Hello all! Merry Christmas! I hope the season is treating you well. Here is a quick update of what I have been up to in the last month or so.

On November 5th we celebrated Guy Fawkes day. This is a British holiday commemorating the failed gunpowder plot by Guy Fawkes and others to blow up the parliament building in attempt to get a Catholic monarch back on the throne. A lot of people may be familiar with Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder plot from the movie V for Vendetta, which is not about Guy Fawkes but a man fighting against the government wearing a Guy Fawkes mask for symbolism. It is also known as bonfire night and they also light off fireworks. 

This is outside the youth club lighting off fireworks.

Also in November was Remembrance Day or Armistice Day. This day marks the end of World War I and day the British remember those who gave their lives for such a tragic and pointless war. This year was the 100th anniversary of World War I. Poppies are placed over graves and at memorials around the UK because the poppies symbolize the blood shed and also the hope of new life after tragedy and death.

I was put in charge of making new bulletin boards for the two children's clubs I work with during the week, Get Set and Adventurers. These are some pics of the kids working on the boards.

For the older group we decided to do a space theme and make planets. We used shaving cream, paint, and plastic wrap to make cool spacey like designs for the planets.

Some of the planets drying.

The finished product! 

I made eggs and toast one Sunday afternoon. At home we make eggs or pancakes sometimes for Sunday brunch so it helped me feel less homesick. :)

This is another product of my attempts at cooking for myself. Veggie soup. Not too bad for my first time.

One Saturday toward the end of November I visited the famous Oxford University! (My favorite place so far). It is a beautiful and old campus. Full of tradition, the University has been around since the 1200's.

The mysterious heads of Oxford. No one knows where these heads came from or why they were put there. They are often targets of many well mannered pranksters who put lipstick or traffic cones on the figures.

This building, among being a historic place for student exams, interviews, and ceremonies, is also the building where several scenes from Harry Potter were filmed.

This college at Oxford was the first to accept women. Yay!

This building is the history building and is the most photographed building in Oxford because of its unique architectural features like its circular shape. 

This Oxford college is the most selective college in the world. Only seven students are admitted every year and only those who are students of this college have actually seen inside it.

This pub was where C.S. Lewis got his inspiration for the Chronicles of Narnia. If you look at the "lion-like" face on the front door it may remind you of a character from the book. Also, if you look at the "half human, half fawn" figures on the sides of the door you may see another famous character inspiration from the books.

And if you look to the right of this door you see the lamp post itself that marks the entrance to Narnia from the wardrobe.