I Am In Love

Ah! I love this city! I could never leave and be the happiest girl on this planet! I will do a quick rundown of everything that happened this week and some observations I have made. 

Monday! On Monday I went with Dr. C to the hospital to get my ankle looked at. I agitated the fracture that I had so I have to wear my brace and take it easy while I am here. This does not work as well when all you do is WALK! Haha, it is alright though. I am thoroughly enjoying every minute though. That night I just worked on homework and got some other things to that I needed to get done.

Tuesday! Tuesday after class I went with Hillary, Andrew, and Saren to the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was great to be able to walk around and look at everything. All the museums here are free and it is amazing to be able to take in all the history and art that this city has to offer! I have been so grateful every single day that I am able to be here and I am for sure not taking this for granted. . The V&A was to die for. They had different areas of the world represented as well as different time periods. My favorite exhibit probably had to be the fashion one. There were costumes and outfits from all different ages and it was amazing to be able to see original clothing is such great condition. Ah! I am most definitely going to go back to that museum!  

Saren, Hillary, me, and Andrew with the awesome lion we found. 

Wednesday! Wednesday was EXHAUSTING! We boarded the bus that morning at 7:30 and took off for St. Alban’s and the Veralamium Museum. The cathedral was amazing in its architecture and it was gorgeous to be able to go inside and tour. I was not as impressed though with the museum. I liked looking around but it was not my favorite museum. Then we got back on the bus and went to Cambridge where we took a tour and then had a couple hours to run around the town. It was awesome. I went with Hillary and Andrew and we walked around the city and went into The Eagle, the pub where Watson and Crick made their announcement about the discoveries they had made about the structure of DNA. We had fish and chips there and I was really hesitant to eat because of my extreme hatred toward fish. But, I decided that I needed to try it at some point so I took the opportunity. It was actually good! I couldn’t stop too long to think about the fact that I was eating fish otherwise I would have vomited but it didn’t taste terrible like most fish! (probably because it was battered and deep fried) After we left the pub, we just kept wandering until we went to Evensong at King’s College. That was an experience I will never forget. It was really uncomfortable at times because you had to stand and kneel, but it was amazing to be able to see what other churches are about and worship with them. The choir was amazing and very reminiscent of the Gregorian monks that I have heard before. The singing was a nice addition that did not take away from the meaning of the words they were singing. I loved it. I want to be able to go to Evensong again while I am in London! We got back that night exhausted and tired and just wanting to go to sleep!

Fish and chips at The Eagle! I don't always drink water, but when I do its always at a pub! 

Andrew needed some sleep on the bus and Hillary decided to photobomb! 

Andrew, Katie, Abbie, Hillary, Spencer, and I at St. Albans

Thursday! That night I went to see Hamlet. I went with Jenna, Paige, and Christine and it was 4 hours long! Ah! It was overall an alright production. I loved the actor who played Hamlet, he was amazing and he pretty much carried the play. I was not a fan of the costuming or some of the other characters.

Our group after Hamet! 

Friday, we went on another walk around London and visited the Globe Theatre. We got to walk on the south of the Thames and it was absolutely gorgeous. I loved it so much. The weather was beautiful and it was the perfect day for me. We went on a tour of the Globe Theatre and it was amazing to be able to be in the same place where all of these amazing Shakespeare plays are performed. It was amazing, I loved it! We got to walk around the museum afterward and saw all of the costumes and pictures from various plays they have put on over the years. That afternoon Saren, Hillary, Tyler, and I walked around London to run a few errands and went to Trafalgar Square. It was beautiful and I am excited to go back again.

On the banks of the Thames. 

We are having amazing weather here! Be jealous! 

The Globe Theatre! 

Inside of the Globe! 

We look good. 

Selfie with the Millenium Bridge from Harry Potter. 

Saturday! Fast forward to Saturday. I went with Andrew and Hillary to Portobello Road. Um, can I just say? DREAM COME TRUE. If I left London now, I would be an elated child. I had the song in my head basically the whole entire time. I loved being able to walk around the markets, the food vendors, and the antique shops. Ah! We took lots of pictures and I was a happy happy girl! I loved it. I had an amazing conversation about old records and bands with these two old guys. I wanted one of them to adopt me and take me home with him. They were impressed at how much I knew about music and I was keeping up with them in the conversation. Ah! I loved it! Hillary and I got tired though and came back to the flat and after a while we went grocery shopping. It was a pretty uneventful day.

Today I had church at 9:20 and it was pretty good. I got pulled into Primary to sit with a class in sharing time and I was just reminded how much I love children. Then after church we came over to Katie’s family’s house and have done laundry and ate and have been able to do homework together. It has been a fantastic week and I am just so grateful to be here and to experience all of this. 

Till next week! 

Cheers! 

Morgan 

 

Go!

Really though, that has been the constant word of this whole week... Go Go Go!

London is amazing! I am so grateful to be here in this beautiful city and to learn about all the history behind it. I'm a nerd, I know. So I guess I will just go through the past few days and update y'all.

Tuesday we mainly just got settled into the apartments and fought off jet lag. I was able to stay up until around 11 o’clock and the next couple days I got a bit tired but I think that I successfully prevented jet lag! We had to get towels and groceries and I just unpacked that day. 

Wednesday classes started and after class we had to go to the library to get our library cards. Afterward Jenna, Lauren, Kaylee, Maddi, and I got on the double decker and just rode around London. We saw mainly the suburbs but it was gorgeous and such a cool experience. We sat up on top so we were able to see out without any obstruction! I also took the tube for the first time and it was amazing! I love the public transportation here! Ah! 

Thursday we had class and in the afternoon we had institute so we didn’t do much that day. I went with the girls again that night and we went to see Big Ben and the London Eye all lit up at night. It was so gorgeous. It finally hit me that I’M HERE! 

Friday was such a long day but so amazing. We went to the Tower of London. I think it is my new favorite place. I LOVED it. We had a tour with a Beefeater and they are the queen’s bodyguards and they protect the crown jewels at the Tower. Andy, the Beefeater, was saying that you have to be retired military to be considered for the job and that their families live with them at the Tower. It was so neat to be able to learn about the history and make connections to what I have been learning about in my classes. I think that it will stick with me a lot better and that I will be able to retain so much more. It was so interesting to learn about Henry VIII and the wives that he had killed along with the two boy princes that were killed there. Afterward we went on one of our walks around London. This walk was around Londinium, the city that the Romans first built. We were able to see the Roman walls from 400 AD along with where the prisoners at the Tower were executed. I think that it is so amazing that the English keep their history alive. Instead of tearing down the old, they have preserved it and built around it. I feel like if we had Roman walls in America they would be long gone because we are constantly trying to tear down the old and make everything newer and better. On our walk we were also able to go inside two churches. They were so gorgeous. It was great to see how they had modernized over the years through the architecture. You could see that they started out pretty simple and as other influences came in they became more ornate and decorated.

After our walk on Friday I went with Spencer and Ryan to see The Mousetrap! It is based off an Agatha Christie novel and is a murder mystery. It was similar to Clue in the plotline and it was SOOOOOOO good! It is the longest running show and has been playing for over 60 years! Crazy! It was so good though that it was obvious why it is still around! (That picture is currently being dumb so perhaps I will upload it later) 

Saturday was a pretty chill day. I got homework done and went for a stroll through Hyde Park. There is just so much history there and it is so gorgeous. I could spend all my time there! On my walk I saw Kensington Palace (where William and Kate reside) and the Italian Gardens that King Albert had commissioned as a present for Victoria. I just had the best time thinking about all the history! Queen played one of their legendary concerts there and I LOVE Queen! Afterward I went with Hillary and Jarom to go sit on the bus some more and we went and got kebabs at a Lebanese place. It was so embarrassing! Jarom made us look like complete idiots and the whole thing was embarrassing. The guy behind me started singing the Star Spangled Banner and afterward Jarom told us we needed to tone down our Americanness… whatever that means. But it was a good day overall and I am so excited to experience and do everything that this great city has to offer! 

Anyway, I am so grateful to be here and to take everything in. I absolutely cannot wait for the rest of this trip! 

Cheers! 

Morgan

Set...

So this will be my last post in the USA! I am so excited, nervous, speechless, stunned, every emotion that could be associated with this opportunity of a lifetime! I just might pee my pants! A big huge thank you goes out to every person who has helped me to prepare for this! If it wasn't for my big community of supportive family and friends I would not be leaving on this plane tomorrow.

So I guess I should tell you how this opportunity came to pass. 

In August 2011, my best friend Mikelle and I applied to go on the same study abroad to London. I was accepted at the time into the program but I ended up not going because I really did not feel good about it. The next semester Mikelle left me and I started the Therapeutic Recreation program at BYU. That semester I made some of the best friends I could ever have and will have for the rest of my life. I was so jealous that Mikelle was living it up but I know where I needed to be that semester. That semester was when I decided to officially switch my major and I don't know if that would have happened unless I had been at BYU that semester. 

During the summer of 2012, I decided to go on a mission for the LDS church. Three months later I was in the MTC preparing to teach the people of Kennewick, Washington about the gospel. I entered the MTC on November 14 and before the year was out, was back at home due to health reasons. My time in the mission field was short lived but I know that my Heavenly Father accepted my service and is grateful for the work I did. After I came home I immediately returned to school and tried to focus on that. This is where my testimony of what my major can do comes from. If it wasn't for my classes these past semesters I would not be where I am today. I have had a hard time being home from my mission because I never really had a clear answer as to why I am supposed to be home. Maybe someday I will know but I do know that I need to have the faith that Heavenly Father's plan is better than my own. 

Fast forward to this past semester (Fall 2013). I was walking on campus and passed a poster for the London study abroad. I saw that I only had a week to apply and I decided, "what the heck? let's just see what happens". So I applied and the next week I was in an interview with the directors of the program. I remember having a good conversation with them and thinking the whole time that it was going well. At the end of the interview, they asked me if I had any questions and I asked "When will I know if I have been accepted into the program?" They told me that the deadline had been extended and that I was accepted into the program right then! It was crazy! They said my grades were good, I have a good personality, and I am a good leader because of my mission experience. So basically, they just threw me all these compliments and then said, "hey, you're going to London!" 

I was so excited walking out of that room, I am pretty sure anyone who saw me thought I had to pee. But, I got out of the building and called my mom only to start screaming into the phone and have her tell me to calm down cause she couldn't understand me. When I was finally able to speak coherently, I remember saying to my mom, "I know that you aren't going to like this but I need you to just be excited right now. You can freak out later." It was pretty funny. I love my mom and I know how hard that phone call was for her but she did a pretty good job at being excited. I would definitely nominate her for an Emmy or something. 

After that phone call, I got everything ready and have been preparing for the past 3 months! I am so excited about this opportunity and I know that this is exactly where my Heavenly Father wants me this semester. Sorry, this ended up being a semi-sappy post but do I care? no. I am going to London in 12 hours!

Cheers!
Morgan