Monday we all met at the Winston House at 7:30 to go to Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Bath. It was pouring down rain, our first day of rain! It was really pouring and some of the people in the program were afraid that it was normal English rain but our professor assured us that it normally did not rain this hard. Our bus driver showed up about 45 minutes late... But no one seemed to mind once we were on our way. It took a while to get out of the London traffic, but once we were out of it, we set a good pace.
The highways here look pretty similar to the highways in America, lined with trees and guard rails. But there were two noticeable differences: we were driving on the left hand side and the trees were different from the ones in America. I don't know if many people in my program noticed the second difference, but I enjoyed looking at the different trees. There was a type of white barked birch and there were some trees whose branches spread out flat making distinct layers. I wish I could have gotten some pictures of them, but I'm sure I'll have an opportunity at some point.
The first place we went was Stonehenge. It was really neat to see it in person. Sadly, they have it roped off so people cannot walk among the rocks, but can only stand at a distance and look. This was because people had been vandalizing the rocks and chipping off pieces of the rocks for keepsakes. It was very interesting to hear about the history of the rocks. A lot of the group was disappointed because they had imagined a grander looking site. I was a bit disappointed at first, but it was amazing to hear about the history, where the rocks had come from, and how they thought that the people had brought them over. The wind blew really hard and constantly up on that hill. I am really glad that I got a chance to see it!
Then we headed to Salisbury to see the cathedral. The Salisbury Cathedral was so beautiful! We got a small tour of it. In the Chapter Room, there was an amazing relief of Genesis and Exodus all the way around the circular room. In that room was also one of the original copies of the Magna Carta! It was really interesting to look at the document and be able to discern differnet words and phrases. It was written in Latin and it was written in very tiny handwriting to be able to cramp it all onto on side of the vellum. There was also an illustrated Bible in the Chapter Room!! I looked at that one for a while. It was amazing to be able to see those documents that had been written so long ago but had made such an impact on both England and the world. After the tour that we had lunch in Salisbury.
Then we headed to Bath. We had to go up and around hills or perhaps they were small mountains... I'm not really sure. But it was beautiful! We passed several towns that were down in valleys below us. Being able to look down on the towns and farms that we past was wonderful! They were so beautiful! Sadly, we got to Bath right after the Roman Baths had closed. We still stayed in Bath for a little while. I wandered into Bath Abbey and looked around there for a while and then wandered up one of the hills a little ways, looking at the shops. But I didn't get to see as much as I wanted to. I would like to go back there at some point to see the Roman baths and to wander around a town that I have read so much about.
It was a great day! It was so nice to get out of London and to see some of the countryside and some other towns. I love London, but I love the country as well, so it was nice to finally get to see some of that! :-)
On Friday, some of my friends from camp, Lyndsay and Jemima will be coming to visit me!! I am really excited about that because I've been missing my friends from camp since camp has ended. They will be staying around here through Sunday and then Lyndsay has to head back to school and Jemima is staying with her for her visit to England.
Prayer requests: Tracy's (my roommate) sister has had a minor aneurysm and will be having surgery soon. Also, another girl in my program, Creecy's mom has cancer (I'm not sure what kind) and just had surgery. So you can be praying for both of them. I don't think either Creecy or Tracy are Christians. You can pray for me in knowing how to support them. Thank you so much!!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Church!
Well, today Laura and I went with David to the Every Nations church here in London. I really enjoyed it. I knew a lot of the songs and it felt familiar. Also, when David and Laura were getting tea and coffee and I was waiting for them, someone just walked up and introduced themselves and started talking to me and introduced me to some other people who also talked with me. It was really nice. That's one of the first times that has happened to me when visiting a new place. It really left me with a very favorable impression of the church.
Then we came back and I made a pasta dish for lunch. I think I am doing a better job of making pasta dishes now, after having some practice. It is still a sort of haphazard throwing together of ingredients, but I have a better idea of what will taste good together. It's also really funny because my flatmates have started asking me for advice on cooking different things. A lot of it is what seems to me really basic stuff like cooking rice, pasta noodles, and eggs. But I enjoy giving them advice. It makes me feel very accomplished. :-)
Then tonight, we (Laura, David, Andrew, and I) went to church at All Souls. It was pretty pale in comparison to Every Nation. The preacher was very good, but the music was lacking in a big way. I think part of it was that I didn't know the songs, but they were really lacking in any kind of feeling. It felt like they were just singing because they had to. That was a bit disappointing. But afterwards we went to a coffeehouse for the college students and I met a bunch of college kids and I can't remember half their names... And so the search for a church continues. They are both good churches in their own right.
Well, tomorrow we go to Stonehenge, Bath, and Salisbury. I'm sure I will have plenty to write and plenty of pictures to show! :-)
Prayer requests: Safe travel tomorrow. I've also been pretty tired recently, so getting good rest would be another. Thank you for praying for me!!
Then we came back and I made a pasta dish for lunch. I think I am doing a better job of making pasta dishes now, after having some practice. It is still a sort of haphazard throwing together of ingredients, but I have a better idea of what will taste good together. It's also really funny because my flatmates have started asking me for advice on cooking different things. A lot of it is what seems to me really basic stuff like cooking rice, pasta noodles, and eggs. But I enjoy giving them advice. It makes me feel very accomplished. :-)
Then tonight, we (Laura, David, Andrew, and I) went to church at All Souls. It was pretty pale in comparison to Every Nation. The preacher was very good, but the music was lacking in a big way. I think part of it was that I didn't know the songs, but they were really lacking in any kind of feeling. It felt like they were just singing because they had to. That was a bit disappointing. But afterwards we went to a coffeehouse for the college students and I met a bunch of college kids and I can't remember half their names... And so the search for a church continues. They are both good churches in their own right.
Well, tomorrow we go to Stonehenge, Bath, and Salisbury. I'm sure I will have plenty to write and plenty of pictures to show! :-)
Prayer requests: Safe travel tomorrow. I've also been pretty tired recently, so getting good rest would be another. Thank you for praying for me!!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Thursday morning we (Heather, Laura, Mary, and I) went to the National Gallery and wandered around looking at the paintings from 1700-1900 for a couple of hours. The Gallery is so huge that they have a map of the building and they have divided up their collection of paintings into different time periods with certain artists in different rooms. The rooms are huge and have paintings everywhere. It was great to see them! I really enjoyed looking the art. I just looked briefly at Monet's work. I am saving that up for a treat later on in the semester. :-) After that, they had class so we all headed back to Bloomsbury and I went and got some groceries (surprise, surprise).
That night we all met up at the Winston House to hear a friend of Dr. Oehler's talk to us about Stonehenge, Bath, and Salisbury. It was interesting to hear about the history that they have constructed about Stonehenge from looking at all the things buried around it. It looks like an amazing sight. I'll be excited to see it on Monday. He talked to us about Bath as well and about the Roman baths that were there. He told us about how the Romans heated their floors (I wish I had heated floors...) and about how they used a natural hot spring to fill the baths.
Friday (Heather, Mary, Laura, and I) went to a cello concert at the Royal Academy of Music. It was an interesting concert using a lot of modern technology and pre-recorded sound. I didn't really like it. But I guess it is good to be exposed to different types of music. Then afterwards, we sort of split up and I was going to head straight back but then decided that since I was so close to Regent's Park, I might as well wander around in there. And I am so glad I did!! It is beautiful there! I went and sat in Queen Mary's Rose Garden for a while and looked at the birds there that I had never seen before. Then I wandered by a pond with lots of ducks and what looked like some type of black swan. It was so quiet, it was hard to believe I was in the middle of the city. There weren't many people there; enough that it wasn't deserted, but not too many. After that, I headed back and grabbed a couple things from Tesco. Then, after Mary, Laura, and Heather got back we all headed over to the Winston House and watched the first half of Braveheart with Chris and David. It was an interesting movie. Very sad.
Then, at 7, we (Heather, Mary, Laura, and I) went to another concert, only this one was a choral concert by the BBC Singers. They were recording the performance to play on the radio on Halloween. It was a great performance! I really enjoyed that one. They sang 2 of what they called "Plainsong" processing in and out. They were beautiful and reminded me of monks singing. The whole concert was unaccompanied by any instruments. It was beautiful. It was really nice. Afterwards we went out to eat at a rather nice Italian restaurant. It was a lot of fun.
Today, we went to a football match! It was really neat! It was a small stadium, kind of like Cameron Indoor Stadium, but without a roof. The home team, Queen's Park Rangers, were not expected to win; apparently they aren't that good. But we actually scored and it ended up as a draw at 1-1. It was a lot of fun to watch and fun to hear the crowd. After the game, we (Heather, Mary, Laura, Chris, David, and I) decided to watch the rest of Braveheart after we all went back and got some dinner. We just finished it a little while ago; the ending is so sad... Not really what I was expecting. I was expecting justice to win out in the end. That's how it is supposed to end. Isn't it interesting that it is written onto our hearts that justice and mercy HAVE to win in the end? "He has also set eternity in the hearts of men." (Ecc. 3:11, NIV)
Prayer requests: Still searching for a quiet time and place. We are traveling to Stonehenge, Bath, and Salisbury on Monday, so prayer for safe travels. Thank you for your prayers!!! :-)
That night we all met up at the Winston House to hear a friend of Dr. Oehler's talk to us about Stonehenge, Bath, and Salisbury. It was interesting to hear about the history that they have constructed about Stonehenge from looking at all the things buried around it. It looks like an amazing sight. I'll be excited to see it on Monday. He talked to us about Bath as well and about the Roman baths that were there. He told us about how the Romans heated their floors (I wish I had heated floors...) and about how they used a natural hot spring to fill the baths.
Friday (Heather, Mary, Laura, and I) went to a cello concert at the Royal Academy of Music. It was an interesting concert using a lot of modern technology and pre-recorded sound. I didn't really like it. But I guess it is good to be exposed to different types of music. Then afterwards, we sort of split up and I was going to head straight back but then decided that since I was so close to Regent's Park, I might as well wander around in there. And I am so glad I did!! It is beautiful there! I went and sat in Queen Mary's Rose Garden for a while and looked at the birds there that I had never seen before. Then I wandered by a pond with lots of ducks and what looked like some type of black swan. It was so quiet, it was hard to believe I was in the middle of the city. There weren't many people there; enough that it wasn't deserted, but not too many. After that, I headed back and grabbed a couple things from Tesco. Then, after Mary, Laura, and Heather got back we all headed over to the Winston House and watched the first half of Braveheart with Chris and David. It was an interesting movie. Very sad.
Then, at 7, we (Heather, Mary, Laura, and I) went to another concert, only this one was a choral concert by the BBC Singers. They were recording the performance to play on the radio on Halloween. It was a great performance! I really enjoyed that one. They sang 2 of what they called "Plainsong" processing in and out. They were beautiful and reminded me of monks singing. The whole concert was unaccompanied by any instruments. It was beautiful. It was really nice. Afterwards we went out to eat at a rather nice Italian restaurant. It was a lot of fun.
Today, we went to a football match! It was really neat! It was a small stadium, kind of like Cameron Indoor Stadium, but without a roof. The home team, Queen's Park Rangers, were not expected to win; apparently they aren't that good. But we actually scored and it ended up as a draw at 1-1. It was a lot of fun to watch and fun to hear the crowd. After the game, we (Heather, Mary, Laura, Chris, David, and I) decided to watch the rest of Braveheart after we all went back and got some dinner. We just finished it a little while ago; the ending is so sad... Not really what I was expecting. I was expecting justice to win out in the end. That's how it is supposed to end. Isn't it interesting that it is written onto our hearts that justice and mercy HAVE to win in the end? "He has also set eternity in the hearts of men." (Ecc. 3:11, NIV)
Prayer requests: Still searching for a quiet time and place. We are traveling to Stonehenge, Bath, and Salisbury on Monday, so prayer for safe travels. Thank you for your prayers!!! :-)
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Monday we didn't do much of anything. Most of us went to a free concert at the Royal College of Music. It was the opening of their term-long series. It was given by the faculty. There was a quartet that played some pieces from Hyden and then a septet played some pieces from Beethoven. I enjoyed it a lot better than the last concert we went to. After that I went grocery shopping... I feel like I go shopping every other day! But apparently that is normal here. I heard from a friend that it is normal for people here to have tiny fridges and to go shopping most days. I mean, it makes sense because it means that all your food is fresher, but it is rather tedious...
Tuesday we had music class and then science class. After that, I had a quick dinner and then we all headed off to see A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Richmond Theatre. It was a very interesting performance of Shakespeare. It was set in India and they had acrobats that came in on ropes and long reels of cloth. Apparently this is a highly controversial, but it was also a lot of fun. The only thing that I didn't really like was the fact that half the time, they lapsed back into Indian or Sri Lankan. That seemed to take away from the play and even though I had read the play, I was still confused at some points. But overall, I really liked the interpretation.
Today, we had a make up World War II class since we haven't had one yet and couldn't have one at the normal time today since we had a dinner to go to. But our professor is a really funny guy and I think it will be a lot of fun as well as educational. Then we had a quick tour of the British Museum and learned a lot about where it came from and how they got a lot of their collection. It was really interesting. After that we had our Shakespeare class and had a really interesting discussion about the play we saw last night. It was a fun discussion.
Then I went shopping...of course. And after that I got ready for dinner. Tonight we had dinner with the Winstons who gave a lot of money for our building, both to buy it and to re-do the interior. They were such nice people! We also had the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC there. It was a nice dinner and I enjoyed talking to the Winstons and the dean's wife. They were so nice.
I didn't realize how much I missed southern friendliness. Here, when you go to the grocery store or when you go to a pub for lunch, you don't get the same kind of service as in America. In the US, people are told to be nice and to be welcoming and say stuff like "Have a nice day!" and things like that. I didn't realize how much of a difference it makes. But once I got here I realized how different it is. Here, people just do their job. They don't really make any effort to smile or talk to you much. I am not trying to say it's not friendly, it's just very different after growing up in the South for so long. I think I have adjusted to it, but it was really nice to talk to such nice southern people again. :-)
Prayer requests: I am still trying to find a regular time and place to have my quiet time each day. Tracy is much better, still a little sick, but getting better. I am getting more confident in getting around the city by myself so I might try to take a trip to the Aquarium or the London Zoo or Hyde Park soon. :-) The weather just got a little colder and it started raining tonight, but it is supposed to be nice this weekend. So, a praise that it's been so nice and seems to be staying nice for a while yet.
Tuesday we had music class and then science class. After that, I had a quick dinner and then we all headed off to see A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Richmond Theatre. It was a very interesting performance of Shakespeare. It was set in India and they had acrobats that came in on ropes and long reels of cloth. Apparently this is a highly controversial, but it was also a lot of fun. The only thing that I didn't really like was the fact that half the time, they lapsed back into Indian or Sri Lankan. That seemed to take away from the play and even though I had read the play, I was still confused at some points. But overall, I really liked the interpretation.
Today, we had a make up World War II class since we haven't had one yet and couldn't have one at the normal time today since we had a dinner to go to. But our professor is a really funny guy and I think it will be a lot of fun as well as educational. Then we had a quick tour of the British Museum and learned a lot about where it came from and how they got a lot of their collection. It was really interesting. After that we had our Shakespeare class and had a really interesting discussion about the play we saw last night. It was a fun discussion.
Then I went shopping...of course. And after that I got ready for dinner. Tonight we had dinner with the Winstons who gave a lot of money for our building, both to buy it and to re-do the interior. They were such nice people! We also had the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC there. It was a nice dinner and I enjoyed talking to the Winstons and the dean's wife. They were so nice.
I didn't realize how much I missed southern friendliness. Here, when you go to the grocery store or when you go to a pub for lunch, you don't get the same kind of service as in America. In the US, people are told to be nice and to be welcoming and say stuff like "Have a nice day!" and things like that. I didn't realize how much of a difference it makes. But once I got here I realized how different it is. Here, people just do their job. They don't really make any effort to smile or talk to you much. I am not trying to say it's not friendly, it's just very different after growing up in the South for so long. I think I have adjusted to it, but it was really nice to talk to such nice southern people again. :-)
Prayer requests: I am still trying to find a regular time and place to have my quiet time each day. Tracy is much better, still a little sick, but getting better. I am getting more confident in getting around the city by myself so I might try to take a trip to the Aquarium or the London Zoo or Hyde Park soon. :-) The weather just got a little colder and it started raining tonight, but it is supposed to be nice this weekend. So, a praise that it's been so nice and seems to be staying nice for a while yet.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Church, lunch, and the Thames River Festival
Today Laura and I went to All Souls Church; it was a good service. The normal pastor was gone to another city so we had another preacher. He was pretty good, but both Laura and I got lost in the middle because he just kept repeating himself. But it was still good and it was really good to be in church again since I didn't get to go last week.
After church, there was free lunch for returning students. We (Laura, Andrew-who we found after the service, and I) had lunch at a guy, Josh's house. He was another guy who works with the college students. There were a bunch of other college students there. There were so many college students that they broke us up into groups and sent us off to different houses. We met several people from Northern Ireland and there was one guy who had just gotten there from Germany and was only going to be there for a little while. Afterwards, people were going back to meet up and play frisbee in Regent's Park. The three of us bailed because we were rather dressed up and had homework to do. But, it was a lot of fun and I think we will be going to the evening service, at 18:30 on Sundays, because apparently a lot of the college students go to that one.
I got to talk to my good friend and sister today, on her birthday. It was really fun to get to talk to her! I've really missed her and the Aussies from camp since camp ended. But it was good to talk and laugh for a while with her. Hopefully, we'll get to talk more in the coming months.
After that, a bunch of us went back to the Thames River Festival to see the Night Carnival and the fireworks. We started out with most of the people in the program, but most of the group walked really fast and got way ahead of the normal six of us (Andrew, David, Chris, Laura, Heather, and I) and so we just left them to their own devices and took the tube down to the river.
We wandered around for a bit and then watched the Night Carnival. It was really neat. It was basically a parade at night with lots of different little groups performing.
After that we stood at the edge of the river to watch the fireworks. Apparently, all six of us went to watch the fireworks believing that they wouldn't be very good. But they were spectacular! We had so much fun watching them! It was really neat to hear the big 'BOOM' of the fireworks reverberating off of the buildings on the other side of the river. There were two barges in the middle of the river that were shooting off fireworks at the same time. It was beautiful!
Tomorrow, I am going, it looks like with several other people to a free concert given by the faculty at the Royal College of Music. For our music class we have to go see 20 concerts over the course of the semester, as I might have said before. So, we are going ahead and getting a start on that. I might try to head over to the National Gallery for a little while, too.
Prayer Requests: Tracy lost her voice and now Mary seems to be getting sick. I am having a hard time finding a good place and time to have my quiet time. The six or seven of us are having a lot of fun exploring the city and getting lost together. :-) The weather is still beautiful; getting a little cooler, but still gorgeous. I don't think I'm as tired tonight as most nights. I think that's about all for tonight! Thank you so much!!!
After church, there was free lunch for returning students. We (Laura, Andrew-who we found after the service, and I) had lunch at a guy, Josh's house. He was another guy who works with the college students. There were a bunch of other college students there. There were so many college students that they broke us up into groups and sent us off to different houses. We met several people from Northern Ireland and there was one guy who had just gotten there from Germany and was only going to be there for a little while. Afterwards, people were going back to meet up and play frisbee in Regent's Park. The three of us bailed because we were rather dressed up and had homework to do. But, it was a lot of fun and I think we will be going to the evening service, at 18:30 on Sundays, because apparently a lot of the college students go to that one.
I got to talk to my good friend and sister today, on her birthday. It was really fun to get to talk to her! I've really missed her and the Aussies from camp since camp ended. But it was good to talk and laugh for a while with her. Hopefully, we'll get to talk more in the coming months.
After that, a bunch of us went back to the Thames River Festival to see the Night Carnival and the fireworks. We started out with most of the people in the program, but most of the group walked really fast and got way ahead of the normal six of us (Andrew, David, Chris, Laura, Heather, and I) and so we just left them to their own devices and took the tube down to the river.
We wandered around for a bit and then watched the Night Carnival. It was really neat. It was basically a parade at night with lots of different little groups performing.
After that we stood at the edge of the river to watch the fireworks. Apparently, all six of us went to watch the fireworks believing that they wouldn't be very good. But they were spectacular! We had so much fun watching them! It was really neat to hear the big 'BOOM' of the fireworks reverberating off of the buildings on the other side of the river. There were two barges in the middle of the river that were shooting off fireworks at the same time. It was beautiful!Tomorrow, I am going, it looks like with several other people to a free concert given by the faculty at the Royal College of Music. For our music class we have to go see 20 concerts over the course of the semester, as I might have said before. So, we are going ahead and getting a start on that. I might try to head over to the National Gallery for a little while, too.
Prayer Requests: Tracy lost her voice and now Mary seems to be getting sick. I am having a hard time finding a good place and time to have my quiet time. The six or seven of us are having a lot of fun exploring the city and getting lost together. :-) The weather is still beautiful; getting a little cooler, but still gorgeous. I don't think I'm as tired tonight as most nights. I think that's about all for tonight! Thank you so much!!!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
Whew...sorry I haven't updated sooner. After wandering around the city all day I usually come back here exhausted. But, now it's time for an recap of Thursday, Friday, and today.
Thursday, some people had class so I stuck around the room and ran errands. Thursday night we went out to a see a dance. It was amazing! They were doing crazy acrobatic stuff. They did dances to a bunch of old spirituals at the end. It was really good! Everyone in our program enjoyed it. The group that performed was a group from America and I was glad to see my country so well represented. Sometimes I feel like us Americans talk so loudly, I feel like everyone else is talking much quieter than us and we stick out as loud obnoxious Americans...perhaps that is just because I am aware of the difference between our accents...
Anyway, Friday we (Laura, Chris, Andrew, Heather, David, and I)went to the London Eye in the morning. It was rather pricey, but it was a lot of fun and we got a bunch of pictures. After that we (the whole program) had a Walking Tour of Bloomsbury. It was given by a large man from Wisconsin who had lived in London for a long time. He had a very big voice that projected well. It fit his size. :-) He was a very nice man and I felt pretty comfortable asking him all my random questions, such as, what is 'franked mail' and what do the squiggly lines on the road *really* mean? He showed us all around our neighborhood. It was really interesting to see our neighborhood. I went in rather skeptical because we've been living here for a week now and we have been wandering around and shopping and stuff, but we learned that we had only explored a tiny little section on the very edge of our neighborhood. He also explained a lot of the history behind our neighborhood. I also enjoyed the fact that he would go through the etymology of different words, either street names or any other name. It was really interesting.
That evening we (Laura, Heather, David, Andrew, and I) went to a coffee shop and sat around and talked for a long time. That was really fun. I am getting to know these people in my group a lot better. They are all really nice and a lot of fun to hang out with.
Then, today, we (Laura, Heather, David, Andrew, Chris, and I) went down to the Thames River Festival. That was a lot of fun! It was a lot like a state fair only along a river and without rides. But it was a lot of fun to just walk around and look at everything. We took a lot of pictures of the London Eye, because it was all lit up with changing colors! Also, the whole Parliament building behind Big Ben was lit up and beautiful. You should definitely go to my Picasa website to see all of the pictures. I'll put a few up here.
Here's the London Eye at night!
Here's the Parliament and Big Ben at night!
We also found time for a silly picture:
I also liked this sign a lot:
As if the door is afraid of something.... :-P
Welll, that's all for now. Laura and maybe Andrew and I are heading over to All Souls Church tomorrow morning for the second service and then free lunch afterward. Hopefully we'll meet some other students since it is a welcome back day for students. Then I think some of us are planning to go back to the Thames River Festival.
Prayer requests: That I'll be able to find a copy of Love's Labour's Lost relatively quickly at a decent price... Thankfully, Tracy seems to be recovering from her cold. Neither Laura or I have gotten sick. I think I am pretty much over my jet lag. Thank you so much for your prayers!! The weather here has been spectacular! It has been in the mid to high 60's and hasn't rained a bit. Apparently it stays about like this until the end of October. So, praise God for that! I am really loving it here. I am loving getting to know the people in my program and I am enjoying exploring the city.
Thursday, some people had class so I stuck around the room and ran errands. Thursday night we went out to a see a dance. It was amazing! They were doing crazy acrobatic stuff. They did dances to a bunch of old spirituals at the end. It was really good! Everyone in our program enjoyed it. The group that performed was a group from America and I was glad to see my country so well represented. Sometimes I feel like us Americans talk so loudly, I feel like everyone else is talking much quieter than us and we stick out as loud obnoxious Americans...perhaps that is just because I am aware of the difference between our accents...
Anyway, Friday we (Laura, Chris, Andrew, Heather, David, and I)went to the London Eye in the morning. It was rather pricey, but it was a lot of fun and we got a bunch of pictures. After that we (the whole program) had a Walking Tour of Bloomsbury. It was given by a large man from Wisconsin who had lived in London for a long time. He had a very big voice that projected well. It fit his size. :-) He was a very nice man and I felt pretty comfortable asking him all my random questions, such as, what is 'franked mail' and what do the squiggly lines on the road *really* mean? He showed us all around our neighborhood. It was really interesting to see our neighborhood. I went in rather skeptical because we've been living here for a week now and we have been wandering around and shopping and stuff, but we learned that we had only explored a tiny little section on the very edge of our neighborhood. He also explained a lot of the history behind our neighborhood. I also enjoyed the fact that he would go through the etymology of different words, either street names or any other name. It was really interesting.
That evening we (Laura, Heather, David, Andrew, and I) went to a coffee shop and sat around and talked for a long time. That was really fun. I am getting to know these people in my group a lot better. They are all really nice and a lot of fun to hang out with.
Then, today, we (Laura, Heather, David, Andrew, Chris, and I) went down to the Thames River Festival. That was a lot of fun! It was a lot like a state fair only along a river and without rides. But it was a lot of fun to just walk around and look at everything. We took a lot of pictures of the London Eye, because it was all lit up with changing colors! Also, the whole Parliament building behind Big Ben was lit up and beautiful. You should definitely go to my Picasa website to see all of the pictures. I'll put a few up here.
Here's the London Eye at night!
Here's the Parliament and Big Ben at night!We also found time for a silly picture:
I also liked this sign a lot:
As if the door is afraid of something.... :-PWelll, that's all for now. Laura and maybe Andrew and I are heading over to All Souls Church tomorrow morning for the second service and then free lunch afterward. Hopefully we'll meet some other students since it is a welcome back day for students. Then I think some of us are planning to go back to the Thames River Festival.
Prayer requests: That I'll be able to find a copy of Love's Labour's Lost relatively quickly at a decent price... Thankfully, Tracy seems to be recovering from her cold. Neither Laura or I have gotten sick. I think I am pretty much over my jet lag. Thank you so much for your prayers!! The weather here has been spectacular! It has been in the mid to high 60's and hasn't rained a bit. Apparently it stays about like this until the end of October. So, praise God for that! I am really loving it here. I am loving getting to know the people in my program and I am enjoying exploring the city.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
First Days of Classes!
Tuesday and Wednesday we had our first classes of the semester. On Tuesday I had "The Active Art of Listening and Public Performance" and "The History of Science in London". They were both good. For our music class, we are supposed to go to 20 performances this semester. There are apparently a lot of free concerts around London. We went to one as part of our class on Tuesday. It was good, but I am still 'suffering' from jet-lag so a little while into the performance I got soooo sleepy. Thankfully I made it through the concert...I don't think the performers would appreciate an American student falling over asleep during their performance... Science class was right after that. I hardly had any time to wolf down a few bites of a sandwich. (On a different note, they have really good bread here and I like mild cheddar cheese here!) Science class, I think, will be interesting. We'll be talking about a lot of stuff I've learned about before in other science classes. It'll be interesting to hear it all from an English perspective, having heard the American perspective for so long.
Tuesday night, Laura, Andrew, and I went to a newcomer's evening at All Souls Church. I have a friend who went to church there when he was on this same study abroad program. They showed us around the church and told us about different programs within the church. We met the man who runs the student programs. He gave us information about the lunch welcoming students back for the semester. It was good to learn about the church and what they have for students.
Wednesday we didn't have class until 3pm so some of us decided to go see Westminster Abbey. We left at about 10am to get to the Abbey for the 11am tour. There were six of us total, Laura, Mary, Heather, David, Andrew, and me. The Abbey was amazing! There are so many memorials to so many poets, writers, musicians, and even actors in Poet's Corner. That was the last stop of our tour. There were a ton of kings and queens who have been buried in there. We got to see where the queen sits when she comes to church at Westminster. It is just an amazing abbey. The tour was about 90 minutes and sadly, we could not take pictures inside. We were able to take a few pictures which I have put up on my photo page, here. Here's a picture of the Abbey from out front with two of my friends, Laura and Mary.
After seeing Westminster, we started looking for lunch. We wandered around and found St. James Park. We looked around St. James, but all we saw were million pound homes. We finally started heading towards the tube station in despair, but passed by a little sandwich shop after passing several expensive pubs. We grabbed some sandwiches and headed back to the park to eat our lunch. The sandwiches were incredible! They really filled us up.
After that, we headed back for our class at 3pm. That class was "Shakespeare and Drama". Our professor for that class is a little old lady who teaches several other courses for other universities. She was really hard to follow; she would start explaining one play of Shakespeare's and then switch to a different play in the middle of the first play without telling you and then switch back to the original play sometime later. Hopefully, we'll be able to figure it out pretty soon. But it definitely made taking notes pretty difficult.
Right now, Florida State University is using most of the classrooms in our building, so we only have one class room in the basement. Sadly, this room is boiling hot. We have tried opening windows, but they will not budge. This makes focusing for an extended period of time (2.5-3 hours) rather difficult. But in a couple of weeks, we will have the other classrooms on the ground floor for our own use.
I suppose that is all to tell for now. We are going to a dance tonight, so I'll have to tell you about that tomorrow! It is our first outing as a group.
Prayer: My roommate, Tracy, is sick with a slight cold. You could pray that she gets better quickly and that Laura and I don't catch it. I think I am still a little jet-lagged. It's getting better, but I'm still exhausted a lot of the time. I think that's all for now. Thanks for your prayers!
Tuesday night, Laura, Andrew, and I went to a newcomer's evening at All Souls Church. I have a friend who went to church there when he was on this same study abroad program. They showed us around the church and told us about different programs within the church. We met the man who runs the student programs. He gave us information about the lunch welcoming students back for the semester. It was good to learn about the church and what they have for students.
Wednesday we didn't have class until 3pm so some of us decided to go see Westminster Abbey. We left at about 10am to get to the Abbey for the 11am tour. There were six of us total, Laura, Mary, Heather, David, Andrew, and me. The Abbey was amazing! There are so many memorials to so many poets, writers, musicians, and even actors in Poet's Corner. That was the last stop of our tour. There were a ton of kings and queens who have been buried in there. We got to see where the queen sits when she comes to church at Westminster. It is just an amazing abbey. The tour was about 90 minutes and sadly, we could not take pictures inside. We were able to take a few pictures which I have put up on my photo page, here. Here's a picture of the Abbey from out front with two of my friends, Laura and Mary.
After seeing Westminster, we started looking for lunch. We wandered around and found St. James Park. We looked around St. James, but all we saw were million pound homes. We finally started heading towards the tube station in despair, but passed by a little sandwich shop after passing several expensive pubs. We grabbed some sandwiches and headed back to the park to eat our lunch. The sandwiches were incredible! They really filled us up.
After that, we headed back for our class at 3pm. That class was "Shakespeare and Drama". Our professor for that class is a little old lady who teaches several other courses for other universities. She was really hard to follow; she would start explaining one play of Shakespeare's and then switch to a different play in the middle of the first play without telling you and then switch back to the original play sometime later. Hopefully, we'll be able to figure it out pretty soon. But it definitely made taking notes pretty difficult.
Right now, Florida State University is using most of the classrooms in our building, so we only have one class room in the basement. Sadly, this room is boiling hot. We have tried opening windows, but they will not budge. This makes focusing for an extended period of time (2.5-3 hours) rather difficult. But in a couple of weeks, we will have the other classrooms on the ground floor for our own use.
I suppose that is all to tell for now. We are going to a dance tonight, so I'll have to tell you about that tomorrow! It is our first outing as a group.
Prayer: My roommate, Tracy, is sick with a slight cold. You could pray that she gets better quickly and that Laura and I don't catch it. I think I am still a little jet-lagged. It's getting better, but I'm still exhausted a lot of the time. I think that's all for now. Thanks for your prayers!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)