Pace Yourself

There are these two feet attached to one body. One foot is content to be firmly planted on solid ground, because it feels comfortable with the pace. It feels safe. It feels secure. It is content. The other foot does not share his partners sentiments, and so jumps rank. This foot finds a treadmill, turns it to high speed, hops on, and just keeps going. Both feet are now content, but unfortunately these feet cannot simply create their own little perfect worlds and give a sigh of relief, because they are attached to a body- my body- which is now exhausted.

I have one foot in Charlbury, the other in Oxford, and it makes life very interesting. Tuesday to Thursday in Oxford might as well be whirlwind days involving trains, classes, shopping, feasting, classes, and more trains.
I hustle, the group hustles, the hordes of people that storm the streets hustle-- it's like everyone is in one giant race on a circular track that has no end. Oxford is one busy place. Now- I am not a city girl, nor will I ever be- hopefully. But I love Oxford. I love the business, the crazy drivers, the open markets, the cute shops, the cobblestone streets, the street musicians, the pubs- the excitement. It's just an exciting place to be a part of.
But one problem I do have with such a busy crowd is that noone ever looks up! And let me tell you- Oxford is the kind of place where you should definitely look up! The sky is framed by pointed Cathedrals, towering monuments, and architectural masterpieces. I passed a wall the other day that was built in the 14th century! But I suppose for the people actually living in Oxford, the novelty wears off, and it's just another city. I haven't reached that point yet, but I know I will. A bit of a shame, I think, but understandable.

So my feet must scamper all over Oxford for a few days, and then they find the train that carries them into a weekend. The weekend involves Charlbury, and once you enter the quaint, old fashioned, strangely silent town, slow motion begins. Replace the business with a park bench. Sit on the park bench. Look around. That is Charlbury. Nothing really happens here. Nights are very dark, but homes are very cozy, and it is at this point that my two very tired feet take a breather. I love the old fashioned peacefulness of Charlbury.

Althought the two paces and places balance eachother out, I can't help but feel I've got myself very attached to each- and although my feet are sore and I am a little tired, I am quite content. The trick is flexibility. I have never really realized before how easy it is for me to adjust. After chapel today, a lot of the students mentioned they are having a very tough time adjusting- mainly being away from friends and family. I, in no way, could contribute to this conversation. Now, don't get me wrong- I really love my friends and family, but this place is very exciting! And I know what home is like... and I know I will be back there soon enough, and I just want to enjoy this! But I feel strangely guilty that this is my attitude compared to most others. Perhaps I'm not so homesick because I have Tim here to talk to about Redeemer, and the girls to laugh with during the busy day, I have an incredibly cozy home to come back to, enough food to keep me satisfied, and Beccy- one fantastic hostess. She went out and bought the Office DVD's, so that we can work our way through them for the next few months. How great is that? I also have been able to stay connected with James almost every day- and that just tops it all off. Plus- it has only been 13 days, which is not a substantial amount of time no matter how you look at it.

So I guess to sum up this little rant I will say this. I think that life moves at Oxford pace, and if you don't look up, you're going to really miss out. Looking back all the time is just annoying, but looking up allows you to grab those opportunities that strangely help to slow things down. It's like grabbing onto Charlbury. In spite of what some of the students here may be thinking, I don't think any of us here will ever regret grabbing onto Charlbury. Although some people think the first week felt like an entire month, I would never argue that's a bad thing! Hooray for slow motion! In years from now, this trip will still be secured in our minds- like one firmly planted foot. And no matter where the other crazy restless foot wants to go, I think it's very important to have these experiences to draw and learn from, because let's face it- the memories are fixed. And so perhaps this is where I'm different. My "solid ground" is not found on 1918 King Street, where I live in my own comfort zone with my family, but it's wherever I go and expereince similar fellowship with people of the same faith! I really think is why I've adjusted in the past in random New Zealand homes, and culture-shocking South African orphanages. This is why I love Redeemer, and this is why I am fully embracing this ABU Oxford program. It is the people, it is the history, it is the hands on acquired knowledge, and it is purely the fact that life is thrilling. Why not enjoy it to the fullest? And as it picks up the pace, I'll make it my job to set it.

Weekend!

So here are some new pictures on an old blog. This picture is very similar to the other one, but closer up- and since the zoom has broken on my camera, I am using Laura's quality pictures. I stepped in some bird poop on my way to see a monument. I was not impressed. I guess the picture makes that fairly evident.

Tim and I running to catch up with the group after we stopped so I could chase a flock of Canadian geese and scare a swan. Don't worry, the English don't like our national bird.

This is Tiger.

It's now Friday, which officially marks my first week in England. So far? Amazing. Classes are fantastic, Oxford is beautiful, and the group is really fun. Tonight was 'formal hall' at the college, which was made even more formal due to good old "Robbie Burns"- the Scottish poet that everyone around here knows and loves. Because of the Scottish theme, a lot of the men were dressed in the formal Scottish gig- kilts, sporran's, knee socks, daggers... it was very cool. There were a few speeches, a couple toasts, a lot of drinking, a meal of haggis ( which I think is meat stuffed into a sheep's stomach) and some really great dancing.

Although I wasn't too keen on the 'formal' part- Sharon and Laura took me under their wing and made me look presentable. A bunch of us arrived early because we joined the college choir. I am supposed to be committed now for the next four practices. The real reason I went was because I didn't want to take the train on my own to Oxford at night. I'm such a wimp. In any case, the choir was fun ( we sang some Celtic songs!) and the formal was a hit. Here's some pictures to give you an idea of who I'm over here with and sharing my adventures with!Bethany, me and AlishaMe and a Scottish stranger- I just really liked his kilt.d I snuck into someone's garden for a prime photo opp. The place was beautiful!

A typical English cottage. And the picture below marks Saturday- and our trip into Woodstock to see the Blenheim Palace- former home of Winston Churchill.Here is most of the gang- minus Heather, Megan and Gabrielle. In this picture we have Jodi, Sharon and Laura in the front, then Tim, Mark, Bethany, Bethany, and Alisha. I'm the one with the camera. You can't see me.

The front of the palace ( unfortunately, it was closed today, because of a wedding)

Today was fantastic. Laura, Sharon and Jodi showed up at around 11am. we rounded up the gang and hopped on a double decker bus to woodstock, for 3.40 pounds round trip. Honestly, the ride alone was worth the trip. I can't believe these buses can even travel on the roads over here. They are so narrow- I thought I was on a roller coaster for 6 miles! In any case, we only smoked one tree, and hit the curb about three times. The driver was good.

We snuck into the palace grounds through the side doors, and explored the whole afternoon. The pictures speak for themselves at this point. What I will say is that once Mark became the leader of the group, we ended up a mile outside of Woodstock, and had to make quite a hike to get back to the bus stop. But it was an adventure.

Now I am home, the girls are here having an internet party, and it's nice to have the whole night to just do nothing. I hope everyone back home is well! Much love!

Pashminas

Bethany and Mark waiting for the train back to Charlbury

Laura Loney: one very funny girl

Laura, Heather and I excited to see the sun. I kicked someone when I flung up my leg like that. Not cool.

This is the Chapel in Charlbury where we have some of our classes.

Waiting at Laura's to walk with the girls down to the train

There was a thunderstorm in Oxford, and Laura's umbrella was a joke. She bought it broken, but Tim thought he'd test it out anyways.

At Christmas, the people stick a tree in the wall above the door, and string it with lights. Since the town doesn't have many street lights to begin with, this is one time of the year when most of the streets are lit. Kind of neat.

Sharon's scarf was the solution to frizzy hair during our rainy countryside walk. Once I found a solution to that, the walk was quite enjoyable. That also had a lot to do with Heather, and her great sense of humor.

Note the excessive amount of white space. I'm not sure why this always happens.. but I'm hoping James can fix it?

Oh, look at that. He fixed it. Cheers.

My new home

England is beautiful. Although the skies are overcast, and the air is damp, the wind is relatively warm and I am quite excited to be here. Tim gave a pretty detailed intro to this whole adventure, so if you are interested to know about the beginning of this trip, check out Timot's blog. The only thing I have to contribute that differs from Tim is that I did not experience any overwhelming tiredness- which is probobly why he considered the flight uneventful, and that he was being kind in his sock comment. I'm sure that I had something to do with that ladies quick departure. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.

My hostess is wonderful. She is very friendly and hospitable, setting up my room, filling the bathroom with lotions, shampoos, soaps and all that kind of girly stuff, and letting me know that what's hers is mine. My first night at her place we kicked back, had a beer, and watched the Office. I feel quite at home. Not to mention she has a beast of a dog that is fantastic. Her rotweiler's name is Tiger, and he could probobly eat me. I love him. Hopefully I'll be able to take him for walks through the countryside, which is fortunately a two minute walk from my house. The house is on the outskirts of town, but since the town can be walked across in about 20 minutes, most places are found close to the countryside. Since Tim has promised to post pictures, I'll avoid that hassle for the time being. Sorry, but I'm lazy.

The people who've organized this whole 'studying abroad' thing have really organized it. Even though we've only just got here, the days have been very busy. This morning Beccy woke me up, brought coffee up to my room, made me breakfast and walked me down to the big old stone church. The peeling bells can be heard across the whole town, which I think must just seer the consciences of a lot of people that choose not to come. The bells are a pretty loud reminder.

After church Laura, Heather and I explored a bit, took pictures, and stumbled upon the secret garden. Katrina, you would have loved that! Like the book- it was unintentional. I simply leaned against this wooden door in the rock wall because Laura wanted a picture, and then it flung open, and I stumbled in. Unlike the book- this garden was in someones backyard, and that someone was standing right there and looking pretty pissed off. I ran away.

After that we had lunch at the baptist church- which consisted of a baked potato and savory "minced"- which Heather thought was a crock pot of savory MINTS, and I thought was somthing totally different than what was served. But it was good, and I have no complaints. I also discovered that when they say after dinner we'll have pudding- they don't mean pudding at all. They mean dessert. Good to know.

After dinner we all borrowed rubber boots from Madelaine and went on an hour's hike through the countryside. It was muddy, a bit rainy, and generally a pretty great time getting to know the different people in our group. After that I went and checked out Tim, Laura and Heather's houses, stayed at Laura's because her house is the nicest, and then we headed out to Madelaine's for dinner.

Now I'm home and Beccy and I are watching some T.V. and both being anti- social because we want to do things on our computers. I'm fine with that. Tomorrow will be a pretty busy day. We will be exploring Oxford, starting classes, and then heading to Stratford for our first play of the semester. I'm pretty excited.

So- there is my first update of England, and I'm sure there will be more to come!
Cheers!

England

This blog is to end my blog drought. You know you are in a blog drought when your last blog is a title, and the intentions are there to continue, but when you look at the title, you think "this is suffice." Now a new semester is about to begin, and I'd like to say a few words. The first thing I'd like to say is the usual, and that is this, where does the time go? Did I honestly spend a week in BC? I can't believe it. But whatever the case, and no matter how fast the time went, BC was fantastic. Visiting James' family and friends, hikes in the rain, competitive Settlers, 'booking' in Vancouver, dinner dates, the movies, skiing in a white out on a real mountain (I emphasize real because Ontario doesn't have them) - all of it was such a treat. Now I'm back, and in a bit of a limbo stage, seeing my friends frantically get assignments together and suffer hours and hours of class while I sit and socialize and attempt to be organized for my next big trip. Which brings me to England. I leave tomorrow. How do I feel? Well, I don't. I haven't really sat down and thought about the fact that I won't be back at Redeemer until next September. It doesn't seem too real to me right now, and it most likely won't until I leave. Tomorrow. Oh man. But I suppose with time's habit of picking up speed at a seemingly exponential rate, it would only be fair for these next 3 1/2 months to fly by as well. We'll see what happens. The rest of my blogs will be posted from across the ocean, so this segway may be a tad lame in comparison, but I hope that whoever reads these little reflections will enjoy them, and feel free to write me! Not to sound desperate or anything, but I can imagine I may get lonely, and the best cure for that is to hear from friends. It's true. Ask Marva Dawn about social intimacy.
That's all from this side of the globe.