Brace Yourselves!

Hi family and friends!Oh My Goodness! So much has happened since I left the states, not two days ago! I shall proceed to tell the story of what has happened, with comment, since I left the airport on Thursday. Here we go:

Thursday-

I left my family and friends and more at home as I started my journey to England for a summer of learning. So I left Kirin, Clay and my dad at the airport(naturally I cried) and went to my gate(crying) where I read this manual I have for England and waited for the plane(crying). Both flights I had went extremely well, on time and without any problems at all. (Just so you know, as I'm writing I'm hearing my voice in my head with an English accent. It's so weird! I can't even remember what an american accent sounds like until words come out of my own mouth!) I got to New York no problem where I went straight to my next gate to make sure I knew where it was. Once I checked I got a piece of pizza and an odwalla, since I'd forgotten to eat breakfast before I left, and then got straight on the plane. We had to wait a while on the plane because we were early and if we entered the UK too early we'd have to pay a fee. In the meantime I wrote in my journal and switched seats with this British lady whose husband or boyfriend was sitting next to me. She said there was this really annoying child next to her and that she would die if she had to sit next to her any longer. Naturally, for the child's and this ladies' sake, I offered to trade here seats. Nice-yes, Comfortable-not really. I didn't end up having to sit by the child but I got the best seat on the plane, the very back seat in the middle. I think my parents and anyone who has had to sit there before may appreciate. It wasn't so terrible despite the fact that it was extremely noisy, hard to sleep and I didn't see one thing on the flight(not even the city from above as we entered which is my favorite thing) due to lack of windows around me. It felt good though and I was happy to make that lady happy. Plus her husband was very nice and had asked my if I would like a "chewy" which is a piece of gum. The Lingo here is great and I have found that my vocabulary is very limited. Since I've gotten here I must've said "that's great" a billion times. I've run out of ways to say how fabulous everything is and I think people are starting to notice. He he. Anyway, I got here without incident and went through border control, exchanged money and got to Simon Godwin, my ride, on my very own. I am officially a big girl now.

Simon is so cute. Dad, I see how he could once have been very handsome. He still is but he definitely looks older than you. he kept saying he thought he used to look just like George Clooney :) So he drove me to the place I'm staying now in Birmingham. We chatted the whole hour and a half and I stayed awake. He told me things to be wary of and would teach me stuff along the way like what this bird was called and what that building is for. He really started getting into the conversation when he started talking about the country and how it was really going down hill and it was my generation that was going to get the butt of it. I learned a lot about how the health care is not working so well here, even though it's free, because of immigrants. Similar story to the US. It was really interesting.

We finally arrived and Simon and Tony, the father of the Collins family that i'm staying with, knew each other. They had known each other through some police thing years ago. Small world. So Simon left after offering to have me over anytime and take me loads of places while I'm here. oh he also offered to take me to the police kennels because he is part of the police unit here and he has the "in". Oh AND he's an expert on pitbull dogs because they're ILLEGAL here! Crazy huh? And the funny thing was that, not the day before, I was watching a news story on a little girl who had been attacked by a pitbull at the Wistisens. Naturally I brought it up in the conversation to sound intelligent and well-informed.

The Collins family is great! They are all so sweet and darling with their own personalities. Tony is quiet but when you get him talking he can really go, kind of like Kevin Wistisen for those who know him. :) He's also Jamaican with a British/Jamaican accent. Vanessa is crazy as her daughter would put it. She's so much fun and she's also bad a. ;) She is a highway patrolmen and so cute. I like her a lot. Last, but not least, definitely not least, is Hayley(don't know how to spell). She is their 16 year old daughter and she is great. I spent most of yesterday with her and she's super cute. She's really smart and artistic as well as a sixteen year old girl. There is also Jack, their dog, who is my new best friend and he always follows me around. I thought that Clay would be happy that I had a puppy friend.

Here he is:

He follows me and has to be touching you or be over your feet. It's really weird. The house is beyond darling. It is so adorable. I shall give you a tour:

Me writing this blog :)

Me and the kid's pictures

This is the outside of the house. Every house in this area looks exactly the same. It is going to be hard to get around but they are so cute.

This is the stair area leading to my room.

Bathtub. I took a bath in it and it is wonderfully deep and comfortable.

Super steep steps that lead to the loft with the exercise stuff and sewing stuff.

Living/Tele Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

This is my favorite room in the house! It's the conservatory and I think you can see why it's my favorite. It's super warm and comfy and perfect. Read there? Of course I will.

This is the back yard. They have chickens and pigeons and some grass.

This is the view from my window.

This is my room

It has hard wood floors and is quite small but perfectly comfortable. The bed is bigger than the one I've got at home so it's nice.

So that is the house and it is just so quaint and fabulous. Once I got to the house I was left alone for a couple of hours until Hayley got home from school cause the parents were away at work. I unpacked, bathed, wrote in my journal and watched some TV. It was really nice and relaxing but I can’t remember it all that well because I was so damn tired(that’s how they would say it here). J Dad told me to stay up until nine so I could adjust to the time change faster. I did it! I kept dozing and bobbing but I stayed awake for like twenty hours straight. I only slept about two hours on the flight so it didn’t help much. On the plane I saw most of Avatar and I was not impressed. Just so you know. I also saw Whip It, the roller derby movie and it was okay. Anyway, once Vanessa got home at about seven thirty we went to dinner at a curry place. It was delicious. Not knock me over delicious, but still very good. As soon as we got home I was out. I slept until eleven this morning! Ha ha but it was beautiful sleep.

Saturday-

Today I woke up and had some toast in the conservatory. Bliss. Then Vanessa, Hayley and I rode the bus to the city center to get me some things I need. The busses are double decker! But they have closed roofs, so they’re very similar to the ones in Utah just with another floor. Everyone rides the bus. Everyone. It comes every ten minutes ish which is beyond better than in Utah. We rode to the main shopping center in Birmingham and it is massive. So many stores! It’s just like a mall but with four floors and a train station inside. We walked all over and got me a bus pass, an adapter for the plugs(because they are way different here), a bank account and a phone/SIM card. Their phone numbers here are eleven numbers instead of seven. Sheesh! We were very successful and it was so great. We also went to the market and it is so incredible! It is just like in the movies where there are billions of people bustling through the stands of every kind of fruit and vegetables imaginable! I saw dragon fruit and all these fruits I have never seen before. It is so cool. I’ll have to get pictures of it and show you how cool it is. There is also a non-food market right next door that has everything imaginable. We only walked in for a minute but I saw shoe insoles, saws, clothes, uniforms, shoes, blow up toys, cords, makeup, and a plethora of other things. It is SO COOL! Vanessa says you can spend all day in there and I can’t wait too.

We saw this really cool old train station and church that were right next to this extremely modern mall and it is really an awesome contrast. There is no tax here! If it says it’s one pound, it’s one pound, none of this three cents per dollar crap. J I love it. I was asked if I wanted a baguette and I immediately thought of Beauty and the Beast. Oh! The stop lights here are just like at home except they show yellow in between the red and the green and well as the other way around. It’s brilliant. And driving on the other side of the rode isn’t that bad or different. I’ve only ridden, but I imagine I would kill someone if I had to drive here. The streets are extremely skinny and there are loads of brown people here! I love it! So many fellows brownies; Indians, Pakistani, NegroesJ. Even at home, Vanessa is the only whitie. Just like my home. Love you mom.

Well that’s all I’ve done so far and I feel great. I think I can do this. Even though I have had major homesickness I have been praying and reading the Book of Mormon and I know the Lord is helping me. This morning I was a little scared again because it’s only the second day and I don’t know if I can do it, but somehow I go do something, like the city center and it’s exactly what I needed to calm down. I know I’m supposed to be here and I can do anything with the Lord on my side. I love you all so much and miss you loads! The traveling woman, Danielle Rani Tamang

P.S. I’m going to hang out with some youth from the stake today. We’re going bowling. Could possibly be the funnest thing, bowling with the British. Tune in next time to see how it went on the Asian Itinerary.