Day 20: London University and Hillsong Conference Night 1

Today, the class went to a university's WWII Archives. It was really interesting because we actually got to touch and read things. I read a pamphlet that was given to American soldiers about Britain and one given to British soldiers about Americans!

After spending the morning there, we had a break until our afternoon lecture about North Africa and Japan and stuff. It was a really boring early part of the day. I took no pictures at all. Sorry.

The interesting part of the day started at 5. Morgan and I hopped on a tube to the O2 for the Hillsong Conference. It didn't start until 7:30, but we decided to go early and get dinner and good seats, which we didn't really get.

We got to the arena around 5:30 and decided to go to TGIFridays for dinner. They had sweet potato fries, so I was happy. Plus, it was really cheap!

Then we went and stood in a monstrous line to go in, but it moved pretty fast. Inside, we were ushered to a section that wasn't full and we went in and sat. It was in the lower section on the side.

Welcome! It's starting!

The stage and our view 

Every seat was full

The speaker tonight was Brian Houston, the pastor and founder of Hillsong. He said he was changing it up and instead of them making up a song to his message, he was going to make a message to their song. He ended up speaking over my current favorite song, Oceans (Where Feet May Fail.)

His main section was "You called me out upon the water, the great unknown, where feet may fail, and there I find you in the mystery."

His point was that you'll find Jesus in the mystery.

The big thing I wrote down was "The will of God is easy. Just go where God says to go and come when Jesus says come."

During one part, he walked into the audience and kissed his wife 

After the message, Kari Jobe came out and sang a few songs. She didn't really sing her stuff, as people don't really know a lot of it.

 I'll be going back tomorrow night for sure! It's Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin. If you haven't heard of Louie Giglio, just look up lamin.

Day 19: D-Day Museum, Southsea, and a Sad Misadventure at a Pub

Today was the first day back from the mini-break. My class was taking a train to Portsmouth, a little port town on the southern coast. We met, hopped on a train, and got there a bit before 11. It was a D-Day museum, so that was fun.

Some cute lily pads outside the museum 

Women's war relief posters

There was embroidery all around the huge room. It depicted the entire WWII story

An air raid siren 

What a women's job in a factory would look like

This answered a lot of questions. Some kid thought it meant disembark.  

After we zoomed through the museum, we realized the rest of the day we would do nothing. We spent more time on the train than the museum, so the teacher suggested all going to a pub for lunch. First, we walked a few minutes to see the English Channel and a little castle that was nearby.

The coast!

Perfect day for Chacos! There was a gap in the railing so people can get to the water for boats and stuff, so I walked down the slick stone hill to put my feet in!

The castle was called Southsea and was free to go in. It wasn't really much, but a castle is a castle no matter how boring it is.

A super old, original cannon

A lighthouse! 

After the castle, we all headed to find food. We ended up a a nice pub. I had a chicken bacon burger (minus the bread, of course) and french fries (I know, I know...) It was pretty tasty UNTIL I was reading the menu when I was done and saw that these particular chips were made with gluten. ...WHY DO FRENCH FRIES NEED GLUTEN?! 

Anyways, that made me irritable, so now I'm wondering if gluten makes me irritable, because I ate at a pub with the exact same menu and got the exact same thing and I was easily annoyed afterwards.

I got over that though and we were ready to head back to London. We all go outside and wait for the taxis and I get in the first one with some people. In the taxi, I realize I left my drawstring backpack at the pub. I wasn't too overly upset, all it was was a jacket, umbrella and some little postcards I got for my sisters. Nothing too upsetting to lose, right?

Well, I get to the train station excited to listen to Hillsong on the way back when I realize that it wasn't just a jacket and an umbrella. It was my headphones as well. That was the worst train ride ever.

When we got back to London, I met up with Morgan and we headed off to Sainsbury's where I got a new umbrella and apples. We got ice cream on the way, of course. It's a two mile walk there and back, so we're allowed to have ice cream.

On the way back, we stopped in a cheap but name brand sports store and I got a jacket and some ear wrap around headphones. I don't like that kind, but it's all they had. I'll buy a new pair of official Apple headphones at the first chance I get.

Now everything is normal again. Tomorrow is Hillsong Conference night 1! Brian Houston and Kari Jobe! I'm so excited!!

Day 18: Hospitals, Harrods, Museums, AND a Royal Baby?!

Today was supposed to be a boring day. I was going to go to Harrods and the History Museum. I woke up early, though, and decided to be spontaneous.

I decided to go to St. Mary's Hospital once I saw that Duchess Kate Middleton had been admitted. I had a better picture of all the reporters, but I deleted it on accident.

After the hospital, I was going to try to catch the Changing of the Guards, but I didn't have time and just ended up in a big crowd outside of the palace.

I ended up just taking a picture of people and started the walk to Harrods.

I passed a Ferrari shop

And a Lacoste

Then I arrived

I was actually going to buy some shorts if I could find them, but for real, there was no normal clothes section. Even the bathrooms were called "luxury." It was all so expensive!

A Princess Diana memorial in Harrods 

I did buy some truffles :)

After finishing in Harrods, I continued the walk to the Natural History Museum where I ate lunch while waiting for Patricia.

Some broccoli and cauliflower soup. It was good, I guess.

Then the adventure started!

Uh oh

A horned cyclops 

That's an ostrich

I think I had a dodo confused with a kiwi

'Merica 

All of these people were crowded around a grate on the ground blowing out cool air. The British people don't believe in air conditioning and this is their hottest summer in years. 

How much blood the human body typically contains

What a human would look like based on motor only

I left the museum early because I started feeling icky. A thirty minute tube ride during rush hour didn't help, but when I got back to the dorms, I felt better. I was planning on doing nothing the rest of the night. I took a shower and was going to go to sleep early.

Then Kate had her baby.

I got up, got dressed, and headed out.

Crowd doesn't look too bad, eh?

Haha, no

I couldn't read it, but there it is!

The blurry of this picture is perfect for the atmosphere. Everyone pushing and showing to the front, but being nice about it. That guy is smiling. Everyone was excited and wanted to be a part of the historical moment.

It was a really small easel 

Every ten minutes or so, a police officer would move the easel to the other side. It helped with crowd control.

Pretty at night

I left right before it should have been moved back to me. It was getting late though and I wasn't looking forward to walking back to the station alone. I was there and that was enough for me. I made it to the front row and everything. It was definitely an experience.

Day 17: Sainsbury's and Hillsong

Today I boarded a train from Manchester back to London. It was around a three hour ride back. Once we got back, I relaxed and got ready to head to the store. Since today was a mostly boring Sunday, I took pictures of the walk to the store. Enjoy.

Headed to Sainsbury's

We stopped in here and got candy!

Then we stopped at Cookies and Cream and got ice cream

I got a cute reusable bag from the store too

When we got back, I took a shower and got ready to head to church. On the tube, there was a lady making a balloon animal. It ended up being a monkey on a tree.

It was cute in the end! 

They sang Cornerstone, my favorite Hillsong song right now.

Today's question of the day was "Do you go to Joel Osteen's church?" That's the only Texas pastor they know! One had heard of Matt Chandler. Tonight's pastor, though, was from El Paso. He was really good! I'm looking forward to Louie Giglio on Thursday though.
After church, the girl I was sitting with invited me to go to Russell Square with young adult group. We walked to the park and then ended up at an Asian food restaurant.