A Shift In the Weather

Today it got cold after being warm all week. It's even rumored that it could snow this weekend. Tomorrow we're going to London for the day, to see museums, and I want to see a show. We'll see what happens.

Today I had class, we talked about Mere Christianity in C.S. Lewis, again, wonderful. I love the discussions in that class.

And I've booked tickets to Spain and Germany. I'm going to Italy in April, but I'm waiting to get tickets. I'm going to Paris with the class, and I'm trying to figure out how to go to Scotland and Ireland. It turns out I might got to Ireland the weekend before St. Patrick's Day. That'd be fun.

Planning trips is so much work though, while trying to keep up with schoolwork and exploring Oxford. Although I know it's not worth complaining. I'm in Oxford! Sometimes I just have to remind myself that it's all so worth it.

I really am going to have to figure out interesting things to start posting as my days get more repetitive and routine.

A lot of people went to Battle of the Bands at St. Aldates tonight, so that's fun. I watched the end of Dead Poet's Society. I didn't really understand it though, because I missed the first half or so.

So: open question. I haven't figured out what to give up for lent because most of what I would give up, I already have by being here. I don't eat sweets here, or buy sodas. I already walk everywhere, I don't go to movies. I'm going to do the Purpose Driven Life with a group, but I'm not sure what else to do. I could give up caffeine, but in my desire to learn the culture, I was going to try to like tea. And I guess since I don't really like it, giving it up wouldn't do any good. If anyone has any ideas, let me know. I'm at a loss.

Two Weeks

So today I've been in Oxford for two weeks.

Not a whole lot happened. Slept in because of my lack of class, wandered around town for a while in and out of bookshops. Oh! I did have a really good chicken samosa or whatever it was called for lunch. I saw it in a storefront window and I was far from home and hungry, so I bought it. Mmmm. After I came back I finished Northern Lights (first in the Golden Compass series), read the first half of Mere Christianity, and read for my Intercultural Communication class, and started that paper. Still tonight I need to finish that paper, and translate a whole whopping ton of Greek. Oh well.

So tonight, while I was supposed to be doing that homework that I didn't do, I went over to the other house, house 9, and ended up watching a movie over there, Chocolat. It was really good.

I've also realized that I really love my hiking boots. They look kind of intense for just walking around, but they are so comfortable. I could just walk all day, which is good, because it feels like I do.

Oxford, Day 13

Yes, I know I skipped a day.

But yesterday was fairly uneventful. I slept in, ate lunch, finished homework, went to class, went to the grocery store, came home, ate dinner, read, and went to bed early.

Today I woke up, went to C.S. Lewis class which was good. We talked about the book "The Inklings" and more about Lewis himself. There was also a really cool discussion about philology (the study of words and languages), and the implications of the idea that words don't actually have any inherent relationship to the things they identify. From this stems the discussion about finding germs of truth in myths, and that if so many myths focus on a dying god, that maybe it actually happened once. Since myth was so important in Lewis' life, this idea played a role in his acceptance of Christianity.

Then I had some lunch, and went to my second class. For Oxford through the Ages we basically just go on field trips, and today we went to St. Michael's by the North Gate. It is the oldest tower in Oxford. It was pretty neat. Then we walked around town and saw different places where you could still see the original city wall.

After I came back, I had dinner, and then spent my evening planning a trip to Spain for the end of February.

As my days get more repetitive, I'll start actually thinking about things and posting some reflections. For now, I really need to catch up on school work, especially Greek. And everything else.

So I have so much to read. I have a lot of school books I need to read, the Golden Compass series that I just started, and all the books from home that I brought to read. I think I'm going to pick up the habit of always reading again. It's okay though, it made me sad this past year when I didn't read as much. I remember growing up and going to bed at ten but reading until two. But I will be keeping good sleep habits this semester. Health first.

I'll try to post something interesting tomorrow.

Oxford, Day 11

Okay, so yesterday I went to Salisbury and Stonehenge. Both were amazing. I woke up early, as in 6:30, to leave the house by 7:15, and be at the train station by 7:50. Our train left at 8. So after a few connecting trains, we got to Salisbury. We had to wait a while for our overpriced bus to Stonehenge, but we waited and paid anyways. We got to ride in a cool double decker bus through the rolling countryside, however, the bus was moving pretty fast...and parts of the ride seemed like an adventure.

Anyways, we got to Stonehenge, and it was really cool as well! Well, I mean, a lot cooler than the bus ride there was.


There's a lot of little details that I don't remember about the history, and sometime I'll have to look them up, but mostly I was in awe of these stone that were so huge and so old. A large part of the stones are underground, so you don't even see all of it. Plus, no one really knows why they were put there...adding to the mystery and mystique of the site. Chris Shim, a friend on the trip, is convinced that it was wizards. We are in England, the home of Harry Potter, after all.

After taking the bus back to town, we meandered to Salisbury Cathedral, home to the oldest working clock in England, and the tallest spire in England.


Now, if I could give my weekend any theme, I think that it would be: "Sorry, can we ask you to move out of the way of the camera?" While we were at the Cathedral, there was a wedding going on, and they only took up a small part of the church, but as the bride walked down the aisle, (we got to watch), we had to move out of the way of the videographers. It was really cool though.


The Cathedral itself was beautiful, and huge. After we left the Cathedral, we went in to the chapter house, where we got to see one of the four remaining copies of the Magna Carta. No pictures though. It was so strange to be looking right at it though. Everything here is so much older and has so much more history than stuff in America.

So after we left, we wondered around for a while, window shopped, and eventually went to a large very nice un-publike pub. At least, I think it was a pub, but I'm not really sure. But there I had my first English Fish and Chips. Mmmm. So good. I don't understand why that hasn't been my favorite meal all my life. Or maybe the English just do a better job at making English Fish and Chips.

So techno music is really big in Salisbury. The kids with the fancy cars who rev their engines all blast it, and most of the trendy stores play it.

So after dinner we went back to the train station and headed home. The trains were really crowded, and I had to stand on one of them. Then after a very fast paced walk home (I'm still not sure why we were walking so fast) we got back to the houses.

Alright - Today.

This morning I got up and went to the Anglican Cathedral for the Oxford Diocese, Christ Church Cathedral. It's connected to Christ Church College, one of the largest and richest college in the university. We went in, sat down in the gorgeous church, enjoyed some absolutely wonderful choral music from the boy's choir, and by Church of Christ friends saw some real Anglican tradition. A very sweet English lady sat down next to me, and when the service didn't start until five minutes after time, she explained why. Before time zones came into use, Oxford was five minutes behind London time, and for tradition's sake, the church still holds to "Oxford" time, which is five minutes later.

The sermon was by the college chaplain, and he preached about unity within the church. After the service, I asked him if we could walk around, and he started to show us a little of the church when one of the men in the church who knew a lot about the history walked up and asked if we would like a little tour. We never learned his name. He showed us the memorial to St. Frideswide, the patron saint of Oxford. She is buried somewhere in the Cathedral, although no one is sure exactly where. They also think that she began a church on the site of Christ Church around 710. That makes for one really old church site. Check out her story...it's very interesting. We also got into a very interesting discussion about American vs. British politics.

[Trivia: Can you find what is not quite right in this picture?]

Then I came back to the house and had lunch.

So I just heard that one of my professors saw Emma Watson in town yesterday. I'm so jealous! Apparently she lives and goes to school here in Oxford!

[Edit] The rest of the day:

The rest of the day was somewhat uneventful, until I realized that I could not find my passport. I stressed out. But then I found it and it was much better. Then I went to 9 at 9, our Sunday chapel for school, and it was wonderful. When you but 36 people in a small room and worship, it sounds so amazing. I was kinda in awe a little.

Then after 9 at 9, I went to talk to some of the professors about a book I needed to read for one of my classes that I couldn't find. For this project, everyone had a different book. We each have to read a book set in Oxford, and write a paper about it. Well, all in all, it worked out great, because now I get to read the Golden Compass series for my project! I'm super excited. Well, my paper's only on the second one, but I'll end up reading them all. I've heard lots of different things about the books, and I'm so excited to get to read them! It was by the grace of God and the grace of my teacher that he let me do this...he wasn't going to let anyone. Yay!

So that was today. Now on to tomorrow.

Oxford, Day 10

Today...(or tonight as it is right now in Oxford) I'm going to sleep.

Stonehenge was amazing, as was Salisbury. I had my first English fish and chips today, and they were amazing. But after two days of non-stop walking, I need a good night's sleep.

So tomorrow will come wonderful stories and pictures. But not at this very moment.

Oxford, Day 9

So, don't believe any of that stuff about me not posting. Apparently I lied. Because here I am!

So, today, I went to Bath, England. It was wonderful. We woke up early, packed lunches, and walked to the train station. After a few train switches, we got to Bath, where we first proceeded to the main attraction, the Roman Baths. We spent most of our time there.

They were pretty cool, the water kinda bubbled up sometimes and it was nice and steamy. However, there was a BBC film crew there for a TV series called Bonekickers. I wandered out as they were about to film...so I got a nice view point of the scene.

So after we left the Baths, we ate our packed lunches, and then went to Bath Abbey. It was very pretty.
And we saw this really cool cope too! It was awesome.
Then we walked around, saw some more cool architecture, some really cool parks, and the botanical gardens. We searched in vain for the fabled Jane Austen house...but it was nowhere to be found. So then we decided to come back. However, on the way back to the train station, Becky, one of my roommates, lost her camera. However, after a frantic city-wide search, Praise God, we found it. So then we too the several trains back, and decided to go eat dinner here in Oxford. I finally went to a pub! It worked out a lot better this time. And it was delicious.

I was so glad that our first out of Oxford outing went well. Now I just have to figure out what I'm doing for the next three of my travel breaks. I know for the fourth one I'm going to Italy...but I'm not sure what to do with the first three. That's my project for the weekend besides homework. Oh, and seeing Stonehenge as well. I'm not sure things ever really get unstressfull...there's always something to do.

For now, I'm going to get a good night sleep, see Stonehenge tomorrow...and pray that everything comes together. Sunday will be a day to rest and plan.

Oxford, Day 8

So as I was reading some British news today, from the Times Online, I found this very funny article written about the PMQ's yesterday. If you haven't seen them, you might not get it all, but it's still funny. Click here to read it.

Anyways, so today I woke up for class, and we discussed Surprised by Joy, by C.S. Lewis. While it is a "tedious" read sometimes, it's really wonderful.

After class I had some lunch and then was waiting to go to the train station with a group to get tickets to Bath, England. however they were nowhere to be found, so when another group invited me to go with them to Stonehenge, I accepted, and walked with them to the train station to get tickets. Well it turns out that the group going to Stonehenge was going on Saturday, and the group going to Bath was going on Friday, so I figured that if I met up with the group going to Bath at some point, I could do both. So we got our discounted group tickets to Stonehenge, and as we were walking back, I was almost home, and we met up with the Bath group headed to the train station. So I walked back. I probably spent close to two hours just walking to and from the train station today. But it was worth it. And now I have two nice day trips, and I'll be back here for Sunday! And I get to sleep in my bed all weekend too. I think that's just wonderful.

So while I probably won't be writing much on Friday or Saturday, you can bet come Sunday or Monday, I'll have some stories to tell. Hopefully they'll be cool stories, but they will at least be stories.

I love the telephone booths here!

Anyways, I've spent most of the rest of the evening working on homework, although I still have Sunday and most of Monday to do school as well, as my next class is Monday afternoon.

My next book for my C.S. Lewis is kind of cool, because the book isn't sold in the United States. The book is The Inklings...hopefully it will be an interesting read.

Another interesting news article I was reading was about the huge problem of obesity in Britain. I should say that I don't even think I've seen anyone overweight. And the picture for the news story looked to me like someone slightly overweight, but not obese. I guess I should have known with how little sugar or preservatives they had in their food that they were super concerned with health. Which, I mean, is a good thing. But it's so different from America.

So the sun was out almost all day today. It was kinda strange.

Oxford, Day 7

One Week!
That's how long I've been in Oxford. It doesn't seem like that's a long time. But I feel like I've been here for a while. Maybe that's just because a lot has happened.

So today I didn't have any class. I woke up and went to the market in town, and got some fresh fruit. My favorite vendor was on the back corner of the square, and he sang a lot. He also called all of the elderly women "young lady" and made them smile, and called people "love".

After that I came back to the house and had some cereal and an apple for lunch. After lunch, we gathered and watched the Prime Minister's Questions in house 9, the one with the TV. (Note: have I said anything about the TV tax? If I haven't I should now. They tax like, 100 pounds or something a year to own a TV. And they have this van that drive around detecting TV emissions, and if you haven't paid your tax and theres a TV emission coming from your house, they'll come and fine you.)

Anyways, back to watching the Prime Minister's Questions, or PMQ's. It's not at all like Presidential scripted speeches, these are very unscripted, and very lively. They're a lot of fun to watch. From that I got my new favorite word, "dodgy", as in, "What a dodgy deal this is!" -quote from PMQ's. So if you've never watched them, you should. I think they archive them on BBC. Don't watch them live in the states...it'd be on at 6am.

Also, a nice quote from Mr. Cameron, the leader of the opposition: "The Prime Minister will not tell us how much taxpayers are in for or how long they will have to wait to get their money back. It is like a used car salesman who will not tell someone the price, will not tell them the mileage, and will not give them a warranty." That was a humorous quote.

Then I went walking with the intent to get a really expensive sweatshirt on High Street, but then after I got there, I decided I didn't want to, so I walked back. It was a very nice walk. I saw the bagpipe player again, and smiled.

After the walk, we had a travel meeting, where they gave us some more tips about traveling. I think this weekend I'm going to go to Bath. That should be fun! So we talked for a little while about that, and then I came back and made dinner. I felt a little sad because everyone was making really fancy dinners, and I wasn't. Oh well. Mine was ready a lot faster. And it was still tasty.

FlashMob - Oxford - Cornmarket Street

So I walk down this street everyday. I also think that this video is highly amusing. So you get a taste of what I see everyday, and some entertainment. How much more could you ask for?

Oxford, Day 6

Tomorrow a week will have past since I've been here. Only a week and a whole week. I'm starting to get a little homesick, and starting to feel some of the distance between here and what I'm used to. Now at the same time as getting adjusted I have homework to do. I need to make a schedule for myself, so that I know what's going on, and so that I have structure.

Today I had my first C.S. Lewis class and my first Oxford Through the Ages class. Both went over mostly the logistics of the class, and let out early. Tomorrow I don't have any class, and when I set myself a schedule, I hope to be able to do some of my service hours on Wednesdays. Until I figure out how to fit in all of my group classes, my classes on my own, my service hours, my exploration of Oxford, and my travel elsewhere, and my budget, I think I will continue to feel stressed. Or maybe it will just continue anyways.

All of my classes sound good, and I think that I will learn a lot and enjoy them all, but it feels harder to keep up with classes and homework (from the two days I've had to tell) when there's so much interesting history right outside your door.

Today is the first day that I've really been homesick. I've missed home a little bit before, but I think the newness of everything around me kept it away some. Now the work sets in, and I remember what I miss.

Anyways, after class let out early this afternoon, I went downtown to try and get the other books that I needed. I found one, but was completely unsuccessful in finding the other anywhere. On the way home though, I saw some Mormon missionaries on the sidewalk. So Holly and I stopped to talk to them. One was from Norway, the other was from Washington State. I asked them how long they had been on their missions, and they seemed so surprised that I even knew about that. They were even more surprised that I knew about Mormon church and basically the setup of Mormonism. (A lot of that is thanks to Scott.) But I had a nice talk with them, and then continued on my way home.

We tried to go to a pub tonight for dinner, but we didn't want to spend very much money. So we went to one pub at 5:30, but they said they didn't serve dinner until 7. So we walked around, found that by looking in the windows, most pubs don't serve dinner until 7. So then we went to G&D's the ice cream shop that also sells sandwiches, but they were too crowded that we wouldn't have been able to sit down. So we came back to the house for a while, then returned to the first pub at 7. However, it was still deserted when we got there, and we couldn't find any dinner menus. So, we came back to the house and made our own dinner.

Oxford, Day 5

So today I got to sleep in until 11 because everyone else has the Humanities class in the morning that I don't have. After I got up and had lunch, I went for a walk, and then we walked downtown for out INTS class in a room we rented from St. Aldates. I think this is the biggest group they've ever had here, so we don't really all fit comfortably into any of the rooms in the house, so they had to rent a room for that class. It was mostly logistics and what the class would be about. It doesn't seem like it will be that bad.

Just before we started to head home, it started raining. Not drizzling like it normally does, but get really wet rain. So that was a cold wet walk home.

Home!

When we got back, it was after 5, so I made some pasta for dinner, and then a little after dinner I went with Karissa and Holly to G&D's, a really neat ice cream place that's open until midnight (everything shuts down at like 6, even earlier than in Abilene), and they have lots of different stuff to eat besides ice cream. But I had some chocolate ice cream, and it was delicious. A little on the pricey side, but sooo good.

Now for some interesting culture notes. There seem to be more people who smoke here than I remember smoking in the States. Also, all of the police cars and public service workers are in neon green or yellow. I thought that that was interesting.

Oxford, Day 4

So this morning Holly and I woke up to go to church. We walked downtown to go to St. Aldates, and on the way down I was describing to Holly some Anglican traditions so that she would understand more of what was going on. Well, she didn't end up needing any of it. Maybe if I had described to her the way the Baptist church I attend in Abilene works she would have been better off. Something was different right from the start. The building is structured like a traditional Anglican church, much like my Cathedral at home. However, there was a stage and a portable altar set up on the side wall, and instead of many smaller rows facing the front of the church, there were less longer rows facing the side. No one was in robes, which didn't bother me, and at first I thought that this would be like the River service that I attend in Dallas. However, after five or six worship songs, I knew that something was different.

Now let me stop for a minute and make a clarification. The worship was wonderful. It was spirit filled, God-centered, and very moving. It did remind me of Beltway Baptist in Abilene. And I love Beltway. That's one of the reasons why I go there. But Beltway is not Anglican. And neither was the format of this church. Not that that is in any way a bad thing. I loved the service, but I want to find something that shows me the root of where my church got its traditions.

Back to the service. After a confession that sounded something very like what my high school youth minister Nate would have created, and some extended worship, including some led by the children with hand motions, we moved directly into the announcement and then the sermon. The sermon was wonderful. The speaker was engaging, and he talked about worship, and the point of worship. It was a powerful message, full of truth. After the sermon, we moved directly into Communion. The rector (they don't call him priest, and he's in plain clothes) blesses the bread and the wine with a few of the lines from the Book of Common Prayer (Anglican/Episcopalian Prayer Book), but not many, most of them are different. I didn't see any BCP's in the church. After communion (which had a separate line with grape juice and glutton free bread), we finished the last song, the rector prayed a blessing over us, and we left.

For the kind of service that it was, it was wonderful. However, while in Oxford, I really want to experience some of the wonderful liturgy that the city and country has to offer.

After church, we went to the Eagle and Child, but it was full, so we decided to try again another time. After that, I came back, had a sandwich, and took a nice nap.

God of Justice

So...this has been on my heart. Do we do what we say? Do our theology and lives line up? I've been passing the homeless in downtown Oxford. I've been to third world countries. I work with an organization for victims of domestic violence. One of the things I love about this video is that it's convicting on all sides. I've seen some with the same song just about the homeless, or just about Africa, but there is so much need in our world.

I am called to reach out, to serve, to be Christ to the world. I don't always do that. And I understand that a lot of the time, what will help people most is not to just give them handouts. But something needs to be done. So forgive the sometimes "cheesyness" of the video...it's something that is deeply affecting my thoughts and my heart right now.

Oxford, Day 3

So I slept in again today, and then Holly and I went for a walk. In fact, on our map of Oxford, our house is at the top, to the left. We walked off the bottom left corner of our map, and kept walking for a while. We made it to what is the "Ethnic" or shady part of town. We also went to the cheap store for clothes, Primark, kind of like a huge Ross in the US.

In the shady part of town, we also found several British adult entertainment stores. So much for that romantic view of Oxford.

On our way home from our trip off the map, we passed a guy playing the bagpipes. He was amazing. We stopped and listened to him for a while. In the two full days we've been here, I've passed a bagpipe player, and saxophone player, a violinist with a piano, and a guy playing guitar and singing. All on one street.

We also went to University Park, but we didn't get very far. University parks is this huge area with sports fields and tons of trees and paths. We turned around and went pack though because we had already been walking for three hours.



















Another exciting experience was that I found Frosted Wheats cereal. Hardly any of their cereal has any sugar at all. Almost everything they have is healthy too. They don't make their food with preservatives either. I also discovered that they have Subway here too. And Burger King, McDonald's, KFC, Borders, and Blockbuster. But all of those places are very expensive.

We made sandwiches for lunch, and on the way back we stopped at On The Hoof for an afternoon snack/dinner. I discovered in my online searches the On The Hoof is an English phrase that means to be spontaneous. Interesting fact # 237 of the day.

That's How You Know

This is from the movie "Enchanted". I love this movie, and this is one of my favorite scenes. It makes me happy, and happy things are good and needed in Oxford. I love rainy weather, and I love cool weather, but the lack of sun is sometimes just a little sad. So here's something to counteract.

Oxford, Day 2

So after finally making it to bed last night, I got to sleep in this morning, as it appears I will most of the time, my only morning class is at 10:30, and that's only two days a week. Plus I have no Friday classes. I will however, have to do a whole lot of work on my own time, with Intercultural Communication and Greek. There's so much walking to do here. I walked for around three and a half hours today. I also learned the practicality of a hat with a brim. It keeps the nearly constant drizzle out of your eyes. So I bought one today, and it helped.

It's interesting, because no one really clumps here. Everyone walks in one or twos. I've only seen one group of three. I haven't taken many pictures yet, I'm trying to stay away from the touristy look while I get adjusted. I already stand out enough. I'll try to take and post some tomorrow though.

One of my goals for the semester is to pray Compline at our Sunday night chapel, and it already looks like it's going to happen!

So, time for some more interesting differences about Oxford. The best grocery store I've found, or the one most like an American grocery store and not like a corner market, is in the English version of the mall. I'm not sure it's called that. I think it's called a "centre". But it's a mall. And hopefully in a few days we'll get papers that will allow us to get a library card.

It kind of surprised me to see that there are homeless people in Oxford. I guess I had a romantic view of the city, and not so much a realistic one. But there are homeless people, and even some young homeless, about my age.

Sleeping arrangement wise, the beds are very comfortable. They have mattress pads on them, and though the pillows are not all that, I brought my own very comfortable one, so it all works out wonderfully.

I bought a pay as you go cell phone today, and found out that is less that half as expensive to call a US land line than is is to call anything in the UK. It's 6p (pence, kind of like a penny) to call the US, and 15p to call Britain. I thought that was strange.

The Evil Eye Baby

I saw this on america's funniest home videos before I left. I laughed so hard, I thought I would share.

Getting to Oxford.

So today we arrived in Oxford. I am so excited, but it is a change. We took a charter bus from Abilene to DFW, flew 8 hours from DFW to London, and then took a "coach" (a charter bus) from London to Oxford. After moving into the houses, we went on a "short" walk that lasted three hours. Getting groceries is hard, because the grocery store is a good walk away, and all of the groceries have to be carried back. On the way back from the grocery store, I walked past the Eagle and Child (the pub where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien met with the other inklings), discovering that it's only a few blocks from my house. It's also interesting to realize that I live near so much history. The meadow down the street hasn't had anything built on it since at least the 1000's, and probably longer. People were martyred on these streets. Everything around me has a story. However, I'll have to remember more of the details later. Everything is slightly blurred from jet lag.