Half-Way!

Hi!

I'm officially half-way through my time in England...bummer! I'm on half-term break this week...a whole week off of school is a great time to relax, catch up on sleep, and do a little shopping!

This week in school we went to the Hindu templed in North London. We've been studying India this term and so we got to see the only temple outside of India that is designed in the same way as all temples in India. We couldn't take our cameras or bags in...so I only have picture of the outside. But it is still absolutely beautiful. The temple is made out of limestone from Bulgaria that was then shipped to India to be hand-carved by 1,400 volunteers. Then it was shipped to London to be assembled by about 100 volunteers that worked full and part-time to finish this project. No nails or any modern building techniques were used. It was put together like a giant 3D puzzle! Very neat! We got to sit in on a real worship Hindu worship ceremony...which we had to be VERY quiet! Little hard when you have over 40 kids! But they all did pretty well and it was a great experience. I don't think too many people can see they saw this temple while they were in London and it was neat to go with the kids since we've been studying India. http://www.mandir.org/ Here's a link to find out a bit more info :)

Now I'm up in Northampton! Yesterday, Tom and I celebrated our Valentines day and went to watch the Northampton Saints play rugby. It was a really fun atmosphere and we ended up winning! It was a little cold but was so so fun. Tom surprised me at the game by having my birthday announced at half-time! "Tom Winkler would like to wish his girlfriend Krystyna a happy birthday on February 24th. She's from America and he's brought her to a Saints game...good boy!" It was really sweet :) I also got a beautiful bouquet of pink gerbera daisies! He's spoiled me this valentines :)

Today, we went to Milton Keynes (pronounced Keens) which is a town about 30 iles from Northampton. We got to go skiing indoors! It wasn't Whitefish Montana...but it was fun to ski again! The snow was so fake! Haha!! Not true snow! So you had to choose where you skied because there were some patches of ice! But it was a great time...and I didn't crash once! :)

Phew! I've been busy busy! But now I'll relax for a few days. On Thursday, we're going to Birmingham to visit Cadbury world! Yummm Chocolate everywhere :) On Saturday, we're going to Bournemouth where Tom's brother, Toby, goes to school. It's in the very south of England, right near the coast. So it'll be cool to see a different area!

Hope you enjoy the update and pictures...more soon!
--Krystyna