I've been in Kent for three weeks now, and I've started acquiring a few Canterbury Tales of my own.

1. I went browsing for my future house.

I did one of the many very tourist-y things I planned to do while I'm in England and went and visited a castle. Leeds Castle, despite its misleading name, is not actually in Leeds, it's in Kent. And my general feelings about the trip:

While I was surprised that the castle was actually smaller than the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, the castle was much older, and just as beautiful.

But, I was a bit afraid of walking under some of the archways.

2. I got lost but found something better.

As the weather has been the absolute perfect temperature for running, I've been skipping out on the treadmill to run outside. After walking to town one day with my hallmates, I was planning to run on the same path because it would lead me to a field that had a track on which I could run.

Somehow, I completely missed the mark and ended up at another field. (I think this one belongs to a middle school, but the gate was open and it was after school hours sooo...) But, the best part was finding a trail right across from the field that I now run on every day because I feel like I'm running through Narnia.

Not too shabby.

3. And then my phone broke.

Along with being completely directionally challenged, I am also technologically challenged. And my dad knows this. So, he got me a phone in America that I could use when I got here to the UK. All I needed was to get a SIM card and put it in the phone, and then I would be able to have a UK phone number, call my parents and friends, etc.

Easier said than done.

I got the SIM card (as I am much better at shopping than working with technology), and it took me a good while to finally get the phone to accept the card. (Actually, this is a bit of an exaggeration, because I was not the one who was able to get it working. It was my hallmate who took about three seconds to do what I had been trying to do for three days, but that's beside the point.)

And voilà! The phone lived! I was able to call my dad's cellphone and everything.

And then it just stopped working.

For no reason. It's dead forever. Not sure why. (I even had my friends who study technology-ish stuff look at it, so it's not just me).

So right now, I don't have a UK phone number. The ending of this story is TBD.

4. I found out what America was made of.

Instead of clubs, the Univeristy of Kent has societies (which is a fancier word for club, but makes it feel much more official). One of my hallmates wanted to join the shooting society, and I agreed to go to the interest meeting, as she wanted a buddy with whom to attend the meeting. (Even though I'm from the South, I've never shot a gun in my life, much to the surprise of literally everyone I've told this to.)

So that's how I ended up playing an ice-breaker card game at Kent's shooting society. The two other people in my group joked that I must not be American. "So wait, I thought America was built on guns, McDonald's, and freedom. Isn't that what America is made of?" They then decided I must be Canadian because I didn't shoot a gun and didn't eat a lot of McDonalds, and was was apparently much nicer than their American friend (who they introduced me to and said "She's way too nice to be from the same country you are." To which he laughed and then told them to go do something that I will not be recording here).

5. I made the basketball team.

While I may not be joining the shooting society, I knew I wanted to join the basketball society. When I showed up for tryouts, though, I didn't realize that I was trying out for the university's team. When I realized this about halfway through, I was pretty nervous, but now I've made the team! I'm so excited to be on a team again, and being able to play a sport I've missed so much.

Until next time!