We travelled to the Richborough Roman Fort and Kent beaches
today. The Roman fort was a lot larger
than I expected. There was a tiny museum
inside the lodge on the site of the fort, but I spent most of my time exploring
the huge wall and the surrounding ruins.
Apparently, the coast line used to be right next to this Roman fort, but
because of the changing tides, the shore is now a few miles further.
I took some fun pictures, too! We have some pretty awesome people in our
group. :]
THE ROMANS BUILT THIS.
THIS IS SO COOL.
The beach at Broadstairs was brilliant. We had so much fun wandering the beach and
taking pictures on the shoreline. Our
tour guide and friend Doug took us on a walking tour out of town and into the countryside. That was about four miles both ways; however,
a few of us ended up walking even further
because Doug told us about a castle that was on the highest point of the coast
and walked us there and back to town.
The town of Broadstairs
Beautiful coast line
A British lighthouse
Entrance to the beach!
Dipped my feet into the English Channel
We L-O-V-E England!
On a clear day, it’s possible to see the shores of France on
the other side of the English Channel.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t. But
the view was beautiful all the same! After
the tour and all that walking, we broke off into groups and explored the town
of Broadstairs. My group and I found a
quaint little café on the beach and had afternoon tea and dessert
together! Now that’s what you call good,
clean, British fun.
Following our little tea party, my friends and I went out on
the beach to people watch and generally just take in the spectacular view. As the evening went on, it gradually became
colder. At dinner time, we hopped on the
train back to Canterbury. Because I was exhausted
from an entire week of nonstop activities and staying up late, I about passed
out once we returned to Vernon.
That said, I don’t regret staying up late to experience fun
things like quiz night at the Student Union, eating out at local pubs, or going
on a ghost tour of Canterbury. I’m still
tired after a full night of rest, but I want to do everything that there is to
do while I’m here. Who knows when/if I’ll
be back?
New friends! Tessa, Sadie, Josephine, myself, and Kaitlyn
Quiz night at the Student Union
I’ve met so many interesting people from all over the globe,
literally. Everyone at CCCU
International has been so kind and welcoming.
Honestly, meeting all of these great people has been the best part of my
trip so far. They are just like me,
completely clueless about the University and some barely know English, but we bond
so easily because we are all unfamiliar with Canterbury and English culture. I have new friends from France, Nigeria, Slovakia,
Holland, Sweden, Ireland, and Iowa. :)
Everyone involved with CCCU’s Christian Union has been so
helpful and friendly! They are going to
be my closest set of friends, I can already tell. On Friday night, a few NCC friends went with
me to a British tea party sponsored by the CU (Christian Union) and we met some
cool people. The Brits were asking us to
say certain phrases in our best British accents and we were asking them to show
us their best American accents. Talk
about hilarious. We ended up staying
there super late, just talking and making fun of each other’s accents (in a good-natured
way, of course). Then we discussed differences
in our cultures and even talked about American politics. Our conversations were fun and
interesting. Then, the CU officers walked
us home! They are seriously the kindest
people ever. I can’t wait to get to know them.
Today I visited Canterbury Baptist Church, which meets in
the CCCU campus chapel because their building is being renovated. I met up with a lot of the same students I
met at the tea party. While I was
singing during the worship portion of the service, it suddenly struck me that
these people love God just like I do.
That’s a silly observation; it’s a church – of course they love
God! Yet I felt strangely at home as I
sang familiar hymns and praise songs with these unfamiliar people.
After the service, I met the two sweetest British ladies who
basically told me they would be my honorary grandmas while I was here. They made me feel so welcome! What a blessing to meet these ladies. There was a light lunch after the service, and
then I mingled for quite a while, my new British grandmas introducing me to
various people in the congregation.
Later, I practiced piano for an hour or so and then went
shopping at Tesco, a grocery store in the city centre. Now, after some reading for class and
checking my emails, I plan on taking a refreshing nap and then going to the
chaplain’s new student welcome at 6… there’s free pizza! Somehow, I doubt it will be as good as
Chicago pizza, but I’m still willing to give it a shot. :)
-- K
BRITISH WORDS OF THE DAY:
quid - slang for pounds; the British equivalent of "bucks"
brown sauce - a mixture of BBQ and A1 sauce; used on breakfast food, sausages, and meats
jacket potato - a baked potato with the skin still attached
-- K
quid - slang for pounds; the British equivalent of "bucks"
brown sauce - a mixture of BBQ and A1 sauce; used on breakfast food, sausages, and meats
jacket potato - a baked potato with the skin still attached
