Surviving Christmas :P

Ho Ho Ho!!!! Christmas update!!!  I had a fantastic day yesterday!!  Woke up at 8, and my cousin Tansy and I ran into all the other rooms to wake everyone up :) I felt like I was 5 years old again! It was great!  Then we went and made tea (because that is the English way :P) and took it into my aunt and uncle's room, where we all opened stockings together :)  Then I went to church with my aunt and uncle, and that was beautiful!! It was a very old, tiny church, and the service was lovely :) 

Once we got home, I changed into something fancy and the whole family went up the road to a neighbor's house for drinks and such :)  What great people!  I met a lot of the neighbors, and everyone was so nice :)  We then went back to our house for appetizers and more drinks :)  My cousin Jonny's friend little Dave and his parents came over, AND THATS WHEN WE OPENED PRESENTS!!  I got some really nice things from my British family, and I even had a couple little things from home :)  I actually got a little teary reading the cards from my parents and siblings, it was kind of hard not to be spending this day with them.

After presents was dinner, which was absolutely delicious!  I tried Christmas pudding for the first time, and even though I can't say it was my favorite :)  it was certainly an experience!  We also opened Christmas crackers, and inside each was a bell, and we played Christmas carols with them, because we all had a different note! Well, we tried to play them anyways :P

Throughout the day I kept trying to skype my real family and my host family, which I finally managed to!  It was great seeing them, and it looked like both families had a happy Christmas :)  I also skyped many, many friends from around the world: Belgium, Canada, US, Brazil and France, to name a few :P  Also, sorry to Carolina in Peru for waking her up!  But it was nice to talk to her and my friend Luke (who is staying with her :P). Oh! I don't know if I told you guys this, but Luke's blog from Peru is the reason I started mine in the first place :) Love you buddy <3

So that's it for my Christmas day!!! It was fantastic and incredible and I love my British relatives for inviting me here to experience it with them!!  yes, it was hard not being home for the holidays, but  I feel so fortunate to have been with family and friends that I love very much!!

Much love!

Devyn

Christmas from across the Channel :)

So I'm writing this post from a different house, different town, and a different country than usual!  That's right!! Where am I you might ask?? I'm sitting in a house in the charming little village of Trotticliff, West Malling, Kent in Merry Old England!!  I was invited here for the holidays by my borther-in-law's family, and so far I'm having the best time ever!!

I took the Eurostar on Wednesday to get here, but even trying to catch that train was an experience, due to the MASSIVE train strike in Belgium!  HUGE thanks to my host dad for driving me through crazy traffic to Brussels so that I made my train on time!  But once I got on the train, it only took two hours to get to England!! (they built a train tunnel UNDER the English Channel! Good thing I'm not claustrophobic!)  My bro-in-law's aunt, Sally, met me at the station :) It was so wonderful to see her again!  She hugged me harder than I've had in months!!  I felt right away like I was with family!
She drove me back to her place, where I was greeted by the rest of her family: her husband, Stephen, her son, Johnny, and Tansy, who is one of her daughters :)  The other daughter, Holly, got home yesterday :)  They are such a funny  and warm family, and I'm so happy to be with them for Christmas!

They are also really great about showing me around!  Sally has been taking me around the countryside and has explained all sorts of interesting things about it!  She even showed me the road that the pilgrims traveled down in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales"!  How awesome is that?!?!

Yesterday Johnny took me for a tour around London! I SAW EVERYTHING! Buckingham Palace (the Queen was home!), Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Camden (a very cool marketplace), Trafalgar Square, and so much more that I should stop now before I write another 2 pages :P!! Don't worry, a video is coming!
Whew!  That's all for now!  I'm actually surprised I wrote this much after playing hardcore rounds of DANCE CENTRAL on the Kinect with Johnny and Holly :P haha I can't wait to see what the adults look like playing that after drinking mulled wine of Christmas day!!

Much love and Happy Holidays!!!

Devyn

It's gonna be a white Christmas :)

So I'm sitting here after an awesome night out with my fellow Canadian, Sylvie :)  We are feeling especially happy right now because IT IS SNOWING OUTSIDE! YESSSSSSSSSSSS! And we're talking A LOT!!!! HAPPY DAYS!!!!! Time to go brave the blizzard!!!

Much love!

Devyn