Ok, I don't have much time since I'm currently at an internet cafe in Munich and need to catch my train to Berlin in a little over half an hour. However, I wanted to give a brief update to let anyone who was interested know that Mallory and I are still alive, made it through Italy and Austria, and now have arrived in Germany. We will head to Berlin tonight and Hamburg on Friday night. We fly home to London on Sunday morning, November 1st. So for now, I leave you all with a Top Ten of interesting things that have happened to us in the past six days. (Dear family, please don't worry; most of these aren't quite as bad as they sound. Love, Emily)
Top Ten Snapshots of Mallory and Emily's Tour of Italy and Austria
1) Italian Air Traffic Controller Strike
2) Venice Marathon
3) Home video in Malcontenta
4) Hitchhiking (accidentally) to Fusina
5) "Dove una farmacia?"
6) Registering for spring classes from an internet cafe in Venice
7) Catching a train out of Pisa, White Christmas -style
8) Catching an overnight train from Rome to Vienna, White Christmas -style
9) Student protest in Vienna
10) Power-walking to train in Vienna
That's all for now! More to follow for sure...
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Globe-Trotting
Ok, so I know I haven't posted the Ireland pics I promised (or the Scotland pics from before that), but in my defense, this was a really busy academic week because two of my classes are ending now to make room for the internship I'll be starting when I get back from fall break. I promise I'll make it up to you blog-followers once I get home from fall break with a plethora of photos and anecdotes from the last several weeks. In the morning I embark on a 10-day whirlwind trip through Italy, Austria, Germany. My flatmate Mallory and I are flying to Milan, then going to Rome by way of Pisa, then north to Vienna and Berlin. We'll then head to Hamburg, from whence we'll catch our flight home on the morning of Sunday, November 1st. I should be home in time to make it to church that Sunday evening! There's not a lot of details planned in between the flight there and the flight home, so we should have plenty of adventure (code-word for lack of planning!) and hopefully really awesome stories and pictures and memories from the trip.
A seven-fold smattering of thoughts on my mind as I tie up the last loose ends before fall break:
1) I can't believe I've already been here 7 weeks and the semester's already half-way over. NO!!!
2) I can't believe how blessed I am to have the opportunities to travel so much. This week's trip will bring the country count for this semester up to six (and push the photo count for the semester over the 1000 mark, probably).
3) I've been running a bit of a math experiment and I think I've effectively determined the following to be true:
Let productivity = p
distractions = d
coolness factor of London = L
family in town = f
trip to Ireland = t
where d = (f+t)^L
as d --> infinity, p --> 0
Let's just say there have been very large values of f, t, and L lately.
I think this week would have been so much easier (and have included a lot more sleep) if I had not put off some of this academic work until the last week. However, I suppose procrastination was aided by the fact that I went to Ireland last weekend and my parents were in town the two weekends before that, so I have had really good reasons to not be spending my time studying and writing papers. Now, though, is crunch time. Another essay to write before I can leave the country in 10 hours...
4) God is so, so good. I'll elaborate on this in a future post, but He faithfully led me to a good church about 10 days after I arrived in London. The first 10 days were pretty lonely spiritually, but He clearly pointed me to this church and really answered my prayers for a strong, welcoming community where I can worship, fellowship, and grow this semester. I'm pretty sure that Sunday evening service and Tuesday night students Bible Study are the highlights of my week!
5) I'm growing a lot. I've learned a lot about being independent and about relying on God. I've been spending a lot of time just by myself running in Hyde Park, exploring London (or another country like last weekend), and relishing the time to just process life and chat with God.
6) I love fall--the leaves are changing colors here and the weather's been remarkably good and non-rainy, which it seems is rather unusual for autumn in London. I've been spending a fair amount of time outside since I walk or take public transport everywhere and since I've been running in the park regularly.
7) Speaking of running, I've been lengthening my running distances significantly as of late. Today I ran about 7 miles, which I think is the furthest I have ever run at one time. And I still felt really good at the end, except my feet were aching somewhat. Even better, I managed to do that at a pace of approximately 8.5 min per mile, which I was pretty excited about (not sure if that's good or not in the big scheme of things, but I was pleased with it).
Ok, enough for now...I'd better go finish that paper since I'm supposed to catch a flight to Italy in 13 hours!
A seven-fold smattering of thoughts on my mind as I tie up the last loose ends before fall break:
1) I can't believe I've already been here 7 weeks and the semester's already half-way over. NO!!!
2) I can't believe how blessed I am to have the opportunities to travel so much. This week's trip will bring the country count for this semester up to six (and push the photo count for the semester over the 1000 mark, probably).
3) I've been running a bit of a math experiment and I think I've effectively determined the following to be true:
Let productivity = p
distractions = d
coolness factor of London = L
family in town = f
trip to Ireland = t
where d = (f+t)^L
as d --> infinity, p --> 0
Let's just say there have been very large values of f, t, and L lately.
I think this week would have been so much easier (and have included a lot more sleep) if I had not put off some of this academic work until the last week. However, I suppose procrastination was aided by the fact that I went to Ireland last weekend and my parents were in town the two weekends before that, so I have had really good reasons to not be spending my time studying and writing papers. Now, though, is crunch time. Another essay to write before I can leave the country in 10 hours...
4) God is so, so good. I'll elaborate on this in a future post, but He faithfully led me to a good church about 10 days after I arrived in London. The first 10 days were pretty lonely spiritually, but He clearly pointed me to this church and really answered my prayers for a strong, welcoming community where I can worship, fellowship, and grow this semester. I'm pretty sure that Sunday evening service and Tuesday night students Bible Study are the highlights of my week!
5) I'm growing a lot. I've learned a lot about being independent and about relying on God. I've been spending a lot of time just by myself running in Hyde Park, exploring London (or another country like last weekend), and relishing the time to just process life and chat with God.
6) I love fall--the leaves are changing colors here and the weather's been remarkably good and non-rainy, which it seems is rather unusual for autumn in London. I've been spending a fair amount of time outside since I walk or take public transport everywhere and since I've been running in the park regularly.
7) Speaking of running, I've been lengthening my running distances significantly as of late. Today I ran about 7 miles, which I think is the furthest I have ever run at one time. And I still felt really good at the end, except my feet were aching somewhat. Even better, I managed to do that at a pace of approximately 8.5 min per mile, which I was pretty excited about (not sure if that's good or not in the big scheme of things, but I was pleased with it).
Ok, enough for now...I'd better go finish that paper since I'm supposed to catch a flight to Italy in 13 hours!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Ireland, here I come!
First: I'm so sorry for not posting for the past two weeks. I shall hopefully get things a bit more caught up when I get back in London...which leads me to my second reason for this post.
I'm leaving for Ireland at 06:20 tomorrow and will be traveling around the country until Sunday afternoon. I'm really excited, but I'd also appreciate prayer since I am going to be traveling by myself.
Lots of pictures and anecdotes (including, likely, a narrative of my first encounter with Guinness) to follow upon my return!
I'm leaving for Ireland at 06:20 tomorrow and will be traveling around the country until Sunday afternoon. I'm really excited, but I'd also appreciate prayer since I am going to be traveling by myself.
Lots of pictures and anecdotes (including, likely, a narrative of my first encounter with Guinness) to follow upon my return!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Company
I've been so blessed to have family come to visit me while I've been here! My grandparents were traveling across Europe in early September and routed their return flight through London so that they could spend three days with me, which was amazing! I will definitely treasure the memories of that time I got to spend with them for the rest of my life. I got to show them around and share all the things I'd learned about local, non-touristy London,
and they took me the theatre twice (to see Jersey Boys and The Lion King). I was thoroughly impressed by The Lion King--I think it had the best use of costumes I've ever seen on stage. Simply beautiful. I would highly recommend it.
This morning (in just a few hours), my parents are going to arrive! I'm looking forward to sharing my life here in London with them. I have so many places to show them and stories to tell!
and they took me the theatre twice (to see Jersey Boys and The Lion King). I was thoroughly impressed by The Lion King--I think it had the best use of costumes I've ever seen on stage. Simply beautiful. I would highly recommend it.This morning (in just a few hours), my parents are going to arrive! I'm looking forward to sharing my life here in London with them. I have so many places to show them and stories to tell!
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