A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words, They Say

I finally managed to get over my jet lag by Sunday or Monday, 16-17 May (I slept in both days to help my body get caught up on sleep and figure out which time zone it was actually in). Sunday revolved primarily around going to the 5pm service at HTB (for an explanation of HTB, see the posts from the fall semester). It was really good to be back. I have truly missed that church and those people, and it was a blessing and encouragement to be back worshiping God with them. Francis Chan was the guest speaker, and I was impressed, encouraged, and challenged by his talk. Here's a link to the video from one of the other services that day if you want to hear a similar talk to the one he gave at the Five. (He gave slightly different talks at the different services, but I'm guessing the gist is the same). Scroll down, it's the video from 16 May.

After the Five, a group of the students went to the pub (as is our custom) for a pint and some quality fellowship. That's right. Fellowship in a pub. The US needs to have a pub category...all we have at home are restaurants and bars/clubs. Nope, no pub category there. Sad day. Anyway, as we sat around, my friend Tye posed the question (I'm paraphrasing), "If you took Francis Chan's talk tonight to its fullest practical application or conclusion in your own life, what would that look like? What would you end up doing?" And about 4-5 of us spent the next 2 hours or so discussing that in great detail. Since a lot of the responses were quite personal, I can't really elaborate here without their permission, but I can say that it was inspiring and convicting as we discussed the possibilities and future realities of the will of God in our lives. Those are the kind of conversations that are truly meaningful, the kind you remember for a long time because they impact how you think--one of those really "real" or genuine moments shared on a human level.

On a considerably less profound level, I had been inadvertently picking up the accent of the people I was around, and was soundly mocked for it at the pub on Sunday night (ironically mostly by the South African and the Brit who spent 8 years living in South Africa, so they both have a different accent from the standard British one. Hmph!).

I found a piano store that had practice rooms for rent by the hour, so I started practicing each day for an hour. It was good to get back into practicing, but I realized just how much work I have to accomplish before I get to Italy next week!

On Tuesday, 18 May, I had the interesting experience of having trouble finding/buying a simple cup of tea on the way to practice in the morning. I stopped off at the Notting Hill Gate stop during my morning commute on the Tube (London Underground) to the Marble Arch area. I walked several blocks in each direction, but try as I might I couldn't find any sort of little bakery or tea shop. However, I did find TWO Starbucks' within two blocks of each other. Sigh. I finally gave up on finding somewhere and went to buy tea from The Man. However, when I tried to order decaf tea, they ended up getting confused and giving me decaf COFFEE which I quickly asked them to remedy. It is a sad, sad day when you can't get a simple cup of tea in London.

I spent that afternoon wandering around Covent Garden while eating a pasty (the "a" is pronounced like "apple") and listening to a busking (somewhat melodramatic) string quartet. I also went up to the Knightsbridge area and--just for fun--wandered in and out of the stores there, even though I can't afford anything in most of them. Sometimes it's just fun to pretend you're posh. I then wandered up to Hyde Park and strolled around taking pictures and suchlike. I also got asked for directions by 3 separate people in the span of 15 min. Evidently it didn't take long for me to look like I again belonged or knew where I was going! I also wandered by my old flat and took a picture for nostalgia's sake. I'm sure the students who came out the front door while I was doing that were thinking, "Who's the creeper girl taking pictures of our building?" but I didn't care. I finished up the evening's outings by going to the university student gathering at HTB (simply referred to as Students) at 7pm and then to the Zetland pub with students after Students was over.

A few more pics from my day of wandering:


Wednesday and Thursday I practiced and spent much of the remainder of each day hanging out with my dear friend Rachel. Wednesday evening, I went to a surprise party/birthday drinks for one of the staff from HTB, then went to see the new Robin Hood film afterwards with some friends from Students. It was quite fun to watch a movie set in England while in London. The irony is that, of the six of us who went to see the film, only one was actually English as far as I know (other nationalities represented: Welsh, American, and South African). After the movie, as if to add insult to injury after my experiences with tea-hunting the day before, the Tube decided to cause me to take an hour and a half to make what should normally be a half hour trip home.
It involved a stop that was closed due to a fire alarm, me getting off at that stop because no one told me otherwise, being told to leave the station by the emergency fire squad (even though there was no visible fire), and having to walk out of my way to another Tube stop to get on a different Tube line to try again to get home. Left High Street Kensington at 10:30pm, arrived home at West Brompton at nearly midnight.

Friday I went down to Greenwich to turn in the paperwork to Trinity College of Music (the same paperwork I hadn't gotten around to turning in when I said I was going to in my last blog post). I then spent the afternoon relaxing and exploring Greenwich. It is a really lovely area. I took lots of pictures and a nap in the park before heading north into Central London again. A few more pictures from my day in Maritime Greenwich (it is clearly an old port town):


Saturday night around midnight, I managed to set off the smoke detector in Tye and Sam's apartment when I attempted to bake scones. This was not entirely my fault.[Pictured is the outside door of Sam and Tye's house] On Friday night, Sam had cooked a fabulous multi-course Italian dinner for Tye, Rachel-the-dinner-guest, and me. The cheesecake from that meal had overflowed some whilst baking and the residue was still on the bottom of the oven. Since someone else had washed up after the meal, I just assumed they'd tackled the spill in the oven as well...which was not the case. Much to my chagrin, I preheated the oven without realizing this and had nice billows of smoke greet me when I went to put the scones into the oven. The alarm began sounding, and we were forced to remove the batteries (Temporarily!) and close the kitchen door to keep it under control. I let the oven cool down and decided to finish my scones in the morning. I did, and they turned out just fine. More on Sunday and the rest of the week in the next post!

Until then, Godspeed.
-Emily

A.D.O.S.

(Attention Deficit...Ooh Shiny!)

**Surgeon General's Warning: Rapid topic changes and lack of transitions can trigger adverse reactions and nervous ticks (especially in English majors and teachers of all levels). If you are an at-risk individual for these side-effects, you are hereby cautioned to read this post at your own risk. Any questions or concerns should be directed to either the US Surgeon General or the MLA.**

I left for London on Thursday, May 13th. I packed significantly less luggage than I did last time I went to Europe. This is good. However, I still think I overpacked. Hopefully I'll learn what I can leave behind and will consequently pack less and less each time I travel overseas (or even just within the US for that matter).

I had a several-hour layover in Newark, NJ. Note to self: Next time pack less other stuff to make room for a Jane Austen novel or something. I got rather bored sitting there, and I was afraid if I fell asleep I wouldn't wake up in time for my flight, so I called various peoples instead. I had an interesting conversation with my mother, during which I practiced my British accent (with hints of a South African accent thrown in for good measure) and a conversation with Drew about an assault rifle he'd just purchased (to practice for military stuff, so he says). Boy, it felt really weird talking about guns while sitting in the airport. I'm surprised that the government wasn't tapping my call and didn't send a SWAT team to stop me from getting on the plan and detain me for questioning for alleged terrorist plots.

I slept acceptably well on both my flights (STL-Newark and Newark-London/Heathrow). Continental consistently serves better food than I'm expecting them to, given that it's airplane food and other airlines have led me to expect a measly bag of peanuts or maybe a sandwich if you're really lucky. Anyway, Continental's food actually resembles a somewhat balanced meal (albeit mass-produced) and is even served hot. Kind of like those microwavable dinners you can get at the supermarket. Anyway, it's not like I want to eat that all the time, but I was still impressed. I didn't go hungry over the Atlantic. :)

Volcanic ash makes for interesting sunrises. It creates this cool haze across the horizon when you're above the clouds, which reflects the sunlight differently than clearer air does. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of this personally (so you'll have to make due with this one I stole off the internets), because I accidentally packed my camera in the bag that ended up in the overhead compartment and I didn't want to turn on my cellphone to use the camera since phones are prohibited in-flight and I did a cost-benefit analysis and decided that the benefits of a potentially really cool photo did not, in fact, outweigh the disadvantages of potentially causing interference with aircraft equipment resulting in an airline crash to rival Flight 815 (that's for all you "Lost" fans out there...I don't understand you, but look! I'm trying to relate! Give me some credit, okay?)

My checked luggage took the scenic route through Houston without me. Fortunately I only had to wait an extra 1/2 hour or so for it to arrive in London. It doesn't seemed to have picked up a drawl while it was there, so I think everything turned out all right.

I got hit on twice while walking around during my first day in London; it was kind of weird, considering I hadn't showered, had been traveling for 20+ hours on very little sleep, and felt really grubby. Once it was even in French, which was even more weird. And I wasn't even wearing a berret at the time. Interesting.

I took a nap in the middle of the afternoon at Tye and Sam's flat (where I'm staying for the week). They actually had a spare room/study that they turned into a guest room for me. While I was sleeping, their landlady came through showing the flat to prospective tenants for next year. She didn't know I was there, nor that I was sleeping. She opened the door to the room, saying, "And this is the study...I mean, guest room," closed the door, and left. I only vaguely remember this happening because I only half-woke up when it happened. I had to ask the housemates later if I'd dreamed it or if it had really happened.

Friday and Saturday night I attended the London stop of Passion2010 conference world tour. It was pretty awesome. I got to see Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, and (my personal favorite of the musicians) the David Crowder Band. The latter did a lovely bluegrass/gospel rendition of I Saw The Light/I'll Fly Away. It was wonderfully amusing being surrounded by Brits singing along as the banjo played. Louie Giglio and Francis Chan both spoke, which was excellent. It was encouraging to see university students praising the same Savior even on the other side of the world. The praise and renown of the Lord Jesus Christ knows no national boundaries. :) (Giving credit where credit is due: Photo stolen from the Passion blog.)
At the same time, there weren't nearly as many students as I was expecting, given how large a city London is. It speaks both to the fact that it's exam season here (so lots of people were closeting themselves for days and weeks to study/"revise" for their exams) and the fact that it is a remarkably small percentage of university students in London/UK that follow Christ. I heard from someone while I was here that it's something like only 1% of university students even attend church. Pray for this city and this nation, that God will cause the Gospel to spread like fire through the power of the Spirit and the witness of His children. Pray for boldness, wisdom, and opportunities to share the good news. Also pray for Tokyo, where the Passion2010 world tour is heading next. They'll be in Tokyo on Saturday, May 22nd.

Saturday I attended a Christian arts festival that several friends were presenting in. It was held outside in a lovely English garden. Paintings and other pieces of visual artwork were hung from tree trunks, sculptures were interspersed to take you pleasantly by surprise as you strolled along the walking paths, and there were two locations set up for musicians (one for classical, the other for contemporary) to perform.
There was even a little cinema set up under a spreading tree grove/thicket to create the necessary space and darkness. The cinema was powered by pedaling bicycles attached to a little generator. It was really cool to experience believers' creativity and artwork in the context of God's own creativity and artwork. I really want to host something similar at home now!

There are currently 2 pigeons sitting outside my window eyeing me with their beady little orange-ish eyes as I type this.

I think that's enough for one post. Thoughts on Sunday-Thursday to follow soon (Preview of coming attractions: grad school hunting, jet lag, being back at HTB, complications with the Tube, seeing the new Robin Hood movie, and visiting my old stomping grounds again). Must head out the door now to deliver some grad-school-search-related paperwork to Trinity College of Music in Greenwich, about an hour's journey by Tube and District Light Rail (aka DLR) from here. Tonight I'm planning on making dinner with Rachel Berry--we're planning to make steak and ale pie. I'm sure I'll report later on the results of our cooking/baking experiement.

Cheers (for now)!
-Emily

Here we go again!

After a several-month-hiatus, it's time for this blog to come back into active use! For anyone who hasn't heard yet, I'm spending 7 weeks abroad this summer. I fly to London on Thursday, May 13th, to visit friends. On June 1st, I fly to Pisa, Italy, then take a train to Florence (Firenze), where I will be studying opera for the month of June. On June 30th, I fly back to London, where I will stay with friends until I fly home to the US on July 2nd.

I am extremely excited and also nervous about this trip. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study opera in Italy, surrounded by the history and the language (more on those in a future post).

It's also wonderful to have a chance to catch up with the dear friends I made last semester. It's been just under 5 months since I saw them, and I've definitely missed them. I'm excited to see what God's been doing in London since I left, excited to go back to HTB for a few weeks, and excited to have a chance to do a bit of sightseeing that I ran out of time to do when I was there last fall. I'm also planning to visit a couple of grad schools while I'm there (more on that later, too).

At the same time, as departure draws closer and closer, I find myself getting nervous. I'm not at all nervous about London, but I am nervous about Firenze. I'm nervous I'll have trouble picking up the language, getting around, and making friends. I'm especially nervous about finding an English-speaking community of believers to worship and fellowship with for the month. God's been gracious already to me in this regard, though, because at least one other student going on this study program loves Jesus, too. Finding that out was really an answer to prayer. But I must admit I still have to remind myself of God's past faithfulness to me to calm my fears as Thursday gets closer.

I intend to keep this blog much more up-to-date than I did last time I was 'cross the pond. The posts may be less thought out or less carefully crafted, but hopefully they'll be a genuine representation and record of what I'm doing, what I'm learning, and God's constant faithfulness to me.

To-Do list before I leave:
-finish unpacking from the semester
-laundry
-repack for seven weeks
-buy an English-to-Italian phrase book
-get a haircut
-finish making my best friend's birthday/graduation gift
-have lunch with my best friend and give her the gift

Thanks again for reading!
Cheers!
-Emily

Joshua 1:9 (NIV) "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."