Within the field of economics, we're taught the simple business cycle. Economies experience very natural booms and recessions as they expand over time. I know I've referenced this model before, but I'd like to use it again.
You see, I have twelve weeks here in London; I will have spent two of them tomorrow. After finishing the first I realized I was finished with the most difficult one. It was over, and I survived! What a strange week it was, and even now I'm still working through some of the fall out.
I mentioned that I was homesick a lot, but my Grandma pointed out that what I was (/am) feeling might be more akin to culture shock. I guess that never quite registered with me because while I didn't know much about British culture, what I had seen didn't appear incredibly different from where I was from. What I didn't recognize was that culture isn't just a society's religious beliefs, morals, political affinities, institutional structures, etc., but rather how it lives. I'm a small town Midwesterner living in one of the biggest, most international cities in the world for the next 2.5 months. I wonder if I'd have experienced the same thing if I was doing this bit in New York. Probably would, I wager.
Ok, frustrations. I have to cook for myself! AHH! Unfortunately, I require a pretty high degree of aesthetics from my food, so frozen dinners every night ain't gonna cut it. *sigh* I have to have food orderly arranged on a dinner plate complete with vegetables and entree for supper. But making sure that happens takes time, planning, and cooking-- things I haven't done too much in my life. Great time to learn, I suppose, though. It'll definitely help for next year living in the duplex. I've been scrounging around on the Internet looking for some traditional English recipes to cook over the coming weeks, and I hope to make my own scones at some point.
Another one, the city. I grew up in Burlington, a town of 30,000, where you couldn't go to a store without bumping into someone you knew. Kirksville's no different with a strong 17,000 to its name. Welcome to London, population 7,000,000+. Good gracious. I've never ridden public transportation or walked to most of my destinations; now that's a regular part of my day. Walking on sidewalks means taking every other breath from fumes of cars whizzing by, and sleeping at night requires earplugs to drown out not only one of my snoring roommates (*sigh*) but also the tube trains running behind our flat. People are everywhere, literally. I simply have to forget that I dislike being in crowds and just go with what's happening. There isn't room to complain constantly. A recognition of how things are and how they affect you, yes, but you have to accept it 'cause there's nothing you can do to change it. Just take what you've got and run with it as best you can. I'm picking up my pace...even in this polluted air. :)
Before leaving for this abroad experience, Truman gave us a sheet with the troughs and peaks of culture shock. Me, being a genius, set it aside because I figured I was going through homesickness not culture shock. Lo and behold, after a quick glance over the paper I could identify with many of the emotions they outlined. I am at what they call "Surface Adjustment"; this state is a peak.
The change happened over the weekend. Monday night as I sat down to type up a blog entry, I realized I didn't want to. I wanted to surf the web, watch a movie on surfthechannel.com (a free site containing downloadable movies/TV shows), or chat with my flatmates. The feeler roots were out. After a week of pouring all my energy into establishing the boundaries of my pot, I finally had at least a small grasp on the edges, some small inkling of how to go about living here.
I don't have close people to share my experiences with as I go to all these cool sites, but I do have friends. I never doubted that would happen, but I know from Truman Week it's a hard process. It'll probably be difficult moving back home and then re-establishing at Kirksville in the duplex. But the cool thing is, I'm strangely adaptive. Within five days, a business lady stopped me on my way to class to ask for directions to a bus stop (and I knew how to answer correctly). My first day at the grocery store I noticed I kept on almost bumping into people. Hm, why was that? Ah-ha! They drive on the left-hand side of the road here, so as in the U.S., the people naturally walk on the side they drive. So I started walking on the left-hand side too. As I wrote to Hanna:
I walk a mile to class every morning, so I've purposely tried to walk like a Londoner to "blend in", plus it helps deter any ne'er-do-wells. Picture this: A stolid-faced Laura Beth walking briskly down the left hand side of the sidewalk, right hand resting possessively on her pin-striped messenger bag. She looks like she's walked the sidewalk a thousand times, but no one would guess she's constantly on the lookout for landmarks and has to repeat to herself "look Right, then Left" at every street crossing.
I know my way around my immediate area now. I'm adaptive as best I can be, but, as my Grandma pointed out, I don't necessarily recognize the shocks those changes cause. Because of that, I couldn't really begin addressing the necessary concerns of changing. As I've said before, time will change how I feel.
And as I wrote above, I'm beginning the ascent to a peak. This feeling is Surface Adjustment. Some days I'll look around and think "Wow, I really am in London" and ponder all the neat things I'm going to see and do. I get excited for the chance to be here. How amazing!
Thank you all again for your prayers. I still need them, but I am certainly seeing God's hand in my life as I fight hard to carve out a place for myself here. It's certainly getting better, and I'm much happier. See? This blog is on its way to happiness!
(As an aside, I'm currently watching Kate & Leopold on surfthechannel.com. Been wanting to watch it all week. It's nice to have a feel good chick flick. ;) )
Friday, May 30, 2008
The U.K.'s Hannibal
My apologies for not posting in a few days. Among the program's trips, our own sight-seeing adventures, class, emailing, web camming, and walking just about everywhere there isn't much time in day to sit down and type my brain's musings most nights. In any case, I'm splitting this post up into a few smaller ones to keep the information separate by category and because I remember some thread of knowledge from psychology saying people prefer to read smaller chunks of text rather than larger ones. To that end, here's a description of my most recent galavanting:
On Tuesday the 27th, my goal was to search out a specific type of English breakfast tea made by Taylors of Harrogate. My Mom requested I bring "as much as possible" back from England because it was "the best tea [she] had ever tasted." Dad had picked up a box somewhere in the States, and she hasn't been able to find it since. In any case, I hoped on their website and rooted around awhile but couldn't seem to find a store that carried Taylors of Harrogate tea. What to do, what to do? Why, email customer service of course! A lady replied back that the store with the biggest selection of their teas was at the Whole Foods in Kensington. Wait a second, I live in/near Kensington! After a short look at Google maps, I realized I was within walking distance of this amazing tea! So on Tuesday afternoon I walked over with another gal and finally found the Holy Grail of Tea. I bought some for myself along with a little Scottish Breakfast (still have to try that one) and ended up spending about $10 for 70 bags of tea. Expensive, but boy howdy is that stuff worth it! So rich, so robust, so full of flavor, simply wonderful. I'll have to bring back some for Mom AND me!
That night, my flatmates and I went to London's recreation of the Globe Theatre for a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. In true Shakespearian form, we payed five pounds to be "groundlings" or one of the people who get to stand for three hours. I thoroughly enjoyed the play and made sure to grab a spot by the Theatre's walls to lean against. Oh, I also bought my first souvenirs here-- a miniature version of The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream and a small poster of Shakespeare's London.
Wednesday was our program trip to Warwick (pronounced War-ick) Castle and Stratford-upon-Avon. Oh my goodness. During the two hours drive to the Castle, our tour guide talked for....get ready for it...two hours. Straight. No stopping. The man just kept running at the mouth about anything and everything. I finally had to put earplugs in because the bus's speaker's volume was so loud. Goodness. Anyways, Warwick Castle was pretty neat, and the fog/rain contributed to the old English atmosphere. Turns out the Castle was renovated over the years and occupied during the late 1800s. Even now, royalty has visited on occasion. For lunch, I got a 'child's carvery' which was carved meat and roasted vegetables for about $8.50 while the adult version was $16. Ugh, exchange rates. (And that was a cheap meal!) Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend much time here, but I managed to get some neat pictures.
And yes, Stratford-upon-Avon. Once upon a time smack dab in the middle of the United States there lived a 14 year old girl going to Burlington High School. Sitting in her freshman English class, she read Romeo and Juliet and received her first real introduction to William Shakespeare's life. Fast forward six years (wow) and that same gal just visited the site her teacher required her to know for some quiz back in the day. We first visited Anne Hatheway's birthplace nearby and then went on to Stratford, which is an actual town.
So, good 'ol Stratford. We arrived and immediately went to house where Shakespeare was born. It was a quick walkthrough because there really wasn't that much to see. One interesting thing was that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams also visited the house. Not only was I walking through a structure once occupied by William Shakespeare, the same boards I squeaked across were also walked on by our own great heads of state.
After the house, we were free until 7PM when we were attending The Taming of the Shrew...but it was only early afternoon at the time. Hm. What to do? Most of the girls stopped by a pub to duck out of the pouring rain, and myself and a few others wandered around a little (and got sopping wet, but we did have umbrellas), eventually stopping in a Waterstone's bookstore which is kinda like Barnes & Noble. I had wanted to get a book on English history, so I found what looked to me like a pretty good one. I've been trying to read a bit every day now. What with school and all I've forgotten how much I enjoy reading. Anyways, after the rain let up a little, one of the gal's and I made our way over to the place where Shakespeare and his wife are buried. Yep, I saw the room where he was born and his final resting place. Very cool.
After a dinner of fish and chips, seven o'clock finally came around and we made our way to the theatre. The Taming of the Shrew was put on very well, but the play was turned into a dark comedy with rather dark humor. Listening to what others had to say before seeing it, I anticipated a much funnier version. Ah well, perhaps I can see it again someday. We finally made it back to London around one o'clock in the morning and promptly hit the sack....I had class the next day at 8:30 AM!
As I wandered down the streets of Stratford-upon-Avon with my group, I realized it was much like Hannibal, Missouri-- the birthplace and childhood home of a famous author where all the businesses are somehow related to that same author or his works' characters. Ah, but perhaps I like to poke a little fun at Hannibal for its 'extreme' Mark Twain-ness. ;)
Moving on to Thursday, we decided to take a break from all the running around, so after class I headed up to the Victoria and Albert Museum by myself to take a look around. At least three huge museums are right by Imperial College, and I always wanted to stop by (my flatmates' class is right after mine so I'd be alone in the flat anyway). I enjoyed wandering around on my own time and decided to stop by the cafe for a scone. Perhaps my favorite part of London culture is the proliferation of scones and tea. How nice to sit down to a cup of 'amber brew' and a sweet biscuit!
Today I did the same museum as I'm hitting bits and pieces of it over time. Tomorrow, we're heading up to Bath and Stonehenge for a day trip, so I'll have some info on that later. Oh, and a gal from my grandparents' church in Alabama is also in London for about a month more and will be at Bath/Stonehenge tomorrow as well. I hope I can run into her!
For pictures, here's the link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2069078&l=5ae25&id=36107967
On Tuesday the 27th, my goal was to search out a specific type of English breakfast tea made by Taylors of Harrogate. My Mom requested I bring "as much as possible" back from England because it was "the best tea [she] had ever tasted." Dad had picked up a box somewhere in the States, and she hasn't been able to find it since. In any case, I hoped on their website and rooted around awhile but couldn't seem to find a store that carried Taylors of Harrogate tea. What to do, what to do? Why, email customer service of course! A lady replied back that the store with the biggest selection of their teas was at the Whole Foods in Kensington. Wait a second, I live in/near Kensington! After a short look at Google maps, I realized I was within walking distance of this amazing tea! So on Tuesday afternoon I walked over with another gal and finally found the Holy Grail of Tea. I bought some for myself along with a little Scottish Breakfast (still have to try that one) and ended up spending about $10 for 70 bags of tea. Expensive, but boy howdy is that stuff worth it! So rich, so robust, so full of flavor, simply wonderful. I'll have to bring back some for Mom AND me!
That night, my flatmates and I went to London's recreation of the Globe Theatre for a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. In true Shakespearian form, we payed five pounds to be "groundlings" or one of the people who get to stand for three hours. I thoroughly enjoyed the play and made sure to grab a spot by the Theatre's walls to lean against. Oh, I also bought my first souvenirs here-- a miniature version of The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream and a small poster of Shakespeare's London.
Wednesday was our program trip to Warwick (pronounced War-ick) Castle and Stratford-upon-Avon. Oh my goodness. During the two hours drive to the Castle, our tour guide talked for....get ready for it...two hours. Straight. No stopping. The man just kept running at the mouth about anything and everything. I finally had to put earplugs in because the bus's speaker's volume was so loud. Goodness. Anyways, Warwick Castle was pretty neat, and the fog/rain contributed to the old English atmosphere. Turns out the Castle was renovated over the years and occupied during the late 1800s. Even now, royalty has visited on occasion. For lunch, I got a 'child's carvery' which was carved meat and roasted vegetables for about $8.50 while the adult version was $16. Ugh, exchange rates. (And that was a cheap meal!) Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend much time here, but I managed to get some neat pictures.
Warwick Castle
And yes, Stratford-upon-Avon. Once upon a time smack dab in the middle of the United States there lived a 14 year old girl going to Burlington High School. Sitting in her freshman English class, she read Romeo and Juliet and received her first real introduction to William Shakespeare's life. Fast forward six years (wow) and that same gal just visited the site her teacher required her to know for some quiz back in the day. We first visited Anne Hatheway's birthplace nearby and then went on to Stratford, which is an actual town.
So, good 'ol Stratford. We arrived and immediately went to house where Shakespeare was born. It was a quick walkthrough because there really wasn't that much to see. One interesting thing was that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams also visited the house. Not only was I walking through a structure once occupied by William Shakespeare, the same boards I squeaked across were also walked on by our own great heads of state.
After the house, we were free until 7PM when we were attending The Taming of the Shrew...but it was only early afternoon at the time. Hm. What to do? Most of the girls stopped by a pub to duck out of the pouring rain, and myself and a few others wandered around a little (and got sopping wet, but we did have umbrellas), eventually stopping in a Waterstone's bookstore which is kinda like Barnes & Noble. I had wanted to get a book on English history, so I found what looked to me like a pretty good one. I've been trying to read a bit every day now. What with school and all I've forgotten how much I enjoy reading. Anyways, after the rain let up a little, one of the gal's and I made our way over to the place where Shakespeare and his wife are buried. Yep, I saw the room where he was born and his final resting place. Very cool.
After a dinner of fish and chips, seven o'clock finally came around and we made our way to the theatre. The Taming of the Shrew was put on very well, but the play was turned into a dark comedy with rather dark humor. Listening to what others had to say before seeing it, I anticipated a much funnier version. Ah well, perhaps I can see it again someday. We finally made it back to London around one o'clock in the morning and promptly hit the sack....I had class the next day at 8:30 AM!
The birthplace of William Shakespeare
As I wandered down the streets of Stratford-upon-Avon with my group, I realized it was much like Hannibal, Missouri-- the birthplace and childhood home of a famous author where all the businesses are somehow related to that same author or his works' characters. Ah, but perhaps I like to poke a little fun at Hannibal for its 'extreme' Mark Twain-ness. ;)
Moving on to Thursday, we decided to take a break from all the running around, so after class I headed up to the Victoria and Albert Museum by myself to take a look around. At least three huge museums are right by Imperial College, and I always wanted to stop by (my flatmates' class is right after mine so I'd be alone in the flat anyway). I enjoyed wandering around on my own time and decided to stop by the cafe for a scone. Perhaps my favorite part of London culture is the proliferation of scones and tea. How nice to sit down to a cup of 'amber brew' and a sweet biscuit!
Today I did the same museum as I'm hitting bits and pieces of it over time. Tomorrow, we're heading up to Bath and Stonehenge for a day trip, so I'll have some info on that later. Oh, and a gal from my grandparents' church in Alabama is also in London for about a month more and will be at Bath/Stonehenge tomorrow as well. I hope I can run into her!
For pictures, here's the link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2069078&l=5ae25&id=36107967
Monday, May 26, 2008
London's weather does NOT reflect my mood (Yay!)
Today, London was a wet, soggy mess. It drizzled for most of the day and remained pretty chilly. In contrast to a previous post, however, such a state was not the same as how I was feeling today. Hooray! But let's start a bit earlier, shall we?
On Saturday, we took an hour long train out to Edinburgh Town which is about three miles away from Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Bolyn (one of Henry VIII's executed wives). Instead of going on to Hever Station and walking the 1.3 miles to the Castle, we opted to take a taxi because it had been raining for most of the morning.
Upon arriving at Edinburgh Town, there was no one in sight. Por que? Well, this past weekend was Bank Holiday--the UK got Monday off just like the U.S.'s Memorial Day--so businesses were shutting down for the weekend. We called a few taxi companies and found one that would take us to the castle. While waiting for the taxi (~30 minutes), we stopped by the Town's oldest pub to get a quick snack. I had tea and a scone which were quite good. British scones are something like sweet biscuits. In any case, we rode the taxi to the Castle and immediately went over to the Castle's Bank Holiday festivities which included a dressed up Henry VIII and Anne Bolyn along with archery, jousting, and hawking in their honor. The hawks were my favorite!
After a bit of that, we went back up to the Castle and toured the inside. I almost lost my ticket, but a lady found it on the ground for me (Yay!). Apparently, the Astor family who had made a fortune in the U.S. bought the Castle in the very early 1900s and added some refurbishments. The inside was very ornate (mostly from the renovations), but we did see quite a few parts from the original 15th Century structure. The Castle was on the small side, but the gardens and lake more than made up for it. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around and enjoying the greenery so absent from busy London.
That night I called the pastor of the church I had visited on Wednesday (Bethesda Baptist Church) because he had invited me to a sleep-over/lock-in type thing for Sunday night and then some sightseeing on Monday with their younger people. At first, I was a little hesitant to go mostly because I had only met a few people. I imagine had the BSU at Truman had something similar during Truman Week I doubt I would have gone. In any case, after webcamming with my parents, grandparents, and siblings a bit, my mom and dad encouraged me to go for it.
After I had ridden the Underground to the nearest station, I still had to walk a few blocks to get to the church. I'll admit, it was a little scary walking around in an unknown place during the night without someone I knew, but I made it safe and sound (after sending up a few prayers...). I arrived at the church and was quickly introduced to the people there (about 15), many of which were from the Philippines--they all knew each other some how. We played a whole slew of sports on the church's Wii, and I set the record for hula hooping! Crazy, huh? Anyways, it was a great time, and we all laughed our heads off during some of the more difficult games. Around 1 AM, we popped in Martian Child and settled in for the movie...until 3 AM, wow.
While watching the film, I was blissfully unaware of my location. Because I can escape to the movies' world, I forget reality. I become 'Laura Beth, 19 year old' not 'Laura Beth, current London resident.' Perhaps I shall be watching more movies this summer?
In any case, we woke up the next morning around 8:45, had breakfast (I had a cup of coffee--with 5 sugar cubes!--and one of tea to combat sleepiness), and played more Wii until about 12:30 PM when we took off for the Natural History Museum instead of Westminster Abbey because it was raining. After a long walk through a park, again with the rain!, we finally arrived and made our way through parts of the Museum I hadn't seen such as the ecology and rock stuff. We bid our good-byes later in the afternoon, and they all very warmly invited me back whenever I could come.
I'm glad I went. The people were so very nice, and despite my relative status as a stranger, they welcomed me into their time together. Mom really was right when she called them my "spiritual family." I'm pretty sure I was one of, if not the, only American there. Such a strange feeling! I've never been in the ethnic minority! The cool part was, though, I didn't feel out of place. I was a different person, lived in a different country, and had so many different experiences that I was definitely not like the people I had just spent almost 24 hours with. But we did share one thing--our faith. And that one thing was enough to overcome all the other differences. Neat how God can work things out.
And so as I walked back from the Museum on my way to Sainsbury's and the flat, I found myself smiling. What a wonderful time I had over the weekend! The weather was not my mood. I'm not nearly so homesick anymore, and although I still carry a genuine regret over missing this summer at home (which I will detail in a later blog post) I've managed to begin establishing security here. Walking along Cromwell Road carrying my bag of groceries for the coming days, something felt different. I was heading somewhere.
I've got pictures up from the weekend; the link is below:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2068778&l=2f242&id=36107967
On Saturday, we took an hour long train out to Edinburgh Town which is about three miles away from Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Bolyn (one of Henry VIII's executed wives). Instead of going on to Hever Station and walking the 1.3 miles to the Castle, we opted to take a taxi because it had been raining for most of the morning.
Upon arriving at Edinburgh Town, there was no one in sight. Por que? Well, this past weekend was Bank Holiday--the UK got Monday off just like the U.S.'s Memorial Day--so businesses were shutting down for the weekend. We called a few taxi companies and found one that would take us to the castle. While waiting for the taxi (~30 minutes), we stopped by the Town's oldest pub to get a quick snack. I had tea and a scone which were quite good. British scones are something like sweet biscuits. In any case, we rode the taxi to the Castle and immediately went over to the Castle's Bank Holiday festivities which included a dressed up Henry VIII and Anne Bolyn along with archery, jousting, and hawking in their honor. The hawks were my favorite!
After a bit of that, we went back up to the Castle and toured the inside. I almost lost my ticket, but a lady found it on the ground for me (Yay!). Apparently, the Astor family who had made a fortune in the U.S. bought the Castle in the very early 1900s and added some refurbishments. The inside was very ornate (mostly from the renovations), but we did see quite a few parts from the original 15th Century structure. The Castle was on the small side, but the gardens and lake more than made up for it. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around and enjoying the greenery so absent from busy London.
That night I called the pastor of the church I had visited on Wednesday (Bethesda Baptist Church) because he had invited me to a sleep-over/lock-in type thing for Sunday night and then some sightseeing on Monday with their younger people. At first, I was a little hesitant to go mostly because I had only met a few people. I imagine had the BSU at Truman had something similar during Truman Week I doubt I would have gone. In any case, after webcamming with my parents, grandparents, and siblings a bit, my mom and dad encouraged me to go for it.
After I had ridden the Underground to the nearest station, I still had to walk a few blocks to get to the church. I'll admit, it was a little scary walking around in an unknown place during the night without someone I knew, but I made it safe and sound (after sending up a few prayers...). I arrived at the church and was quickly introduced to the people there (about 15), many of which were from the Philippines--they all knew each other some how. We played a whole slew of sports on the church's Wii, and I set the record for hula hooping! Crazy, huh? Anyways, it was a great time, and we all laughed our heads off during some of the more difficult games. Around 1 AM, we popped in Martian Child and settled in for the movie...until 3 AM, wow.
While watching the film, I was blissfully unaware of my location. Because I can escape to the movies' world, I forget reality. I become 'Laura Beth, 19 year old' not 'Laura Beth, current London resident.' Perhaps I shall be watching more movies this summer?
In any case, we woke up the next morning around 8:45, had breakfast (I had a cup of coffee--with 5 sugar cubes!--and one of tea to combat sleepiness), and played more Wii until about 12:30 PM when we took off for the Natural History Museum instead of Westminster Abbey because it was raining. After a long walk through a park, again with the rain!, we finally arrived and made our way through parts of the Museum I hadn't seen such as the ecology and rock stuff. We bid our good-byes later in the afternoon, and they all very warmly invited me back whenever I could come.
I'm glad I went. The people were so very nice, and despite my relative status as a stranger, they welcomed me into their time together. Mom really was right when she called them my "spiritual family." I'm pretty sure I was one of, if not the, only American there. Such a strange feeling! I've never been in the ethnic minority! The cool part was, though, I didn't feel out of place. I was a different person, lived in a different country, and had so many different experiences that I was definitely not like the people I had just spent almost 24 hours with. But we did share one thing--our faith. And that one thing was enough to overcome all the other differences. Neat how God can work things out.
And so as I walked back from the Museum on my way to Sainsbury's and the flat, I found myself smiling. What a wonderful time I had over the weekend! The weather was not my mood. I'm not nearly so homesick anymore, and although I still carry a genuine regret over missing this summer at home (which I will detail in a later blog post) I've managed to begin establishing security here. Walking along Cromwell Road carrying my bag of groceries for the coming days, something felt different. I was heading somewhere.
I've got pictures up from the weekend; the link is below:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2068778&l=2f242&id=36107967
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Mixin' Up the Salad
In addition to the homesickness (which is, thank the Lord, beginning to wear away slowly), I've noticed a problem with being here. You see, I have "inter-role conflict" as the organizational behavior business people would call it. I am a student, an intern-to-be, a tourist, and a London resident during a regular weekday. In the morning, I go class, prepare for my internship, visit sights in the afternoon, and sleep in my flat in the evening. Some of those seem mutually exclusive (i.e. tourist and resident). At first I was running into a bit of trouble balancing each mode of living, but I have begun to settle enough that jumping from role to role is closer to routine than before. Now when the internship starts? Oh my. Be preppared for more "woe is me" tales. :)
Tomorrow we're off to Hever Castle outside London, so I'll be getting some info/pics up about that later. Ah, and the flat pics are not up because I want to take 'em during the daylight and with my flatmates all here, so they might be ready on Tuesday. Not sure, though.
I created another facebook album for pictures I took this past week. We've done quite a bit, so I'll start at the beginning and work my way forward. The picture link is at the bottom of this post.
Okey dokey, for our British Life and Culture lecture, we listened to a seasoned actor drone on for over an hour on Tuesday and then visited the Museum of London on Wednesday afternoon. The Museum of London showcases artifacts from the beginning period of London (hunter/gather) all the way up to present-ish (18-1900s). I didn't know the Romans had such a presence, but apparently they were definitely major players in the first and second centuries.
On Thursday afternoon, I went to the Science Museum with a gal from my flat (the others went to Indiana Jones, but at $14 for a ticket, I opted out). There were some neat things there like space, genetics, and the beginning of steam power, but apparently we skipped over a bunch accidently. We'll make it back there sometime since it's near Imperial College.
And on Friday, we rested...at least in the afternoon.
That night we went to Leicster Square to the half-price ticket booths because one of the gals was really interested in seeing Spamalot. Eh, whatevs. When in Britain, do as the Brits do. We got tickets for the play for £25 (those same tickets would have been over a hundred in New York), and went to the Corean Barbeque (yes, spelled with a C, no idea why) for supper. Man, my tastebuds aren't quite up to that ethnic level. Instead of normal things like rolls or chips like they usually bring out, we were served bean sprouts and seaweed. Huh, ok. It was interesting. Figuring I could find something edible, I ordered a seemingly simple dish of rice, vegetables, and ground beef. Yeah, not so much. They poured seasame oil all over it! Ugh. And there was a random fried egg in it too, which was one of the things I could eat. More seaweed, bean sprouts, cucumbers, carrots, and other unidentifiable veggies greeted my eyes and palate. Oh, and the "traditional Korean tea" was gross. Not recommended. (I guess I don't do well with authentic Asian cuisine)
Anyways, after supper we rushed over to the show at 8:30 and grabbed our half priced seats. Spamalot is basically taken from the Holy Grail movie with some additions for the musical parts. It was neat to see, if only because I saw it in London. Basically, I liked the non-Python/non-crude parts. Ah well. I'm hoping to keep shows to about one each month to control costs. These shows take place in London's West End which is basically like Broadway in the US. Cool stuff!
Today we were at the Tate Britain and Tate Modern. The Tate Britain originally began with a huge donation of art but became too large so the Tate Modern was built in 2000. Tate Britain houses British art from 1500 - 1900, while Tate Modern is 1900 - Present. I enjoyed the Tate Britain quite a bit as I like all that old timey stuff, but the Tate Modern just wasn't my style. Well, modern isn't my style. I can't seem to wrap my head around modern art-- honestly seems like a waste to me. I know, crude and uncultured. But you look at all the time and money invested into that stuff, and I just wonder what other uses it could be put to (i.e. starving children, etc.). Ah well.
Quick side note about the Tate Modern: The event of the afternoon was the making of a, get ready for it, giant salad. Yes, salad, the green, leafy dish women tend to consume. Employees chopped up the ingredients and tossed it over a ledge onto a waiting tarp which was shaken and raked (with actual rakes) and then served to the 400+ crowd. Everyone got a heaping plate of salad! Wow, that will definitely be something I remember as highly random. Strange stuff, indeed.
Tomorrow we're off to Hever Castle outside London, so I'll be getting some info/pics up about that later. Ah, and the flat pics are not up because I want to take 'em during the daylight and with my flatmates all here, so they might be ready on Tuesday. Not sure, though.
Again, thank you for your prayers-- things really are starting to look up. The process is slow, but as time crawls along I can feel living here becoming less difficult. Today is Saturday; I have been in London one week, 11 left to go. Things can only get better from here because this past week should have been the most difficult of them all. Thank you Lord for getting me through! Every morning I thank Him for helping me through yet another day.
Ok, here's the pic link:
Enjoy!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
A Mental and Physical Gnawing
Yesterday was a slightly better day. Each one is better than the last, though there are emotional ups and downs throughout the day. Yesterday, though, something very interesting happened. For the briefest of hours, I didn't feel the gnawing. This 'gnawing' as I've termed it is a perpetual wearing down of my ability to deal with the world around me. Homesickness, in effect. It has always been there, chewing away inside me. As we were walking back this afternoon from our British Life and Culture lecture on theater (which was actually very boring), I felt a small measure of security for the first time while in London. For the rest of the afternoon, I was the closest to 'at peace' since arriving here. But the feeling has returned, ever ready to continue its havoc.
I've noticed a pattern of ups and downs over my few days here. In the morning, I'm sad about being here and wishing to be back home. By the afternoon and usually lasting into early evening, I'm ok with it, even optimistic that things will get better someday. But by the time I go to bed, I'm sad again. I dread the morning and evening because I know those feelings are coming. While eating breakfast, I thanked the Lord for getting me through another day. 79 left. Tomorrow it will be 78 (hooray for the seventies!). The days are also beginning to speed up, if only by minuscule amounts. That is encouraging. This pattern seems something like a normal business cycle. There are recessions and booms, but if the economy is healthy it has an overall upward long-term trend (eventually the good outweighs the bad). Things get better as time goes by. I have a webcam that I use to keep in touch with family in addition to email; it helps so much.
I went to a Wednesday night Bible study last night. It was at one of the churches that my pastor back home had recommended for me. It's very, very easy to get to by the Tube. It's a smaller church, about the size of ours at home, and a visitor on Wednesday night is very noticeable, so the pastor immediately came up and started talking to me. He's perhaps in his late twenties, and I met his wife who seems to be Asian- perhaps Indonesian or something like that. All of the people were so very nice to me! The pastor invited me to go with them on a sight-seeing tour that the church is taking on Monday. I'm thinking I just might come along.
It's very interesting to notice some differences between typical Baptist churches of the US and of the UK. There is definitely a much more conservative presence here. Praise music and anything besides a piano or organ would be out of place. I know I've only visited one, but I did some research on the others that Pastor Kendall gave me. I might stay at this church- they're easily accessible, genuinely friendly, and small in number so I imagine they'd be very willing to 'love on me' as a visitor.
Today, a gal from my flat named Emily and I went to the Science Museum. Because it's so close to where we go to school (Imperial College), we were able to walk there. The rest of the flat went to the new Indiana Jones movie, but it's about seven pounds or $14. Ugh. The Museum was pretty interesting especially the space section where they mixed European aeronautics with NASA stuff. Yay America! We're trying to get things planned for all the afternoons we have off, so we get a chance to see London pretty thoroughly before our internships begin.
(I love seeing glimpses of American influence while I'm over here. Basically, our country's sweet. And I miss it.)
I've noticed a pattern of ups and downs over my few days here. In the morning, I'm sad about being here and wishing to be back home. By the afternoon and usually lasting into early evening, I'm ok with it, even optimistic that things will get better someday. But by the time I go to bed, I'm sad again. I dread the morning and evening because I know those feelings are coming. While eating breakfast, I thanked the Lord for getting me through another day. 79 left. Tomorrow it will be 78 (hooray for the seventies!). The days are also beginning to speed up, if only by minuscule amounts. That is encouraging. This pattern seems something like a normal business cycle. There are recessions and booms, but if the economy is healthy it has an overall upward long-term trend (eventually the good outweighs the bad). Things get better as time goes by. I have a webcam that I use to keep in touch with family in addition to email; it helps so much.
I went to a Wednesday night Bible study last night. It was at one of the churches that my pastor back home had recommended for me. It's very, very easy to get to by the Tube. It's a smaller church, about the size of ours at home, and a visitor on Wednesday night is very noticeable, so the pastor immediately came up and started talking to me. He's perhaps in his late twenties, and I met his wife who seems to be Asian- perhaps Indonesian or something like that. All of the people were so very nice to me! The pastor invited me to go with them on a sight-seeing tour that the church is taking on Monday. I'm thinking I just might come along.
It's very interesting to notice some differences between typical Baptist churches of the US and of the UK. There is definitely a much more conservative presence here. Praise music and anything besides a piano or organ would be out of place. I know I've only visited one, but I did some research on the others that Pastor Kendall gave me. I might stay at this church- they're easily accessible, genuinely friendly, and small in number so I imagine they'd be very willing to 'love on me' as a visitor.
Today, a gal from my flat named Emily and I went to the Science Museum. Because it's so close to where we go to school (Imperial College), we were able to walk there. The rest of the flat went to the new Indiana Jones movie, but it's about seven pounds or $14. Ugh. The Museum was pretty interesting especially the space section where they mixed European aeronautics with NASA stuff. Yay America! We're trying to get things planned for all the afternoons we have off, so we get a chance to see London pretty thoroughly before our internships begin.
(I love seeing glimpses of American influence while I'm over here. Basically, our country's sweet. And I miss it.)
And an update on my food situation! So I came here with little cooking experience. Sure, when I'm at home I can whip up something with a few ingredients, but I have no idea what to do here. Ahh! I started out not eating so well. Actually, what I did eat was/is highly nutritious, but I hadn't had time to figure out what to cook, buy the ingredients, and make time to cook it. So on Tuesday I had a bowl of brown rice with lima beans seasoned with our only spices, salt and pepper, for lunch. It was...interesting. And for supper I needed to cook my ground beef and stir-fry before the expiration dates, so I cooked the beef, set it aside, and then cooked the stir-fry and combined the two. Now that was interesting.
I was basically always hungry throughout the day. Ugh, no fun. So, I stopped by the grocery store after class and literally wandered around for half an hour familiarizing myself with the layout and the food they offer. Twelve British pounds later, I was the proud owner of 3 frozen dinners, 4 ready-made chicken kievs, 1 bag of shelled walnuts, raspberry jam cookies, humous (Yes, humous not humus. Usually I don't like it, but their brand is ok), and pretzyls (Yes, I spell pretzyls strangely, but this is my blog so it's stayin'). On Wednesday night, I had a frozen chicken/broccoli/potato dinner and tonight I made a quesadilla! I found tortillas in the 'world food' section of the store. I hope to explore the cheese selections-- it's quite large. I brought home some Red Leicester cheese which tastes a bit like cheddar.
Tomorrow I hope to get some pictures of our flat taken and put online for y'all's viewing pleasure....and to demonstrate just how small this flat is what with it's six female residents. We're managing pretty well, though.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
An 81 day road
*sigh* To be blunt, I'd go home right now if given the chance. It's too hard; I don't want to deal with it. 81 days left, or so an internet countdown clock tells me. But it's where I need to be, doing what I need to be doing. What would I do if I was home? I'd have failed if I hopped on a plane again. I'd accomplish little all summer. I wouldn't grow; I wouldn't continue progressing towards adulthood. I know, I know. I need all those things, but the process is definitely not fun.
This ain't a happy blog...yet. Today on the Tube I decided I had a distinct chance at a happy day sometime. Probably not soon, but perhaps down this 81 day road. It'll take me a few weeks to get truly settled in, and then I'll start my internship and jumble everything up again. My international business class goes for three weeks, and then I have an internship which lasts nine weeks. I feel like I have an insurmountable, well, mountain looming before me. How can I make it all the way? I do not know. Only through trust in the Lord will this work.
Thanks to Cole for his picture tip, I now have the link for public viewing of my facebook pictures. If you'd like to take a gander, they're at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2068290&l=72b8c&id=36107967
Thanks!
This ain't a happy blog...yet. Today on the Tube I decided I had a distinct chance at a happy day sometime. Probably not soon, but perhaps down this 81 day road. It'll take me a few weeks to get truly settled in, and then I'll start my internship and jumble everything up again. My international business class goes for three weeks, and then I have an internship which lasts nine weeks. I feel like I have an insurmountable, well, mountain looming before me. How can I make it all the way? I do not know. Only through trust in the Lord will this work.
Thanks to Cole for his picture tip, I now have the link for public viewing of my facebook pictures. If you'd like to take a gander, they're at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2068290&l=72b8c&id=36107967
Thanks!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
The day's events: Sunday May 18th
Today we went on a bus tour of downtown London. It's hard to remember that we're downtown (in fact, I live on the edge of downtown) because no buildings are higher than five or six stories. As much of the original architecture has been retained. Any time you see a modern building, you know that that area was demolished by German bombings during World War II. We even saw a church scarred by shrapnel.
At the tour's conclusion, the bus dropped us off at Piccadilly Circus, which is a famous part of London, to eat lunch and look around. But the catch was that we had to find our own way home. Don't worry, we made it (obviously)! My flatmates and I plus two other girls have formed a big group for doing things. It's all very safe, and we constantly make sure everyone's with us. Basically, we have to learn by doing, so we figured out the underground (subway/metro) and looked at maps to walk back to our flats. I'll probably have to ride the Tube to work in a few weeks so getting some practice is helpful. Now mind you, everything after the tour was completely free for us to choose what to do. As far as exploring London, I'd really rather have a structured tour or ordered time for going someplace or somewhere instead of "Hey, be at the Knaresborough residence at 8AM tomorrow. See you then." and that be it. I don't know enough even to figure out what I want to see! Maybe I should continue consulting my Frommer's...But yeah, I'm all for structure. Unstructured time doesn't jive well with me.
(But perhaps that might be a sign of the changing times. As we get older, we're expected to do things by ourselves, to be adult-like. On this trip, we didn't know our flatmates, and we didn't have the typical ice breaker games to get to know people. You had to do it on your own time and take your own initiative. We just had our resident assistants pointing out a grocery store, not telling us what to buy, how much to spend, or even how to get there again. Nor are we told how much to put on our Tube cards or when to do basic household tasks. It's another, needed change.)
In the afternoon, we went to Sainsbury's which is a grocery store just a few blocks away. For now, we're buying food on our own and preparing our own meals. You should have seen me! No junk food whatsoever! Just a bunch of fruit, vegetables, and whole wheat bread stuffs. Milk isn't "skim" over here; it's "0.1%" as opposed to the normal 1% and 2%. While shopping, it was easy to pass over what we were looking for because the packaging for many common household items is a little different (ziploc baggies were in bags instead of boxes, for example). It was strange walking by the liquor section knowing I could buy whatever I wanted. Before I left, I thought I might try a little, maybe in a pub, but now I have absolutely no desire (what was I even thinking?). When faced with adversity, I make as much of my world black and white to minimize the chaos. After grocery shopping, we took the Tube over to the natural science museum, which has free entry. That place is huge! I hope to visit it more in the coming weeks. We mostly walked through a gem and dinosaur exhibit.
Ugh, but last night was not fun. The street just outside our flat can get very, very noisy at all hours of the night (and is very, very bright from lights from a hotel across the street), and the Tube trains run just outside the back of our flat. Wow, my dorm last semester was quiet as a mouse compared to this. Ah well. Hopefully, I'll sleep better tonight.
Whenever we have to get food outside the flat, I can't stop myself from beelining for the best-bang-for-your-buck (pound?) items, which are usually cheap and small. Plus, we have to fix our own food. I'm definitely feeling much more grateful for mom fixing supper or eating in the cafeteria the past two years. Tonight we went out for supper...each of us payed between $15-$20 for our meal, which is considered a pretty decent price for supper in England. Ugh. I'm going to be keeping eating out to a minimum. Tomorrow we have an orientation day where I'll hopefully find out what we're doing for the next three weeks. It'll be good to get a schedule down.
I've got pictures up on my facebook account, but I'm working on finding an online photo sharing site so that non-facebookers can access them. Any suggestions?
At the tour's conclusion, the bus dropped us off at Piccadilly Circus, which is a famous part of London, to eat lunch and look around. But the catch was that we had to find our own way home. Don't worry, we made it (obviously)! My flatmates and I plus two other girls have formed a big group for doing things. It's all very safe, and we constantly make sure everyone's with us. Basically, we have to learn by doing, so we figured out the underground (subway/metro) and looked at maps to walk back to our flats. I'll probably have to ride the Tube to work in a few weeks so getting some practice is helpful. Now mind you, everything after the tour was completely free for us to choose what to do. As far as exploring London, I'd really rather have a structured tour or ordered time for going someplace or somewhere instead of "Hey, be at the Knaresborough residence at 8AM tomorrow. See you then." and that be it. I don't know enough even to figure out what I want to see! Maybe I should continue consulting my Frommer's...But yeah, I'm all for structure. Unstructured time doesn't jive well with me.
(But perhaps that might be a sign of the changing times. As we get older, we're expected to do things by ourselves, to be adult-like. On this trip, we didn't know our flatmates, and we didn't have the typical ice breaker games to get to know people. You had to do it on your own time and take your own initiative. We just had our resident assistants pointing out a grocery store, not telling us what to buy, how much to spend, or even how to get there again. Nor are we told how much to put on our Tube cards or when to do basic household tasks. It's another, needed change.)
In the afternoon, we went to Sainsbury's which is a grocery store just a few blocks away. For now, we're buying food on our own and preparing our own meals. You should have seen me! No junk food whatsoever! Just a bunch of fruit, vegetables, and whole wheat bread stuffs. Milk isn't "skim" over here; it's "0.1%" as opposed to the normal 1% and 2%. While shopping, it was easy to pass over what we were looking for because the packaging for many common household items is a little different (ziploc baggies were in bags instead of boxes, for example). It was strange walking by the liquor section knowing I could buy whatever I wanted. Before I left, I thought I might try a little, maybe in a pub, but now I have absolutely no desire (what was I even thinking?). When faced with adversity, I make as much of my world black and white to minimize the chaos. After grocery shopping, we took the Tube over to the natural science museum, which has free entry. That place is huge! I hope to visit it more in the coming weeks. We mostly walked through a gem and dinosaur exhibit.
Ugh, but last night was not fun. The street just outside our flat can get very, very noisy at all hours of the night (and is very, very bright from lights from a hotel across the street), and the Tube trains run just outside the back of our flat. Wow, my dorm last semester was quiet as a mouse compared to this. Ah well. Hopefully, I'll sleep better tonight.
Whenever we have to get food outside the flat, I can't stop myself from beelining for the best-bang-for-your-buck (pound?) items, which are usually cheap and small. Plus, we have to fix our own food. I'm definitely feeling much more grateful for mom fixing supper or eating in the cafeteria the past two years. Tonight we went out for supper...each of us payed between $15-$20 for our meal, which is considered a pretty decent price for supper in England. Ugh. I'm going to be keeping eating out to a minimum. Tomorrow we have an orientation day where I'll hopefully find out what we're doing for the next three weeks. It'll be good to get a schedule down.
I've got pictures up on my facebook account, but I'm working on finding an online photo sharing site so that non-facebookers can access them. Any suggestions?
London's weather reflects my mood
A storm, eh? Yep, sure was/is. Perhaps not huge or devastating by any means, but something to work through nonetheless.
Here's the deal. I can't stand non-growth. Things that do not grow, change, or somehow show a positive benefit for the time they have existed (people, plants, couches, fake teeth, whatever) frustrate me to no end. Existing without becoming better in some way, whatever that way is, seems entirely wasteful. But, on the other hand, I crave security. Growth requires change. To grow a lot, you must change a lot. Changing means that your current status must change. You cannot remain in the same situation, mental, physical, spiritual, what have you, and still grow. Blargh.
How does this play out? Well, let me tell ya.
Basically, I love opposites. I love security, one end of the spectrum, but I love growth which requires change, the other end of the spectrum. I can't have both. Going to either end makes me either stagnant or continuously unsettled. Moderation is key but difficult because the line is so very difficult to find, and even then life circumstances can prevent the changes you desire.
I love the metaphor my dad told me when I first moved away to college. He told me I had become like a rootbound plant, one that has grown too big for its pot. The plant must be transplanted in order for it to continue growing to its potential. But the laborious move is not without trial for the plant. First, it must survive the initial change and then establish itself in its new surroundings. Finally, it can begin to grow more, perhaps even after a brief refraction period.
Truman was my first pot. Ack, that wasn't fun. The first few weeks were very tough emotionally, but I knew I could get through them what with my God-sent roommate and the wonderful support network I was beginning to build at the BSU. Everything was in place, and I knew it. It would just take time to adjust to the new life. And I did! Over time, Ryle 148 and later Missouri 4105 became my house, and my friends became my family. I created a new thriving life for my new pot.
I was set. And I was stagnating. I started taking those precious blessings for granted; I became bored and uninterested. How contemptible. *shakes head* I was an idiot. In my disinterest, I searched for something new, something different. A summer and internship in London? Great, I'll take it!
Wow, not now. Wonderful torrent of cold reality drenched me on Friday. Welcome to London, Laura Beth! You know no one and this time you don't know the city, the customs, the people, the Tube, the classes, the roads, the food, the money, and even your own schedule. You cannot see your family (except via webcam) for the next three months. Your friends are all back in the states. It's going to be difficult for you to attend church, at least for a while. Hey, you can't even get your ATM card to work so you're also basically cashless (new one on the way, though. I took out a cash advance on my credit card to tide me over and will be paying it off immediately online). G'luck, dear.
Yep, that's how I started this trip. A little down and out, but things are beginning to look up. My flatmates are nice, level-headed gals and we've formed a big group to go out and do things (Natural history museum, supper out, perhaps a trip outside London this weekend). The support network is beginning to form, not in the way it had at Truman, but it's still taking shape nonetheless. Late night blogging parties, deep-bellied laughs on the way to a restaurant, figuring out the Tube, anally keeping rats out of our flat. Experiencing London life together. It builds. Thank you, God. Thank you.
So on Saturday the weather in London was cloudy with a bit of light rain throughout the day. Laura Beth was much the same. Gloom and doom with a healthy dose of moisture in the eyes. Perhaps jet lag contributed some...Regardless, that day has passed and today along with it. Day by day I know the process will become easier. At first, they days are so long. But just as they continued to speed up at school, I imagine they will be much the same here (perhaps in a much shorter time period). Thank you for your continued prayers. This time is a difficult but necessary one. Takes a lot of discomfort to get out of a lot of stagnation. I love being forced to lean on God. It's a strange sort of beautiful pain.
This has been my most comforting verse, given to me by both my mother and grandmother. Wise women.
"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
- Deuteronomy 31:8
Here's the deal. I can't stand non-growth. Things that do not grow, change, or somehow show a positive benefit for the time they have existed (people, plants, couches, fake teeth, whatever) frustrate me to no end. Existing without becoming better in some way, whatever that way is, seems entirely wasteful. But, on the other hand, I crave security. Growth requires change. To grow a lot, you must change a lot. Changing means that your current status must change. You cannot remain in the same situation, mental, physical, spiritual, what have you, and still grow. Blargh.
How does this play out? Well, let me tell ya.
Basically, I love opposites. I love security, one end of the spectrum, but I love growth which requires change, the other end of the spectrum. I can't have both. Going to either end makes me either stagnant or continuously unsettled. Moderation is key but difficult because the line is so very difficult to find, and even then life circumstances can prevent the changes you desire.
I love the metaphor my dad told me when I first moved away to college. He told me I had become like a rootbound plant, one that has grown too big for its pot. The plant must be transplanted in order for it to continue growing to its potential. But the laborious move is not without trial for the plant. First, it must survive the initial change and then establish itself in its new surroundings. Finally, it can begin to grow more, perhaps even after a brief refraction period.
Truman was my first pot. Ack, that wasn't fun. The first few weeks were very tough emotionally, but I knew I could get through them what with my God-sent roommate and the wonderful support network I was beginning to build at the BSU. Everything was in place, and I knew it. It would just take time to adjust to the new life. And I did! Over time, Ryle 148 and later Missouri 4105 became my house, and my friends became my family. I created a new thriving life for my new pot.
I was set. And I was stagnating. I started taking those precious blessings for granted; I became bored and uninterested. How contemptible. *shakes head* I was an idiot. In my disinterest, I searched for something new, something different. A summer and internship in London? Great, I'll take it!
Wow, not now. Wonderful torrent of cold reality drenched me on Friday. Welcome to London, Laura Beth! You know no one and this time you don't know the city, the customs, the people, the Tube, the classes, the roads, the food, the money, and even your own schedule. You cannot see your family (except via webcam) for the next three months. Your friends are all back in the states. It's going to be difficult for you to attend church, at least for a while. Hey, you can't even get your ATM card to work so you're also basically cashless (new one on the way, though. I took out a cash advance on my credit card to tide me over and will be paying it off immediately online). G'luck, dear.
Yep, that's how I started this trip. A little down and out, but things are beginning to look up. My flatmates are nice, level-headed gals and we've formed a big group to go out and do things (Natural history museum, supper out, perhaps a trip outside London this weekend). The support network is beginning to form, not in the way it had at Truman, but it's still taking shape nonetheless. Late night blogging parties, deep-bellied laughs on the way to a restaurant, figuring out the Tube, anally keeping rats out of our flat. Experiencing London life together. It builds. Thank you, God. Thank you.
So on Saturday the weather in London was cloudy with a bit of light rain throughout the day. Laura Beth was much the same. Gloom and doom with a healthy dose of moisture in the eyes. Perhaps jet lag contributed some...Regardless, that day has passed and today along with it. Day by day I know the process will become easier. At first, they days are so long. But just as they continued to speed up at school, I imagine they will be much the same here (perhaps in a much shorter time period). Thank you for your continued prayers. This time is a difficult but necessary one. Takes a lot of discomfort to get out of a lot of stagnation. I love being forced to lean on God. It's a strange sort of beautiful pain.
This has been my most comforting verse, given to me by both my mother and grandmother. Wise women.
"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
- Deuteronomy 31:8
Across the Atlantic lies a large city...
Goodness, I made it. All the way across half the U.S. and the ocean to find my way into a dense concentration of humanity. Wow, it's surreal. As I walk the streets, I still can't quite believe I'm actually here. But I'm getting ahead of myself, let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start. When you read, you begin with 'A', 'B', 'C'. When you sing, you begin with 'do', 're', 'mi'.).
Alrighty, the very beginning is when my mom and I drove to my grandparents house in Kenosha, Wisconsin to spend the night on Thursday. We had a lovely visit, and I enjoyed having some quality time to chat with the grandparents before leaving. On Friday, grandma made a "send-off" lunch biscuits and gravy with all the fixins (scrambled eggs, sausage). Her biscuits are some of the best ever. Seriously, biscuits and gravy are my favorite breakfast item. After eating, mom and I took off for Chicago just an hour and fifteen minutes south.
Once we got the international terminal (the same one we used on the high school Spain/france trip), I went to the check-in counter and got my ticket all the while looking for orange tags on people's luggage. You see, my program provided us all with very distinctive stickers to put on our luggage so we could identify each other. Very helpful! I met a guy in the program already just by standing in line! Both of my bags made the weight limit at 19.4 and 19.5 kg. When I return I'm totally using Grandma's suggestion of wearing multiple layers to save room in the suitcases. After check-in, Mom didn't want to leave until after 6PM so we went to the food court, got some snacks (well, a salad meal for her. I had a raspberry sorbet sipper thingy) and talked for awhile. I told her I was more nervous than excited-- mostly because I didn't know anyone. At least with Truman I had an idea about life, but I knew almost nothing for this trip. But really, I figured others were in my position. Six o'clock finally rolled around, and it was time for mom to go. She asked me how I wanted to do it, and I said we should just say good-bye and I would get in the line for security and she'd leave right after that. We kissed, hugged, and said good-bye, mom offering reassurance as I waved and backed away. I didn't trust myself to speak; my voice would break tears had already welled up in my eyes. I turned around, set my tongue between my teeth, and stepped off with what I hoped was a resolute stride. After security, I looked back. Just as I had asked, she was gone.
(Even as I write this, the emotions are still more fresh than I'd like. I'd be hard pressed to explain away the moisture now filling my eyes.)
With that I had the confidence to keep walking to my gate. I neared and knew many of my fellow Missouri-London Programers would be there, so I took a seat next to people who looked my age. We got to talking and waited the hour and a half to board the plane. Take off was around 8:50PM for a flight time of 7 hours and 10 minutes arriving at about 4AM CST. I hoped I could get some sleep and mentally remembered where in my carry-on I had put my OTC sleeping pills. The flight crew passed out orange juice before we took off and came by with drinks shortly afterward along with some strange snacks called Taka Taks. Megan definitely wouldn't like them, and even I could barely take the Indian spices on those things. Hot! But I got 'em down anyway because I didn't know if we were getting supper. (Perhaps I should explain that we were flying with Air India-- the flight consisted of college kids and Indian families). We did get supper! I hadn't eaten since lunch at 1PM and it was then about 9:45PM.
Hm, that was the most interesting supper. I laughed aloud when one of the options was chicken curry (mom makes it at home-- her's is better than the airline's--which she wondered if they would serve). The rice was odd tasting, and there was this weird carrot cream stuff. The role and butter were good though! I closely watched an older Indian lady to see what to do, especially with the strange white glob sitting in my coffee cup. It turned out to be unsweetened, unflavored yogurt. Two years in a Sodexho cafeteria will teach you something though, so I took my sugar packet and sweetened the tart white glob thinking perhaps breakfast would be better. It was, with some fruit and a small croissant. Overall, I wasn't impressed with the food quality. American Airlines did a much better job three years ago.
Wow, I just couldn't find a comfortable position though. I blew up my inflatable neck pillow which helped a bit, but I probably got 2-3ish hours of intermittent sleep. The puzzle couple next to me didn't go to the bathroom the entire trip! On the flight I felt calm. The trip was going to work out, I didn't know how, but it would. As I would find out, that, perhaps, was the calm before a short storm.
Alrighty, the very beginning is when my mom and I drove to my grandparents house in Kenosha, Wisconsin to spend the night on Thursday. We had a lovely visit, and I enjoyed having some quality time to chat with the grandparents before leaving. On Friday, grandma made a "send-off" lunch biscuits and gravy with all the fixins (scrambled eggs, sausage). Her biscuits are some of the best ever. Seriously, biscuits and gravy are my favorite breakfast item. After eating, mom and I took off for Chicago just an hour and fifteen minutes south.
Once we got the international terminal (the same one we used on the high school Spain/france trip), I went to the check-in counter and got my ticket all the while looking for orange tags on people's luggage. You see, my program provided us all with very distinctive stickers to put on our luggage so we could identify each other. Very helpful! I met a guy in the program already just by standing in line! Both of my bags made the weight limit at 19.4 and 19.5 kg. When I return I'm totally using Grandma's suggestion of wearing multiple layers to save room in the suitcases. After check-in, Mom didn't want to leave until after 6PM so we went to the food court, got some snacks (well, a salad meal for her. I had a raspberry sorbet sipper thingy) and talked for awhile. I told her I was more nervous than excited-- mostly because I didn't know anyone. At least with Truman I had an idea about life, but I knew almost nothing for this trip. But really, I figured others were in my position. Six o'clock finally rolled around, and it was time for mom to go. She asked me how I wanted to do it, and I said we should just say good-bye and I would get in the line for security and she'd leave right after that. We kissed, hugged, and said good-bye, mom offering reassurance as I waved and backed away. I didn't trust myself to speak; my voice would break tears had already welled up in my eyes. I turned around, set my tongue between my teeth, and stepped off with what I hoped was a resolute stride. After security, I looked back. Just as I had asked, she was gone.
(Even as I write this, the emotions are still more fresh than I'd like. I'd be hard pressed to explain away the moisture now filling my eyes.)
With that I had the confidence to keep walking to my gate. I neared and knew many of my fellow Missouri-London Programers would be there, so I took a seat next to people who looked my age. We got to talking and waited the hour and a half to board the plane. Take off was around 8:50PM for a flight time of 7 hours and 10 minutes arriving at about 4AM CST. I hoped I could get some sleep and mentally remembered where in my carry-on I had put my OTC sleeping pills. The flight crew passed out orange juice before we took off and came by with drinks shortly afterward along with some strange snacks called Taka Taks. Megan definitely wouldn't like them, and even I could barely take the Indian spices on those things. Hot! But I got 'em down anyway because I didn't know if we were getting supper. (Perhaps I should explain that we were flying with Air India-- the flight consisted of college kids and Indian families). We did get supper! I hadn't eaten since lunch at 1PM and it was then about 9:45PM.
Hm, that was the most interesting supper. I laughed aloud when one of the options was chicken curry (mom makes it at home-- her's is better than the airline's--which she wondered if they would serve). The rice was odd tasting, and there was this weird carrot cream stuff. The role and butter were good though! I closely watched an older Indian lady to see what to do, especially with the strange white glob sitting in my coffee cup. It turned out to be unsweetened, unflavored yogurt. Two years in a Sodexho cafeteria will teach you something though, so I took my sugar packet and sweetened the tart white glob thinking perhaps breakfast would be better. It was, with some fruit and a small croissant. Overall, I wasn't impressed with the food quality. American Airlines did a much better job three years ago.
Wow, I just couldn't find a comfortable position though. I blew up my inflatable neck pillow which helped a bit, but I probably got 2-3ish hours of intermittent sleep. The puzzle couple next to me didn't go to the bathroom the entire trip! On the flight I felt calm. The trip was going to work out, I didn't know how, but it would. As I would find out, that, perhaps, was the calm before a short storm.
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