Good Food. Good Talk. (Part Two)

I was (just a little) sleep deprived from the week leading up to HostUK. So on Sunday, I didn't wake up for my alarm and ended up sleeping in. I woke up when Amelia came in to my room to tell me to get up. I was so embarassed...but John and Elizabeth hadn't wanted to wake me because my "body clearly needed to rest."

John sat with me and read me crossword puzzles as I ate breakfast at the table (left).  Amelia had homework to work on, anyway, so I only felt slightly bad for delaying the day. Instead of going to Wales, John decided to take us to Shrewsbury School, a primary school with the steep tuition of 30,000 pounds a year (for elementary kids??) John said it "reeks of privilege".

He led us into Taylor Library inside the school, saying he wasn't sure if we would be allowed in but it was worth a shot just to look around:

There happened to be a professor showing a man some of the books in a room of to the side of the main library. John asked if it was okay for us to be in the library. Rather than kick us out, he started talking to us about all the books they had, including the first edition of Charles Darwin's world-renowned "Origin of Species".

The professor insisted I take a picture with it. I was like, okay...in this picture my smile is actually a mask of fear; I was so scared I would drop it. 

We looked around for a bit more, and were just about to leave when John waved me over to where he was talking with the professor. 

John: "Leah, you go to church right?"

Me: "Yes."

Professor: "I don't know which bible you use, but we have a first edition of the King James Bible. Would you like to see it?"

Me: "No way!"

John: "No way? Is that American for 'yes'?"

Me: "Yes!"

It was the most random, unexpected, breath-taking, and inspiring moment. I couldn't believe he was so casually flipping through it... I took these videos for a few seconds, but then I wanted to hear what he was saying so I put my phone down. 

I would've asked him to open to my favorite verse but I was a little tongue-tied! He then told us we could flip through it ourselves, but I was too afraid to rip the pages by accident or something. It was so cool. 

Left, Darwin Quote: "It is a golden rule, which I try to follow to put every fact which is opposed to one's conceived opinion in the strongest light.

As we were leaving the library (I was still a bit in shock from what we saw in there), John said, "It's a really good thing you slept in, Leah, isn't it?" (I don't hear that every day!)

After a tea break (below), we headed into a large park in town, to take scenic pictures and enjoy the view. 

The park is HUGE (like many parks in England. Boy, am I gonna miss them!)

Kingsland bridge is a little freaky because of how much it moves when you walk on it. John warned us we might get seasick and at first I thought he was kidding but it actually was pretty intense. 

The round church (below) is allegedly shaped this way so that "the devil can't hide in any corners"...also Scrooge from The Christmas Carol is buried under there. (I, for one, totally thought he was a fictional character!)

As we were leaving, we passed this building with a plaque (above my head in this photo) illustrating a record flood line from years ago. John took my pictures, stating: "You'd be in trouble, Leah, wouldn't you?" (Yes, English people turn every statement into a question):

 This gate to get out of the park (below) is called a "kissing gate" because it only lets one person through at a time...(allowing courting couples to kiss, I guess? I didn't really get it but it reminded me of Anne Shirley, so that was reason enough for a picture). John let me through first, and then, in reference to kissing, said, "I won't hold you to it." Haha. I made an offhand joke about how half American population wouldn't be able to fit through it...and then he gave me a Look and replied, "Well you said it not me." When Elizabeth found out what we were talking about, she was horrified. I had to assure her that I was the one who brought it up! Whoops. 

 

We got home that afternoon for a late lunch. John got me hooked on this book, but I couldn't finish it in time (*cough cough* Christmas gift?); it's a collection of love letters between an American woman and some owners of an English bookstore. I read that while Amelia and Liz made one of Amelia's favorite cake recipes (left). Then John showed us his recipes (middle) for bread that he makes every week. 

And then the weekend was pretty much over! After lunch we packed our bags, they took pictures of us and gave us their address, and I got one final picture of their house:

It was an unforgettable weekend and I left feeling refreshed :) Life is so good. 

Good Food. Good Talk. (Part One)

Three weekends ago, I spent several days with an older English couple in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. I met John and Elizabeth Riley through HostUK, a host family program that I had signed up for in September (I filled out in a survey that I liked history, wasn't a picky eater, and preferred not to stay with cats...). We were assigned a weekend, exchanged emails, and then it was November and time to take the train to meet them!

I got VERY lost getting there. I planned to meet another Amelia, another HostUK student, in Euston at the Marks & Spencer's (grocery store). It also turns out that there are two Marks & Spencer's in Euston; the station is that big!

 

For navigation: screenshots of everything from emails to Google maps. This has helped me to be more prepared in advance, but I am definitely looking forward to having cell data back soon!

A woman at the ticket both gave me directions to the wrong store, and against my instincts I followed her advice...then worried Amelia had left without me...then got on the train without her... and then realized I was on the wrong train. But I found my way to another information booth and was able to pull myself together when the Brit there said, "Love, it's gonna be okay. I promise." 

I made it to the station around eight. There was no internet access, so I was left with one option: turn my phone off airplane mode (sorry, Dad!) and call John, the man who planned to pick me up. Elizabeth had dinner waiting when we arrived:

Waiting to be served a (REAL) English meal!

John and Elizabeth didn't seem to mind our over-excitement about the three course meals. Liz said "you should see the Chinese [exchange students] who come...they are always taking pictures to send back home to their families." I suppose this is because their food differs a lot more to the British than ours do, but an over-generalization of this statement might not be accurate. :)

Gooseberry crumble is almost as good as apple crisp. ..but not quite. 

I learned a lot about the Rileys over dinner; we talked at the table for over two hours, then washed and dried the dishes together. By the end of the weekend, I knew which way to set the table, where the salt and pepper went, and where to put the towels out to dry. (I didn't realize how much I crave this kind of routine until I experienced it again!) After dinner, Amelia had a play to write (she's majoring in play writing at NYU), and I had two Sociology assignments to submit before midnight. It's a blessing we both had solo train journeys because we got a lot of work finished! All I had to do was rent a hotspot for an hour to connect to the wifi and turn them in. Then I was able to fully focus on enjoying my stay. 

John added way too many books to my "To Read" list!

After a leisurely breakfast the next morning, we headed out to explore the town:

John and Amelia

After our weekend together, I told John it was nice to have a "built-in tour guide". He really was! He knew so much about architectural quirks in the buildings and gave us all kinds of fun facts about the history of the town. Liz kept telling him to "stop boring us" but I loved every minute of it!

Different marks on the pillars of these medieval buildings helped early carpenters know how to assemble.  

John and Elizabeth picked up some groceries from Shrewsbury Market Hall, and then we checked out these handmade sweaters. (I am going to miss local markets!!)

Al, if I had taken cash with me, these would've been for you :)

John planned to take us inside St. Mary's Church (below), and then we saw that they were hosting a chocolate festival inside it to raise money for charity. We went anyway:

When my London Crucible class went to the Peace and Reconciliation center, we talked about how old churches have started to transform into buildings for other purposes. This is certainly one example! It kind of lost the serenity of a church for me in this way, but it was a neat building to look at.

Another use of the building: art therapy :)

The main stained glass window (left) has an interesting story. It is one of the few completely intact/original stain glass windows from medieval times still around. As a whole, it shows a "family tree" of biblical people (sort of like a timeline of a part of the Bible). The stained glass was taken down and moved for restoration purposes (according to John, anyway) and reassembled. But the people who put it back together did not know enough about the Bible and placed in pieces in the wrong order. He said that going in there is a "test to see how well you know the Bible" (I will be honest...I could not tell who was who at all!). 

I sampled only one piece of chocolate on the way out-100% cocoa. The bitter taste stayed in my mouth for the entire car ride back to the Riley's for lunch.

 Charles Darwin was born and raised in Shrewsbury, so the area around the school he went to was a big focus of our "tour" after lunch:

I know this picture has something to do with Charles Darwin but it's been three weeks and I honestly don't remember... :/

John took his tour guide role very seriously.

We left and went to a more countryside view of Shrewsbury. It was refreshing to see a non-London side of England (in other words, no skyscrapers!)

Poppies for Remembrance Day:

After admiring this bridge (middle), we dropped Amelia off at a bookstore and John, Liz, and I went to explore around the "Olympic Trail". The first modern Olympic games were constructed by a man from Shrewsbury:

(Above left: Olympic trail mark; middle and right: In this picture you can sort of see marks from militia men who sharpened their swords and knives on the exterior of the building. John was so excited to find these...he knew of them but had never seen it until the three of us went exploring.)

Then we went back and had dinner and dessert at the house :)

So rich. So creamy. So good. 

John and I spent the evening together while Amelia finished a play. We talked journalism (he shared his Guardian issues with me and was very impressed I got to visit their offices!), politics (see post-election British coverage below), and art (I was able to find the artist of some of their family heirlooms. They were impressed with what Google could do!) while watching rugby on their TV. 

Stay tuned for Day 2 in Shropshire :)