I need a change of sceneryyyyyyyyy!

Those are really lyrics to a song, I promise. "Pleasant Valley Sunday," by The Monkees.
Well, I'm back from the UK. I didn't catch gingivitis, or any bad teeth disease. My plane didn't crash. I wasn't part of a bomb blast in the Tube. I'm here. I'm alive. I'm back.
I know that sounds pretty graphic, maybe pretty gross, but I had the...gloomiest and...doomiest(?) feelings about my trip. I just felt like something awful was lurking around every corner.
Turns out that there was nothing there.
So, yeah. I'm back.
I know that Jeff Wetherbee wants an update. I'll give a brief rundown of things.
Monday, 5/5 -- Fly from Dallas to Houston, Houston to Newark, NJ, and from Newark, NJ to Manchester, UK
Tuesday, 5/6 -- Land in Manchester, UK. Drive from the airport to Saltburn by the Sea, a tiny seaside town in Middlesbrough right on the edge of the North Sea -- and let me tell you, she (the North Sea) is a cold, cruel mistress. Meet up with our host homes and spend most of the rest of our time with our hosts. Here was where I first experience a "parma." A rare "delicacy" of the people of the area. Ask me about it sometimes. It's not too bad.
Wednesday, 5/7 -- Were the guests at an assembly for two different schools, then spent time in schools doing RE -- Religious Education -- lessons, teaching and telling them about Christianity. Also played soccer during their PE time and after school. That night we went this thing called "Just 10," a big evangelistic thing that closely resembled a big-tent revival. The speaker, J John, spoke about the 10 Commandments in reverse order. Started working more seriously on my sermon, as well.
Thursday, 5/8 -- More RE lessons. Some time off to do what we like in the morning, a busy afternoon. Helped out that night with an event known as "Saltburn's Got Talent," a spoof off of "Britain's Got Talent," a spoof off of "America's Got Talent."
Friday, 5/9 -- Litter picking at a car park -- picked up trash at a parking lot by the beach. Some free time to explore the Valley Gardens -- ask me about these sometime -- and then that night did a cool thing with the youth.
Saturday, 5/10 -- Did, pretty much, Beach Reach UK style at the beach on the North Sea; hung out with youth and kids from 11-2 and played games. That night went to Redcar, the next town over, for a few hours while my host did some shopping. I worked on my sermon for the better part of the evening until I was finished, and then went to bed.
Sunday, 5/11 -- I preached a five-minute sermon from Hosea 10:12 in the 9:00, more traditional, Anglican service, and then in the 10:30 service I preached again about the Holy Spirit. That afternoon we had lunch to support Christian Aid -- something they're gung-ho about -- and then that evening there was a very relaxed, informal worship service that was pretty cool. I "ran sound," but really I just sat behind a sound table and messed with different controls for about an hour, or so. After that, I went and got a cheeseburger with jalapenos at a little place down by the train station. Oh, it was so good. Jeremy Kee, my roommate, got one too. We loved it. Oh, and the preaching went well. If you prayed for me about it, thanks.
Monday, 5/12 -- Today, half of us painted over graffiti in one of their "state parks," I guess you could call it. The other half of us picked up trash alongside the road and in the rest of the Valley Gardens for a bit. Then, more RE lessons, two, back-to-back. That evening we helped out with a youth cafe, but what I really did was play soccer outside for about an hour with some of the guys. Twas fun.
Tuesday, 5/13 -- We went to York, a city just up the road a bit. Or down the road. Whatever. We went and toured the York Minster, and wandered about the shops of York and got to do some souvenir shopping. That night when I got home, I was so tired I actually slept through dinner and didn't wake up until the next morning, around 7 o'clock or so.
Wednesday, 5/14 -- Our last day in Saltburn, we did our last RE lesson, and also played soccer in PE with the students. Then we went and looked at the bell tower of the church we were working with. Later that afternoon, we played some more soccer outside with another group of students at another school (primary, middle school, etc.). That night we had a big party at the pastor's house with lots of food for a big send-off for the Americans. Jeremy and I played on the trampoline for the better part of an hour with two of his kids, then went home and packed up our stuff to leave early the next morning. After we finished packing, we watched a little bit of the EUFA Cup Championship between a Scottish team and a Russian team. The Russians won.
Thursday, 5/15 -- This day started entirely too early. At 4 in the morning, Jeremy and I pulled together all our belongings, then went to the church with Mark, our host and the church's youth minister, to be picked up by the bus. Then we rode around the countryside of Britain picking up the rest of the Americans that went to England with us (all 30, or so, of them), and then rode on down the road southward to London. After we got to London, we had a bit of time to ourselves, then went on a tour in a charter bus. This is actually a very...more interesting story than I am revealing here, so if you're curious be sure to ask me about it next time you see me. We also got to go see Buckingham Palace, but the queen wasn't in. After that, we ate dinner at this place called The Texas Embassy. Be sure you ask me about that too. Good story there. Then we had the rest of our time to tour and sight-see and souvenir shop. I bought the rest of my souvenirs at this time, then wandered back to the hotel.
Friday, 5/16 -- Spent the whole day in London, wandering around being a tourist. Went to Abbey Road, saw Big Ben, went to Hyde Park, looked at Westminster Abbey, went to a service at St. Paul's Cathedral, went to two of the British National Museum's, rode the Tube numerous times, and got somewhat familiar with London, and took some cool pictures. Was a great day.
Saturday, 5/17 -- Longest day ever. It started at 4:something UK time, and didn't really end until 9 or 10 something TX time; the two are, by the way, 6 hours a part. Pretty much spent the whole day traveling, mostly on a plane, but also on a bus, a train at IAH, and the car home from the airport. Wasn't a bad day, just a long one.

All in all, not a bad trip. If you want to know more, just ask :)

P.S.
Sorry if there are any grammar/spelling errors