Today was good because we went to the ORCHARD.  Fantastic.  Aaron, Josh, Mandy, Jenna, Courtney and I set out this morning to make the three mile trek to Granchester and engage in polite English activites.  Hold up:  does something about this group sound familiar?  Well, it should because this is the group that went to Bath months and years and eons ago and never wants to go back.  hahaha.  We didn’t realize it when we planned the trip to the Orchard, but we had a Bath Reunion Tour 2008 (or that’s what I kept calling it) and we set off.  It’s a very lovely walk.  We go through the woods by the river and then out into the countryside until we reach the place.  Then we were joined by Adrienne and Matt, which was great, and we had some tea/scones/juices/etc.  We walked back at a very slovenly pace because it was so dang out out.  Got some ice cream.  Saw some baby ducks.  Split up and ran some other errands.  Great.

Then Courtney and I realized that we’re teaching Sunday school tomorrow, so we had to give that a think.  It resulted in us sitting in the library for an hour and a half, looking blankly at the teacher’s manual, laughing at stupid ideas of what we could do with the kids, imagining what would happen if we taught them worship songs, and singing along to “Godspell.”  What an awesome musical.  Anyway, we didn’t accomplish a lot.  But by golly, those kids are going to have Paul’s conversion down pat tomorrow…or else.  As long as Hanna is in the class, we’re fine because she’s brilliant.

What else…well, not a whole lot, I suppose.  I am making progress on my reformation paper.  I still have a lot to do otherwise.  Monday is a big day.  Monday is a sad day.  Monday is a fun day.  Monday I will probably cry a lot.  I’m very predictable.  My last pericope, my last chapel (evening prayer!), my last house tea, my last house BBQ (we’ve had so many).   And then on Tuesday I help Cyndy fill the skip, slash, I pack.  And then I go home.

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Last night Josh and Peter told me that chapel was at 8 this morning instead of 8:30 because Preceptor and Cyndy had a meeting with the financial advisor.  And I believed them.  I believed them till the second I opened the door to the house this morning and smelled the bacon frying.  The STREAKY bacon.  Boy, I’m a huge idiot.  The house organized a breakfast for me.  It was lovely.  Pancakes and bacon.  I love them so much.  So we all sat down and had a nice, big breakfast together.  And Tutor Humann let Hebrew out early, so he and Cyndy came and ate with us.  And Preceptor, too.  It was wonderful.  We started chapel late.  My last Australian matins.  I’m much more used to it than I was.  I think I’ll actually miss it.  I know I will.

So today was a nice day.  We had liturgy class, my last one.  Dr. Hayes came and took me out for lunch.  That was nice.  We watched “Lost” and tonight we’re going to Fitz Bar/cafe for some Mars Bar Toasties.

Tomorrow we may walk down to the Orchard.  And then I have a lot to do.  Such as:  Reformation paper/liturgy test/pericope question.  That’s right.  I left it all till the end of my term.   ugh.

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It’s the eve of my 21st and the festivities have already started.  The Roggow’s bought me two shots called “Goldshlager” and they were quite tasty.   They tasted like red-hots, and there were shards of ACTUAL GOLD in them.  Hilarious.  Other than that I had two half pints of cider-black and an Archer’s.  why am I telling you this?  I don’t know.  I’m not a very good drinker.  The reason we went out tonight is because a lot of people will be gone tomorrow night.  I’m kind of relieved that the festivities are over, but tomorrow we’ll be going to Fitz cafe for real and getting some Mars Bars toasties.  Heck yes.

This evening Cyndy and Tutor Mosemann took me out to dinner to the Boathouse.  I got some very lovely lasagne and we engaged in some very lovely conversation.  I’m going to miss both of them very much and I’m happy that Tutor Mosemann will be Dean at Ft. Wayne next year because that automatically equals a road trip.  Plus, perhaps we can convince preceptor and Cyndy and Tutor Humann and the whoever else to come at some point and hang out.  That’d be a ton of fun.

This morning was my last greek lesson.  It was just Cyndy, Preceptor and I because Jenna and Courtney are in Paris right now.  I almost cried.  In fact, I may have, but I contained it very well.  I have loved Greek with Preceptor so much this semester.  |I’ve begun to learn a language that I never  anticipated learning, and am doing a fairly decent job.  I’m looking forward to keeping it up, but I’m fairly certain that Greek at Concordia can’t compare with Greek at Westfield House.  And that’s that.

I guess I don’t have a lot more to say tonight.  I’ll have more tomorrow I suppose..

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Nearly four months ago Preceptor greeted Jenna, Courtney and I at the door at 6 in the morning and showed us our room.  He had stayed up all night in anticipation of our arrival.  It really, really, eerily seems like just yesterday.  How is that possible?  How can the (probable) finest four months of my life actually be coming to a close?  This is very sad.  As happy as I will be to see everyone at home (and I will be!) I must admit it will be remarkably difficult to leave this place.  This place has been very good to me.

Then again I can’t get too worked up about leaving because I still have a Reformation paper and a liturgy take-home test to do.  haha.  Gives me something to do while everyone else is hard at work, that’s for sure.  We can be all hard at work together.

That’s the theme for this week:  together.  I’ll have to write that on the board, I think.

On another note, it will be good to get home because I haven’t listened to any music in a long time because my laptop AND my cd player are broken.  What a catastrophe.  For real.

Almost every night we grill out now.  And we sit at the picnic tables outside and have a real fun time.  I like that.  I love living communally.  Next year I’m going to be so alone in my little RA room in Gross.  It’ll be good and sad at the same time.  I don’t think anything can trump the living experience I’ve had here, though.  Cooking with friends every night, hanging out in the commons knowing someone is bound to come through, sharing pericope misery in the library, always somebody outside smoking, etc, etc.  I love the amount of people.  This house has the amount of people just right.  And they were the right people, too.  We mesh very well.  We get along.  We have fun.  We can talk and be absurd.  It’s great.  There’s always someone.

I  need to stop being melodramatic.  But there’s no question about  it:  I need to come back here at some point.  Whether it’s just to visit or whatever.  I don’t know what I’ll do, but I have to at least come back and at least acknowledge that I was here, some time ago, for four months.  That I crossed the sea and lived in England for a semester and had a swell time.  That I saw some things that I really needed to see, that have benefited myself and the nature of my growth, etc.  And now I’m just rambling.

Josh is doing the children’s service tomorrow.  He gets to talk to Hettie the puppet Chipmunk or whatever.  They don’t sing children’s songs at the children’s service.  They sing hymns.  Well, one time they sang “blind man,” but their version of blind man has the words “vicarious atonement” in it.  Tap Tap’s kids are that smart, and apparently the others are, too.  I got a huge, hilarious laugh out of that.  That reminds me of my family reunion, and that’s another reason to be happy to go home.  Come to think of it, I have plenty of reasons.  But does that make leaving any easier?  You’re right, it doesn’t.

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Yesterday, for the first time ever, I felt like a real literary critic.

Problem is…I’m probably wrong.

But it caused me to get out of bed on three separate occasions last night, go over to my desk, and write out some of the thoughts that were colliding in my head…in the dark.  Today I tried to put them all together, but I’m afraid it’s just a jumbled mess.  Oooh boy.

And I leave in two weeks.  My heart breaks just thinking of it.

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This week was a nice week, minus the fact that I’ve been mildly sick all week.  My throat started hurting Tuesday evening at the vicarage placement service, of all places.  But that was a fun time!!  I was amazed at the number of guys going down south/out west.  No one is coming to Chicago, which is disappointing.  I was hoping someone would.  But Jon and Julie are going to Florida, as well as Kevin.  And Aaron and Mandy are going to Baton Rouge.  And Andrew and Heather are going to Oklahoma.  And Peter’s going to San Francisco.  And Josh is going to Wisconsin.  Haha.  We’ll probably have to visit some people next year.  We had great food that night.  And it was a great service…everyone was so nervous about getting placed, it actually transferred a bit to me.  I’m happy for them, and I trust them.

So I’ve been sick this week, which has sucked.  But I’ve been doing decently on papers.  My Early Church one is suffering, and that’s due on Tuesday, so I have two nights to whip that sucker into shape.  John Donne is practically DONE.  hahahaha.  Just have to wrap that one up nicely.  Then all I have to do till I leave are my liturgy test and my Reformation paper.  How pleasant.

Today was awesome.  Still sick, but absolutely gorgeous weather.  And it was Spring Spruce-up Selebration, which meant a day chock-full of eating, drinking and tidying.  The schedule was as follows:

9 am - coffee, crumpets and corona (corona’s are nasty, so I didn’t have one)

12 pm - soup, sandwiches and sangria (all were to my liking)

6pm - big barbeque with the NEW GRILL that we bought Westfield House.

And in between all that we were working hardcore outside.  I got to wear shorts and a t-shirt, it was awesome.  Julie and I weeded the side garden forever, and then we all moved onto the pond and took care of that.  Between the 20 of us, I think the place looks rather nice.  I hope Preceptor is pleased.

Andrew Yeager wanted to mow the lawn, and he did so with a cigar in his mouth and a suave safari hat on his head and a neckerchief.  Hilarious.

I have so much work to do tomorrow.  I hope I feel better.

Less than three weeks now…huh.

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This weekend Courtney and I embarked on a journey to Scotland.  This was my last European adventure, and I was excited to see the country which gave us Christina Mackenzie and Belle & Sebastian.  We flew into Glasgow and ended up in Edinburgh mid-afternoon on Friday.

This trip was special because we did not stay at a hostel or a bed & breakfast:  we stayed with three flat-mates we found on couchsurfing.net.  This was a GOOD IDEA and probably the best part of our trip.  Officially Emily, a Michigander getting her masters abroad, was our couchsurfing host, but Ritsya and Christina were just as attentive to our needs.  We sat around and talked for a good while, and then we went out to dinner at a local pub.  And then they took us to a traditional Scottish Ceilidh (pronounced “kaylee”) which was a TON of fun.  It’s very comparable to square dancing, which I did once in Chicago and loved.

Anyway, the Ceilidh was great, and we met some more of their friends and had a lovely time.  And we picked up some Ben and Jerry’s ice cream on the way home, split it, and headed to bed.

On Saturday Courtney and I explored Edinburgh.  We walked up a lot of hills and conquered the Royal Mile and got as far into the castle as one can without paying.  I bought a lovely scarf that has sheep on it for £5…because I liked it.  And it reminds me of my mommy!  And we went to the Royal Scottish Museum and went into St. Giles and ate a baked potato and went to a tea room and bought our hostesses lovely little desserts from that tea room.

So we went back to our temporary residence and ended up cleaning up the kitchen for them.  Then they made us a beautiful curry/thai dinner and that was fantastic.  And then we went to this little dingy pub where they had karaoke.  I did not participate but I observed.  Participating would require a drink or two, and I was short on funds.

This morning Courtney and I attended Christina and Ritsya’s church…which was non-denom and charismatic.  Don’t worry, there was only one incident of public speaking in tongues and there was a reluctant interpreter!!  haha…?  Anyway, everybody there was remarkably friendly and the service wasn’t as wild as it could have been.  The sermon actually wasn’t too bad.  Downpoint of that…over 15 minutes long, at which my attention starts to wander.  After about 40 minutes of that, they had some “bread and wine” and Courtney and I had some donuts and tea.  haha.  Emily met coming back from her own episcopalian service, we said our goodbyes and Courtney and I headed back to the train station.  GREAT girls…I’m so entirely satisfied with our couchsurfing experience and I’m going to recommend it if you ever find yourself so inclined.  We were so comfortable with them and they were such gracious and wonderful hosts.  It was swell.

After a hectic day of traveling and uttering many death threats directed towards Ryan Air (for keeping us on the plane 20 minutes after we landed, plus making Courtney and I sprint through the airport to just BARELY make the 11:00 bus) we made it back to Westfield.  And I’m going to enjoy my last month here uninterrupted with traveling.  This was a good way to end it, I think.

On tuesday we’re  holding a service/dinner for the guys’ vicarage placement service.  I’m excited about that.  I’m down with house meals.  And on Saturday is Spring Spruce-up Selebration, which will also turn into an occasion for eating.  And for sprucing up the grounds, duh.  I love it.  This week also holds non-stop paper writing.  No distractions, please.

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What does Jesus do?

a. only eat vegetables

b.  love you

c. ride a dinosaur to work

d. none of the above

What do you say ?

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Here’s a big blog update a’comin’:

About a week ago Jenna and I set out for our big Austria/Czech Republic adventure.   After 4 hours of attempting to sleep/not sleeping on the cold, hard airport ground, we were able to check in for our flight.  The flight itself was pleasant, and we arrived in Salzburg earlier than expected.  We were greeted by the friendly Alps.  After exchanging pleasantries we got to know each other fairly well over the next couple of days.

So we checked into our youth hostel, a lovely little place called “Yoho.”  They show “Sound of Music” at least once a day.  They have eating facilities, cheap breakfast, and a bar.  The rooms and bathrooms are clean, etc.  Jenna and I get up to our room and discover that we will be rooming with a 40 year old German man for the night.  That was a little weird, but it worked out ok.  He was nice and told us where all the cool places in Salzburg were, such as the VonTrapp family house, etc.  ‘Twas a little awkward when he came out of the shower without a shirt on, not realizing we were in the room, however.

So we explored Salzburg a little on Sunday and more thoroughly on Monday.  We found a lot of the Sound of Music sights, and that was cool.  Besides all that, Salzburg is just a lovely little city.  We were sad to go.

But go we did, and we ended up using our eurail pass to get to Vienna.  Vienna was…fine.  A big city, which I’m inclined not to like.  But there was some cool stuff to see.  We stayed at the Blue Corridor, another youth hostel, which was FAR LESS SUPERIOR to the Yoho.  It was literally just a dingy little hallway separated in parts by curtains.  Whatever.  So we did Vienna and checked out of there early the next morning.

The next day we took the train to Hallstatt, which is probably the most beautiful/scenic place I’ve ever been.  It’s a tiny little lakeside village nestled securely in the Alps.  We basically just walked around and marvelled at a landscape that is 100% different to the ones we’re used to, those being Illinois and Michigan.  Although the Great Lakes are something in themselves, and I still maintain that I would not trade Michigan, with all its inconsistencies and sorrows, for the world.  So we stayed a nice bed & breakfast, and the owners could not speak English, but that was ok.  The language barrier was…well, a barrier at times, but we made it through the whole trip and we’re rather proud of themselves.

After Hallstatt we took five different trains in one day to get to Prague.  What a headache.  We actually got off at the wrong stop in this dingy little industrial town in Prague, and we didn’t realize it until we saw our train leaving us behind.  That was nerve wracking.  So we followed the train tracks and got lots of weird looks.  We tried to communicate with people, and somehow we found our way to the real train station and were able to catch another train to Prague.  But it was intense for awhile…we power-walked as fast as we good with our huge backpacks in the middle of the Czech Republic, and it was hot.  Weird.

So we got to Prague and stayed at the “Prague Pillow.”  It was a very decent accomodation, but no breakfast.  Oh well.  We had a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room.  We walked around on Friday and saw the sights.  It was a nice town.  What’s nicer about Austria/Czech Republic are that the churches are free.  Church of England, take note.

We left for Austria again at 6 on Saturday morning and got back to Cambridge at 12:30 am.  A whole day of travelling.  Yikes.  I’m so glad to be back.  So glad.

I did a lot of greek on the train, which was nice.  And the trains in general were pleasant, except for a few losers in the Czech Republic.  The eurail pass was easy and awesome, but some train attendants didn’t know what it was, and that caused a few uncomfortable moments.  But it all worked out.

Here are things Austrians/Czechs love:

1. graffiti

2. crucifixes

3. pizza

And the most important thing I learned on the trip is that a place is a place.  Despite different cultures and languages, people are people and they act like people.  It was awesome being on continental Europe, and it was a very new thing for me, but even just after a week, despite the differences, there was familiarity about it.

On the way back to Salzburg to fly out I made a list of people I’m excited to see at some point in the next couple months.  There are almost 100 people that list.  If you’re reading this, you’re probably on it.

Annnnddd…my computer crashed today.  For real.  That’s so totally lame.

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The past couple of days have been good.

I DID go to the University Library. I did. I took my ID card, just like I was supposed to. Guess what the lady told me I was supposed to have (that I did not have)? Passport? Letter from my college (despite my ID)? Drivers License (luckily I had this)? I pronounce that lady and that 5 minutes of my life lame. So she only gave me a temporary card and said I had to come back with a letter, even though no one else from Westfield needed a letter. So extremely lame.

So I spent a good five hours in that place. It’s a huge place. I wasn’t allowed to get my own books, they had to fetch them for me, and it took an hour. Once I got them I sat in the reading room and read until my eyes felt as if they were going to explode, but that would not have been very polite. But I never took in a letter, so I’ll probably have to reapply and then spend several afternoons there in the next month to take care of various projects.

Anyway, Ben and Bethany came! The past couple of days have been delightful with them here. Yesterday was such a pleasant day. We walked out to Granchester to have tea at the Orchard. It was such a great walk along the river out in the country. And the Orchard hosted several authors and poets several times back in the day, including Rupert Brooke, Virginia Woolf, Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath. That’s pretty remarkable, I’d say. The weather was so nice and we sat in the Orchard for a few hours and spoke of backpacking across the USA and several other things of great importance (which means they were quite trivial).

Then we came home, had a nice dinner, watched some hilarious you tube videos, went to a pub, came home and watched more hilarious youtube videos till 3:30 in the morning. I loved it so much.

Tonight Jenna and I are headed to the bus station, which takes us to Stansted Airport, and then we’re flying to Salzburg, Austria. Then we’re eurailng to Vienna, then to Hallstatt, then to Prague, and then back to Cambridge again. It should be a good little trip. Scotland the weekend after. I still need to call and get my confirmation number.

So…I’ll let you know how all that nonsense goes.

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