My Room: April 2005

Be it ever so humble...

As I said before, warrived home safely last Thursday. The trip was uneventful and couldn't have gone more smoothly. Sadly, we were not bumped up to business class as we were on our way to Oxford, but the flight was underbooked and we were able to spread out. I watched three movies on the plane: The Village, which was even better the second time; Lemony Snickett's A Series of Unfortunate Events, which I thought was incredibly disturbing for a children's movie; and Blade Trinity, which sucked.

Since we've been home, we've been settling into our room in Christine's parents' basement. It's the size of the apartment we lived in in Grand Rapids, so that's nice. Jet lag wasn't quite as bad on the way home, since we're in a comfortable environment and don't really have to do anything. Sure, it's weird going to bed at 8 and getting up at 6, but according to Ben Franklin, I should be healthy, wealthy, and wise in no time. Our days have been spent watching movies and reading. Also, I've enraged my gangleon cysts playing Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 for several hours a day.

Yesterday I went to Loyola University with Christine while she visited the English department. I thought the campus was nice, even compared with Oxford. I bought the book Eats, Shoots and Leaves at the campus bookstore and then sat on the boardwalk facing Lake Michigan reading and sipping cappuccino. It was wonderful.

Christine and I graduate on May 7, and you are all invited to our open house on May 8. If you'd like to come, please e-mail me for directions.

Home

Hey! We've returned safely to our home in IL. The flight went well, and I didn't throw up so that's always nice. We're still recovering from jet-lag, but we're getting settled in again. Just wanted to let everyone know we made it back alright. We'll be keeping in touch.

The Symposium

Today we had our symposium where everyone in the Azusa Pacific program shared what they had studied. We met in the old library at St. Mary's Cathedral, where such people as John Wesley and CS Lewis have spoken. Part of the symposium was a paper competition, the prize for which was 75 pounds. Christine's essay, "The Victorian Ideal of Womanhood" made it to the top five!

Yesterday we went to Christ Church early to wander the grounds and take some pictures, and Christine mentioned that something must be going on, because there were a lot of cars. When we went in for the service, we learned that last night was the induction ceremony for the new Archdeacon of Oxford, so we stayed for that. It was a really interesting experience. I love the formalities and traditions of the high church ceremonies.

We now have two days in which to wander Oxford, pack, and do some reading. It should be fun. We leave on Thursday and will see many of you soon.

The Azusa Pacific students outside the Radcliffe Camera

Sunday in Oxford was rainy

I think this is a whomping willow

Fountain in the Christ Church garden

The Christ Church gardens

The building in the back is Hogwarts's dining hall

Our final weekend in Oxford

Yesterday was our last Saturday in Oxford. We visited some of our favorite places and did some souvenir shopping. Our first stop was the Natural History Museum, where I said goodbye to my dinosaur friends. We passed through a nice little graveyard on the way there.

While I was at the museum, I made quite a breakthrough in my fear of insects. The first display (which I had never take the time to notice because I always rushed through the entomology section, brushing at my hair and shrieking like a little girl) had, in large letters, the quote, "'An inordinate fondness for beetles,' J.B.S. Haldane when asked what he had learned about the Creator through studying creation." In case there was any doubt, this display featured hundreds of different types of beetles, and it got me thinking. There are so many different types of insects, spiders, and other creepy-crawlies that God does seem to have quite a fondness for them. Looking at them that way, I was able to walk more slowly through the different bug displays with only minimal shrieking.

We picked up some souvenirs we'd been looking at this term, and then headed to Blackwells. After looking around for a while, we went for a cream tea, only the second one we've had since we've been here, and then took some more pictures and bought more souvenirs. For dinner we had pizza at the Raddy.

Today we have roast at the Raddy and then our last Evensong at Christ Church.

Our plane leaves on Thursday, so we only have four days to go. Saturday we're having a barbecue at Christine's parents house. If you'd like to attend, just e-mail me for directions. Actually, e-mail Christine for directions.

We'll see you soon!

Our front garden

Home sweet home (or something)

It's the last week we're here. and we're finally posting a picture of our building, mostly because the flowers have bloomed at it finally makes for a good picture

A cute little house on Walton street

On our way home we wandered into a Remax commercial

The entrance to the Radcliffe Camera, our favorite part of the Bodleian Library

An interesting building attached to the Natural History Mseum

A graveyard we pass through on the way to the museum

Our last week and my question

Greetings, I know I (Christine) haven't posted all semester, except for a few comments here and there, but Buddy has done such an interesting commentary on our stay here, I enjoyed listening instead. This week is our last full week in Oxford, which I find so bizarre. Time seemed irrelevant when we arrived, and now it's all I can think about. We are both looking forward to many faces and places at home, but I think once we get home and get our people and comfort fixes, we'll always have an itch for Oxford and going abroad. My favorites have been the cathedrals, evensong at Christ Church, our two favorite places to eat (Raddy and Meltz), and how much history and literature comes alive for me whilst I am here. Anyway, keep us in your prayers as we will be traveling and have a lot of work to come home to, like graduating and deciding our future. Here is my fun question, and I only have one so I expect the majority of our readers (i.e. at least our friends and family) to respond otherwise you become creepy onlookers! I know you're reading...answer my question!
Ahem...
If you could have any mentor from history (not including Jesus or the apostles), who would you choose?

The BM

Christine and I spent the day at the British Museum with my cousin from California and his friend from London. The museum was huge, and we only scratched the surface. We saw the original Isle of Lewis chessmen and a lot of Egyptian antiquities. In the giftshop I bought a book on the history of the Isle of Lewis chessmen and a coffee cup that has Greek red-figures on it (anybody surprised?).
Enjoy the pictures!