Trip to Windsor

With the close of the church service on Sabbath afternoon comes many decisions that must be made. Primarily, deciding what you're going to do for the rest of the afternoon: eating the cafeteria, imposing on another friend's outing, inviting yourself over to someone's house, venturing off campus to find some excitement. This Sabbath a group of 15 of us took three cars out to Windsor - not just the castle, but the town.

[From Left: Sarah (Germany), Clément (France), Simon, Mark, Jonathan, Michelle, Eric (England), Lars & Synne (Norway), Kasyn (Canada), Karlee (US)]

It was about a 30 minute drive out to the town with a short stop in between. When we arrived it was quite difficult to find parking (most people go into Windsor by bus). One car spent probably 30 minutes to find a spot after the rest of us had parked.

Before really seeing Windsor though, we crossed over a bridge into Eton, home of Eton College where Prince William and Prince Harry attended for secondary school. Eton College is a very prestigious secondary school in England for parents with millions of pounds to spend on their children's education (and you thought Adventist education was expensive!).

The grounds at the school are impeccably kept. We spent a short while in one of the gardens at the school where a statue of Perseus holding the head of Medusa stands.

A gate to one of the gardens at Eton

The statue of Perseus holding the head of Medusa

We went back over the bridge to Windsor at this point to catch Evensong at St. George's Chapel. The chapel is part of Windsor Castle and is the resting place of King Henry VIII (along with many other royals) and where Prince Charles and Camilla received their marital blessing from the church.

Because it was late in the afternoon at this point, we decided not to take a tour of the castle (and because I know some of you will be wanting to go there when you come visit). Instead, we opted to see the park in front of Windsor Castle. Straight out from the front gate stretches a long path imaginatively called "The Long Walk". The path is three miles long, though it doesn't look it. From one end, I looked out and figured I could walk to a certain point, about a third of the entire stretch, in five minutes. This ended up taking half an hour to walk there and back.

The Long Walk

(From Left: Karlee, Kasyn, Eric and Mark)

Windsor Castle

On our way back to the main street in town for dinner, we passed by Windsor's Crooked House and the shortest street in England.

(Building is more crooked than it appears)

We ended the evening at a pub on Thames Street right next to the castle called The King and Castle. It was relatively inexpensive and their vegetarian Five Bean Chili was exceptional. Sitting around and just talking, it was clear I wasn't in America anymore. It seems that whenever alcohol is present in the states it is a given that the persons drinking are either drunk, or about to be drunk. However, in this cozy pub there was none of that to be seen (except perhaps out back). Conversations and small get-togethers, rather than unabated laughter and slurring language, were the overall mood.

Walking back to the cars, we passed by a McDonald's where two plastic guards like those seen at Buckingham Palace were standing inside. I have never seen a McDonald's so clean and aesthetically pleasing in my life.

This concludes the trip to Windsor.

For those that haven't gotten a chance to talk with recently and have been wondering what I will be studying this semester at Newbold College, wonder no more:

Introduction to International Development

Jesus in His Time and Ours

Civilizations and Ideas

Introduction to Words and Music in Worship

Cultural Anthropology

(I will have a posting up about the Thames Festival that I went to in London yesterday soon)

Henley-on-Thames

Part of the Academic Philosophy at Newbold (and I suspect other Colleges/Universities in the UK) involves leaving large amounts of free time for the student that is to be used primarily for studying and reading. This means that two days of the week I have only one class and on Fridays, no class.

This was my first Friday to take advantage of this luxury so I gladly used the opportunity. Mark, the fellow that took us all around London my first time in, asked if I wanted to go for some coffee and I was glad to do so. The plan was to go into Bracknell, the nearest city to Binfield, but upon arrival he announced that we were going up to Henley.

The town of Henley-on-Thames is about a 20 minute drive NNW of Binfield (we had a great time navigating with his GPS). Henley is a world-renown center for rowing. Each summer the Henley Royal Regatta is held on the Thames River (pronounced tehmz) which is the same river that passes through Central London. The race attracts English middle and upper class.

When we got there it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining; it was nearly 75 degrees outside. We spent most of the afternoon walking around the town, meandering in and out of shops. One shop that we went in was completely filled with all sorts of things: doorknobs, stools, tins, dishes, eating utensils - all quite old. The ceiling was barely six feet tall and there was just room enough to pass through the different aisles without knocking over one of the trinkets.

The view from each side of the bridge as you enter Henley

Who knew their mail-drops were bright red too? I thought it was a fire hydrant!

(Tomorrow, or possibly the next day I will have a post up about our trip into Windsor this Sabbath. Also, we are headed back in tomorrow to London for another festival so the picture tour of the campus might have to wait 'till next weekend)

NSA Trip to London

At the beginning of every new school year the NSA (Newbold Student Association) rents a bus and takes the new students on a free trip into London.

We started off the trip at Hyde Park in Central London. In the park, there is an area in the corner that is protected by law for public speakers to talk about any subject. It has been this way for about 150 years. When I went there was a Pentecostal Christian speaker, a Muslim from Afghanistan (left) and another man speaking out against women in America and how they are all homosexual and can't cook or obey their husbands. This was definitely hard for me to listen to without wanting to give him a piece of my mind.

From there we went to St. Paul's Cathedral which appears even larger because of the shorter buildings around in and the small distance placed between it and other buildings.

On our way to the London Bridge we stopped buy several street performers. One was a pair of girls moving marionettes to the beat of a song they were playing. The dolls were so small but very much in sync with the music.

We finally got to the London Bridge for a spectacular view...

... and finished the day off where we started, the London Eye:

Overall, the day was filled with tourist destinations and a lot of walking. We went to an Evensong at Westminster which was more up-and-down than I've ever experienced in church but still enjoyable. I ended up asleep by 9:30 p.m. and got in well over 10 hours of needed rest. As promised, I will have pictures up of the campus soon.

A Medley of Observations

It has now been a week since I first arrived at Newbold (a week to the hour actually). And over the past seven days I've jotted down notes here and there in a journal about small things I've noticed in my short time here - cultural differences that is. I'd like to share a few with you now and again over the next several months that I am here.

When transitioning from an Adventist high school to an Adventist college, you are likely to get the "you're an adult now" speech. It will invariably include curfew, worship attendance, mixed gender settings, and drinking/drugs. Instead of being in your room and asleep by 10, you can now stay out 'till midnight. Instead of attending every worship, you can now choose three a week you'd like to go to. Instead of never being allowed in a room alone with someone from the opposite gender, you just can't bring them into the dorm. And instead of never ever being involved with anyone who drinks or deals drugs, you just can't do either on or off campus personally.

The dean orientation at Newbold went something like this: Just let us know if you're going to stay out all night. You aren't required to attend any worships, but we'd recommend it. You can have guys in your rooms, but only 'till 10 o'clock at night. And if you have a drinking or smoking problem, we'd like to help and just ask that you don't partake in either on school property.

Very different speeches. The most bizarre to me is what is called "Visitations" where girls and guys can spend time together in each others rooms until 10 pm every night. My neighbors will be playing video games with their boyfriends when a guy will come up to my room and knock on my door inviting me to hang out in the lobby with a bunch of friends. Do you not find this odd? What would happen if our American Adventist institutions tried this?

I've had many interesting conversations with British students and graduates about their career goals and what they are currently studying or have studied. I've found one common thread in these conversations that has been quite interesting: students will choose a course to study at a university not because they are interested in pursuing a career in that particular field but because it's practical. Many students will spend three years studying biochemistry just to become a more well-rounded person and then go on to study theology or literature. Or they will study theology to become more familiar with intellectuals but they will have no interest in God and will later take up a job at a marketing company. I've talked to a math major who never wants to do math again but thought it was a practical choice and a chemistry major who's thinking about teaching english in Japan. How much pressure would that take off of us "Undecided" majors to pick something we want to do for the rest of our lives at age 18?

It's about a 30 minute walk each direction into Bracknell, the nearest shopping to Newbold, from Binfield. I've gone in three times in the past week to one particular shopping center called Princess Square to buy cereal, a new curling iron, and get money from the ATM. The first time we went in, we shopped in the afternoon 'till about four o'clock and stopped at a cafe for tea. We were there an hour, drinking our tea, and when we left at five all the stores in the whole shopping center were closed - even the cafe we were in was closing. This was a Monday.

Every shop - no matter what it is (except gas stations) closes at 5 p.m.: department stores, grocery stores, cafes, everything. One of the British guys I was having tea with, upon my asking if the stores always close early, said, "Well, around the holidays they have late-night shopping where the stores are open 'till about 9 p.m." This was unbelievable to me. I mean, the prime time for shopping at stores in the states is from 3-9 after schools get out in the afternoon/evenings. The Costco parking lot is nearly completely full after 3:05. Coffee shops in Walla Walla and College Place are considered to close early when they aren't open past 8 p.m. Would America be able to fuel its economy if stores closed this early? Would college students actually have to go to bed at a decent hour because they didn't have any caffeine in their blood from their late-night coffee runs? Granted, this is a much smaller town than say - London, but even there most stores are closed by 7.

In the near future I plan to post a blog with a campus tour of pictures and some more pictures of the quaint English town you too will come to know - Binfield.

The Melting Pot

I knew it was inevitable. At some point in my time here I would ruin some kind of electrical device. There is always great inconvenience in adapting and converting all kinds of electronic devices overseas: laptops, cellphones, straighteners, hairdryers, and more. Well, today was the day - my day.

Monday morning, the forecast was sunny (a rarity) and I knew it would be one of the few days it would be worth it to blow dry my hair. I plugged it in - nothing exploding yet. I turned the hair dryer to the highest setting (I didn't want to be drying my hair all morning) and then turned it on. The power nearly knocked me out of the chair I was sitting in! Turns out the "high" setting is about twice as powerful here as it is in outlets in the states. Ok, lesson learned, right? Use the "low" setting. Apparently not.

This morning as I was getting ready I knew we had pictures for our ID cards today so I figured it'd probably be a good day to do something to my hair. I plugged in my curling iron and went on with my morning, getting dressed and such. Two minutes later as I smell plastic burning I turn around to see the handle of my curling iron melting off the actual iron. I had left it on the high setting. I proceeded to pick up the handle to get the hot iron off my desk. Unfortunately the iron had already completely detached and fell on the floor. The next few minutes consisted of me juggling this really hot iron around the room to find the safest place for it while trying to keep the smoke alarm from going off by opening the window.

So next time you are tempted to curl or straighten your hair in a hurry in a foreign country, remember this: just because you plug them in and they don't explode, doesn't mean something equally damaging isn't going to happen.

1st Trip to London (Notting Hill Carnival)

When I decided to start this blog I had two main purposes. First, to document everything I experience so one day if I find myself in a tight place I might look back and remember my youth. And second, to enable my friends and family to live vicariously through my journey through Great Britain. After several semi-depressing entries regarding the visa troubles and overall unpleasant experiences, I decided it was time to write about something... well... different.

Today I woke up thinking that I might walk around campus a bit and perhaps go to the gas station for a snack. By eleven o'clock I was walking towards Bracknell (the large town next to Binfield) with a group headed towards London to an area called Notting Hill. Of course, all I knew about this was from the few clips I've seen in the movie with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. A girl from Canada invited me and several others to go into Notting Hill today for what is called the Notting Hill Carnival that happens once a year.

To give you a little history, the carnival started in the 60s by British immigrants. After World War 2 the British realized that a huge portion of the population had been wiped out and they needed to bring immigrants into the country to fill jobs. So, they started passing out green cards to essentially anyone who was breathing.

Nearly 20 years later, the African population in the city began battling it out for their freedom with the government and this parade was the product of their protest.

It started out as a very violent festival of angry immigrants seeking justice (which resulted in lots of stabbings and other violent acts at the carnival). Today, it's just an excuse to blast rhythmic music and dress in fanciful attire while trash ing the streets of Notting Hill with food, beer cans, and empty stolen purses.

(From Left: Karlee, Susanne, and Sophia)

The size of the crowd that covered about six square blocks

(Karlee and Kasyn)

He was strapped into a huge pair of wings and was falling over

He was dressed up as some kind of Egyptian animal king with bad make-up, a belly hanging out, and lots of animal print

After wandering around the parade for several hours, we went into Central London and stopped in a hidden courtyard (Kingly Court) from some smoothies and tea.

[From Left: Susanne (Norway), Synne (Norway), Lars (Norway), Karlee (California), Katharina (Germany), Mark (England/Pakistan), Sophia (Korea), Kasyn (Canada), and Michelle (England/Pakistan)]

Mark and Michelle are siblings and Mark was our unofficial tour guide during the whole outing. He lives in Binfield but studied in London for four years and knows his way around everywhere. At the end of the day with our legs incredibly soar from walking, we finally got to the river to see none else but Big Ben, Parliament, and The London Eye.

This is the London I came to see.

Hold-up at Customs

Standing in the line at customs in the London Heathrow airport is a bit like being cornered. You get narrowed down one by one in a tight line and it's all up in the air as to what kind of customs officer you'll be dealing with. There was a young hispanic woman I was crossing my fingers to get - she smiled and seemed pleasant enough. But it was finally my turn for the next available customs officer that, I kid you not, looked like Hitler himself. I told him I was a student hoping to get into the country on a Student Visitors Visa and handed him my passport and paperwork. At first it seemed to be a breeze, but when he found out after scanning the barcode on my passport that I had been denied a Student Visa he got a sour expression on his face:

"You know love, it's quite ridiculous thinking that you can just come in on a Student Visitor's Visa after being denied a Student Visa. How ever am I going to believe that you're just coming in for a few months?" (Who knew they could look up all my immigration history?)

"Well, I have purchased my plane ticket for my return home in December..." I started a list of reasons why it shouldn't be a problem when he interrupted me.

"Yes, but how am I to know that you aren't going to stay past that? I'll tell you right now it doesn't look good. You'll probably be denied."

He quickly scrambled to fill out a sheet of paper saying that I was being held for further examination, took my passport and said he would return soon.

It's been a long time since I've bargained with God in a tight spot, but while my blood pressure soared through the roof and I started sweating the pleas just flowed out of me. Ten minutes later he returned and summoned me to his post at customs.

"What I'm trying to understand here is how I'm to know this school really even exists? I mean, why would you plan to come for a whole year and just change your mind to just come a semester? We don't even use that term in England, semester."

I started spouting off everything I knew about the college, it's association with Andrews University, and the Seventh-day Adventist Conference. Again, he interrupted me and ran off into a back room again, saying something about how he had to look something up on the internet.

At this point I was sure he was going ship me back to the states. I sat down for just a few minutes this time. When he came back out again he showed me my passport with a "Student Visitor's Visa" stamp in it. Giving no explanation, he told me to never ever do this again while he hurried me through the gates at customs.

I had little time to process what had just happened and say a few prayers of thanksgiving while I rushed down to baggage claim to pick up my luggage. It wasn't on any of the carousels so I went over to a luggage help desk and waited for them to locate my suitcases on the other side of the baggage claim area. I wrestled my 50 pound bags and two large carry-ons onto a cart and headed for the exit.

The problem with customs taking over an hour to go through and having to locate all of my luggage was that there was a gentleman from the college waiting outside baggage claim to pick me up. When I finally got out to the international flight lobby he wasn't there. No sign that said "Newbold College" - nothing! Come to find out, he had waited an hour until the announcer said that all passengers from United flight 938 were gone. He went back to the campus.

It's nearly impossible to get ahold of anyone on a Saturday at a Seventh-day Adventist institution, but an hour later my parents finally located the driver back at school and asked him to come back out and get me.

So nearly three hours after arriving at the airport, I was finally on my way back to the school with a nice-enough man from Croatia (though he charged me double for having to come out to the airport again after leaving the first time - 50 pounds, over 80 dollars for a 30 minute ride).

So now, the real adventure beings - finding food and getting over jet-lag!