Thanksgiving, Christmas markets, and Bournemouth

Hello guys! It has been a great couple of weeks since we last met on this blog. I am completely moved in to our new apartment. It is in Ocean Village which is a part of Southampton that is located by the marina. You can even see the sea from our balcony! :) It is lovely being settled in. It is about a 30 minute walk from the apartment to school so I need to leave plenty early for my classes. I walk everywhere here, so 2 miles or so to school does not really bother me. Hopefully I will take this habit back to the states with me.

 I decided that even though I could not be with my family in Sodak for Thanksgiving, Harvey and I would cook a huge dinner at our apartment. We invited Grace and James (you should know them by now!) and it was just the four of us. Even though many many people asked me, England does NOT celebrate Thanksgiving. I know. Its surprising. hehe.

We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cheesy beans, sweet potato casserole, corn, and even cherry pie! Everything turned out really well if I don't say so myself ;). It was delicious. I think Grace and James were particularly surprised by the sweet potato casserole and cheesy beans. Since apparently no one in their right mind makes pumpkin pie here since I looked EVERYWHERE and could not find canned pumpkin, we had cherry pie with ice cream for dessert. A very American feast with very English people.  It was lovely.

I decided to stay in England for Christmas instead of heading back to America. I will miss my family tremendously. Harvey and I also booked our flight to Abu Dhabi for New year. We will stay for about 10 days and try to make a trip to Dubai as well. There are only a few weeks of school left until Christmas break. I have a few tests and assignments but I am not overwhelmed.

Christmas Market

This past weekend Harvey and I walked into Southampton and visited the christmas market. The christmas market in Southampton consists of vendors up and down the streets. A lot of items sold are food. German sausages, sweets (candy), hog roasts, and more. Other vendors sell jewellry, hats and scarves, etc. There is also a large German beer garden in the middle of the vendors. Fun!

German Beer Garden





This past weekend, Harvey and I went to Bournemouth. Bournemouth is about 30 minutes away from Southampton by train, an hour by bus which is what Harvey and I took. Bournemouth is on the English Channel. The weather was really cold on the beach but it was beautiful. I couldn't believe it when I saw the surfers in the water. What were they thinking!! Bournemouth is also a big shopping area. We looked around for a few hours, went to an arcade an wasted a few quid, then headed home.

Bradford on Avon

This past weekend Harvey, Grace, James and I traveled to Corsham for a birthday party. Harvey's dad's wife's sister's best friend (phew!) was turning 40. Corsham is an hour car ride northwest of Southampton and is near Stonehenge and Bath. We left Saturday at 6:30 or so to make the journey. We arrived in Corsham around 8 and headed to the town hall for the birthday party.

We got a little lost but eventually found the hall and headed inside. The birthday party was like many other birthday parties. We sat with Harvey's dad Gerald and his wife Karen along with Karen's nephews Duncan and Alex and their girlfriends. We drank, we ate, and we danced. I could only laugh when songs like "Summer of 69" or the "Macarena" started playing. It just goes to show you that people from ALL countries love cheesy music!! The party only lasted until midnight and then we headed to Karen's sisters where we stayed that night. The party did not end when we arrived home, however. When I get back to America I will definitely be testing my family on the new game I learned. You take a cereal box, cut off the top and a few inches around the perimeter, then set it on the floor. Each person has to get the box with their mouths without using their hands or placing their knees on the ground. It was pretty difficult but I made it to the last round between me and Alex's girlfriend Charlotte. I never stood a chance. :)





The next morning we woke early, were made bacon sandwiches and then waited for Alex and Duncan to wake up. We ended up waiting until about noon before anyone was really ready to do anything so unfortunately I never made it to Bath. We did however head to Bradford on Avon to take a walk around the canal and then off to the pub at 4 for early dinner/late lunch.

The canal was really cool. I mean, it was really really cool. Bradford-on-Avon was one of the prettiest old towns I have ever seen. I try to hide my excitement when I go to these places. I don't want to be the tourist. However, I was enamored the entire car journey. I wish I could explain it better but going to a historic town where buildings have been around for 100's of years is so interesting. To these people who grew up here, it is just another town. To me, it is another world.


Now for the canal. You can see the boats that sit in the canal in this picture. You can rent these boats for holidays (trips) or special occasions. People have their own boats and live on them. (hippies ;)) The coolest thing I learned about the canal is the "lock." The picture on the bottom is what the lock looks like before any boats come through. Basically, it is a gate.

You have the check out the link below..It will show you how a lock system works!!

http://www.haworth-village.org.uk/nature/how/canal-lock.asp

Actual picture from Harvey's camera. Beautiful!

After the canal walk we headed to the pub where I had salmon macaroni and cheese, pita bread with hummus and other dips and a chocolate brownie for dessert. YUMMY!