Wednesday and Thursday news!

Sorry I didn't get to update yesterday, I was really tired once I got a chance to get on the computer and wasn't really up to writing a whole post. Yesterday we visited some really beautiful beaches, Porthcurnow being one of them. It may have been my favorite place so far. It was so gorgeous and the water was so blue! I picked up a bunch of shells while I was there, so I will have some of them to remember Cornwall beaches by. Then we went to St. Ives, which I had heard had some pretty good shopping, but to be honest I was pretty disappointed. It was still a gorgous town though.
Last night we went to Redruth's Got Talent, a talent show put on by the school. It was very entertaining; some people were more talented than others, but they all had interesting and varied talents. The teachers danced to Low by Flo Rida; we were laughing so hard and commenting on how lame our teachers are because they would never attempt something like that. Today we went to school a little bit this morning and then watched the cricket team for a bit. One boy, Harry something or other, plays for Cornwall's team and he was very good! We met him and talked to him for a bit; he told us about his trip to South Africa last summer to play cricket there, where he got scratched by a lion. I must say I was pretty impressed. We also visited the local Cricket Club and saw a real field. It is way more complicated than baseball, and the ball must hurt a lot more because it is much heavier and harder than a baseball.
After cricket, we had some fish and chips by the sea in Portreath. It wasn't as calm there as in Porthcurnow, because it was on the north coast. Then we came to a primary school, where I am typing this now! The kids are super cute and pretty in awe of us. Today was their reward day for the kids who were good this term. They made easter nests, watched Spongebob and went on a scavenger hunt outside. We tried to help out a little, but they were really shy around us. Katie made a new friend though, also named Katie, very cute!
Tonight I think we are going to watch netball (I have no idea what netball is, but Emma Jane plays). Hopefully we can understand a little of it! Tomorrow we are off to Truro for more shopping, yay!
Miss you all!
xoxo
Anna

Cornish History

Today was a tad boring, I'm not going to lie. But, it was very interesting and educational I suppose, so I will write about it anyway. We all met in the commons at school this morning, and then took a mini-bus around to our various destinations. We were told as we entered the minibus that it was used for ex-cons and ex-addicts that were trying to do something good for society. What a lovely thought, huh. Then we went to Gwennapp Pit, an outdoor worship area. It was quite beautiful and would have been extremely cool to see when it was being used and full. It is very old and John Wesley (yes, I don't know who he is either) used to preach there. Then we went to an old Quaker meeting house that was built in 1710, and is still used today.
For lunch, and older Cornish lady with ties to Wisconsin made us dinner. She made quiche and pasty and dessert for us. It was delicious and nice to have a casual dinner with the rest of the girls. After lunch we went to an old tin mine. It was interesting, but I got extremely dirty there. Outside of the mine was a touristy spot, with a large chess area. Like Harry Potter! Haha, well thats what we thought. So when you look at my pictures, there will be quite a few of us pretending we were on a Harry Potter chessboard. Tonight we are going to watch Dan play football. Hopefully he is good at it :). More later!
xoxo
Anna

Super Tired

Today we went to school, and it was quite different from our school. They have block scheduling so they only have about two hour and a half classes a day and between they have a free time. They spend their free time in their common room (yea, like in Harry Potter, haha), which has a pool table, a lot of couches and a huge flatscreen that plays their version of MTV. Its really quite cool and I think school when we get back will be a huge disappointment. Dan has the first couple of hours free, so I hung out in the common room with some of the other Point girls. Then Mary Kate and I went with Dan to his Media Studies class, which was a lot like Mr. Cool's class if you have ever been in there. Basically, they don't do very much work and sit around and talk a lot. It was kind of boring actually. We then went to Tescos (a grocery store) to pick up lunch and took it back to the school with us. The second class was PE (very different from our PE), and Mary Kate and I had heard it was really boring, so we decided to skip it and hang out in the commons. We talked to a lot of the students and taught them a bit about our American culture. Its really funny, we have to explain to them that we live in the middle of a huge country and don't have coasts near us. They can't really seem to grasp the concept that the ocean is reallllly far away.
Tonight we went to the Murdoch house, which is the house of some famous guy but I can't remember what he is famous for haha, and listened to some Cornish history and ate pasty. The part about Cornish history was super boring, but the pasty was delicious. Tomorrow I think we are doing a more historical tour and then we may be watching a football (soccer) game.
I'm really tired now though!
xoxoxo
Anna Marie

Schooooooollll

Yes, just as I thought I was getting out of a whole, awful week of school to come here, they tell us we are going to spend a day in school with our hosts. Which is actually going to be kind of cool, since Dan only has like two "lessons" today. I believe Mary Kate will be hanging out with us as well, because her host, Emma-Jane, has an exam in her class today. Last night after we got back from Newquay, Dan took me to a couple more beaches along the northern coast. They were equally gorgeous but not as sandy as the Newquay beaches were. Alright, this was just a quick update...off to school!
xoxo
Anna Marie

Quick Update: Newquay

Oh my goodness, we have just gotten back from my favorite place in Cornwall so far, a town by the ocean! called Newquay. Its actually a pretty famous town because it is a famous place for surfers to come in Europe. The beaches are gorgeous and I have many pictures of them! There was really good shopping there as well, lots of surf shops and stores that remind me of Delia's and Forever 21. I confess...I bought a couple of things there. I also had my first real Cornish pasty since I have been here. It was a vegetarian one, with cheese, tomato and basil. Quite delicious, except I haven't been very hungry since I've been here. My eating schedule is pretty messed up. Tonight we are having tea (that's what they call dinner by the way) and then going to hang out with the other girls at Emma-Jane's house. Everyone is so nice here and I am having so much fun. However, I'm extremely tired so I think I'm just going to take a nap or read or something to rest up. More later....
xoxo
Anna

Dorothy's not in Kansas anymore....

Hey Everyone!
I have had a pretty eventful weekend so far. Yesterday I slept in until like ten and Hannah (Dan's girlfriend) and I took a bus to Truro. Truro is the only real city in Cornwall because it has a cathedral in it. We went shopping and I discovered a new favorite store (surprising I know..lol). I also discovered a pleasant surprise when I was in a book store yesterday. As you know, I'm a little bit of a Twilight fan. Well...the paperback version of the third book in the series, Eclipse, isn't out in the US until August. However, as I was in a book store yesterday, I found the UK paperback had already come out!! We got back from Truro around fourish and then I went and laid down for a bit, I was pretty tired. Last night, we were all invited to one of the teacher's homes for a buffet dinner. There was fantastic food and very entertaining music. It was also nice to catch up with the other girls and see how they were doing. It sounded as if they had just eventful of a day as I had. I got on facebook when I got home, just to check my notifications, and ended up talking to some friends from home for like an hour. It was nice to talk to them too. Last night, they started daylight savings time, so I lost another hour of sleep. Just as I was getting over my jetlag too. Oh well...I had another chance to sleep in today. Today we are going with some of the other girls and their hosts to a town by the coast. I finally get to see the ocean!! I heard yesterday was pretty cold by the coast too, so hopefully its warmed up by then!
Love to all in the states! xoxo
Anna

ARRIVAL

So, I made it. After the longest, most uncomfortable flight ever! and the longest bus ride ever (8 hours) we are in Redruth. Thank goodness the flight went smoothly and everything went off without a catch, except for my lack of sleep during the flight. I am with my Cornwall family right now and they are super super nice. I'm not sure whats happening tomorrow, but I'm sure it will be fun. England countryside reminds me a lot of southwest Wisconsin except its greener and there are sheep everywhere. I am sooo tired and hopefully I will be able to get a good nights sleep tonight without becoming jetlagged tomorrow.
xoxo to the US!
Anna
p.s. Sarah, guess what movie I watched on the plane....