A Typical Day at Capernwray

Many of you have been inquiring as to what a 'typical' day looks like here so I will briefly fill you in on how my time is spent. I am pleasantly woken up each morning initially by James who seems to enjoy getting up before the sun rises and then again by the worst sound ever...velcro. Josh, the kid who sleep below me, has Velcro shoes (what are we an 5 year old lad living in the 80s??) that he has to put on each morning. And it's not as though he has to tear just one strap from each shoe, no he paid the extra $1 to get 3 straps for each shoe to ensure a snug fit for his foot. So after hearing that noise 6 times, he then pushes my body twice and yells my name. It may seem harsh, but I am not the lightest of sleepers. I then roll into the dining hall at 7:40Am to enjoy a large bowl of Rice Krispies with mounds of sugar because all the other US kids have taken the highly favored Frosted Flakes. I then teach the German cook ladies a new American slang word that they then try to use on me whenever I see them later that day before heading to my daily duty. For the last month I have had the privilege of cleaning the pool deck. The job is now that bad but is rather time consuming as there is a five step process to cleaning a pool deck, who would have thought right? Just as any other pool, it is very humid in there so an idea of wearing long sleeves or pants are quickly dismissed. I end up finishing that duty at 8:45AM and must now run back to my room to quickly jump into the shower because class starts at 8:55AM and literally pray that there is hot water left. The best part is, if there is no hot water left you don't just take a cold shower, the water literally stops coming out of the spout and wherever you are at in the bathing process is where you stop. It's lovely. Anyhow, we then have lecture from 9AM-1PM Monday-Thursday with three 10-min breaks and a 20-min coffee break because the Brits can only go so long without their beloved tea and coffee.

Lunch, which is actually called lunch here, is the big meal of the day so if you don't like what is served for lunch that's tough you better eat up.

Free time is then from about 1:30-5:45. On Mon, Wed, Fri there is a free minibus that goes into the local town in which we can go to the local market and get some fruit, drinks, and snacks to store in our rooms when the evening meal just doesn't hold you over till breakfast the next morning. There is a futbol pitch (soccer field) to play on, a beautiful croquet lawn, awesome life sized chess board, a swimming pool, basketball gym, workout room, table tennis room, pool table, and many other rooms in the castle to hang out in.

Tea is then at 5:45 and this meal I consider more of a hors-devours as lunch meat and fruit doesn't fill my stomach.

Evening class then starts at 7PM so I usually go into the designated 'Quiet Room' to do my daily bible reading and journal about the day.

Class is then from 7-9PM after which we have until 10:30PM to do what we like. Often times there will be a futbol match in which our school team is playing in or a cricket game may be going on in the gym that we will watch the local teams come in and play our school team.

Lock-up is at 10:30PM and for most of the guys this is when the real fun begins. There are more stupid antics and true male bonding that goes on through the early hours of the morning. I live in a room with 5 other guys and seeing as how we are a bit older we try to go to bed earlier. Unfortunately, we are often times woken up by the immature idiots, for lack of a better name, who storm down with usually very littler clothing on and screaming for who knows what reason.

Fridays are a bit different. Everyone is divided into either team A or B and if you are on Team A then you all are in the lecture hall for 4 hours beginning at 9AM and if you are on Team B then you are on work duty for 4 hours. The next week Team A and B will then switch. The girls on duty are in charge on cleaning the castle rooms and all and the guys are out in the fields or on the farm or in the pool. I, of course, was placed in the pool yet again so not only do I get to do the same duty I do every other day, but also a couple other fascinating jobs like cleaning the grout of a good 1000 tiles. The guy in charge of the pool, Rich, had us first start by trying to get the stains off the floor of the changing rooms with a brush and soapy water and after 10 mins I asked him how long the stains had been there and he said for as long as he has known. It was at that point that I let the stain stay.

Saturdays are free days. There is a trip planned each Saturday that ranges from going to the Lake District and walking through the myriad of lakes to going to Liverpool and watching a futbol match. We do get to sleep in until brunch at 11AM these days which everyone looks forward to beginning about Monday of each week.

Sundays consist of two church services, one in the morning and one in the evening. The rest of the day is pretty open to doing laundry, working on homework, reading, or doing whatever you like.

So much for being brief.