our 1st week in London!

I would like to begin this blog entry by asking your forgiveness for my absence; we have been busy, busy traveling, having fun, and going on adventures—some of which I would like to tell you about!

On Monday the 27th of September we went on a scavenger hunt all over Central London; the point of the scavenger hunt was to familiarize the students with the Tube or Subway system.

We spilt up into 3 groups of 3—I joined one of the groups—and we started off on our adventure. We had ten envelopes with ten different tasks and/or places to do and visit. The hunt was supposed to be around 2 hours…however (and that’s a BIG however) it took us almost 4 hours to complete the entire hunt.

And when we were done we were EXHASUTED! And our feet were killing. BUT we did learn about the city, so I guess the point was accomplished! :)

Tuesday the 28th of September

We had a bus tour of the city! Our guide was a precious woman named Suze; and she was the classic British lady—peppy and cute, making random exclamations and observations, which kept us very entertained.

Wednesday the 29th of September

It was a rainy day…which is obviously not uncommon—but it was a bit worrisome because we were going to an open air play at SHAKESPEAR’S GLOBE THEATHRE!

We were groundlings… which meant we stood at ground level and watched the entire play while standing…great experience because we were literally right up against the stage…however standing for 3 and a half hours takes a toll

BUT

Luckily it did not start to rain until the last hour of the play and even then it was just a drizzle. The play we saw was Henry IV part I and it was excellent! A bit hard to follow, especially since most of us had never read it; but it was great being so close to the actors and the drama! And at the end for “curtain call” the whole cast did basically a line dance! It was really funny! :)

Afterwards Stephanie, Mary, and I went to get Starbucks which was right next to the theatre! And then Mindy and Lyndsey joined us after they’d visited the gift shop at the Globe. Our group is a group of coffee/tea lovers and I am so glad for it!

Thursday the 30th of September

A low-key day—including a short trip to the British Museum in the afternoon, which is actually down the street from our flats! 3-mintue walk tops!

And after we visited the Museum for a little while, Stephanie and I went to Starbucks to meet a lady named Jen Baker. Jen is one of the associate women’s pastors at a local church in London; she is from the states originally but has lived in the UK for the past 8 years. I wanted to find a church to connect with and be somewhat involved with while I was over here, so I found the church online, emailed, them and Jen offered to have coffee with me!

It was wonderful talking with an American who has lived in the city for a long time, and also has a heart for the Lord and the work He is doing in the UK. She was very encouraging and invited us to join them at Sunday services and she also gave us the dates of some women’s events that were coming up and told us we were welcome to join them at those as well.

Going to Sunday services will be more difficult as the semester goes on because we are obligated to join the Wembley Church of Christ congregation as a Harding group once we get more settled in London—but I’m definitely going to go to some women’s events!

Friday the 1st of October

Wow. October! Crazy :)

There is a store chain in the UK (and I’m not sure if it is anywhere else) called Primark—and it is like the Target of England but with just clothes and accessories; extremely similar to Forever XI.

Several of the girls wanted to go on a shopping date so we headed out to Primark—I expected it to be busy BUT I did not expect it to be as busy as it was…it was packed. Like day before Christmas shopping in the movies packed. You just had to accept that you were going to be pushed and that you probably would not get to go into a dressing room unless you waited for 40 minutes SO people were just trying on clothes over other clothes it was INSANE!!!!

I actually ended up putting some tops back because I did not want to wait in line for the dressing rooms! I got some tights however…which p.s. are all the rage. Like tights and a long top…that is what most everyone is wearing! Makes notes U.S. peeps. ;)

After Primark we headed down to H & M to look for me a purse; we were successful! But very tired—so we headed back through the rain to the tube stop and then back to our flat.

I think it was Friday that we had a game night…I could be wrong BUT I don’t think so…ha ha

The students and I had a lazy, crazy, fun game night in the flat—including pigging out on chips and chocolate cake!

We played pico-phone and king frog…and I have not laughed that hard in a long time! It was fun to see everyone’s personalities come out; and fun to just hang out together in our London flat!

(We did make the joke however, that you know you go to Harding when you’re at home playing games on a Friday night! Ha ha but we wall loved it so we weren’t complaining!)

Saturday the 2nd of October

THIS was an excellent day BECAUSE it was the Notting Hill/Portobello Rd Day!

I took the students to Portobello Rd which if you’ve seen the classic Disney film “Bed Knobs and Broomsticks” you know it’s amazing!

The goal of the adventure was not only to enjoy and explore the Saturday market BUT I spilt up the students into pairs and gave them each a food item to find and purchase in the market…the groups were off and the market was wonderful!

I hung out with Stephanie and Mindy on their hunt for blackberries—we found some excellent antiques, bags, trinkets, posters, junk, and food!

Everyone was successful in finding their items and it only started to rain as we were leaving! Lucky us!

After we returned to the flat I headed off to meet Lauren and her husband, Tyler at the grocery store…the plan was to take the food items the students had bought and make an excellent group meal! But we couldn’t get everything at Portobello Rd so we had to fill the holes at the grocery store!

On the menu: Steak with balsamic vinegar and goat cheese, baked potatoes with all of the fixens, caramelized brussels sprouts (yes they were a hit), french bread AND a fruit tart with a granola crunch top over vanilla ice cream!

Mindy, Lauren, and I were cooking up a storm in our tiny kitchen for almost 3 hours (pretty sure) but it was worth it! And we turned out to be an excellent team!

Dinner was amazing—beyond amazing actually.

On Sunday the 3rd of October

Lauren G. Stephanie, and I headed off to the Westminster Community Church! It was a bit of an adventure getting there because a few of the Tube lines closest to the church were under going maintenance (or so we thought) so we had to take an alternate route that involved a lot more walking.

However we made it to church on time and we had a warm welcome by the small but lively congregation! It was wonderful worshiping with brothers and sisters who are different from us and so encouraging to see God’s people loving and living for Him across the world!

Turned out that one of the lines that was supposed to be closed was actually open so we did not have to walk as far to get to the Tube on our way back from church! Which was nice because it was raining rather hard when we left service.

We had a group communion service later that afternoon, where we got to meet the Organ’s son, daughter-in-law and grandson! They visited for the week! So it was fun having them at church with us!

The students had Bible class with Mr. Guy, who is also in school in London, around 4 to 6.30 so I had some time to kill on my hands SO I DECIEDED (after I made a quick trip to Boots—for some shampoo) to go to HILLSONG CHURCH LONDON! Which is right down the street from where we live!

I was so excited because I have been a fan of Hillsong music, which comes out of the Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia, for the longest time and I was ready to worship and fellowship with more brothers and sisters!

The worship was awesome! And I got to meet a girl from Switzerland and a nice London woman! It was an encouraging time and I was so filled up by God and loved being around other believers who are seeking God’s heart like I am! Community=energizing and excellent!


alright alright well for blogging/dating sake I have divided up my posts by weeks SO because ummm we are actually in our 3rd week i will be posting about our 2nd and 3rd pretty much right after this one...so happy reading! i will try and get them out in a more timely manner as the semester goes on!

with love