Shower Heads and Libby

So luckily I got up fairly well today. I was still in my pajamas at 10:30 when there was a knock on my door. My first thought was that it was room check (they check to make sure our rooms are still occupied every week). But room check is on Tuesday, it's Monday. So I answered the door. Here was a very nice older man standing in the hallway. He said he was here to fix my shower. I was so excited. But I was still in my pajamas. So he gave me a minute. Then he proceeded to fix my shower. There is so much water coming out of my shower head now that I can't believe it. There is water coming out of all the little holes in the shower head. I'm so happy. I can't wait to take a shower with normal amounts of water coming out of it. It's going to be so good.

It has also been a very productive day. I got a lot done. And that makes me happy. But we divided up parts for our group presentations on Friday. I have a 50 line monologue to memorize, plus the rest of the scene. So I'll be working hard on that.

I also have a girls night for Nooma tomorrow night. We are going to make sugar cookies and pizza. We will watch some movies. I invited my friend Libby to come. Libby isn't a Christian so I thought this would be a good thing to invite her to, to kind of ease her into a Christian environment. But I don't know if she is going to come. We will see. So if you have a spare minute and want to pray for something, pray that Libby will come, and if not to this one, to the next one. Libby has had some bad experiences with Christians in the past and is a bit resistant to it (though she said when she does go to church she likes going to Quaker meetings, interesting). So hopefully I can be God's worker in her life. That she will become a Christian. I know that it's not going to happen over night, but maybe over the next year something can happen. But God knows best, and I'll trust him and try to do his will as best I can.

Exhausted but Good for the Soul

I have been tired since Wednesday. I have slept normal hours. I have taken naps whenever possible. But I'm still tired. Maybe it's my age. I have finally reached the age where I can no longer sustain the staying up late/sleeping in late way of life that I love, and now I have to resolve to be more of a morning person than I ever want to be. I just don't want to be tired. I woke up this morning and my stomach didn't like me. I don't know if I've talked about Fresher's Flu before or not, but instead of the freshman fifteen like we have in the states, they have fresher's flu. Everyone gets sick and pukes their guts out at some point in the beginning of the year. I have so far been able to avoid it. I hope to avoid it being really bad for the rest of the year. Many of my friends have been sick enough to stay in bed for days on end. But with a little bit of exposure and some good hand washing and some prayer, I hopefully won't get sick. Please, Lord?

There were two birthdays in my course this week. We went to an Indian place to eat supper one day and then to a Devon Cream Tea on the other. It was good to commune with my fellow course-mates outside of class. I like the people that are in the course. Jeremy is now my official un-official brother in England. He wouldn't let me walk home by myself the other night and gave me a bit of lecture. He also gave me a hug, but one of the side-hugs that I don't know really constitute a hug. Abby is my supernaturally connected twin, somehow, I don't really know how. But we get called each other all the time, even her fiance mistook my facebook status as her's and wrote me a very sweet note, but wasn't really for me, but for Abby. We got a good laugh out of it. I think that Libby is going to be a good friend for our time here. She is the one that has gotten me addicted to Doctor Who, and lets me come over to watch episodes. It's good. I can also give her hugs and she is totally cool with that. I like hugs. Katie and I both love cribbage. We are planning a tournament/teaching session with the others. We are going to skunk them, literally. I don't know exactly how this turned into a "meet my course-mates" kind of paragraph. But maybe I'll stop there and continue another day.

I love you all and miss you! Let me know how things are going where ever you are.

Jane Lapotaire- The Sweethart

Jane Lapotaire, a famous Shakespearean actress, came and gave us a lecture/tutorial (I don't fully understand the workings of the English University, so don't ask the difference, cause I don't know). The 1st years were all like "what's it going to be like?" I think that the 2nd years built it up to be a bit more terrifying and intimidating than it really was. They said she's tough, but you just have to remember that it's to help you not to hurt you. I think I prepared for the worst.

Now I don't get a lot of the "oh she's a big name, she's a big star" mentality. She's a human, just like me. So I had that going for me. But I usually like to know what is going on, so I can prepare myself as best I can. And I had no idea what it was going to be like. So I prepared as best I could on my Lady Anne monologue.

She came in and was charming and so very nice. She told us about herself. Then we sat in a circle and just said our monologues out loud to ease us into it, and she took notes. I did my bit and we moved on to the next person. Then she went around and gave us her notes. She reminded us all to look for the antithesis in the lines, she helped me figure out a scansion in a line where I had the stress on the wrong syllable (this woman can listen to it once and know what we are doing wrong scansion wise, it was amazing) and she told me I was hitting my words and making it kind of stacatto, which I agreed with.

The funny thing is that she thought I was terrified of her. I had spaced out for a couple of seconds and when I looked up she said "you look absolutely terrified, let me tell you something to make you laugh." So she told us a story about Edmund Kean and continued on the way. During the break Libby told me that she was absolutely terrified. Libby's not an actor, she's a director, so she's not quite as used to the pressure and the feeling of being torn down to be made better. So I said a little prayer for her while she was working with Jane.

The second half of class we put it on it's feet. She pointed out somethings that were cool, like "playing the opposite" (she didn't call it that, but that's what it was), and making sure that we get the main sentence and thoughts together (cause Shakespeare liked little side notes). When I got up there she talked to me about the moment before and being able to take that moment before into our monologues.

Then she told me I have lovely eyes, which was a nice compliment, she also told me earlier that I had a lovely smile. Maybe she was just being nice to me cause she thought I was terrified. When I got up there my heart began to race. I had no idea why that happened. But I just stopped myself and said "you've done this kind of thing thousands of times with other people, it's the same thing". And then I started and I was fine. She helped me break thoughts into thoughts and reminded me that Lady Anne is a threat, she has power and to use that. It was good. I had nothing to be worried about. I wish that she would come around more often. She was very nice. She bought us all a drink afterward at the pub.

It was a good experience. I think now that I need to go to bed. That was exhausting!

An Island in the Shadow of a Continent

So there is always something that makes me feel a bit lonely after coming home from ECU. Maybe it's the fact that I go by myself and leave by myself. Maybe its the fact that I have yet to sit by someone I know. Maybe it's watching the people talk to each other and laugh, while I miss my friends and family at home. I want to laugh with those people again. Maybe it me pitying myself. If it is the latter, it needs to stop. But I feel very disconnected from that Christian family. I wish I was more outgoing, more comfortable talking to others I don't know, more inviting.

I should go hand out potatoes tonight, but I'm not going to go cause I'm behind in my reading for the week. I think I'm also getting a bit nervous about our workshop with Jane Lapotaire, a famous RSC actor. As long as I don't have to go first with my monologue, which I haven't worked on yet, I should be fine with the nerves. But she is also just another person, not some god or anything, but a human, like me. She just has loads more experience than I do. I guess I'll let you all know how it goes.

Highlights

I'm sorry that I have dropped off the face of the earth for a couple of days. A couple of days weren't worth writing about, cause nothing really happened. A quick synopsis of my day are as follows:

Became addicted to the more recent Doctor Who, an English television show full of fun and wonder.

Working on a grant application that is due Monday/Wednesday.

Found out that I have amazing friends!

Went to the pub with some of my course mates and bonded with them.

Started working on my first scene presentation for class.

Tried to call home and failed.

Learned to walk like Commedia Del Arte characters, which was extremely fun, especially the lowest status character, that was my favorite!

Played a game called Zip, Zap, Boing, which I thought was going to be like Zip, Zap, Zog and was horribly disappointed. But it is a fun game.

Yeah, that is the excitement of the past few days.

Birthday, Potatoes, and Voting

I know these all seem to be very unrelated, but it could possibly be very related. Like someone who wants potatoes while celebrating their birthday and getting to vote on that day too. No that didn't happen to me, it's just want I want to tell you about. If anything gets boring, or stupid, just let me know.

My birthday was yesterday. I had fears that it would be a lonely day filled with me missing home and familiar faces all day. But it wasn't. The only thing really disappointing about my day was the shower in my room. It can't be called a shower cause it only drips in a small amount that would take 1/2 an hour to get my hair wet. But English water pressure is another story for another time.

I had class for a couple of hours. We are going to put on Much Ado About Nothing in January/February as a traveling tour (like I don't have enough experience in that). So we meet once a week to read through it and do some activities. Like we had a small section working with the word "break" Act I sc I ln 300-315ish. We performed it regularly, then mimed it, then put the words back in. Let me tell you, it's hard to work with Riverside Complete Works. It's a huge book!

After class we watched Henry V, the Lawrence Olivier version. Dude! I think we made more fun of it than we did pay attention to it. We had to watch it for class tomorrow. After the movie was done. The gave me cupcakes (or fairy cakes as the call them here) with a candle in it and sang to me and gave me a card. They were all very sweet and kind to me. I went to ECU last night also. I felt myself loosening up, which is a good thing.

Then I went to hand out potatoes again. I have told myself all week that I need to go. I was geared up for it, ready to have some conversation. It was a very slow night. There were only four of us there handing out potatoes and not many people at the club. I stayed by the car again. I did have some short conversations with people and got a couple of hugs from some drunk people. It was an okay night. I think that I have to warm up to this. It's an environment that I'm not used to and I'm around people that I don't know (and that scare me like the extremely drunk man last night). I found that before Sarah came, Sarah is amazing at conversation with other people, I was more outgoing than after she came. Not that she is a bad influence, she is a very good influence and someone that I greatly respect. But maybe knowing that there are others out there that can easily have conversations makes me sit back and say I can serve in another way. Cause we all don't have the same gifts, and trying to use what someone else is good at overlooks the gifts I have been given to serve in other ways. Does that make sense?

Oh, and I voted today! I just have to send the ballot in. Yay for absentee ballots and mothers that send you packages!!!! (My Ma sent me a great package today. It had so many goodies in it, including frosted sugar cookies!!! YUM!)

Dartmoor

Sorry that I didn't post this yesterday. But I was so tired when I got back. We were supposedly supposed to get back at 6pm. We didn't get back until 10pm. But there were some complications, like people's cars not working, that delayed us from getting started. I rode in a car with Daz, Rachel, Ben and Liv. It was good times. The road we took to get there was a B road. If you think about a county road, paved but just wide enough to have two cars, that is a B road. Although, there were a couple of times where it was like a glorified one way road. We even met a tractor pulling hay, so it was kind of like home.

When we finally got everyone together in one place, two of the cars needed to get gas, so they left some of us by the "river" (I would call is a stream) until they got back. For the first time I pulled my "I'm an American" card to aid some ladies in making it to the toilets. There was a wedding going on at the inn we stopped at to get tea, so we didn't really have access to the space. But me, being an American, having to go to the bathroom decided to use their facilities anyway. Liv and Rachel also needed to go, when I came out they asked me if I used the restroom in the inn. I said yes of course. I'll tell you where it is. They, being English, said that's okay, I can't go in there now. But I finally persuaded them that it was okay and I would go with them and they can blame it all on me, the American, if we got into any kind of trouble, which we didn't. Hopefully I don't have to use that card again for a while.

Then we finally started our hike. I don't know how far we walked, but we started on a path and then kind of found our way from there. We were along the stream the whole time, so we couldn't get lost. I saw many a sheep. There were eve some for up-close-and-personal viewing, if you like sheep that much. When we got off the path we started to climb over some rocks. Then the rocks started to become covered in moss. When I looked up we were in a wooded area. (see picture above.) It was so beautiful in there. I could have taken more pictures in there.

Then the person with the map, Rob and el presidente of Nooma, decided we should cross the stream. Now I have to give the stream some credit. You can't just jump across this stream, and it's very cold. So we walk through a small bog to get to the stream and the guys are just jumping from stone to stone, having a great time. I just want to get to the other side. So I just find my own way over.

Then we have the choice to head back along the stream, through the bog, or we can climb the tore. I think yeah, let's climb the tore. Well, a tore is a huge hill, like huge! The guys at the front start running up this hill. I don't know how they did it, but they did. By the time I got halfway up my heart was pounding in my ears. It was steep and so tall. But I finally made it to the top. And it was totally worth it. Being on top made me think of Nebraska and the plains. It was so good. (Pic #2 is at the top of the tore.)

Then we had to make it down the hill before the sun set, we were kind of pushing it. The guys in the lead decided that it would be good to cut back across the stream. So they headed down the hill. Well about half way down it turned into a bog again. My shoes had stayed relatively dry until this point. There was some knobby grass that you can stand on, but you slide off of it very easily. So my feet were submerged in muddy, boggy water a couple of times. And I fell over once or twice. So at the bottom of the hill we have to cross the stream again. The guys say "you have to jump here, we went up stream a bit and couldn't find anywhere to cross." I looked about seven feet up stream and there was a perfectly good place to cross. So I did, while everyone else jumped. I was quite proud of myself for that one. The last pic is when we were almost back to the cars. All the bushes on the hillside there are prickely and very nasty. I had two slivers, for lack of a better word, in my hand by the time we left. Very dangerous.

After we got back to the cars we went to a nearby town, Wincombe, and ate at a pub there. It was a bit awkward, cause I didn't sit anywhere near the other girls, they were tucked away in the corner booth, while I was on the end. The guys around me didn't talk to me a whole bunch, they were nice, and polite. We talked about American politics a bit. But I was tired and had just eaten, and thus very sleepy. But it was a wonderful day. I would do that again in a heart beat.

Phones

I'm going to Dartmoor National Park tomorrow. We are doing a 6.5mile walk. Here is a picture of Dartmoor.

So I have been looking at phones for the last week trying to figure out if I really need one or not, and if I could get away with not getting one. Everyone in my course and that I have made friends with have told me to get a phone. So I went with Libby, a girl in my course, and we went down to city centre to look around. I felt that there was some sense of security to have some one there with me. We ended up both getting phones and a good plan to go along with it. So I have a phone now. They do a thing here called top up, which is like pay as you go phones. I'm so used to having an amount of minutes each month that will last me forever and not have to worry about it. Now I have to keep track. But I do have international calling for 4p a minute. It should be good. (Disclaimer: Just because I have them, doesn't mean that you can call me ALL the time.) The guy that helped us out pretty much gave us 20 pounds worth of free minutes and the free international SIM card. Yeah, I have two cards that I put in my phone underneath my battery, one for UK calls and one for international cards. It's pretty nifty, as long as I don't lose either one of them. But I have a phone. I can get in touch with the real world across the pond without having to use the Internet. I'm somewhat excited to use it.

First Day of School

So I've been here for a week and a half and I finally started my classes today. I was very excited. Not that I haven't been to school before. It's just that this is so different. The English school system is different and the drama department (I don't like to use the word drama, but that is another story, I'm in England-I have to deal with it) is very relaxed to a point where sometimes you don't know what you are doing.

One class today was Shakespeare and his Contemporaries. This class is supposed to meet on Monday afternoons, and Thursday and Friday mornings. But this is also a postgrad/undergrad class. Mick separates us most of the time, and usually have a one hour lecture with everyone. Today was the one hour lecture. It was interesting. We had to read Dr. Faustus for today. There were some things that are in there that were really cool to have pointed out. For instance, the words "falling to" not only mimics Faustus falling into hell and away from God, but it was also used, in Elizabethean time with food. You would fall to a banquet. Interesting imagery. I think that this class will be tough. We have to read two plays a week. Our other one, which I finished at 2:30am yesterday, is Tamburlaine. That is another story. We, the postgrads, will have presentations and scenes to present every week. Dude!

My other class today was Post-war Shakespeare/Prompt book work stuff. We had to read an article on marxist ideology and Shakespeare. I didn't really get much of it until today when ideology was explained to me. We spent the rest of the class talking about things that didn't really fit into the article topics and about our trip to Stratford-upon-Avon in March. We get to go M-F and used the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Library which is filled with all kinds of goodies that we get to use. We are going to pick one play and research the prompt books they have there from 1945-present day. I'm very excited. We get to pick whatever play we want to. So I need to think about what I want to do. I think that Titus Andronicus would be very interesting to see what they did with all the blood and hands being cut off in the past. But that also might be one that is hard to find. So I have to think about it.

That was my first day of grad school. This will be an interesting time academically. I don't know what to think of everything yet. But it will get easier, I hope, and hopefully get better. But only God knows what is going on. I think that I'll let it rest there for a long while, it's safer than in my own.

Reading and Jacket Potatoes

So the school work has begun and I haven't officially had any classes yet. I just got done reading Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine, one of two plays due for the week. And I really didn't like the protagonist at all. I felt no pity for him. He should have died sooner. But I guess that it wouldn't be a play without the protagonist. I'm also trying to wrap my head around being back in school. I read an article today where I didn't understand most of what was being said. Hopefully it will be revealed in class, through discussion I'm sure. But I am excited about going to class.

One of the societies that I joined on campus is called Nooma. Every week they stand outside of one of the clubs in town (I think that there are like two or three of them) and hand out jacket potatoes (or baked potatoes as we would say). I like the image in my head of a potato wearing a red or green jacket. But anyway, Kiri invited me to come. I didn't have anything better to do, so I said yes. Basically what happens is that we ask people if they want a free jacket potato and then just chat with them. They are usually a bit tipsy, so evangelizing hard core probably would work out so well. But we befriend them, tell them about Nooma TV and meetings on Wednesday.

Candy, bless her, tried to get me to go and talk to people more. I liked staying by the car, cause we used Daz's trunk as a serving table. (Side note: Isn't Daz one of the greatest English names out there? I love it. Jamie and Kevin should use it for a boy's name- Daz Kevin Neth. Yeah?) I like doing things for people. I would have made everyone a potato if I could have. But the talking is also big part of it. It makes me uncomfortable. Then I realized that I wasn't called to be comfortable, but to serve in whatever way Christ calls me to serve. Sometimes it might be making the potatoes, but some day, some hour, some minute it will be to go and talk. I have to be ready. I have to be willing. I have to put Christ's call on my life first and not my own comforts. So next time I go out handing out the jacket potatoes with Nooma I'm going to try and talk to people more. I guess the rest is in God's hands.

A Short Story, I Promise

So last Friday I didn't have to get up early for anything. So I slept in, hoping that the water pressure would be better if I did. So I got up and around. When I was almost done in the shower I heard a knock on the door. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't rush out of the shower, that would be very embarrassing for me and whoever was on the other side. So I didn't do anything. There was another knock. I didn't do anything. Then I heard a key in my door and it turned. I thought, oh gosh my room is being robbed. Then there was a thud and the door closed and it was locked again. So weird. When I got out of the shower I looked out in my room. There was my package that was so lovingly sent to me by me sitting at my feet. There was also one of the books I ordered waiting for me today when I got back to my room. Talk about service.

Church and Squash

My experiences at church today were quite different. I don't know if I can fully describe what it is like going from a church that you love and adore, filled with people that love, adore, and care deeply about, to starting from scratch. Where do you start to look for what you had? Do you look for what you had? Cause you aren't going to find it, except at the church you were at. Where do you begin? Where do your inhibitions keep you from going? All questions that you have to answer at some point. Questions that I have to ask myself. If you have every had to start over, you will know how much this process sucks. But here are some observations about today.

This morning the ECU (Evangelical Christian Union) met a bunch of freshers and took students to different churches, depending on what you wanted to go to. I chose to go to Belmont Chapel. I think some one said it has Baptist background. It was something that I was very comfortable in. They sang songs that I knew. I learned a couple of new ones. (Songs are something that I connect with in the service, so it is a big point on the list.) The pastor spoke about what the church was focusing on. Deepening our spiritual lives, our love for others, and focus for other seekers. Something that you don't get in a lot of churches on your first day. Afterwards, Grace, an Irish girl I talked with quite a bit on the way to church, and I wondered around, but no one talked to us. No one took the initiative. So we just kind of followed a couple of 2nd & 3rd years back to campus. So it's what I love about a service, but not what I want in fellowship.

This evening I went to The River Dream Centre. This is a charismatic, pentacostal church, something I didn't full realize until I got there. But people that I met on Wednesday at Nooma asked me if I wanted to go. I really like these people, they are amazing. So I went. I was uncomfortable during most of the service. I have not been around people like this very often. Their emphasis on the Spirit is overwhelming at times, not that the Spirit isn't important-the Spirit is a very important part of the Trinity. But there is also a beautiful freeness of body that they have when they praise God. (That sounds really bad. It's not. They feel the freedom to raise their hands, dance, bow down, etc.) It was a struggle to follow the message because of the leading of the Spirit on the pastor. There were some things that I didn't agree with. And I knew one song, out of a lot. But they were easy to catch onto. Here is the kicker. Because I came with friends, I went upstairs and had treats with everyone. Almost everyone came up to me and talked to me. Asked me questions, introduced themselves, etc. It was great. They are great people. I even have a Shakespeare buddy now. Wonderful, caring people. I loved that!

So what do I do with these seemingly opposites? How do I find what I am looking for? How do I get the things I loved from both sides? Was I being too critical of The River Dream Center? How do I expect the Spirit to work through me and teach me if I am constantly looking for the things that are wrong and building a wall around myself? Why is it so difficult for me to raise my hands in praise and dance in the aisles? How do I make myself at home in these places? How do I find a place where I am fed, but also able to serve others and care for a church when I am so new? How do I let go of inhibitions? I guess that I keep praying that God will let me know so I can follow what God wants.

Okay, short note on Squash. This is an event every year that allows fresher to see what kind of societies there are and what they do. Now contrary to NWC you have to pay to be part of these societies. The money goes toward food, activities, and the free stuff that you get. Most of them are very cheap. I think that the minimum is 5 pounds. There are things from Chocolate Society to Water Skiing Society to Officer Training Society. Everything. But the great thing is that they give away free stuff! Businesses come in and give away free stuff. So you walk around and get stuff. And if there are some societies that you want to join you do it there. Now the reason it is called the Squash is that there are hundreds of people crammed into rooms that are meant for maybe 60. It was good though. Hot, but good.

Just Somethin' I've Been Thinking About

This week is called Fresher's Week, and no it doesn't just refer to freshman cause they don't even use that term here. But it is a week for all the new students to try everything out. So there are a lot of things crammed into little bits of time. It is also a time to get things squared away before you have to start classes. Activities such as: registering as a student, getting your unicard (university card), and going to important hall meetings. I didn't do a whole lot, but I did do some things.

One thing I did was go to a Nooma meeting on Wednesday night. I believe that I have talked about the people there a bit, but not actually the things that were said. A guy named Rob, a 4th year (something that is almost unheard of in the UK), talked to us about experiencing the presence of God. He asked a couple of other people to tell about how they experienced God. All of the testimonials were outstanding, powerful, dramatic. I tried to recall in my life a time when I felt the presence of God like that. But I couldn't think of one. So I started to wonder if I had indeed felt the presence of God. Then this voice that talks to me told me yes I had felt that.

I think that Rob might have led people astray with the testimonials that he chose to use. I don't doubt for a minute that God is big, powerful, and passionate, and that he shows his love and presence in the same way. But that is not the only way people can feel God moving in and around us. Mine is different. I feel God in the peace that he lays on my heart. I feel the presence of God in the wind. I feel the presence of God in a hug. That is how God relates to me, and reveals his presence to me. Rob should have talked about both sides, I think. But he seems to be a very passionate person. Don't get me wrong, he loves God and wants to bring his love to the peoples. I just wish that he would have thought about the other side too.

This is just something I was thinking about this week.

Complaints and Unpacking

The one thing that I really miss right now is my fully stocked kitchen. I want my pots and pans, my dishes, my cooking utensils. Gosh, I miss that right now. I just made supper and I thought of all the possibilities of what I could do with it and none of them can happen, cause I don't have my kitchen. But I will learn to cope with what I have. And it will grow over time. Eventually I'll get a cookie sheet. And maybe some day I'll make cookies. I just need to get settled in.

Another complaint is the water pressure. I'm sure that if Dr. Bob was reading this he would say "I told you so." See, when I came to England before the water pressure wasn't too bad. This one really is. Cause I'm half way up a hill, on the third floor. It trickles out of the shower head. I wonder if there is a someone of some kind that I can bribe to get more water pressure. Hmm. Something to contemplate.

I really need to unpack my stuff. It is sitting in my suitcases on the floor just begging to be unpacked. But I can't bring myself to do it. I am perfectly fine digging through my stuff. But it won't be fine forever. Maybe this just seems like camp or a small vacation right now and I haven't fully accepted what I have chosen to do. I'm sure that realization will come some time, but I don't foresee it happening very soon. Or you can just look at it as I don't haven any hangers to put stuff on. And I'm waiting to get them. But once I have them, there is no excuse. I guess that the drama will unfold in the next episode of "The Life of Kristen."

Oh, here is my snail mail address:

Kristen Olson-Jones
A309
Clydesdale Rise
Clydesdale Ave
Exeter
EX4 4QX

A Day of Understanding and Getting to the Point of No Return

Karen talks about how we are who God made us to be and we shouldn't let others take that away from us. That we should hold onto who we are. I don't think that I have ever fully understood that until this evening. I got to meet the people in my course for the first time today. After a meeting we went across the street to the pub called the Imperial. I got to meet some PhD students and the 2nd years in my course. Somewhere along the way I stopped talking. A girl turned to me and asked me if there was something wrong. I said no and that I'll get louder and more talkative later. Her reply was "go big or go home." For a couple of minutes I sat there hating that I am awkward when I meet people and that I wish it could change. But then I realized that I have always been like this and nothing that I do will ever make that different. Sure I can try and talk and make conversation (I did it for four years on tour). But the awkwardness is always there. It's just who I am. I shouldn't let this girl that has a need to be the center of attention tell me how I should be, how I should live, how I should act. Sure I felt stupid for the rest of the evening with the awkwardness that surrounded me. But I can accept that for now, cause I have no other choice.

Quite the opposite thing happened last night. I went to a Nooma meeting. There were maybe twenty people there. But they all took me in. They started with me coming in the door. I met Kiri and Sarah. They talked to me until I headed upstairs for the meeting to start. There were others that came up to me right away and talked to me genuinly interested in who I was and where I had come from. Wonderufl people that I want to know too. I also met a girl named Tory. She is studying to be a nurse. We talked for a while about how she has wanted to be a nurse since she was four. I find that totally fascinating. I guess that I have found my home away from home with these people. I made friends last night. I made friends last night that I believe that I will have for my time here. Two opposite meetings. Two opposite responses. But the same me.

More New Things- Wednesday

Okay, you should probably go down a couple of entries and find the one for Sunday and start there, then work your way up the blog. Sorry.

Today. Today my Internet was hooked up and it made me rejoice! I am so happy to be in touch with you all again! Made my day. And sharing the news has made other people's days too.

So I haven't talked about my rooming situation at all yet, so here goes. My housing is in a flat where there is a short hallway where all six bedrooms (with their own bathrooms) and situated. At the end of the hall is the door to the kitchen/living room. My room is about the size of the rooms in Hospers, maybe a little bit smaller. There will be pictures put on Facebook shortly. I have five flatmates. Four girls and one guy. I haven't met two of them yet. But one is from China (I haven't met her yet), one from India, one from Canada, I can't remember where the other one if from, and then there is the guy that I have only see in the hallway twice and very briefly. The Canadian lives across the hall from me and is very nice and asks me how I am and how I am doing.

Weather. It was really nice when I got here on Sunday and fairly nice on Monday. Yesterday was raining and today cannot make up it's mind. The morning was partly cloudy but the sun was still coming through. Then when I went to town center (down town) to get plates and bowls and such it started to rain. When I got to my room and hour ago it was sunny. Then it rained fairly hard. Now the sun is out again and it is perfectly clear. I have this to look forward to all year. Yay!

There is a beautiful building on campus that I get to walk past every day. It is called Reed Hall. It must have been a residence of some kind at one point. But it is beautiful. I'll have to take my camera down there and take some pictures at some point. It is one of my favorite places on campus. There is a calmness there. It looks out onto the west side of Exeter and the hills beyond it. It is absolutely gorgeous at sunset.

Oh, yes. The university is built on a hill. A very large, steep, heart-killing hill. There are no flat places here, anywhere. I walked down to the bottom of the ill yesterday to the Catholic Chaplaincy. On my way back I got half way up (where I turn to go to my flat) and felt like I had just run a mile. Seriously. If you are carrying anything with you besides a small bag you will be breathing hard after walking up the hill. It is ridiculous! But I cannot change the way the university was built, so I will just have to put up with it. It is getting a bit easier. I guess that my heart will be in great shape by the time I get home. The only bad thing is that my classes and such are at the bottom of the hill, so I will have to walk up it at the end of the day.

I haven't really allowed myself to think about home. I don't think that I could stand it right now. I was so comfortable in Orange City. Here I am so awkward. Not because of the cultural difference, but because I don't really have "friends" yet I have acquaintances. I heard someone say today that the people in your classes and your course (or major) are the ones that will most likely become your friends. I am waiting for that to happen. I get to meet other people in my course tomorrow morning at library orientation (yes, we have one just for us, yipee!). I am ready to meet these people that I will work with over the next couple of years. That is what I am looking forward to right now. Sorry this is so long!

More New Things- Tuesday

So Tuesday was supposed to be school's day, where everyone goes to thier school and registers for modules (British for classes). Yeah, I didn't have to do that. So I attempted to find the place to turn in my room sheet status thing-a-ma-bob. And failed twice. I officially registered as a student. I went to cream tea at the Catholic Chaplancy at 4 and met some more very nice people. There were some people there that I had met the night before. Jason, one of the ecumenical officers, explained to be about cream tea. The British have this stuff called clotted cream. We don't have any kind of equivolent to it in the states. It's kind of like whipped cream only more dense and a yellow color and different. So there is a debate between Devon (where I live) and Cornwall (the end of the tail of England, our neighbors) as to which goes on the scone (more like a biscut in American standards) first, the jam or the crea. If you are from Cornwall the cream goes down first. If you are from Devon the jam goes down first. Jason suggested that I try it both ways seeing that a scone, when cut in half, has to sides. So I did just that. I have to say that you can taste more of the cream if it is on top. And it doesn't taste half bad. So I am a Devon cream tea person. I guess that in some ways I'm fitting in just fine. I also met some more English people and a Frenchman. He reminded me of Solomon Davis in face, but Matt Hulstein in every other way. He was very nice.

Before cream tea, I felt that I was starting to have one of those periods where I was going to miss home and maybe, shockingly, cry. So I took Dr. Faustus (which I should have red for Dr. Bob's class and didn't so I have to read it now for my class) into the living room, which adjoins the kitchen, and sat down to read. My neighbor Jasmine, came in and started to make herself afternoon tea. She asked me if I would like some too. I said yes. So we had tea together. She is studying Banking of some sort, is from India, and is very nice. That was just what I needed when I needed it. If there has been anything, since I have been here, to remind me that God is looking out for me, it was this.

Last evening I went to and ECU, Evangelical Christian Union, event. I was like a contemporary Christian service and really nice. But I think that it is mostly aimed at undergratuates. So I don't know what to think about that yet. I met Joe there, who filled me in on some of the churches in town. He said there were some that were heavily student, and others that weren't. Some that were more charismatic then others. There is a group of people on Sunday morning that are going to take students to a church and you can try one out. So I think that will be the way to go on Sunday. They should help me find a church that might suit my wants. But it was a good night.

More New Things- Monday

So Monday was full of compulsory things. I had to go to an international student assembly in the morning that didn't really tell me much. I had to wait in line for and hour and a half to pick up my unicard (my id/library card). I had another meeting that evening. Went shopping in the afternoon for some things I needed. And the International Welcome Team took us down there and helped us find things. It was great. I can get down there by myself now. I had a accomodation meeting that I had to go to. I was hoping that their fire safety video was going to be as good as the one NWC uses, but it was very lacking in cheesy acting and bad narration. Then there was pizza and DVD with the chaplancy team and on of the Christian organizations on campus called MethAng. Sounds like an illegal drug, doesn't it? In America we shorten things down to letters. For instance Theatre Production Ensemble = TPE. Here it would be something like this TheProdEns. So this society is Methodists and Anglicans. They were all great. They were all relaxed and joking around. It made me feel very at home. I think that will be one of the societies that I join, even though I'm not either of them. We watched Monty Python. Made my heart happy. Then it was time for bed!

More New Things-Sunday

The plane ride. I took a flight to Denver. One of the most boring flights ever. But when I got to Denver, I got to see Amy Leigh. It was so wonderful. We just sat or walked and talked. A good break. Then the big plane on the long journey across the ocean. I was releaved that I was sitting on an aisle. I was so scared that I would be put in the middle of the middle section and not be able to get up very often. I sat by this adorable 80 year-old Lithuanian woman. She was on her way to Lithuania becuase there was a art show of her father's slides. Pre-Hitler her father had taken beautiful pictures and put them on slides so he could take them around and show them to people. The slides ended up with Antanina's family in the United States. So she was bringing them back and was going to open the show with a small speech that she was working on. The opening is today. She was a sweet old woman. She talked very quietly. She giggled at things with me. She told me she was very hungry before we got our meal. The carts went by and we both took notice. Then a cart came by empty. She made a comment about how there was no more food left for us. When we got over land again, she kept pointing out the window at things. It was cute.

When I got to the airport I went through immigration. I got my bags. I went through customs. All without a hitch. What I didn't know was that Terminal 3 was a long distance from Terminal 1 when you are dragging about 80 pounds with you. I was sweating by the time I got to the place where they were picking us up for Exeter. I met some nice people when I was waiting for the coach (British term for bus) to come and get us. There were a couple of Americans. One from Augastana that was here for a semester. Imagine that! Werid. Then it was a 4 hour bus ride to Exeter cause Coach drivers have to stop every so often. So I tried my hardest not to sleep on the bus, but it got me a little bit. I didnt' sleep for very long. Then we arrived and it was great. I was ready to go to bed and not be confined to a moving vehicle of any kind. So we picked up our bags, had a bus take us across campus to where we were supposed to pick up our keys and found out the keys were back were we just were. So we got back on the bus and headed across campus. We, there were five of us being droped off at Clydesdale Rise, finally got into our rooms at 8pm. I tried to get the internet to work, I failed (because I found out later that they turn it off when students get here so there isn't an overload), and went to bed. That was Sunday.

Dude!

I'm so sorry that I haven't blogged in a couple of days. The internet in my room has been shut off until now. It was a happy supprise this morning to find it working. I'm here. I'm safe. And things are busy. Over the next three days I have orientation for my program and there have been mandatory, or compulsory as they would say here, things to go to. I'm finding some organizations, or societies, that I want to join. A couple of them being Christian. I'll tell more about my adventures later, but I need to go and talk to the financial office. I hope you are all doing well. Tell me stories about what you are doing also.