And I actually have to do work here.

A sad realization has overcome me the last few weeks: I'm here to go to school. Yes, I knew this, but when I dreamed of what London would be like a few months ago, did it really include the library? I've finished two midterms (got one back...it's OKAY, not fantastic) and one paper, and i'm onto the last one, but still as I look at my schedule its just a rolling list of due dates! It seems like some huge thing is due just about every two weeks. So, I'm a bit overwhelmed and not exactly all that happy to be studying, but there have been some cool things going on here in London.

I went to my first rugby match on Saturday. They're absolutely fantastic. I felt like I should go hit something afterward. They have MASSIVE legs- huge really, and it is so much more complex than you would imagine it initially. Katie and I described it as a mix between soccer/football/hockey/gymnastics/cheer leading. I have a ton of pictures to post...one day, but the game was great and for once London enjoyed a beautiful sunny day. British people don't "woo" though...you know, the way you would chear in America. My "woo" was very out of place. No more wooing in Britain.

Friday we had a trip to Portsmouth and Winchester where I saw a crazy-old boat, a beautiful cathedral, and Jane Austen's house/grave. I also had my first pasty- they're SO good. Mine tasted like chicken pot pie, which just totally made my day. And we found a bakery- as we always do. That night I went to Leicester Square to listen to Rob preach. It's open air preaching, and I was initially a little nervous because I think it can be done really wrongly, and to great detriment. I was really pleased to see that the gospel was laid out very clearly and that people weren't screamed at in an opportunity to induce fear, but they were spoken to. They were talked to, and loved, as they should be. I think i'm going back this Friday.

Yesterday I decided to go to the morning service at TRC as well, and I ended up spending the entire day downtown. Barney and his wife were kind enough to have some of us over for lunch, and I really got to meet everyone a lot better. Barney has two kids- and they're adorable- they reminded me so much of Maylee. I talked to Rob about a lot of the questions I thought people might bring up, or just general objections to christianity. It was a great conversation and I really think he'll be someone I can bring questions to. Everyone at the house was so friendly and nice- I felt at home, and even more so when I had my first homemade meal in ages. It was delicious! Pancakes- but not the pancakes you're thinking of (if you're american that is.) They were thin and spongy, and had meat on them, and we had mash and vegetables and desert to. I was in heaven on earth. It was fantastic. I probably could have eaten the entire table of food had I not been too busy talking. Afterward I discovered more biscuits and candy from Britain which was also a highlight of the day. We all went to evening church and I got to catch up with everyone. I am falling in love with this church and the people in it- I already wish I could bring them back home with me when I leave!

Tuesday is my first football match or I would be going to FEAST again- wish us luck...should be interesting, though it doesn't sound like the league is all that competitive...

Back to the books-
Katie

Some more lessons...

A few things my new British friends have been teaching me about London:
*Proper is an adjective for EVERYTHING. For instance: "We should get you a proper cup of tea!". "Are we going to play a proper game of cricket?" I consider it a swap for our use of real.
*British people are astounded by the fact that I don't sound like I'm from east Texas. I don't have a huge Texas twang, so I'm apparently not from Texas. Also, I walk fast. I attribute that to New York, but they find it odd.
*People from Liverpool have completely different accents and they're AWESOME. Think a new level of British accent.
*We spell aluminum wrong. It's really aluminium. The british are right on this one. They spell sulfur wrong though (with a ph). Also, Tire is spelled tyre. A lot of things that we would just put an o for, they put ou for. Also, zs are mistreated in this country and highly underused. Everything is spelled with an s.
*Tea isn't just tea here. I thought I was all cool drinking my british breakfast tea. Matt has informed me I haven't lived yet. I'm going to come back home a tea-snob.
*This british library isn't a normal library. It's hard-core security. You have to get a pass to get into a super secret room I haven't yet found to get to a few books...which you have to previously have told them you want. It's all a bit fishy and scary to me.
*I'm completely convinced that rainy days were put into our lives to make us appreciate sunlight. When the sun shines here, my life completely brightens up now. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen to often lol!

That's it for now, but after a reference to my first post, I realized I have been neglecting the purpose of this blog in posting my lessons...so those are just a few.

FEAST

So. What to say. I feel like it has been ages since I last posted and I can't really remember what all has gone on!
Last Tuesday was the Brazil v Italy game. (Has it only been a week since then?) It was fantastic! I have never seen that many people in a stadium, let alone going absolutely crazy about football! (Or as they say here, bonkers...?) It was packed and Emirates stadium is just about the most beautiful place I've ever been. I'm hooked. I hope to go back, but with the price of tickets, I don't know if that's going to happen lol. All the same, it has made my english trip complete!

I've spent almost every waking moment since then studying for my Biology and Chemistry exams, aside from a trip to a tiki lounge for my friend Katie's birthday and an evening out to a bbq restaurant on valentine's day with my friends and cait's brother Ian. I also had my first football practice on Sunday, It was pretty fun. Hopefully we'll be pretty good. The guys got slammed 18-3...yeesh. We also have a soon to be match against five british guys (the ones I mentioned earlier.) They talk a good talk, so we'll see if they can actually play! I'm looking forward to it win or lose.

I'm pretty sure for once studying paid off and I did well on both of my biology and organic chemistry midterms. It was hard to study after meeting a girl my age who is already in medical school and doing medically related studying (they don't have to do undergraduate degrees in Britain!) but I finished, and now I only have two ten page papers to write before next week. (ha, only, please note the sarcasm!)

Tonight I went to the first FEAST which is Trinity's young adult's night. It was really cool, we're studying Amos and I really enjoyed just meeting with a small gorup of people my age. I'm really grateful God gave me such a great group of people to hang out with. REALLY grateful. I don't think you can really fathom how happy I am to get to hang out with these people. They're really aweosme. Can't wait until Sunday.

Oh, and some cool things about TRC. One, Charles Spurgeon laid the first stone. They have a cool little plaque outside with the date that I've since forgotten, and they have the trowel that is engraved and everything. Two, one of the pews has the figure of a bomb dented in it. Apparently the area was bomed during the second World War and the bomb fell into the church but didn't go off, someone saw it crash through, came in, and got rid of it or something (I forgot the end of the story...) Thirdly, Matt walked me by Charle's Spurgeons old house. It's pretty cool. I LOVE the history of this area! I got to Feast a little early tonight and got to meet the pastor of TRC (Matt's Dad) and his mom and his brother. They're really nice, and it was good to be in a home again! His mom gave me a cookie and I drank espresso to keep myself awake after all the studying...they even have a lab (which of course made me miss beans)...but, like I said, it was nice to be in a home!

I better get back to working on those papers, but I thought I'd throw a bit about life in hopes that I don't forget it lol

BTW I promise I'll eventually send out post cards...please be patient :-D

Love,
Katie

My next book...

Hey-this post will be short, and while I promise to eventually blog about the exciting things going on here in London, this week and the weeks ahead are going to be heavily demanding on me for school, so blogging will have to wait.

But what cannot wait is suggestions for my next book. So far I have tackled Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge and Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I'm still working through a Lee Strobel book, and of course the bible, but I always like to have a book I read a chapter out of every night and I'm almost done with this one...so for this time, and this time only, comments requested!

Thanks!
Katie

A Month

I can't believe I've almost been here a month. My head just reels when I think about it. It's ironic that people see a christian lifestyle as confined and boring...the more I give my life to Christ, the more he seems to make it the biggest adventure I've ever been on.

I found a church on Sunday. Trinity road chapel. It took me one hour and forty five minutes to find the place, and it was rainy and absolutely miserable...but I found it, and even when I wanted to turn back, God kept me pressing on. I'm glad I did. I met some fantastic people, and I'm really excited to go back next week!

Tonight is the Brazil v. Italy game which I get to attend IN PERSON...so I'm ecstatic. My first football game in London, should be a blast. Plus, the sun is out right now (though it's going down) and that is a very rare occurrence these days! The past weekend just held studying, as will most of this weekend, but Katie's birthday is on Thursday so at least there is one planned break. Raquel visited last weekend, we cooked tacos, and everyone ate until they could hardly move. I had missed Mexican food, in fact, left overs for dinner tonight. I'm seeing more of London every day, and i'm liking what I see!

I heard back from the host program, and i'll be going to SCOTLAND march 25-27. I am so excited! A retired couple of about age sixty will be taking me in for a weekend, but don't let their age fool you, apparently the woman does yoga! Should be fun. I love meeting old married people, they seem to have the best stories to tell. I googled the area (outside of Inverness) and it look absolutely beautiful. Should be a fantastic weekend.

Hopefully Paris on February 27, but we'll see if I make it through midterms next week first!

Miss you all-
Katie

A very busy weekend.

Time in London seems to be flying by. In two weeks I have my first set of midterms and papers due! It's crazy, I've already been here three weeks.

This past weekend Stephanie came to visit following my trip to Cambridge.

Cambridge was absolutely beautiful, and I will eventually get around to posting the pictures on Dacebook. It is such a peaceful town and I met some really cool new people. We had traditional english tea (with scones and sandwiches), found a fudge shop, explored the university, and took some pictures over the river cam. It was really a great and relaxing trip outside of the city.

So, Stephanie came, and due to her worship of Ghandi at the park on the previous day, the entire city of London was covered in snow and the city shut down...All the same, we accomplished quite a lot in the weekend:

Ah, what did we not do that weekend? We saw Chicago, went to Portobello market, attempted to watch an Arsenal game at the pub (failure), went to the Tate Modern, St. Paul's Cathedral, Bar Italia and a small italian restaurant in SOHO, celebrated Chinese New Year in Chinatown, visited the National gallery, westiminster abbey, big ben and the area downtown, drank more tea, ate more chinese food, tried some odd chinese deserts, watched fireworks, attempted to watch British television (failure number two), saw the city close down from three inches of snow (and thus multiple places we wanted to go...), discovered new shops, drank coffee at Costa, drank wine and ate cheese at Gordon's wine bar, visited St. James's park, ate at the Rocket and watched football highlights, and returned home absolutely exhausted!

It was a really super busy weekend, so this one is going to be much more chill. I'm going to attempt to get A LOT of work done tomorrow and Saturday is taco night/ raquel visiting/ maybe our first British movie? We'll see! Oh, and I hear there is going to be a Birtish/American grudge match in football that i'll be participating in once weather permits- that should be fun.

I'm also training to run a 10k competitively in Britain before I leave. I thought it would be fun. We'll see how things go with all the work I'm supposed to be doing instead of posting here!!

Things are really shaping up quite nicely. I feel ALIVE and ready to go. I'm so excited for all of the adventures to be had here. There are places to see, things to eat, lives to change, music to be heard, monuments to sketch, pictures to take, conversations to be had...moments I can only imagine.

I heard back from the HOST program- looks like I might be spending a weekend in the Scottish Highlands!

Please be praying for me as I attempt to find a Church :-)

Cheers!
Katie

Everything

I can’t even walk a straight line
And every time you look at me
I’m spinning like an autumn leaf
Bound to hit bottom sometime

Standing on a lonely street

Where would I be without someone to save me
Someone who won’t let me fall
You are everything that I live for
Everything that I can’t believe is happening
You’re standing right in front of me
With arms wide open
All I know is
Every day is filled with hope
You are everything that I believe for
And I can’t help but breathe you in

I’m the one with two left feet

Breathe again
Feeling all this life within
Every single beat of my heart
I’m the one with big mistakes
Big regrets and bigger breaks
Than I ever care to confess
Oh but, You’re the one who looks at me
And sees what I was meant to be
More than just a beautiful mess

Where would I be without someone to save me
Someone who won’t let me fall
You are everything that I live for
Everything that I can’t believe is happening
You’re standing right in front of me
With arms wide open
All I know is
Every day is filled with hope
You are everything that I believe for
And I can’t help but breathe you in
Breathe again

Feeling all this life within
Every single beat of my heart
You’re everything good in my life
Everything honest and true
And all of those stars hanging up in the sky
Could never shine brighter than You
You are everything that I live for
Everything that I can’t believe is happening
You’re standing right in front of me
With arms wide open
All I know is
Every day is filled with hope
You are everything that I believe for
And I can’t help but breathe you in
Breathe again
Feeling all this life within
Every single beat of my heart
You are
You are
Jesus, You are
You are everything

Greenwich

I do not even know where to start with my yesterday. It was so much fun I don't think I can capture it in words, but it did have a bit of a rough start.

We all woke up around 8:30 for a day trip to Greenwich courtesy of NYU-L. Not to happy about the 8:30 start point on a Friday, but for a free trip we were willing to skim on the sleep. I took my first tube ride, which I must say is a little bit complicated, but quite excellent. It's much cleaner than the subway in new york and the seats are nice and cushy :-) We took the Jubilee line (New York just has ABCDEF...not quite as fun of names) and as we waited we listened to the sounds of a man on an accordion...a little different from the rushed sounds of the subway in Manhattan.

Anyway we make it to the dock to take our boat ride to Greenwich. It's raining, a dreary day, but the boat ride is all the more exciting. Katie and I go up on the deck for a bit to freeze, but we see amazing views riding down the Thames (pronounced tems here.) So we arrive in Greenwich and here is where it gets a bit miserable. It is absolutely freezing here. We leave the cities warmth and drop what must have been about twenty degrees. My toes are frozen and our outdoor tour of the city is just not working for me. I listen all the same and find out some interesting facts about the city, but inside I just cannot WAIT for this trip to be over. I'm mumbling prayers to myself that I might look interested in what the tour guide was saying...

Anyway, tour ended and we go to the painted hall, which was absolutely beautiful! All the more glorious in our eyes as it also provided warmth. We went to a little pub like place for lunch, then headed up to the observatory where I stood in the eastern and western hemispheres at the same time. Two places at once. Check that off the list of things to do!

We finished off the day at the maritime museum and the queens house- which both boasted beautiful paintings and cool museum trinkets. We also stopped by the market and ate the most DELICIOUS cookies.

The night ended beautiful as we had our first interactions with the locals. We met a bunch of guys who all had been 'mates' since they were young...very nice, very fun, hopefully see them again sometime (or beat them at football!)

Today I tried out Spurgeon's church. It's VERY traditional. In fact, one of their tenants on the newcomers guide is that they don't believe worship should include anything but voices and the organ. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I absolutely adore getting into worship and feeling the beat and such...I won't go in to too much detail, but ask me about it if you're interested.

So back to the grindstone...I would normally say, but i'm actually enjoying classes here! The only part i'm not looking forward to is less sleep. So i'll get right on that...

Good day :-)

A Historic Occasion

Today the front page of the Guardian read:

"Magical spell that will open new American era".

Of course, I grabbed a copy to commemorate this historic day. Usually when walking down the streets of London I attempt to look as much Londonesque as possible. When bumping into people, I attempt to make my sorry sound British (but not so much that should they know I'm American they would think I'm mocking them.) But today I strutted the streets of London proud to be an American :-) My professors all congratulated us on our new president, and I watched the inauguration surrounded by a bunch of students crammed into a small cafe in our building. Probably not as good a view as Grant had from his spot in DC (jealous!), but I enjoyed it all the same :-) I felt pity for our new president as he stumbled over the swearing in (President Bush must have been smirking after all the grief he got over his fumbled words...). All the same, I think America has a bright future ahead.

So a bit of an update on London...

This weekend held some of the best days I've had here. Saturday we just took off walking around- the pictures that are on Facebook- and we ended up near piccadilly square and browsed shops. I did a lot of people watching and picture taking We took afternoon tea- which is becoming one of my favorite things to do. After getting lost and then soon finding ourselves, we made it back to the pub to see the Arsenal game.

I called the score, 3-1 Arsenal. It was a good game. It was so fun to watch a game with other people CRAZY about the sport. It's my new local hang out. Later NYU had a mixer at yet another pub, (see my first lessons learned, Brits Love Beer) and we went by and said hello. Met a guy from Texas who went to Trinity Valley. Can you believe that? I came all the way to London to meet a guy who lives ten minutes down the road.

Sunday was a bus tour around London, and I got to see all the big sites that I'm going to make sure to see before I leave. I posted "101 things to do before you leave London!" on my bulletin board, so I'll be checking those off regularly.

This week I had my first classes (yeah, I forgot, thats why I'm here)-but, they're going to be great! Classes are small (my largest one so far is 35, smallest about 12) and the teachers are fantastic. They're all highly qualified, and British, so I'll pay attention. My favorite class thus far is Politics of the Near and Middle East. We're covering the political conflict there- the history behind it, several different countries, and the religious issues involved. My professor even took part in some of the Israeli peace talks. It's going to be really interesting! Now I think I want to visit Israel over spring break. We'll see more on that later.

I'm still not all the way through classes, we only have them once a week (but for three hours...), but I have architecture on Thursday which should be really fun too. Even my Organic Chemistry Lab is better here- smaller class size, better facilities. London is quite a hit.

Oh, and I just received an email saying I was accepted into all of the trips I applied for- so I'll be getting to see a bunch of places in England for relatively small cost. :-)

More Later,
Katie

The First Lessons from London

I was originally going to add to the posts on the family blog, but I thought I might write too many posts, or perhaps write things that aren't so interesting. Well and of course everyone is making their own blogs these days so I thought I would follow in suit.

So, I'll be spending the next four months in London, soaking up the culture, attempting to not go broke, maybe picking up an English accent, and at the very least watching some great football. I have been here a little over two days now, and I have already learned so much that I thought I would share a few of my recently learned lessons...

1. Brits LOVE BEER. They love it. Can't get enough of it. They're not drunks-but they drink ALL the time. It's crazy-I'm walking on the way to lunch, and sure enough the pubs are full of people eating and drinking their beers. I make it to the student union, yep, more beer. At the pub quiz that night, whats offered? Beer. Brits love beer.

2. ALWAYS look both ways before crossing the street. This is an old lesson, re-learned. I haven't personally almost died, but I have seen many near death encounters for those who ignore this simple rule. It's even written on the streets- LOOK LEFT, LOOK RIGHT. Forget that, look both ways, then cross. It's the way to go.

3. British places close early. WAY early. Most offices are closed by five, restaurants around nine, pubs around midnight. A bit like Texas, but definitely a change from New York.

4. Just because we both speak English, doesn't mean we can understand each other. Case in point: My friend Katie ordered a Vanilla milkshake. The shake came to the table, we all tasted it and felt as though it tasted like a pina colada. We thought the Brits were simply bad at making Vanilla milkshakes. Check comes, turns out it was a banana milkshake. Looking back, it was really good considering it was a banana milkshake. A few other things- adding money to a card means topping up, a flashmobber is a silent rave, chips are French fries, crisps are chips, a pound IS NOT a dollar, and cheers is goodbye.

5. British people are very polite. No one yells at one another, no cars honk their horns. It is so peaceful here- far different from New York. Our orientation leader- Nigel, with a great accent- told us that if a British person ever yells at us, we have done something SEVERELY wrong. They always say cheers when you leave. Very nice sort.

6. You have to ask for the bill at a restaurant. We waited for so long once, until Anthony finally remembered it is considered impolite for the server to put the bill on the table. Oh, and the British rarely tip. At restaurants they tip about 10%, if the service is good, but no where else.

7. British people love students. I have been given more discounts here than I did the entirety of my college life in New York. I could definitely get used to that.

8. Tea is fantastic. End of story.


Thats it for now-
Cheers
Katie