Rajaonasy the Roommate

Here in Luther Hall, I have the pleasure of sharing a dorm room with my new friend Jean Rajaonasy. He's 34, he's from Madagascar, and he's well on his way to becoming a fine pastor. One of the great things about Cambridge is that it is in someways a crossroads of the world, much like London. People come from all over the world to study in Cambridge. Two of the students in Luther Hall hail originally from Brazil, one from Finland, two from California, one from New York, two from Wisconsin, one from Illinois, two from Indiana, one from Missouri, one from Mississippi (that's me!), and Jean from Madagascar. Jean is inspiring in many ways. First, he's a husband and father who has to spend the bulk of the year away from his beautiful family, making my 4-month absence from my family, friends, and girlfriend seem like a breeze. Secondly, he knows three languages fluently (Malagasy, French, and English) and he is learning two more here at Westfield House (Greek and Hebrew)! He's quite funny, too. I laughed especially hard when he moaned, "I am poisoning myself" as he ate a bowl of ice cream.
Anyway, I'm enjoying my time as his roommate. Someone else will replace me as his roomy next semester when I go back "home" to Josh, but until then, I'm more than content to watch "football" and jam out to Taylor Swift with my new mate (she's one of his favorite American singers).

The Heart of the UK

After church yesterday I had the genuine pleasure of accompanying five friends to the capital city of London. As my second UK city outside Cambridge, it was a wonderful trip. I successfully organized the transportation, which was very simple: we took a train to Liverpool Street in London... and walked everywhere else. I'd say we tallied up about 15 miles of walking in just over 24 hours.
Our first stop was the outside of the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. That's the bridge they erected the Olympic rings on last summer. Once we got to the south side of the Thames, we were off to the Globe Theatre, a re-creation of Shakespeare's old stomping grounds. The next thing we experienced was probably my favorite: the Millennium Bridge. An engineer was commissioned in the mid-1990s to build a walking bridge in London for the new millennium. It opened in June 2000, and once the first influx of people stepped out onto the architectural marvel, it began to sway, and nearly collapsed. As it turns out, the architect only accounted for the downward force of people walking, not the side-to-side force as well. Anyway, it's all fixed now and it was a joy both to look at and to walk across.
Then came St. Paul's Cathedral, followed by a walk through central London, where we saw a number of iconic London sights. We saw the London Eye (it wasn't that difficult to locate), Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, St. Margaret's Church, Westminster Abbey, New Scotland Yard, and Buckingham Palace. The one sight out of those seven that I had strongly wanted to see was Westminster Abbey, so after our night's stay at a hostel across the river, we went back to see it more fully in the daylight. On the right is a picture of me in front of the entrance to Westminster Abbey. This is the church that houses Poets' Corner, where many masters of the pen are buried. Among these greats are Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Thomas Hardy. Seeing this was well towards the top of my London list.
After resting in Green Park for a spell, we moseyed through Piccadilly Circus and ate at an Italian sandwich shop, then set out to the British museum.
At the museum I saw the Rosetta Stone (the stone tablet that was found, decoding the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic language), along with artifacts from the civilizations of the Mayans in Mexico, the ancient Egyptians, the Assyrian Empire from 3,000 years ago, the Greek and Roman Empires, the Indians of North America, the Persian Empire, the Roman occupation of Britain from AD 43-411, the Celts of Ireland, and the Babylonian Empire. Needless to say, it was an unforgettable two hours.
To the left is my favorite building I saw in London. I liked this one even more than Big Ben. Built in 2003, I think the London Gherkin (along with the Millennium Bridge) embodies the future of England. London is a crossroads of the world, with people from every country on the planet calling it home. And if there's anything London loves to do, it's to be different.

My First Cathedral

I visited my first English city outside of Cambridge today. Since I wanted to make it a day trip, I stayed in Cambridgeshire and went about 18 miles northeast of Cambridge to a town called Ely. That's pronounced ee-lee. In this small, rainy English town rests an ancient cathedral. Ely Cathedral was originally a monastery, built in the year 673... No, I didn't forget a 1 at the beginning. The entirety of the cathedral was built in 1081, shortly after the Great Schism of 1054. It is by far the oldest building I have ever set foot in.
So after a 45-minute bus ride through open farmland that reminded me of the Midwest and some woodlands that reminded me of the South, we arrived in Ely. If you want to talk about architecture done right, look at this building. It was built completely by hand, centuries before any type of power equipment was invented. It's amazing to think and see what people can accomplish if they're motivated to make something for God. It reminds me of Matthew 26, when Jesus was anointed at Bethany by the woman with the expensive perfume. His disciples are angry, saying it is wasteful to spend so much money on ointment for Jesus, but Jesus says that this woman has done a beautiful thing. I think of this when I hear people say we shouldn't spend so much money and effort on churches. We all need a place to worship. Why not build magnificent structures with stained glass that tells the message of the gospel in picture form to worship in?
The stained glass in this cathedral, according to our tour guide, is quintessentially English. English stained glass nearly always has vibrant reds and blues highlighting the image it is depicting. They really focus your thoughts to the right things while you're in a place of worship, along with being stunning to look at.
I went here with four friends from Westfield House, making the trip all the more enjoyable, and I'm pretty sure we damaged our cameras and smart phones taking so many pictures.
To the left, you'll see me standing on the roof of the cathedral, looking down on the rest of the cathedral and on the town of Ely, able to see for 8 miles in every direction. That's a quite a view... And much cheaper than the London Eye at that.

Fancy a Cuppa Then, Mate?

I just finished my second cup of British tea. I've never had tea with milk before, but it adds a great deal to it! Also, the cookies served on the side of the beverage are called "biscuits." I've learned quite a few new phrases that I've begun to use with the locals just so I won't be misunderstood. It may be a while before I start saying "cell phone" again instead of "mobile." Anyway, the jet-lag is gone, and the food here is just fine so far, contrary to what literally everyone who has been to England told me. They don't have my good ol' Quaker oatmeal, so I had to buy some generic "porridge oats" and a bag of brown sugar to mix in with it. I won't starve. And just in case any of my fellow Americans are concerned about me, rest assured... I still like coffee better.

Welcome Abroad

Today, I went on a brief walking tour of the northwestern section of Cambridge. The great steeple on the left is just one of the many ancient buildings and spectacular works of architecture I saw this afternoon. On the northwestern corner of this city rests my school: Westfield House of Theological Study. I’ll be taking at least one class (English Reformation) at the University of Cambridge Divinity School. The 30-minute walk to campus should make me appreciate every word of the lectures I’ll be receiving from the fine faculty of the 3^rd most prestigious university in the world, and the finest in the UK. Walking around this town that was built around the widespread university makes me eager to begin studying. Hopefully this eagerness will remain even after the classwork begins to build and my amount of free time starts to dwindle; but even if it doesn’t, I know I’ll receive an excellent education here that I'll carry with me for a good long while. Cheers!

Entrance

Upon writing this, I am in a bus (or “coach”) on my way from London to Cambridge. 24 hours ago, I was sitting on my couch in Madison, Mississippi; and now I am a third of the way around the world. Half a century ago, studying abroad was filled with tales of week-long journeys across the Atlantic. Today, all I have to chronicle is a 9-hour flight from Chicago-O’Hare to London-Heathrow. I seem to have avoided the curse of jet-lag, seeing as it’s currently 12:48pm and I haven’t dozed yet since the plane ride. Perhaps it’s just the excitement of seeing the rolling tree lines from this non-Velveeta cheese charter bus, but I’m feeling quite awake. I wish I could say the same for my seatmate…

Song of the Summer

The end of the summer is rapidly nearing, and my fall semester abroad is closer than ever. As is my semi-regular custom, it's time to evaluate which song that came out this summer meant the most to me or captured my life best at that moment. This summer, unlike previous ones, the choice is easy. If you know me well, it's no secret that I'm an enormous fan of the band Relient K. I even got the pleasure of seeing them in concert last month. I showed Matt Thiessen how much I loved him by wearing my Switchfoot shirt to his concert.
This summer, Relient K released their 7th album, Collapsible Lung. My song of the summer is Track 11 on this CD, which happens to be the title track. The song "Collapsible Lung" features the chorus: "Between the miles of open road, I lost sight of what might matter the most. I stumbled into the great unknown and found... time won't slow down." And isn't that the truth... All of us lead busy, productive lives, travelling down the miles and miles of open road. It's easy to lose track of time. I've done it all too often. I'm only 20 years old, and it already seems like several years have sped by like a European train. Before we know it, we'll be getting by on our collapsible lungs, hobbling around on our replaceable hips, waiting for time to finally slow down.... But it won't.
I'm about to head over to Europe for four months. Knowing the nature of time, I expect it to whiz by in a flash of sound, color, and motion. We can't slow down time. But treasuring it... treasuring it as a precious gift... that's how to make your time count. So even if we can't slow down that wicked engineer, ceaselessly shoveling coals into the train of time faster than we bargained for, we can make our time worthwhile. We can live out our vocations. When I'm in England, I have the freedom to live out my vocations of son, brother, friend, and a handful of other priceless titles to the best of my ability. This way maybe--just maybe--when I'm full of years, getting by with my collapsible lung, I can look back and know that I didn't lost sight of what might matter the most. Time will never be slow... but it can be meaningful.
I encourage you all, if you haven't heard it already, to give "Collapsible Lung" a listen. It's really a brilliant tune. (they say "brilliant" in England, right?)

My First Travel Woe

Ahhh... August has arrived, and along with it, my first travel woe... I had to get a smart phone today. As many of you may know, I've had the same Samsung flip phone for more than three years. However, to my great dismay, Mr. Verizon told me the sad news that my flippy-flip is incompatible overseas. So it was either get a smart phone or do without for four months... It was a tough choice. It'll be alright though. They say I can switch back to my trusty flipper when I get back home. But my biggest fear is... by then I might not want to.

Getting my phone plan arranged and organizing other details for my semester abroad makes it seem closer than ever. Nerves and excitement seem to be chummy companions. They're always together when I'm around. I've never left the country before. Not even to dip my toes into Horseshoe Falls or to have a Coca-Cola in Juarez. Thus, my first step across the US border will be a four month excursion to Europe. That's normal... right? The painting above is one of Monet's many "Water Lilies"; a painting I had the pleasure of seeing this summer at the Mississippi Museum of Art. Looking at it reminds me of all the works of art and works of creation I'll be witness to by the end of 2013. Perhaps in a couple months, I'll have some pictures of my own as inspiring as this one. That way I won't be so dependent on Bing images.