American...Party of One!

"Sarah Jane would you like to go with us to Andrews to paint their shed?"

And so the story begins.

First I should tell you that 1 Andrew is the Button’s only son, and 2 their version of shed would be something akin to a small sort of building you would put rakes and stuff in, you could maybe squeeze a John deer ridin’ mower in it if the door was big enough. In reality the door would be one wall and it would be the little mower.

When your going to paint you need painting clothes, but in my packing I didn’t think to pack painting clothes. So the Buttons let me borrow some coveralls, what they call a boiler suit. I heard Julia say that I could change when I got their, but I guess I just thought it wasn’t that dire and that it would be just as well to change clothes sooner rather than later. On the way to Andrew’s house we decided I needed more medicine from the chemist, aka the pharmacist, for my cold. We drive past the chemist and Jon points it out “There is where you will need to go.”

At this point I am getting confused, because I’m like why are we passing it? Why are you making sure I know which one it is? So h

e parks about half block away and says “Okay we will wait for you.” Now that is perfectly fine, more than okay, because I had gone by myself

before and had to walk a lot further, the problem comes when we remember what Sarah Jane is wearing. That’s right a slightly too small red boiler suit (I was too tall) covered in paint…Okay.

I felt like such an idiot. I felt like I should have had an “Im an American” sign flashing in neon lights over my head as I walked. Next time someone suggests for me to change there, I am changing there. The most Ironic thing is I changed clothes to go back to the Buttons and we just went straight back. (Yes, I took pictures, because I know you would appreciate the full affect it would give. Please note the slouched shoulders)

Other than this It was a great day. We painted the shed and the weather was wonderful.

I wore a t-shirt without a jacket…for about 30 min then the

clouds came back. ;) We ate fish and chips.

I had haddock it was wonderful! It was the best fish I have ever eaten. I am not a huge fish fan, but it was sooo good.George and Helen’s is the place we went, which it turns out that this fish and chip shop is kind of famous in Birmingham for having the BEST fish and chips.

All in all it was an absolutely wonderful day. That is me with Jon & Julia Button

The Blessing of Buttons

I LOVE THE BUTTONS! <3

Jon and Julia Button have graciously taken me in. They picked me up Saturday after work and introduced me to my new space.

I could have cried. It is absolutely positively delightfully perfect!

The Buttons are amazing people. They take such great care of me. Julia makes sure I am fed and watered and Jon makes sure there are no spiders and the heat in my room is up. They show me how to do things step by step, and make me feel so welcome.

Sunday I slept in, they left for church, and then I showered. They have these fabulous little mirror tiles laid right into the wall. After a skype with mom Julia served up the traditional Sunday England Super. Beef with mash potatoes, yorkshire pudding (see "words!" blog), vegetables, roasted potatoes, and gravy all over! Delicious is about the only word I can come up with. The meal itself also reminds me a lot of the south. I thought of my grandmother with every bite. The Almacks (CLC people, who introduced the interns to British culture pre crossing the pond) in England you are supposed to eat slowly with your fork in the left hand and the knife in the other. They may have trained me too well, I was the last to finish eating. After the plates had been cleared a rubarb crumble with a bit of custard was brought. The custard is warm and liquid. After this, the tea was prepared and we sat around for a while chatting, by the way I take my tea with two sugars. What I mean when I say "we" is Jon; Julia; their daughter, Anna; their son, Andrew and his wife, Rebecca and their twin daughters, Lucy and Jessica; and me. We watched the twins play for a couple of hours then had more tea and some sponge cake. I like the double dessert rule on Sunday.

After everyone left Jon, Julia, and I went for a walk. About thirty minutes long, but very productive. They showed me two different bus routes to town, but most importantly where I would normally get on and off the bus for work. We came back and ate toast and cheese as I introduced them to my home in the states. I tried marmite, I like it, but I now understand the need for moderation! For all of you yanks, it taste sort of like red eye gravy, but congealed. Thank you Button Family for a wonderfully restful sunday. Thank you Lord for the Buttons and for such and amazing Sunday.

The Book Shop

Friday morning was bitterly cold, but the weather couldn't hold back my excitement to see the city. In fact, the chill only added to the excitement, because it was exactly the kind of thing that was to be expected of England. I learned how to flag down a bus, how to pick the good seats, how to walk around a moving vehicle without falling, and finally how to get the bus to stop. It wasn't till Saturday that I learned to read the bus schedule and memorize the main stop points for my safe travel. It was easy enough, because Naomi was with me. Tuesday I shall fall from the nest, and it shall be blue skies or long way down. The bus pass was easy enough to get; up the stairs, around the corner, down the escalator, take picture in passport picture booth, up escalator, around another corner, pass another passport picture booth, stand in que, 46 pounds, and there you have it. There is one opportunity to lose the pass, but the second time your on your own and you must do it all over again.

The Store is quite small for the amount of material inside, but it is comfortable. When we arrived Naomi read me the contract, and showed me how to search for items and work the till. After a lunch break there was a quick outing for shampoo and what not then back to the store to practice my till skills.

There was once a bookshop next store that has recently moved down the way. I overheard Naomi give directions a couple of times that morning so when someone came in looking for it, I regurgitated the exact directions to the man and he was off. I turned to find my new team members marveling at what just took place. Penny said, "Okay, your allowed to stay." Penny is like the second in command and amazing.

The second day or Saturday if you prefer, was not so good. I was feeling the results of jumping into a schedule immediately rather than letting my body catch up, well before I got to work. It was going okay and lunch was amazing, I ate with Susan. Susan is a volunteer from Wolverhampton, a town over, who comes over to help out the b'rum store twice a week. She is nearer my age and quite funny. After lunch, I chatted with a customer for a good twenty minutes, what that small conversation took out of me was something unexpected. I was interrupted by Naomi, aka my hero, with a phone call from Phil Brunham. Phil is the UK director of CLC. His phone call was welcoming me to England and an offering of encouragement along with the welcome reminder that God brought me here. Monday will be better.

I know many things happened to get me here, most of which were miracles. The things I do know about are uncountable, and the things I don't know about I am sure are innumerable. Thank you Lord for bringing me to England. Teach me to be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, not put out the Spirit's fire, not treat prophecies with contempt, test everything, hold on to the good, avoid every kind of evil. Sanctify me Lord. Make my whole spirit, soul and body blameless (Thess 5:16-24)

Words!

**this post will be edited pretty much continually

squash really concentrated juice that you add water to 1 part to 4-7 parts

obergeine eggplant (i dont think thats how you spell it, but you can sound it out)

crisps chips

chips fries

biscuits cookies

metro train

tube/underground subway

mobile cellphone

answering phone answering machine

1 pound $1.45 approx.

1 Quid 1 pound

advertised Price the complete total

rubbish trash

bin trash can

trousers pants

pants underwear

the States which set?

America USA

BBQ Grill

Grill something with flames on top that come down

real cheese everything but processed cheese

processed cheese slice cheese

trolly buggy

lift elevator

dodgy sketchy (kinda proud i found a word to translate sketchy)

kresh nursery

tea hot tea

chemist pharmacist

bloak guy

high pressure hose pressure washer

pvc plastic

till cash register

que line

hatch match dispatch christian nominal christian

football soccer

rounders like baseball

spiders friends :/

Spiders being friends does not translate

theatre plays/ballet/broadway/ect

cinema theater (often pronounced cinemar)

coach greyhound

carriage way road

give way sign yield sign

advertisements commercials

lou toilet

bathroom room with tub or shower

yorkshire kinda like a biscuit that hasn't been cooked all the way (its good). it is pronounced york-sher

Visas and airplanes

Thurs

Overnight Visa application

Fri.

Visa application arrives in NY

Sat & Sun

Pack, hangout with family, and head to PA

Mon

Receive confirmation from NY about my visa application arriving and a notification that it will take 5-10 business days to process plus mail time to get my visa if accepted

Tue

Receive congratulation email from British Consulate saying I got my visa and it was being overnighted to PA

Wed.

8-9 prayer and devotions with clc staff

9-? breakfast and wait for visa

Bank id and password are in order and my bags are in C building waiting patiently to be swept away to undiscovered adventures. I decided to walk down the hill just to see if my visa had arrived and to wait there just in case. I pass my travel buddy Mack and his dad on their way to the airport to catch our flight. I walk in the office and no word about my visa has been heard, but just moments later a beautiful man walks around the corner thin plastic UPS package in hand. Jim pitman offers to get my bags and to drive me to the airport while I call the travel agent and buy my airplane ticket.

Emily is my travel agent and she did not answer, but Ted did. To my great surprise Ted actually owns the agency (take a moment to let that sink in). He says he can't find my ticket and that it would be $2,000.00 to fly over on this flight. While I am talking to Ted, Jim is making phone calls to other CLC people. Bill Almack says "No she has a booking she just needs to claim it with a credit card." Ted says, "Hold on I'm going to check this out I will call you back." Long story short he calls back and just $900.00 later I have a plane ticket. By this time I am standing in line in front of Mack to get my boarding pass and check my bags. Technically Mack got there first, but He was in the wrong line. I hang up the phone and walk to the counter. Praise the Lord I am going to England with a traveling buddy and for only $900.

The Lord has been so good and gracious throughout this whole process. and it is to the praise of His glory! A big thanks goes out to my parents and all of you that supported me by prayers or finances or both. You have been a blessing to me and it is to the Praise of His glory.

First Airplane

The first flight was good!

When we took off I was pretty sure there was a panic attack waiting for me for two reasons. We sat on the tarmac for ever, the pure anticipation was killing me. The other reason is after we sat i thought we were going to drive to PA...tarmacs are long.

I love clouds!!!!!!!!! They are even more beautiful from above. Today I saw the top side of a rain cloud and it was joyous, it made me want to jump. Don't worry I refrained ;) Landing was smooth.

The second flight was delayed.

The flight was overbooked and I got the last seat!! Thank you Lord! He is sooo good! We sat on the tarmac for a whileee in Dulles and in Philly. Good news the girl next to me fell asleep with her mouth open. haha

The Gerardo Family picked me up and took me to CLC Headquarters, where I was very pleased to find 3 friends already there. Others came later and we watched "Hes just not that into you" If you have never watched this movie with a guy...DO IT!

Im exhausted

Night Night

Packing

Huge suitcase...check

Tiny suitcase...check

Gorgeous new carry on bag...check

tiny little freak out...CHECK

HOLY COW I AM GOING TO ENGLAND!!! Ummm is this real life? I have never been away from my home for more than 6 weeks. I have never been away from my family for more than 4 weeks. I have never ridden in an Airplane. I have never been anywhere outside of Canada (and every state between here and there that I had to drive through.) I dont know what to pack, because apparently the weather is more hormonal than a 13 yr old girl! I am from South Carolina we have one weather condition...HOT! I am tired. I don't actually have my visa yet. It will get to me though that part I know will just fall in to place. Actually it will all fall into place, because I serve the God that is in control of everything. He put this together so it will work out, and probably in a way that I don't see coming, but it will be amazing. It is officially 12:30 and I am leaving in less than 24 hours for PA. Good night. I miss most of you already! ;)

Love,

SJ

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye Heavenly Host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Preface

Dear Readers,

It was suggested to me to write a blog about my travels. I have never written a blog before now, mainly because I am not the best writer. I always write too much or get sidetracked from what I am trying to say with random stories (if you have talked to me at all you will understand the sidetrack thing.) Which brings me to my next topic, reasons for writing.

I decided to write this blog, because I want to be a better communicator, to document my adventure, and to share it with you guys. I want to be a better writer, not because I am trying to pen the great american novel or chase drug lords in South America, but because the ability to communicate is in high demand. I also believe that being a better communicator on paper will make me a better communicator in person. My adventure should be documented for everyone not just me. I think this, because I know if your reading this you care about me. People share things with the people they care for. If I could share England with you I would, and then I realized, I can via blog.

Now I have come to the point where I should state my disclaimer. I don't trust people very easily, so most people who know who I am don't know me. I am sure this blog (aka mass communication) will insight major self discovery, and most the things written no matter how much I am thinking about you when I write them is sure to say more to me than you. Sorry if the posts get long.

Thanks for reading and I hope you stay with me through this magical adventure of tea, biscuits, and the excessive use of commas. I am sure I will eventually rant about something so you have that to look forward too and I am sure there will be a joyous moment as well as a tearful one. It should be a great journey! See you soon.

Love,

SJ