Friday the 13th

And so another adventure begins… I am currently on an airplane on my way to the United Kingdom where I will be studying abroad for 6 months. I will be studying at Swansea University in Wales. I am very excited, partly because I’ve never been to another country before, much less LIVED (temporarily) in another country before!

Travels have been OK so far. Actually to be quite honest, before I got on this flight things were going quite terribly! When I got to my gate at the airport after saying goodbye to my mom I sat down and shortly after, United announced that my flight would be delayed by 30 minutes while a mechanic tended to a ‘cosmetic’ issue with the plane. This didn’t seem like a big deal because I had a 50-minute layover in O’Hare, from which I would then fly to London Heathrow. Well, 30 minutes had passed and they still were not boarding the plane, which made me a little nervous…. Finally we boarded the plane, but we sat. And sat and sat and SAT! 2 hours later, after a few very (suspiciously) long “half hour”s and “Just-five-more-minutes” and “we-will-be-departing-shortly”s, the people sitting around me and I realized that we were never going get off the ground, much less make my connecting flight. So I decided to get off that plane and go up to customer service and try to get another flight. Well it worked and they found a flight for me through Delta, which was a direct flight to Heathrow! What a relief. I had to wait patiently because it didn’t depart from MSP until 9:35, but I was thankful to have a flight with no connection to make on the other side. After all, what more could I expect on a Friday, the 13^th?

So here I am, sitting on my flight with 8 hours to kill… I think I’ll take a nap or two while I’m at it. I suppose that this will probably be one of the longest posts I’ve ever done simply because I have so much time. I’m a bit nervous about finding the right train to Wales once I get on the ground, but I’m trying to stay positive.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for adventures in the land of Wales! I’ll post some pictures as soon as I can.

Austin

September 18 2011: Des Moines Discovery

For those of you who are interested in radio controlled activities as much as I am, you know what I mean when I say how excited I am to have found this RC track at Hobby Haven! I traveled to the hobby shop in Des Moines hoping to try out the motocross style track, but my hopes were bashed to find puddles and mud where I had hoped to drive my rc car... But to my surprise, one of the hobby shop employees informed me that there is actually another rc track in Southridge Mall, which is not far from the shop! So I went to that one and I was lucky to drop in on some racing action. The funny part is that this is like a really nice mall-you round a corner expecting to see another nice shop and you see a full blown indoor track! I was blown away. Hobbyists in this area are determined to have their fun rain or shine! Check out the video after the break. 

The driver of this here 1/8th 4wd drive buggy was pretty impressive especially considering the fact that he was probably 10 or so years old! 

September 16th 2011: ISU Soccer

It turns out that ISU has a magnificent women's soccer team! Their games are really fun to go to- It's fun to be a part of such a lively crowd! This team might be one of ISU's best kept secrets... In other news, I met CY! He's awesome. Turns out he also attends my bible study. In a less feathered fowlly form of course.

September 15, 2011: NEW flavor of Peace Tea??

For those of you who have not met Peace Tea, I'm sorry, you're really missing out! I would love to introduce you two. Peace Tea is a WONDERFUL iced tea (non alcoholic of course) drink that I basically live off of at school. Peace tea, Blog Stalker, Block Stalker, Peace Tea! Ok now you have to try some and you just might become best friends! He comes in many flavors. Some of my favorites are: Green Tea, Razzleberry, Ceylon, and Lemon.


A new flavor was added to the C-store at ISU recently-- Caddy Shack! Half sweet sweet tea, half lemonade that'll pucker your tastebuds. So basically Peace Tea's version of an Arnold Palmer. If none of this makes sense to you I apologize, read on to the next post. Few understand my obsession for cool sweet tea.

September 13th 2011

I love this bike- I kind of want to build/get my hands on one so I can buzz around campus. The Green Gator behind it would be OK too...

September 8th 2011

One evening as I walked into my dorm, I looked up and saw a magnificent moon, bright and shining through the clouds. I thought it looked pretty cool so I ran to my room to grab my roommate's camera and tripod. I like the way that Friley looks at night, so I added this into the shot. For some reason it reminded me of a scene that could be in the Harry Potter movies. Unfortunately, by the time I got all set up (and figured out how to take a shot at night~15s frame) the clouds had passed and were no longer shining through the clouds. However I'm still satisfied with the way this shot turned out!

September 2nd 2011

I love sitting by the window on a warm afternoon while I study. I open my windows and feel the breeze as the wind blows my challenging homework around, but it's ok! The breeze is comforting-it reminds me that no matter what challenges arise in the future, God will overcome. His plan easily overcomes the illusion of uncertainty. God HAS overcome. Suddenly, as my papers fly around in a small tornado, the challenges of my life become insignificant. He will lead me, all I have to do is let him through the window of my heart.