England and back, the conclusion

It took me awhile to write my final thoughts on our jaunt across the pond because honestly I was too busy enjoying myself. When we left I didn't think that we'd meet people no where near as amazing as the people we met while were there. The places we went and the food we ate we're incredible bonuses to an already fantastic adventure with Rachel.
In the last few days I really became familiar with the term 'bittersweet' because at that point I was more than ready to come home but wasn't ready to come back to a life that we put on pause. Luckily we got to go to Scotland in the last few days because it turned out to be my most favorite part of the entire trip. Give me a kilt, throw me the bagpipes, and pass me the haggis because that's the place I want to be! :p
Getting to see our friend Linzi at home was as awesome as it was confusing at first because I'm so used to her in our life in America then suddenly were in her world in Scotland. Her family is one of the best groups of people I'd met it a long time, so fun and full if laughter.
This is the one experience that my life needed before I was just sort of wandering with the wind. Now I've got a sail and can go in any direction when ever I want exploring to the fullest! Now that I'm back with my family I appreciate our time together so much more than before. Not only that I feel my capacity for other people in general has tremendously increased, meaning I'm feeling a lot more patient, for now. :D
This is my last post for this blog and as Rachel has already told you, check out our other blog sunflowers and Skyscrapers. To get an inside track on our transition from university to the rest of our lives.
Thank you so much to all of you who helped us take this incredible trip and another thank you to all of you who followed our blog and our vlogs and just were super supportive of the entire adventure. You all are awesome and now on to 2013 full steam ahead!

Home Sweet Home

We made it.

After four months of traveling, Raymond and I are both home for Christmas. We loved everything about our trip, except for being so far away from home. We truly had the opportunity of a lifetime to live in Europe for a semester, and it was one of the best decisions we've made in our time at university.

Scotland was beautiful and fantastic! We started our time there in Edinburgh, and then went to Glasgow to see Linzi Allen, one of my favorite golf mates. Edinburgh was full of ancient buildings with a giant castle in the middle of the city, and Glasgow was surrounded by beautiful countryside.

Her family kindly let us stay with them, and we were so happy to be in a comfortable house after so many weeks of dorm life and traveling! Finally, it felt like Christmas time.

One of the mornings we were there, Linzi drove us around the hills to see the ocean (and by the way, she's fantastic at driving a stick shift). The sights were breath taking. We also had the chance to walk part of her regular golf course, and I couldn't be more jealous! Several holes on the course play right along the ocean. It's beautiful and perfect for Scotland. Raymond decided he wants to retire there some day, he loved the land and the people so much.

Our days in Scotland were likely some of the best of our trip, and I'm so thankful the Allen family had us to visit! They were all so nice and welcoming, we couldn't have enjoyed ourselves more.

When we were done in Scotland, it was time to start the long journey home. We took a train to London and flew out the next morning. Although we had a slight delay, thankfully we were able to get home almost on time and had a great welcoming party waiting for us.

Raymond took the bus to St. Louis yesterday, although thanks to the bus breaking down it took much longer than anticipated. Once he did get home he feasted on a late Thanksgiving dinner. We haven't eaten this well since we left!

We're glad to be home, but it's a little surreal. Where we really in England just a few days ago?

Merry Christmas! I'm thankful to be home celebrating with my family. Enjoy the holidays, and remember I'll soon be posting on Sunflowers and Skyscrapers instead of here! (www.sunflowerskyscraper.blogspot.com)

Our last night here, and a surprise!

It's our last night in Birmingham! Tomorrow we take a train to Scotland to see the beautiful city of Edinburgh, before going to Glasgow to visit Linzi. We're so excited to see Scotland, but also eager to get back to the states for Christmas.

Packing hasn't been fun, as we've had to sort through everything and decide what to leave, what to throw away, and what to try and shove in the top of our overly-full bags. Now we look around our room and it is all empty! It looks like the night we arrived, September 11th.

Now that we're leaving, it's time to reveal what I've been working on for all our readers!

Although we've had the trip of our lives, it's over now and we're headed home for the holidays. We couldn't be happier to be going to see our families, but we will miss our new friends in England and our "new life" in the UK.

When we first decided to go abroad, we started the blog "Rachel-Ray Across the Pond." Our readership expanded wider than we ever expected, and we've been so blessed with family, friends, and many Newman supporters who read our posts on a regular basis. We've tried to keep it up to date and interesting, while still keeping it personal to ourselves and our readers. Our main focus while being abroad has been on the experiences, differences, and challenges of studying in another country.

Our video logs also became a great success, as we were able to show viewers all over the world that dreams can become a reality, like this trip for us. Thank you to all our viewers who have subscribed to the channel or watched the videos on the blog!

Now that we are headed home, it's time to put "Across the Pond" to rest. Although we hope to take another visit to Europe soon, we're realistic to know we will probably never again live abroad for an extended amount of time. We're both ready to graduate and start building careers, and bills are calling to be paid.

However, just because "Across the Pond" is ending does not mean that we are done! Hence, "Sunflowers and Skyscrapers" was born.

We've learned so much about ourselves and the world while living in England. We know that it might be difficult to adjust back to life in Wichita, but we're ready to bring our new habits and mix them with the old ones. There are so many ways to mix "big-city life" with "small-town USA," and I'm excited to get home and start.

Check out the new blog to find out what "Sunflowers and Skyscrapers" means and why we picked that as a title. Click here or go to www.sunflowerskyscraper.blogspot.com.

All of our subscribers by email will need to "resubscribe" to the new blog. You can do that the same way, by typing your email into the box on the right-hand side, or by following us with your Gmail account. We will also continue to post on Facebook, because we know that's how lots of our followers find the blog.

Thank you for our wonderful time together. We'll continue to post here until we are home on Thursday, but after that all new posts will be on Sunflowers and Skyscrapers.

God Bless and Merry Christmas!

Don't say goodbye.

This is a message for all our new English, Irish, Spanish, Italian, French, German, and every other nationality friends we have met in the last three months.

Our dear, adventurous, loving, caring friends, this is not goodbye. It's see you later! Thanks to you, Raymond and I have had the best semester of our lives. We've shared laughs, incredible moments, and late nights. Those times with friends are what made our trip a true adventure.

Without you, we would have just been two American students in England for a fall term. We would have studied, gone to class, and taken a few trips, but in the end we would have still just felt like Americans out of place and far from home.

Instead, we feel like we're leaving one family to go home to another. In such a short time, we developed strong friendships with people who really care when they ask, "Are you alright?" So far from home, we found friends we could talk to for hours, laugh with in the kitchen, and take adventures with around town.

So this isn't goodbye! If anyone we met ever wants to come see Kansas, please look us up. If it's in a year, five, or ten years, tell us you're coming and we will give you a place to stay! We'll never forget your hospitality or the times we shared while we visited this part of the world. Thank you for being amazing!

The internet makes our lives more connected than ever. Raymond and I will be in touch, look forward to it! So, we'll see you later Birmingham.

It was truly epic.

The days are so short!

Brrrr! It's cold today! The parking lots are icy and some of the windows frosted over. We've been camped out inside working on our finals.

We only have two more days in Birmingham. Today we're going to do a big load of laundry so we can do most of our packing. Anything not being worn in the next week is going in our checked luggage!

The past few nights have been full of goodbye parties and telling friends, "you have to come visit!" Even though we have only been here three months, we've made some really fantastic friends. It's such a shame the USA is SO FAR away! I hope some day we can come back and visit, but it will be awhile before we can afford the plane tickets.

One week from today we'll be on the plane. I'm so excited to be going home, but very sad that we do not get to come back. Still, January will bring new adventures in Kansas!

To everyone from home, we'll see you soon! To all our new friends on this side of the pond, we will miss you dearly.

Only one more week!

Supposed-to-be-cheeseburger-soup

We have one week left in Birmingham, which means we're working hard on finals and using up everything in our food storage (not very hard to do since we don't have much food).

Except for when we were in Paris, we have made a nutritious, home-made dinner every night. No take out for us! Our budget couldn't afford it, and our stomachs simply didn't want it anymore.

We've been experimenting, and tonight we made what was supposed to be an "All American Cheeseburger Soup." Raymond called our version the "supposed-to-be-cheeseburger soup" but still loved it.

Here's a picture approximately what it looked like, but we left out the potatoes and didn't have any pickles. I thought it really did taste like a cheeseburger (Raymond didn't)! We made little tiny Yorkshire pizzas to go with it, using some of the tomato sauce and meat. This was a revelation. Yorkshire Pizzas!

Basically the soup was beef, broth, onions, tomatoes, and a lot of cheese. Oh, and some ketchup. We were skeptical of the recipe but gave it a try, I'm glad we did. We've eaten far too much pasta in the past few months. I found the soup on BHG.com.

Time for us to start packing up our rooms and preparing to leave. I'm also working on another surprise for our readers!

"I'll be home for Christmas, you can count on me!"

Finals... time to break out the coffee.

As with everyone back home, it's time for us to buckle down and get our final assessments completed. This time next week we will be doing our final packing to leave Birmingham the next morning, but we have a lot of work to get done before then!

The biggest project I'm working on is a giant portfolio for my Business Start-Up class. Throughout the term I have worked with a group to run a Sim Venture business program, and in the portfolio I am so show not only what I learned, but also provide daily logs, business plans, and explain financial statements. It's a lot of work!

There are so many places and things we wish we had done, but we're out of time and out of money. We will have to be content with our final adventure in Scotland, and save all the rest for a future trip.

For those students going on this adventure next term, leave me any questions you might have in the comments below or on facebook. Raymond and I have a wealth of knowledge that could help you out!

Earlier in the week we sang with the school choir for a Christmas Carol service. It certainly put us in the mood to go home for the holidays! We're lucky that we get to see our family for Christmas, as many of the international students are staying over the holidays for finals in January. We were able to work it out for all of our classes to either submit them before we leave or take them at home in the academic testing center.

We'll be home for Christmas!

Merci!

We had such a beautiful weekend in Paris. The city had such grace, delicious food, gorgeous language, and nice people!

Walking through the city was a dream come true. I even tried speaking some French, and they usually understood at least a word of what I said! :)

We took an early flight out of Birmingham so we had plenty of time to explore our first day in the city. Our first stop was the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the place of legends. Raymond was able to view relics and garments of St. Louis (the man Raymond's home town is named after!), and I took plenty of pictures of the famous stained-glass windows.

Next we meandered through the streets, soaking in the music, sunshine, and wonderful smells coming from restaurants all over the river area. My Nutella crepe was cooked to perfection (yummmm), and before turning in for the night we went to see the famous Arc, the one Nazi's, Allied forces, and Napoleon all marched through.

The next morning we went to see one of the most famous art galleries in the world: The Lourve. You would not believe how giant the building is! We could have spent three days in the museum and not seen everything. We did however manage to see the ORIGINAL Mona Lisa (right in front of our eyes), as well as some other famous works I'm sure you will recognize in the photos below.

That afternoon we placed a lock of our own on one of Paris' most famous bridges, called the "Love-lock bridge." The tradition of couples placing a lock on a bridge and throwing the key into the river started here, in Paris, and then spread to other major cities. We locked one up with the other thousand over the Seine River, hopefully to stay there until we return someday!

Over dinner we tried true French cuisine, including Onion Soup, frog legs, and creme brûlée, and after we visited the Eiffel Tower and the Christmas Market in Paris. We found churros (we've missed them!) and other delicious goodies. Overall though, the market was very similar to the one we have in Birmingham, but much more crowded.

This morning we flew back to England, to finish our classes before we go home. I can hardly believe all the places we have had the opportunity to visit--Rome, London, Dublin, Paris--and Scotland is yet to come.

We're so thankful for the dreams that have come true!

Paris for the weekend? I'd love to!

The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder. Our time in England is drawing to a close.

Raymond describes it as a certain smell in the air... winter. It means Christmas, his birthday, and this year that we're traveling home for the holidays. We plan to thoroughly enjoy our time at home over Christmas before I start a new marketing assistant job and we both go back to school in January.

This weekend we are catching a flight to Paris! I've been doing research all afternoon to plan our three days in the beautiful city. They have the most extensive metro system in the world, which is great but it makes the map a little more confusing!

Last night we had dinner with the Board of Governors, or Trustees, and it was really interesting to meet and greet the men and women who run the school. We answered a lot of questions about Newman University in Kansas, and indulged in some great food. Many were surprised at how truly similar the schools are, in students and identity.

This institution was actually officially named a University yesterday, and dropped the "College" from the school name (kind of like we used to be named Kansas Newman College). It's an exciting announcement for everyone around!

This week we finished one of several assessments (finals). I can't wait to be done with the others! I also tried my hand at online Christmas shopping for the first time, because I know I'm getting home only a couple days before I need them all wrapped!

Good luck with your holiday preparation! Always keep in mind the reason for the season. :)

So thankful for my family!

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas! I'm sorry to all our avid readers who missed our blogging throughout the last week. I took the time to be with my family, who came to visit! Believe me, I had plenty to be thankful for!

Against all odds, I helped my mom plan a trip for my parents and little sister to come visit over Thanksgiving break. There were several times we were scared the trip would be called off, but the week finally came and all three boarded the 6am flight out of Wichita. I went to meet them in London and we had a fantastic week exploring the city and part of Ireland!

My parents had always wanted to visit Europe, but never had the chance. My choosing to study abroad gave them the excuse they needed to plan the trip and make it happen. It was great timing, as I was really starting to miss home!

We all loved London, especially my little sister who is a bit of a history buff. The British Museum is huge, and has artifacts literally from all over the world. We spent several hours there and did not see everything!

Because they only had a few days, we chose to do the "Hop-on, Hop-off" bus tour of London. It was worth the money because they were able to see a lot in a very short amount of time. We toured the Tower of London and took a boat ride down the river. We also visited the Churchill's War Rooms and they had the chance to see the National Gallery of London.

Mid-way through the week we went to Birmingham for a day and I showed them the university where I am studying. We also had a delicious outing to Cadbury World (so much chocolate!).

On a whirlwind tour, we spent Thanksgiving in Ireland. Dublin was fun, but we mainly went to hear the live music. Temple Bar did not disappoint, and we were able to enjoy two evenings full of traditional Irish tunes and ballads. The trip would not have been complete without a Guinness, Red Lemonade, and Irish coffee!

Another flight to London, and it was already time for them to leave. The week flew by, and I was sad to say goodbye in the airport this morning. I also felt bad because they were boarding for a ten hour flight to Dallas (yes, TEN). Thankfully I'll be home for Christmas in just a few short weeks. The time will fly by!

Next stop, Paris!

We ate ostrich. No joke.

Tonight we went to the German Christmas Market and absolutely loved it! The market was different than anything we had seen before, full of little specialty shops and delicious food and drink. There were several hundred vendors!

The market spanned over most the city center and we spent several hours wandering around, looking at small craft stalls. For dinner we ate some delicious Frankfurt sausages and had the best beer we've ever tasted: authentic German! Maybe Octoberfest in Germany should be moved to the top of our bucket list...

We also went way outside our food comfort zone and tried something completely different: Ostrich burgers! Seriously, we ate ostrich meat. I still feel like somehow it was a little wrong, but we were convinced that in some areas of the world ostrich is just as common as chicken. Apparently it is one of the healthiest meats available, but it tasted more like sausage than any kind of bird meat I've tasted before.

The lights, trees, REAL roasted chestnuts... yep, it's Christmas time!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The #1 thing I've learned abroad

Tonight, I have a lot to be thankful for. First, Blogger finally updated their app and made it iPad friendly. It's about time! The new update makes typing this MUCH easier, and hopefully makes it look better too.

Second, I get to see my family so soon! My parents and little sister are coming to visit, while the rest of my siblings at home watch over the house and the dog. Some days, it feels like the last three months have flown by; others, it feels like we've been here forever. I can't believe it is already Thanksgiving, but I'm looking forward to their visit!

Classes are close to finishing and we go home in a little over a month. In that amount of time we have a lot to do -- a trip to Paris, 4-5 finals, say our goodbyes to Birmingham, and visit Scotland -- before we back to the states.

Raymond and I have learned so much about the world, and our place in it. I've realized I have an interest in business (something I've denied for three years) and have been devouring books on marketing and finance. I've also come to feel that even though the planet is so big, I can be an ocean away and still feel close to home thanks to the brilliance of technology and conversation of family.

We both miss Mexican food more than we thought possible (it doesn't exist across the ocean), and I was courageous enough to try curry. Actually, we miss food in general, and the car that makes grocery shopping easy. Going for groceries is an event that takes up half our day here.

Still, the power of travel and experience takes hold of us. Rome was simply enchanting, and the history of the ground and stone awe-inspiring. Dublin was full of music and laughter, and my Irish blood quickly fell in love. London rivals New York, and we could live there for years and never see it all.

Although I'm anxious to visit Paris and Scotland, I think there comes a time when you're ready to go home. We're very close to that point. There are a few more things for us to check off our lists, and then we will be home for the holidays.

Perhaps the most important thing I've learned about myself, even more than my thoughts on a career choice, is that the midwest is truly my home. Anyone who knows me has heard me say for years that I was going to leave Kansas for New York City, if only I found the right time or job. Now, after living so far away, I don't think so anymore.

I love Kansas, but more importantly I love my family. Living abroad has been full of adventure and excitement, but it has also been expensive and far from the comfort of home. We've been across the ocean for three months, but we could have been in New York and still felt just as far away.

The fact is, right now I can't imagine permanently moving somewhere so far away from my family that it takes a plane ride (or two) just to go home for the weekend. Maybe some day, at the right time, with the right job, but not now.

Don't get me wrong, I could travel a million places, and it would never be enough. I want to see everything, I want to learn about every culture and soak it all in. But Kansas, full of wheat fields and blue skies, will always be my home at heart.

Carnival on the Sea Shore

Last night we had a great road trip. We went with some friends all the way to the sea, to a small coastal town called Burnham, south of Wales. It only took us a couple hours by car to see the ocean!

We went to see the Carnival of Lights, a fantastic parade for Guy Fawkes Day. It also serves to kickoff winter and Christmas time. In fact, I was told last night that the parade is the biggest winter festival in the world. THE WORLD!

Before the parade began we ate fish and chips on the shoreline. It was the best fish I have eaten in a long time, so fresh! Glad we were able to check that off the bucket list!

In anticipation, we picked some prime High Street spots and waited for the lights to start. Soon we were watching float after float go by, covered in lights and moving parts. There were dozens, and they were all so big! The artistic achievement was fantastic. Check out the videos Raymond has posted and it will give you a better idea. We still have my favorites to post, including one with giant polar bears!

The festival was unlike anything I've seen before. We could feel the heat of the lights as they passed by us in the street.

In total, we watched floats go by for about two hours. After they were done we packed up and drove home, glad to be warm in the car!

Here are a few photos, but the videos really give a better idea!

Thoughts of the sleepless Raymond

Maybe this is becoming a problem, I haven't been able to sleep until 6 am for the past week and a half and there is no end in sight. But on the up side of this issue (being and Optimus and not a Negatron)  it gives me time to think and catch up on news that I've been missing. Though I give up on the news when at some point it all sort of blends into the same story, I love reading good news but I have a hard time finding it these days.

Anywhoo, today we went on our first English road trip and I have to say it was truly awesome! Granted it was only about 2 hours away but it was some of the most fun I've had since we've been here. We adventured to Burnham (Burnham lol) to see a Carnival of lights parade and I didn't really know what to expect based off the parades we've seen back in the states. My first order of business was to seek out fish and chips and devour them and devour them we did right outside in front of the ocean, I will never forget that. (Back to the floats and the parade and stuff.) Well let me tell you I was blown away at the amount of work that went into all of the floats and walkers (people with costumes) in this parade.

The video to the right just one of the amazing floats we saw and I will never forget them, since I took video and put it in the infinite memory banks of YouTube. 

Ah it looks like the claws of sleep have finally found their way into my eyes, better late than never I like to quote. So with this I bid you a Good morning..well good night, your pick. 

I love yo faces! :D

Christmas is here!

Merry Christmas! Since we're in England, I can say it and no one gets mad at me. Why? They don't celebrate Thanksgiving, so Christmas starts early.

Tonight we went to the Christmas Parade in the city center. It was full of interesting characters, including Madagascar animals (I didn't get it either--pure marketing) and Christmas trees on stilts. What an experience!

The parade served as the official kick-off of the Christmas season in Birmingham. The lights are lit and soon the German Christmas market will be in full swing. I love Christmas!

We also learned about Remembrance Day, which is tomorrow. It serves to honor all the veterans who died serving, especially in WWI and WWII.

Have you ever heard/read about the poppies worn by most English people during the month of November? I had seen it before I came but never understood the meaning. The red flowers, literally everywhere you go in November, are part of the remembrance celebrations.

The flowers originate from WWI, because the blood of soldiers in the fields caused the flowers to turn red. According to one of our French international students, there are still fields covered in red poppies in his home country.

Something else we did today was go to the Apple store and play with the new iPad Mini. We were surprisingly impressed. It's still over priced, but it is incredibly light and feels great in your hand.

Here are some pics! Merry Christmas!
Also, check out our new vlog!

Back to Backs. I'm thankful for the dorm!

We've had a very informative week! First we learned about Bonfire Night, and then yesterday we visited the "Back to Backs," a historical site in Birmingham.

The Back to Backs were a popular cheap housing option, and were first built in the 1800s all over England. In 2001, a block of the old buildings were declared a historical landmark and are now preserved as a museum and open to the public for viewing.

Basically, the inexpensive buildings were one room deep apartments, that shared the back wall with another apartment facing the opposite direction. The brick wall dividing the two apartments was one layer thick, leading to terrible noise and over-population of certain areas. By building the apartments in this manner twice as many people could fit on the same plot of land.

Birmingham was the birthplace of the industrial revolution, so a great deal of inexpensive housing was necessary to accommodate all the workers filling factory jobs. It was common for a couple thousand people to live in a single complex, with many communities (built nearly identical) spread out across the city. The cheap housing was built up in other  cities as well to deal with the growing housing shortage. These buildings were used as living spaces well into the mid 1900s, with shops and stores occupying them far after the government condemned them as housing apartments.

The museum in Birmingham has preserved several different units and in each one a different time period is represented. It was really interesting to start in the early 1800s and continue through 2000!

They did not allow photography inside the buildings, but here are a couple from the courtyard. Each complex included outdoor toilets and a wash room, which was put on a rotating cycle for tenant use.

The scariest thing of the tour? The staircases! Each building includes several flights of tightly curled circular stairs, the entire staircase being no wider than a small coat closet. These were hard to climb just for our tour, I can't imagine living there and climbing them several times a day!