The Other Side of the Pond

While Seth has been slaving at home getting everything perfect for our first apartment together, I had to travel the wild world of London for things dealing with school. First of all, I have preliminary reading for my courses, which start on September 27th. So, not only do they expect me to find my way to London, get an apartment, and find transportation to and from King's College, but also I've got to find all these books and read them before I ever meet my professors. Woo hoo.

As cynical as that may have sounded, it was not that difficult, and I am excited about the intensity of the program. Something I've realized with this whole venture is that, unless it's exactly the type of program I want, it really wouldn't be worth coming all the way over here to do it. So basically, I do think that my program is perfect for what I want to do, and that I've come to the right place.

What exactly is it that I'm doing? My Master's program is called “Early Modern English: Text and Transmission” and deals with manuscript study of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Basically, working with old documents to try and figure out exactly what the heck Shakespeare and other folks that wrote during his time (Jonson, Marlowe) were talking about and how we can translate that to today's audience/reader. Obviously, a whole lot more scholarly stuff goes into it so maybe that's not the best explanation, but hey, I tried.

I decided to go to the library to do all of the reading, so where else would I go but THE library in England – the British Library. This place is absolutely HUGE! There are books and books and books, and plenty of people silent reading and soaking up the knowledge. You can't check out any books there, though, it's purely a research library, which means you have to sit there and read everything. So I spent my time sitting in this huge room of 600 desks with all these other very quiet people drinking in everything I could about Early Modern printing and text.

In the murk of all the reading, Seth and I still had to go to a church on Sunday. So the first Sunday we were here, we decided to try Willesden Green Baptist, which is the near the library we frequented when we had just arrived (and which Seth still frequents until we have internet in our apartment). Willesden Green Baptist was a predominantly black church, as is most of the community around where we live, but it was a wonderful service. It was a youth sunday, so the service I'm sure was a little different from usual. The worship was excellent, something we both enjoyed and relished in. After that, the youth took turns giving testimonies and mini-sermons, very similar to the way a youth sunday works in Ameican churches. The church was huge for an English church, between 300-400 there. We enjoyed the experience at this church, but at the same time, we're wondering if it's just too big for us. A part of the church that is very important to both of us is to build up a relationship with other believers, so that you can encourage one another. With a church this size, I'm not sure if we would ever really meet anyone. We are going to give it another try sometime soon, though, I think!

The second Sunday (just this past Sunday) we went to a different church, All Souls, which is our Church of England parish church. I do not know enough about the Church of England yet, and I want to learn more, as I can see how it ties very closely with Catholicism. I really don't know enough on this to speak more about it, but hopefully I will learn and be able to fill you in. This church was SO completely different from Willesden Green Baptist. It was much smaller, about 100 people there, and much more reserved. Willesden Green Baptist, the worship felt very spontaneous, as though the song may go on as long or as short as the Spirit moves, and people were very open in their worship styles. At All Souls, people were reserved, and everything was written down on a sheet for us to say and sing. I'm not sure how we felt about this church quite yet. After the service, they were very welcoming to us, and I could see how we could help the church with our musical talent – that there was an area of work there for us – but at the same time, we're just not sure yet where we belong. We continue to pray over this decision.

That wasn't the only thing I had on my plate, though. Besides the reading and the church going, I also had an international orientation to attend, which is where I enrolled and had to go to seminars on things like banking, culture shock, safety, etc. This lasted about three days, and we were put into little groups with the bleak hope that we would all become friends and not be so lonely in the huge city of London. Well, everyone knows how those sort of things go. You all awkwardly have to meet through some kind of ice breaker, and in the end, nobody really knows anybody any better. I did meet some nice and interesting people, but the university is so huge, I'll probably never see them again!

The seminars were helpful, especially the one about banking, where the system is a little different from the US! But one night after the seminars, they were holding what is called a “Pub Quiz” at the University. Seth and I had no idea what this was, but he came along with me for the adventure. We walked into the on-campus pub (so funny to me, as there would never be a place like that on a campus in America), and it's crowded and loud, but obviously, we don't know anybody. We just sit down and decide to take it all in. After a few minutes, a guy approaches us and asks if we want to be on his team for the Pub Quiz. We decided, sure, why not? We talk to the guy for a little bit more and find out he is from Nigeria, which gets Seth excited because he was reading Things Fall Apart at the time. So he and Seth have a moment where they share a liking of Things Fall Apart, and then we go to sit with the entire team.

The team he has created is all girls, a few of which are even Americans. We all exchange names and chat a little, waiting for the quiz to begin. In essence, a pub quiz is where they give each team a piece of paper and then ask about ten questions and you write them down. There are five rounds of this, so 50 questions in all. The questions are on pop culture – music, celebrities, stuff that has been in the news, and so on. Our team was pretty good – we actually came in 3rd place at the end of the competition, which we felt like was quite an accomplishment, considering there must have been 20 or so teams. It was a good night for us, though, just having the opportunity to be with other people our age, laughing and relaxing. I think it was something we needed more than we realized, and I really enjoyed it. Coming into a new city, I don't think either of us is really sure how to make new friends, since everyone lives so far apart. It's not like at UGA, where you can hop in the car and go see folks. Plus, when someone tells me where they live, I have no idea where that is, and vice versa.

On the other hand, I've begun to realize how it's okay not to have a huge crowd of friends all the time. I always like to be socialable, getting to know people and hanging out – these are my favorite things. Obviously, haven't really been able to do that here, seeing as I know only Seth. But I can see how God is strengthening me in that area – that I don't need to rely on friendships to keep me happy. Not to say friendships aren't important and a great part of life, but I need to rely first on God to provide me with fulfillment, and then have people in my life for enjoyment and encouragement. I think sometimes we replace God with people, because if we have that comfort zone of people, we don't so desperately need or seek after God. When He is truly all you have, you must cling to Him fully. Furthermore, I feel that if He wants us to have friends here, He will provide them, and it will be obvious to us. This is what I pray for, and I know that if it is His will, they will be presented.

On the last day of my orientation, we got to go on a free boat tour, which was fun – yay! I did meet up with a group of girls who were also going on the boat tour, and hung out with them. They were some really nice folks, and even if that's all it was, I really enjoyed the afternoon with them. Here's some pictures of the boat tour (and you thought there weren't going to be pictures in this post):

London Eye:


Parliament and Big Ben:




Cool London architecture:



Tower Bridge:




King Henry VIII's shipyards:


Greenwich Observatory:




Called “Cuckold point” this is where husbands or wives would throw their unfaithful mate into the water:


Where those condemned to piracy where hanged, dragged under the water, and then left for the birds to eat (quite a morbid tour, yes?)


Cool Swiss bank building:


Traitor's Gate outside Tower of London:



The Tower of London (undergoing heavy work at the moment)



London:


As you can see, the weather here is really temperamental. One minute, it will be perfect and sunny and the next cloudy and windy. So that's taking some getting used to. Basically, you can either freeze or sweat and the choice is up to you. Quite democratic, really.

Overall, Seth and I have really enjoyed our time here so far. We celebrated our two month wedding anniversary this past Saturday, and we were excited for that! The day consisted of a jog together, relaxing and reading in the park nearby, and then some pizza for dinner. All in all, I'd call that the perfect anniversary day. : )