sort of knew eachother - it was a bit awkward, the whole 'are you who I think you might be' but we got over that quick - he's a hoot just like the rest of the family. That night Phoebe and I went over to watch Blackadder II with Chloe. O my word. What a FUNNY show! You all must watch it!
SATURDAY! Good things always happen on Saturday...so far.
This time we went to Stratford-on-Avon: the Birthplace of the Bard (Shakespeare)!
We saw Anne Hathaway's cottage, Hall's Croft (where his daughter and her husband lived), Nash's House and New Place (the site of Shakespeare's house - it was destroyed by a history/English student hater) and then the birthplace itself. It was actually pretty incredible to see exactly where the great man was born -and all the signatures of famous people who had been there...in the 18th century...
One of our favourite things is...SCONES! so we stopped at a little tea shop and I had some Stratford tea (delicious) and a big delicious scone with strawberry preserve and clotted cream. Stop drooling;)
We also saw St. Mary's church where Shakespeare is buried - cool, but shrine-ish.
On Saturday night, Phoebe and I went to the 1st Annual Charlbury Beerfest with Sue and Dave. One icon of British culture is bitter beer and that was being replaced by international lagers, so some concerned British citizens instituted CAMRA which is basically the campaign to reinstate REAL ales. How nice. So that was pretty cool.
On Sunday, we had a fellow Regent's Park student preach (it is part ministerial school) and then we headed off to Sunday lunches hosted by members of the Charlbury community. Emily MacIssac and I went to the Lethbridge's house (yes, that city in Alberta is named after their ancestor- I'm famous by association) and had a lovely time - we had lamb, veggies, roast potatoes and Queen's Pudding for dessert! Life kinda rocks over here!
And then Monday, IT SNOWED!
The poor Brits didn't know what to do! London had it bad and the whole city shut down! It's actually still snowing...how bizarre!
Well I could use a snow day! We've got our first exam this Saturday and the next one on Monday! Blech.