October 30-31

       Yesterday began at about 2:30 am when I woke up after a nightmare about a corpse (the second one in a week - ???) to hearing one of my neighbors having coughing issues. After reading my Bible for a bit to calm my funkified and dream-filled brain down, I zoned out. I had gone to sleep around 12:30 and I had to wake up around 5:30 to set out for Cambridge, so this was the shortest night I've had yet. Sarah, Kim, and I caught a cab at 6:50 am to the tube station and headed to King's Cross Station where we caught our tour bus. In traditional "Lauren style," I napped with my head bobbing and my mouth gaping open as we rode along. At 11, we arrived in Cambridge, took a short walking tour, and then set out on our own. We met a guy from Canada who we hung out with for most of the afternoon whose name was Jadin. The 4 of us headed to a historic pub called The Eagle Pub for lunch where I embarassed myself by ignorantly trying to order from the bar. The bartender gave me a combination of the stink eye/stone face/silent treatment for some reason and made me feel like such an amateur pub-goer. I had some kind of ale which was very good, and us 3 girls tried The English Platter which consisted of a mini baguette, a pickled onion, brown pickle sauce, yellow mustard with chunks of something in it, butter, ham, and a pork pie.
                                       
      Everything was good except the pork pie (far lower right). WHAT IS THAT STUFF??? I don't understand the concept of pork+pie=good. It's more like pork+pie=fancy dog food. Anyway, we experienced some English culture and then headed over to St. Mary's Tower.
       There was a super narrow spiral staircase that we climbed to get to the top where we had a fantastic view of Cambridge. I didn't know that there are somethine like 31 colleges that comprise Cambridge University, and the town is speckled with them. We soaked up the view which was especially beautiful because the trees are changing color and the sun was out. When we were done there, we did a bit of shopping and then headed to the river for a punt. Punting is similar to a gondola experience except you can choose to do the punting yourself.  You basically stand on the end of the flat boat and push your boat down the river using a pole along the bottom (the river is shallow). Our Canadian friend, Jadin, volunteered to be the navigator, so Sarah, Kim and I hopped in the boat to enjoy the ride . . . or so we thought. Poor Jadin could not figure out how to manuever the boat, and it didn't help that there were also lots of people out on the narrow river. After spinning around a few times, hitting the sides of the river, rocking the boat, and paddling a little bit, Jadin finally lost his balance in a boat fender bender and fell into the river! Poor guy! We were all positive about it though, and he took it really well except that he had a 2 hour bus ride ahead of him before he could get some dry clothes. My friend Kim took over and punted us safely back to shore. She put Jadin to shame. You go girl!
       I snoozed on the way back to London, and I found a way to keep my mouth propped close and my dignity in tact.While preparing to get the Tube at King's Cross, there was some kind of emergency and we had to evacuate! Intense. We had to do some serious manuvering around town and it took us about 2 hours to get back to campus. Saturday night is no fun on public transportation.
       I caught up on my sleep last night and spent the morning doing laundry, reading my Bible, praying,  redecorating my room, and considering whether or not I should go out today. The restlessness set in quickly, and I headed for the city. First stop: Royal Albert Theater to get my ticket to see Imogen Heap on Friday - I'm soooo excited! Then, I went to Picadilly Circus to a store called Fortnum and Mason which is the only one of its kind. It was very impressive, but describing it would take too long right now. Check out the website if you're curious. I got a tea sample pack and began my journey back to campus.
       This evening, Kim, Sarah, and I walked up to a cafe near Christ Church and chilled there until the service started. I tried a jacket potato with cheese and mushrooms, and then I had a delicous baklava for dessert. The meal was really good, but I ate too much. I sat through the church service feeling like a balloon! A bunch of the young people went to the pub again after church, and we joined them. I tried some kind of lager today, but it wasn't that impressive. I'm trying to find a balance between experiencing new foods/drinks and not gaining tons of weight. I would like to think that my pants are shrinking, but the more plausible option would be that I am growing - out. That means exercising a lot this week (I hope). We walked back to the station to catch the campus shuttle, so I burned a few calories. Altogether, these past 2 days have been very good. Back to the daily school grind tomorrow!

Prayer Request of the Day: That I would worship God in my daily circumstances.

October 29

       I'm keeping this post relatively short because it's late, and I have to be up super early tomorrow to go to Cambridge! I'm so excited! Well, today was another information overload day. I woke up early to finish an assignment for class, you know, that last minute cramming. Composition and Musicianship was good but there was too much information to soak up in 1.5. hours. I'm always a bit glazed when I leave any music class here, but I went straight to a piano and tried to make sense of it all. Between cranking out examples of theory on the piano, reading through part of the lengthy manual on some music software, and reviewing lecture notes, I was burnt out by 5:30 and dropped the academic stuff for a few hours. I headed back to the kitchen, and ate again. I've been eating too much lately, and I just realized that it's a coping mechanism for stress. Stress always sneaks up on me so fast! I can't let those carbs get the best of me, so I've got to learn some different way of coping. I wish the gym renovation would be finished already! I moved the last few "crack" cookies (they're so addicting!) from my room to the kitchen to lessen the level of temptation, but I still feel fat.
       I stayed in for the evening and borrowed "The Holiday" from one of my neighbors to help me chill out. I love that movie! And it's even cooler because I'm actually in England and half of that movie is set very close to where I am! After the flick, I started putting things together early for our trip to Cambridge tomorrow. We're catching a taxi to the tube station at 6:50 am! That's gonna be rough, but it will be worth it. I'll write about it and hopefully post pictures soon!

Prayer Request of the Day: That I would be self-controlled in all areas but especially with my food intake!

October 27-28

       My friend Ashley used to tell me that I should flex my butt muscles if I was falling asleep in class and that would help me stay awake. I've tried that, and coffee, and tea, and gum, flexing as many muscles as possible, daydreaming, etc., but I really think the best solution is actually SLEEP. Even though I can imagine many ways that a 4 hour Shakespeare class could be way worse than mine is, the mid-lecture doze is still a problem. I was totally checking in and out during class yesterday, and the worst part was I was in the front row! I always feel so disrespectful when I do that. In a daze, I headed straight to my bed after class and took a power nap. I managed to pull myself off my bed after only 20 minutes and go for a jog/walk after that which always makes me feel better. That evening, I did a little bit of homework and instead of Bible-study-ing, our group just met up at the leaders' (Gillian and Martin) house and ate. Gill cooked us such a fantastic meal, and there was tons of dessert! We spent the evening stuffing ourselves with (free) goodness and just spending time with each other. I absolutely love evenings like that. They make nights like tonight (I will explain) seem super dumb.
       Before I get to the details of tonight, I'll chronicle the previous parts of the day. I had Performance and Analysis class at 9:30 which was one of the most helpful class sessions I think I've had yet. It's still dense stuff, but I understood almost everything she was explaining! Gotta celebrate those little things. After class, I hit up a practice room to work through music for as long as my stomach would allow me too. Why do I get hungry so fast? Is it because my body actually needs sustenance or is it because my body knows my mind wants an excuse to stop working? Either way, food was again calling me back to the kitchen where I made another killer pizza on ciabatta. (It should be noted that I also have a tupperware of cookies in my room that frequently makes contributions to my body fat index, in addition to all the food I mention normally. When those are gone, it's chocolate bars. This needs to stop). As the carbs were settling into my thighs, I did some more homework and then went for another jog/walk a little while later. I'm gonna take a risk here and say that I think the post work-out euphoria feels just as good as eating a cookie, only I never regret working-out while I often regret overdosing on cookies. After I cleaned up, I practised through some music again and then headed to Messiah rehearsal.
       Yes, I'm talking about Handel's Messiah. Apparently, I'm required to participate in the choir that is performing The Messiah at the beginning of December. How can I describe that 2 hour rehearsal. . . ? Grueling, challenging, fascinating, tiring, i.e. vocal and sight-reading bootcamp. My throat hurt afterwards. Thankfully, I was sitting next to a girl who knew what she was doing so I just tried to sing whatever she was singing. There were only about 9 of us in this "choir" that is supposed to be about 5 times bigger than that. They're still working out those details, ha. It's really weird for me to be labeled as a soprano. Technically, I am a soprano, but I've never identified with that voice type before. Sopranos are those full-fledged vocalists, the dainty flowers, the leading ladies, the ones with the major chops. I don't feel like any of those things. It's almost as if I'm a stand-in for some else's life when I'm in music class or rehearsal over here. It kind of feels like I'm in Glenda the Good Witch's floating bubble of happiness but there's always the fear that someone's dog is gonna bite that bubble (like dogs do) and consume my dream. This sounds like an identity crisis, doesn't it? Weird . . . I'll have to sort through that.
       Moving on. So here's the story of tonight that I mentioned earlier. My neighbors had been trying to get me to go to this Halloween party on campus tonight, but I've been hesitant. I've kind of created a "party-pooper" persona for myself around here which I'm actually fine with. Still, I've made some good friends and I thought I would give this party a shot so we could just hang together. I didn't have a costume because I'm really not into dressing up, so I borrowed and supplemented an outfit from my neighbor, Alayna. I almost called the whole thing off, but I decided to play along (I didn't play along with the getting drunk part). We went to the party which was very much like the one I went to my first week here that I think I mentioned before except there were interesting costumes to look at this time. I keep thinking" I'm gonna have a revelation sometime and magically know the allure this scene offers," but I still don't understand it AT ALL. All the flashing lights, alcohol, dirty dancing, slippery alcohol-coated floor, loud music from meagerly-talented artists, and incessant picture taking just does not appeal to me. I got a cup of water for 2 reasons: 1) So the people I was with would stop bothering me about having a drink, and 2) So I wouldn't have to dance as much because one hand was occupied and I didn't want to spill my water by moving too much. I've mentioned to a number of people before that I think making funny faces in pictures is way more exciting than just smiling. So, after picture #30 of us just smiling in different groups/poses, I started making goofy faces. Consider it a silent rebellion against the "I'm-cooler-than-you-because-I-have-hot-party-pictures" persona of those who feed into mass-media notions of "living the life" and don't know the life that Jesus offers. Ok, that's a bit harsh. Afterall, I DID go to the party so I guess you could say I gave into peer pressure and that mass-media image of what college students do.Also, I think it's partly my responsibility to let my friends know about the true life Jesus offers. Oh dear, I've opened a huge can of worms.
       I left the party after 1.5 hours, and even that was too long a stay. I hope I never get ropped into clubbing again. It's just not my scene. To sum up, I would take dinner with my Bible study friends over clubbing any night.

Oh, btw, I had my first plate of fish and chips today, and it was delicious! I don't even want to know how many carbs were in it though.

Also, I think I've contradicted myself in this post in my attempts to be philosophical. Feel free to challenge my comments. I'm too tired to edit them anymore.

October 25-26

      Did you know that porridge is a real thing? I thought it was just make believe, but I found some in a store here and bought it! It was cheap and not as good as Quaker oatmeal, but if it was good enough for Goldie Locks and the 3 bears, then it's good enough for me. Now, for a beverage . . . Have I already mentioned that I am somewhat addicted to tea with milk and sugar now? These Brits are converting me! I'll bring some home with me so you all can try it. (Grandma, is there a certain kind you like best? I know you've mentioned not being able to find good English tea in the States. Let me know if there is a certain kind I can pick up for you while I'm over here! Or I can post it to you).
       During breakfast, I sent some texts out to my friends about maybe going to the city to see a show, but everyone was bogged down with school work. I joined the club and worked most of the day instead. First though, I had a voice lesson. I didn't know I was entitled to voice lessons until last week, but it was awesome! My teacher and I communicated well, and he clearly knows what he's talking about. Even though I had laryngitis for the past week, my voice sprang back just in time and held up pretty well for the lesson. After that, I spent the good part of 2 hours trying to figure out one of my music assignments, and finally gave up. (You know me - the quitter.) I found out at class today that most of the class didn't know how to complete the assignment either, so I felt much better.
       Last night, one of my neighbors, Alayna, asked me and a couple of our other neighbors, Emily and Holly, to help her with her demo for a student radio show she wants to get involved in. It was a bit nerve-racking at first, but we had a lot of fun in the end! I've never been into a radio studio before. We decided to call the show "The Evening Dish" because all of us girls are always running into each other in the kitchen, and that's pretty much where our friendships formed. After my radio debut, I returned to my room and read my healthy dose of Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus." It was captivating but grotesque. My mind was occupied, but I've been noticing that my body gets really bored and fidgety when I'm sitting still reading. This has happened for most of my college experience as an English major, but I think it's worse now because I'm not working my butt off at Starbucks or exercising very much (the campus gym is STILL being renovated!). What's worse, out of boredom my body tells me it's hungry, and that is needs chocolate ASAP. BAD COMBINATION. I finished the night/early morning off by watching Endless Summer 2 to get me out of my school funk, and it made me soooo happy! It also made me feel guilty for eating all that crap earlier because those surfer guys are ripped! When it comes to the fitness and healthy eating thing, I need to think, "Just Do It" instead of "Just Eat It." I miss 24 Hour Fitness.
       I had e-music class this morning which was confusing, but I was able to follow along well enough. Because Endless Summer 2 got me thinking about Santa Cruz and Pizza My Heart, I decided that I needed to make some pizza. Ciabatta is way easier to work with than a real pizza crust, btw, and it's tasty too. Still, nothing beats Pizza My Heart! I ate my fill of less-than-Santa-Cruz-standard pizza, did a minimal amount of work, and took a nap.
       I think the next few hours of my day at this point could be their own entry, so I'll summarize. In bullet list form, here it is:

• Booked tickets for 2 friends and me on trip to Cambridge on Saturday
• Friends and I spend 1 hour talking with very nice and sympathetic Study Abroad lady about our grievances
• Missed choir rehearsal
• Endured an intimidating and uncomfortable talk with the head of the music department about my particular programme responsibilities
• Sat in an emotional funk while waiting to speak to the choir director about missing 3 rehearsals
• Experienced great relief by the choir director's super positive, kind, and forgiving attitude. (She reminds me of Mrs. Farris!)
• Joined in singers' ensemble which will be fun
• Made a point to try to avoid the head of the music department for the rest of my time here

       Even though things turned out alright in the end, I was still in a bit of a funk when I got back. Remedy? Make more chocolate chip cookies! Mom, Dad, and Shelby - I made one especially for you!

It's in the shape of a heart because I made it with love . . . and the rest of the cookie dough :)
Unfortunately, you aren't here to eat it, so I'll do the honors. 
Prayer Request of the Day: That I would live in the moment and find the blessings God has put there.

October 23-24

       After my last post, I was still pretty tense about the communication issue. It was late but I wasn't in the mood to fall asleep, so I prayed for some peace of mind, and popped in the Sound of Music. That movie works like a charm every time. I was out in 10 minutes.
       Saturday morning, I met my Korean neighbor around 9 to show her how to make pancakes from my newly-found, delicious recipe. She brought a friend, and we spent 2 hours making and eating pancakes. The girls were super nice and bubbly, but my neighbor's English is very broken. Still, it was a good cultural exchange. I asked them to show me how to make rice the right way sometime. I guess they eat rice 3 times a day in Korea. No toppings either. Just rice. Hmmm...
       After filling my stomach with pancake goodness, I headed to the library to try to figure out a music software program I need for class. I learned a little, but I was still overwhelmed. It's gonna take a lot more time reading through manuals and fiddling/asking around to figure this stuff out. An hour and a half into my computer session, my stomach told me that it wanted more pancakes, so I obeyed. I ate two more and then decided that I needed to get out and do something non-school-related. Considering that it was Saturday, I was nervous that any shopping center would be a madhouse, but I landed in a good spot at a good time of day. I scored a new purse, two pairs of jeans, decorations (in the form of wrapping paper) for my room, and some other odds and ends. I failed to mention earlier that ANOTHER pair of my jeans are now out of commission because the zipper broke. I've had them since high school, so I figured it was time to move on anyway. Most of the shops closed at 5:30, so I stayed in halls for the rest of the evening chilling with my neighbors. They told me I needed to watch X-Factor which is like American Idol only more of a production (can you believe that?), so I did. It's too over the top for me, but it was entertaining enough.
       This morning I got to sleep in again. I don't remember the last time I got to sleep in so often. It kind of makes me feel lazy honestly, but it's still nice to wake up feeling rested. I spent some solid time reading my Bible and praying, and then I went for a walk/jog around the grounds. It was another absolutely beautiful day, and there were lots of people out jogging or walking their dogs. Picturesque, only I didn't have my camera. I spent the afternoon reading and doing some light singing (my singing voice is finally starting to come back!). I read through a couple of the guides to London that I had laying around my room and made a list of things I want to do and see. There's so much stuff! I'll probably run out of money and time before I get to them all, but it's nice to have a list anyway.
       This evening, my group of Christian friends and I went to church at the same place we usually go on Sunday nights. Even though the music made me cringe almost the whole time, I still enjoyed being at church and hearing from God's people and His Word. They have coffee, tea, and sweets after every service which I think is awesome! We need to do this more often at FBCFO. Food really does bring people together. I didn't feel like studying anymore tonight, so I went with a few other people to a pub around the corner from the church and had a very nice and leisurely evening. Getting home was a bit complicated because the tube wasn't running (and it was dark of course). We also just missed our bus and had to wait for the next one. It could have been worse. It could have been raining.
       Well, that's all for now. I'm going to sleep! I hope your Sunday was relaxing and worshipful.

Prayer Request of the Day: That I wouldn't give into the temptation of stressing over school.

October 22

       I really feel like venting right now. Here's how it went down.
Lauren: (walks past the music notice board in the music building and stands next to a girl who is also gazing at the board)
       "Why is my name on the choir list? I didn't sign up for choir..."
Girl: "Are you a singer?"
Lauren: "Yes"
Girl: (nicely) "Then you're supposed to be in choir and the singers' ensemble in addition to your core music courses."
Lauren: "I wonder why no one told me about this..."
       (walks off in a confused stupor)
       To expand upon this situation, I had just come from a very dense and confusing e-music class, the weekly assignment for which left me so confused that I didn't do it. (Thankfully, I didn't get in trouble for it. . .yet).
       Have you ever been in a situation where you are so confused that you don't even know the right questions to ask? I hate that feeling. I eventually decided upon this one: "I think I'm missing some important chain of communication somewhere, and I'm really confused." After sending this question in revised form to the head of the music department, I am hoping that it will clear up some details. I think I mentioned earlier that I feel like I'm crashing a party everytime I walk into class here because it seems like they aren't expecting me. It was fun at first, but the party is losing its allure. It's time to get down to business, but I'm still waiting for directions.
       That's enough negativity. I'll let my grievances rest for now.
      
       Guess what? I actually woke up on time today! I invited my friend Jenni over for pancakes, so I had to allow for extra time before my 10:00 class. Because I haven't been able to find any Bisquick over here, I resorted to making pancakes from scratch. They were delicious!!! (except for the 2 that I burned). I found someone's grandma's recipe online and used it because I thought, "Grandmas generally know what they're doing when it comes to pancakes." This one did! I'm making more in the morning with a Korean girl from across the hall who wants to learn how to make them!
       After class, I had more pancakes for lunch, tried to pick through some more homework, took a very short power nap, and headed to the library to do some research. After information overload set in, I left and went for a short jog which really helped to clear my head and relax my body. Having decided that my brain still wasn't ready for more homework, I chilled with a couple girls from my hall for the evening just watching tv, youtube, and Friends. A very nice way to end a difficult day.

Prayer Request of the Day: That I can organize and prioritize!
      

October 20-21

       Day 2 of voice loss was very interesting. I posted a note on my door that said "I am on complete vocal rest, so please don't be offended if I don't speak to you. I need my singing voice back ASAP! Thanks." Strange, right? It worked pretty well for all intents and purposes (did I use that phrase correctly?), but it made for quite a few awkward silences. It is very difficult to speak as little as possible, especially when you're in a discussion class! I'm usually the instigator in group conversations, and I try to contribute to class discussions regularly. Needless to say, 3.5 hours of Shakespeare class was difficult (honestly though, when would a literature class that long NOT be difficult?). Throughout the day, I kept asking myself what God might have in mind for me to learn from this experience. I think there was a lot to learn actually. Things like, I don't have to have the last word, a class discussion can unfold just fine without my opinion, and my genius ideas are rarely as genius as I think because other people were thinking them too. I guess I also learned about humility then, didn't I?
       The pressure to talk kept building as my friends and I headed to Bible study. If any of you have been in a Bible study with me, you know that I'm not the quiet type. I felt like I was saving up "talking points" all day so I could use them to say only really important things, but everything at Bible study feels important! I sat through the whole Bible study part having only said a few short things because I physically couldn't project my voice much at all. Afterwards, as everyone was chatting, I couldn't resist anymore and, with difficulty, managed to carry on a fantastic but low-volume conversation with our Bible study hostess. It's fascinating to see how God brings people into our needy lives sometimes just as encouragers. I have met two such people in the past 5 months, and this lady is one of them. The Lord provides.
       Throughout yesterday and today, I have been doping up on vitamins and cough medicine and giving myself a mild form of the silent treatment. Today, I was scheduled to sing in my performance and analysis class, but since I am supposed to be studying singing, not screeching, I decided to sit this one out. My teacher was really cool about it, especially since I gave advance notice in an e-mail, being the responsible and paranoid student that I am. After classes today, I did a whole lot of reading, some sleeping, and had another 30 Rock-fest with Marta. The workload of my classes is starting to hit me. I'm trying to come up with a system of study so I know exactly what I have to get done and when, but the class setup over here is making that difficult. I'll figure it out.
       By the way, I would just like to say that I had spaghetti for both lunch and dinner today. Once with pasta sauce and once with pesto. I would also like to say that the musicians playing music downstairs right now (midnight!) make some seriously annoying music. Currently, some guy is playing the same two notes back and forth on the bass guitar for minutes, and that's not ok. Earlier today they were (unintentionally) crashing our 30-rock party as their stale tunes wafted up to my room. It's all part of the experience! Even though it comes with its difficulties, I'm still enjoying my time over here. I'M IN LONDON!!!

Prayer Request(s) of the Day: That I get my voice back and get a handle on my school work.

October 19

       Why is waking up to an alarm so difficult? When Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" is the first thing I hear in the morning and I still don't want to get out of bed, you know it's bad. "I'm bad, I'm bad, I'm really really bad . . ." at getting out of bed on time. I finally hopped out and did about 15 crunches to get my blood flowing. The Greek honey yogurt cereal mix and time of prayer that followed got the day rolling, and I was soon headed to e-music class. That class is really interesting, but it kinda goes over my head. There is so much math involved, it's crazy. (Natalie, you would love it!) It is also crazy how many other people have this awful cough/cold (which has snuck back into my bod, btw, in the form of a cough. How is that fair? I just got over a cold!) Mucus and music just don't mix. As I was talking after class with an American guy who is also in the class, I realized I was losing my voice. I powered through the rest of the day like normal except that I sounded like a grovely man. The worst part of it all is that I have to sing for performance and analysis class on Thursday, and there is no way I can do that in my current condition. WHAT DO I DO?!?!?! I've never had this problem before. Tips, anyone? Bueller . . . Bueller . . . Bueller . . .
       Despite my vocal handicap, I headed to a place called Camden Town with my friend Marta for the afternoon. There were so many little shops, I was blown away! It was kind of like a massive craft fair/market, except not everything was crafts. There was a lot of retail and super nice stuff as well. I have never seen such nice vintage shops in my entire life. Over the course of about 2.5 hours I spent more money than I have spent in the past 2 weeks, but I scored some fantastic stuff. (It was time for me to splurge). One of the things that I definately wanted to get before I left London was a nice leather jacket, and I found one today! The salesman who helped me was such a shmoozer, but he was adorable. "Oh, gorgeous, see how the color matches your skin tone? Look, love, at how the collar, like this, frames your face, darling."  It sounds creepy, but he wasn't a creeper. He was kind of like grandpa material, only from a different country. (Like the Vietnamese people at the nail salons. "They're so nice. They make you think it's all about you. 'Whateh you lie we do fo you.' 'How yo mahm?' Do you know my mom?" - does anyone get this reference?) Anyway, I bought a few other things, but some of them are gifts, so I can't say what they are!
       My feet were killing me by the end of the day because I was a genius and wore heels. Did I mention it was raining too? Well it was, and we were so relieved to be back on campus in our warm and dry rooms! So here I am, on my bed with a "cup uh tayee" beside me, and here I shall stay for the rest of the night.

Prayer Request of the Day: That I would get rid of this cough and get my voice (particularly my A-game singing voice) back!

October 17-18

       It's weird not having to wake up to an alarm on a Sunday morning. It is also weird to wake up not knowing much of what I am going to do that day. I would usually (and by usually I mean the past 2 Sundays) go to the evening service at a great church nearby, but things turned out a bit differently yesterday. As I was listening to Hillsong's "Oh You Bring," I thought, "Hey, There is a Hillsong London. I'm in London. I should go." So I did. My friend Flare and I journeyed into central London which seems to take longer than it should quite frequently. Hillsong church conveniently has 4 services on Sundays, and we went to the 1:00 service. It was quite the show! Literally, they hold their services in a theatre (that's how they spell theater over here) called the Dominion where the show "We Will Rock You" (based on the music of Queen) plays during the week. Understandably, they have all the techie stuff you could ask for. Fancy lights that move to the rhythm of the music, cool visual media, top notch instruments/computers, and even a smoke machine. Afterall, this IS London - the theatre capital of the world. They know how to put on a show.
       That said, I still prefer a smaller setting for worship. (Insert Renovation plug here). As much as I might joke about people moshing at church, PERSONALLY I'm really not into that sort of thing. (If you worship that way, please don't be offended. This is just a matter of preference at this point). I've never been very charismatic during worship, in fact, I probably appear uninvolved most of the time (when I'm not leading, of course). I internalize, but I like to watch people externalize their worship as well, if it's genuine. For a worship leader, I am still awfully confused about a lot of things about worship. I could write a massive blog on that topic alone (maybe I will...), but for now I'll just say that going to Hillsong Church was a good experience. They preached the Word, the worship team was excited and musically excellent, and they believe in the power of prayer. (For those of you who are still looking for something to do when you are finished reading my volumous blog entry, you should look up "Winter Snow" by Audrey Assad and give it a careful listen. Tell me what you think...)
       We got back to our hall at about 5:00, and I decided to make a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies! Marta helped me, and we were stuck in the kitchen for over 2 hours! It was awesome, and the cookies were delicious which kind of made me feel better after missing evening church. My neighbors love me even more now after I left a pile of free-for-all cookies in the kitchen. I also set aside a few small cookie packages to give to people like our security guards, bus driver, and cleaning lady. I have a lot of sympathy for people like that after working at Starbucks. Even worse, their jobs are mainly boring (except the cleaning lady). Can you imagine driving a bus over a very small circuit for hours during which no one asks you how your day is going, or maybe doesn't say anything to you at all? Or having to clean up after ungrateful, messy (possibly, well probably drunk) college students everyday? Or having to man a lonely security desk all night as you watch students enjoying their free time or going out on the town? There are the kinds of things I think of as a grateful EX-barista. If I were in their shoes, I would want some cookies.
       That evening we watched a few more episodes of 30 Rock, and then I buckled down to do some reading before bed. Today, I went for a walk/jog to burn off some of the 5 cookies I ate yesterday. I didn't have classes, but I did a lot of reading/studying/research and felt very productive. I think I already mentioned this in a previous blog, but I'm really excited to be studying music at school. The class schedule and assignments are just what I need to push myself to learn because I'm not nearly as self-disciplined as I used to be.
       For dinner, I made a whopping pan of spaghetti and stored most of it for later. After having some delicious cookies for dessert, I did some more homework. It's a bit difficult to get back into the swing of close literary analysis. My processing skills have slacked off over my long summer, but they are coming back quickly. The week's assignment for my Shakespeare class was to read the play I mentioned in my last post and then analyze it in light of a short essay on Derrida and Rousseau. The theme was revenge, and the question essentially was, "Can revenge be a supplement to the law?" It was a very intriguing exercise, and I came out of it praising God for designing the Law with mercy in mind. It was beautiful, but explaining the beauty in depth would mean writing you a lengthy essay. (Oh wait, I think I'm doing that anyway.)
       I later joined some of my neighbors to watch some tv (of their choice), but soon confirmed that I'm not ok with such raunchy humor and foul language. I politely slipped out, and chose to write this blog instead! Is it just me, or my blogs getting longer every time I write one? I don't know what to do about that...
For now,

Prayer Request of the Day: That I would make Jesus look good.
      

October 15-16

       While working at Starbucks and going to school, I used to say that weekends had lost their childhood allure for me because they no longer meant a time to relax. The whole TGIF sigh of relief was lost on me because there was always work to do on the weekends. Now, I'm having the opposite problem. Since I'm not working, and my class schedule is really spread out, I have a lot of free/flexible time during the week and the weekends are even more empty. It's a weird phenomenon. From one extreme to the other.
       Just so you all don't think I'm a complete couch potato now, I will tell you that I have been doing some productive things. Yesterday, I had Composition and Musicianship in the morning which is going to be really good. My professor is very exuberant and knowledgable. The class is pretty dense though. But I'm talking good dense, like fudge brownie dense. I'm so excited to finally be studying music at university! Still, I've got a lot of work ahead of me.
      Yesterday afternoon, I spent some solid time in the library and checked out a few books. I had to read a play from the 1500s called "The Spanish Tragedy" for my Shakespeare class, so I buckled down and finished it last night. The irony is that the play isn't by Shakespeare. (I told you these people were crazy). Shakespeare comes later in the course. After I finished my reading, I shopped online for my textbooks and went to bed. I had a hard time falling asleep for some reason (a rare problem for me), and I had weird dreams again. I dreamed (" a dream in time gone by, when hope was high and life worth living...") that my friend Laura was getting married tomorrow and I was going to be late! I had even painted my fingernails (which I never do) and put on my Silpada for the occasion. I woke up confused, and had to facebook Laura just to make sure the situation was truly a dream.  
       This morning, I slept in and kind of kept sleeping on and off until about 2. After I woke up the first time, I went to check out the gym on campus which is more like a high school weight room than a true gym. It was being renovated, so I skipped the exercise and went back to my room where I did some reading in between spells of sleeping. The sunshine was playing hide and seek today ("Hide and seek, trains and sewing machines..."), and I witnessed the game through my window (and sometimes through my eyelids, subconsciously). I finally got up and went grocery shopping for the rest of the ingredients I needed to make cookies! Of course the shuttle bus had to be on its break both times I went to catch it, so I did some hefty waiting and walking, but the cookies will be worth it!
       After I got back, I rested a bit more, cooked a pre-made pizza, and watched 4 episodes of 30 Rock with Marta, my Portuguese friend. Can I just say, I think Tina Fey is a genius. Yep, she is. This evening, I also made some hot chocolate using Lindt chocolate, and it was delicious! Marta and I spent the next hour or so perusing airline and hostel websites for good deals. Things are looking good, and I'm excited!
       Breakthrough of the day: Skype's "To Go Number." In a nutshell, it's audio Skype from your cell phone for really cheap. I spent about 45 minutes talking to my family for about $1. LOVE IT!
       Altogether, I would consider today to be a pretty lazy day, but I am so thankful for it. It is truly a blessing to be able to sleep peacefully without responsibilities pulling on me right and left. Silence is good, and so is sleep. Don't worry. I don't intend on becoming a lazy recluse. There are so many things I want and plan to do, but I am so glad that I also have time to relax. It's another instance of God's grace, I think.

Prayer  Praise Request of the Day: That the Lord brings rest to the weary (even if it is a long time in coming)

October 14

       My swollen knee still plaguing me, I woke up this morning to the radio playing Michael Buble's new song (something about Hollywood). The lyrics seemed dumb, but he has such a fantastic voice. It's like pop'n-fresh-bisquit-with-honey status. Despite the "honey" voice, I still had a hard time getting out bed. My first class was at 9:30. It's called Performance and Analysis, and I think it will be alright. There are a few teachers, but the lady who did most of the talking today seemed pretty hard core. I get the impression she knows her music! We will have to work hard to win over Ms. Fear Factor (I'm not that scared.) After that class, I went to a music lab session lead by a new teacher from Belfast. He is super nice and accomodating which is fantastic because all the students are at different musical levels. I sat with a bag of ice on my knee during this class and felt like such a cripple as I kept having to climb and descend stairs all day after that. This knee swelling thing is very strange.
       I don't need to repeat how strange the academic setup is over here, but I will say that it feels almost as if I'm crashing the school's party everytime I go to class. I feel like such an exception because I'm only here for a semester, and I'm hopping into classes without really knowing the level of skill required to do well beforehand. Strangely enough, it's kinda fun! I'm just along for the ride, and I'm going to enjoy my classes as much as I can without worrying too much about getting a good grade.
       After classes, I went back to the dorm and had some leftover pizza and a power nap. This afternoon I tried to look up secondhand bookshops nearby, but I couldn't find many, so I just went out looking around instead. I ended up finding one book I need at a thrift store! Just when I was starting to think that bargain shopping didn't exist over here, I found 3 shirts for really cheap and then tons of other "bits and pieces," as they say over here, at the resident "Dollar Tree" called "Poundland" (because we have pounds, not dollars, remember...). The place was pretty ghetto, but I scored!
     On my way back to campus, I stopped at Tesco-express again looking for ice for my knee. They didn't have any, so I just bought a cheap bag of frozen corn and slapped that on my knee during the bus ride back! True genius. Since I was walking around like a rickety senior citizen all day, I figured that it would make sense to stay in all evening like they so often do. I did laundry, and researched school stuff on the internet. ("That's really great Jeremy, but I'm gonna go home and watch the internet" - what's the exact line?) Once my knee gets better, I need to stop it with this staying in all evening stuff. I'M IN LONDON! I know there is so much that I want to do while I'm here, but at the same time, I want to soak up this free time to just chill because I don't know the next time that will happen once I get back home. I'm torn!
       Gosh, I write too much. If you've made it this far through this blog or even made it TO this blog after all the other lengthy ones, you must really love me a lot or you are extremely bored. (I'm going with option 1).
      
Prayer Request of the Day: That I would find a good balance between rest and activity.

October 12-13

       It's crazy to think that I have been here for 2 weeks already, and I'm just starting classes! Yesterday was my first day, and I only had one 2-hour class. It's called e-music (electronic music), and it looks really interesting. I had the rest of the day to myself, so I first decided to go grocery shopping! I have come to the conclusion that shopping for food is more fun than shopping for clothes. It's probably because I never leave a grocery store empty-handed, but I often leave clothing stores empty-handed. The levels of fulfillment just don't match up. Anyway, I ran into my friend from Portugal at the bus stop, and we went to the Tesco-express (gas station mini-mart) right up the road. I was so pleasantly surprised to find everything on my list of detailed ingredients! Who would have though that a mini-mart would carry fresh mushrooms and pesto?
       After we got back to the halls, my friend kindly let me have some of her stir fry, and we chilled in the kitchen for awhile. Then the food coma set in. You know what that means. . . NAP. I overslept, AGAIN, and 2 hours later I was back in the kitchen picking through the contents of a broken freezer. Somehow, one of the freezers was no longer freezing anything in it. My poor neighbor was giving away her large amounts of meat products because they wouldn't hold much longer. The one day I have a full lunch, I hit the food jackpot just a couple hours later! What are the odds...? That evening, a few of us went to the Christian Union on campus for their first meeting. It was pretty shallow, but I got to meet some cool people and learned that a few people I had already met were also Christians! They are just turning up everywhere! What a blessing. The rest of the night consisted of reading Mere Christianity, dozing off here and there, cranking out a couple sets of crunches and girl push-ups (yes, the ones on your knees), and skyping with Shelby and Shen.
       This morning was very nice even though I have been falling into the habit of getting out of bed between 30-45 minutes after my radio alarm goes off. It hasn't got me into trouble yet, thankfully. I cleaned up, and then went for a walk down by the beautiful lake. It was so serene. I just walked and breathed and prayed and thanked God that I wasn't working in the middle of a crazy rush at Starbucks. Because I had a little time to kill before my 11:30 Shakespeare class, I grabbed a piano in the music building and had myself a little jam session - love those!
       (Insert smooth transition here . . . or just skip it...). Remember the first day of volleyball tryouts when you showed up in your new vball gear, all color-coordinated, and cute looking... chatting it up with your bffs about how you're so glad to be back, so ready to play volleyball again... and then BAM!!! Smithers (the coach) shows up, and makes you do a million suicides, run around the world 4 times, do wall sits for an entire day, and do drills until you feel like you've been drilled into the floor? The shock - - The intensity - - The exhaustion! Well, my first 4 hour class of Shakespeare wasn't quite that bad, but my point is, it's rough to jump hard core back into school. My professor mixed the session up into discussion and silent reading and lecture and a short break, so that was nice. Still, we're talking some dense material here. I would give you an example, but my blogs are long enough already.
       After class, I gladly changed in to my workout gear and went for a run/jog/walk/trek around campus with some of my neighbors which was very refreshing and fun. Unfortunately, my knee somehow got really swollen afterwards, and I'm not sure why. I knew I brought Icy Hot for a reason! Soon enough, I was back in the kitchen ready to make some seriously bomb pizza! On ciabatta bread, I put tomato basil sauce, garlic, onions, zuccini, mushrooms, mozzarella and feta cheese, bell peppers, olives, artichokes, and proscuitto - and a whole lot of deliciousness! Seriously, it was very tasty.
       At 7, my happy stomach and I headed for the bus stop to meet the others for Bible study (not the Christian Union). This one was at a lovely English couple's house, and I absolutely loved it! The couple is so kind and welcoming and hospitable. There house is adorable too! There were a number of students there and a number of older adults which proved to be a great mix. We jumped right into the Scriptures (which is right up my alley), and let the evening roll on from there. It's hard to explain what a joy this evening was to me, but I'll just say that the Lord just keeps sending more and more of Himself and His goodness my way. It is so beautiful to be with God's people who are genuinely seeking Him. Even though we are from different countries, our unity as believers in Christ makes it as though we haven't skipped a beat.
  
Prayer Request of the Day: That my swollen knee would get better :(

October 11

       Do you ever have dreams about people that prompt you to immediately pray for them? My day began like this. Even though I have had a number of dreams like this in the past, the whole situation mystifies me still. In the Bible, God often spoke to people through dreams, and sometimes I wonder if He is doing the same with me. I am always hesitant to try to interpret my dreams because I am scared of what I might find, but occasionally I get a clear and non-horrific message, mainly to pray for someone in particular. This morning, I woke up praying for Mrs. Pratt, and I have no idea why.
       On a lighter but still dream-related note, I keep dreaming that I haven't left for England yet! I'm all nervous to leave in my dreams, but then I wake up and realize that I already made it over here and am doing well. Weird. Clearly, I have been sleeping too much. That always makes me dream more.
       A lot of students started classes today, so the campus was hoppin'! I start tomorrow, so I had myself a lazy and lovely day. I made pancakes, read some of Mere Christianity, and went for a walk with some of my British friends who live in my hall. It was a bright and beautiful day here AGAIN! I can't believe the weather has been so nice. I have been getting hot! My friends and I walked all around campus and the surrounding park for over an hour and soaked up the sun and scenery. After we got back, I went to check out the music building and grabbed myself a very nice practice room! It was precious to play a piano again! Sadly, my singing is rusty from sickness and neglect. I've got to kick it into gear!!!
      As I spent the rest of the evening in my room, I began to get restless and increasingly bothered by the bareness of my walls. (I imagine people in the loony bin have similar problems). Dorm rooms are dingy and uninspiring, so I improvised. I took all that advertising crap I got on Friday along with my other paperwork, and cut out the pretty pictures! Add some tape and a little bit of restless genius, and voila! = Wall of flair. But wait, it gets better.
        Yesterday, I had to mournfully lay to rest my favorite pair of jeans because I had worn a hole in them. Instead of trashing them, I decided to cut them up and transform them into wall decorations as well. So in less than 2 hours, I had a newly decorated wall that looks pretty bomb, considering I was working with very limited materials.
      

                                  (Those are cards on the left that I brought from home to cheer me up)

         Ok, so maybe it doesn't look that good, but I had fun. Remember in like 4th grade when we all learned about the Native Americans and how they used all the animal body parts for one thing or another because they were just that efficient? Maybe I'm creatively connecting with my roots as an American or just realizing what a cheap college student I am, but I a proud of my makeshift decor.
        I have a feeling that my blogs will be a bit shorter from here on out because classes are starting, but I will try to keep you all posted as well as I can.

Prayer Request of the Day: That my class schedule will fall into place without too much hassle. (At this point in my blogs, you know the nightmare potential that lies in anything related to administration at this campus.) Thank you for all your prayers and love!

October 10

       HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! I'm so glad we got to Skype!!!

       I slept like a rock last night, but I had weird dreams that I can't quite remember. Sometimes I am concerned for my psychological health because of all the dreaming I do. Anyway, I woke up around 10:30 to the sound of my UK cell phone ringing. It was the guy from Nigeria who was calling to inform me that he was on campus 2 hours earlier than we planned. The student group from the local church was hosting a Sunday Roast (apparently a British ritual), and a group of us had planned to go together around 12:45. Poor guy! He had to wait forever. I put myself together, met up with a couple girls, and we walked down Snakes Lane to Oakwood Station (the nearest Underground station) to meet up with him and another boy who was joining us. Together, we all made our way to the house where the Roast was. I know this is a stereotype, but free food really is exciting for college students! Any number of us spent the rest of the afternoon just chatting or hanging at a cafe we came across nearby. It was very nice and relaxing. We all went to church together at 7, which was awesome, and then we walked back to the halls.
       As the afternoon and evening wore on, I realized that one of my prayer requests had been more than adequately answered. I prayed for 1 Christian friend, and I found 4! The service this evening was also a blessing. It is actually really nice to be in the crowd for once and to be led in worship instead of always leading. I love that they always take time for intentional prayer. There is something about praying silently as a group that is very powerful. I wish I did that more.
       The message was very good, and it helped me to refocus after my crazy weekend. After I got back from church and Skyped my family, I had a really good spiritual conversation with my American Christian friend, Sarah. I haven't had one of those since before I left the States, so it was very refreshing! We talked a lot about how we both feel like we have been spiritually backsliding way too often. God has brought us here and given us so many opportunities to do great things, and we both want to take that gift seriously by being intentional in our faith. Most importantly, we need the Spirit's strength to help us!
       BTW, I'm sorry for the lack of literary flair in this post. I am a bit drained, I think.
       I will close with some lyrics from a song by Gungor that runs through my head often. To the Lord, I want to say, "You make beautiful things, You make beautiful things out of the dust. You make beautiful things, You make beautiful things out of us." Amen.

Prayer Request of the Day: That I would be about the Lord's business, not mine.

October 8-9

       These past 2 days have been crazy! On Friday, MDX had what they call Freshers Fair which is where all the campus groups put together their displays in a huge hall and try to recruit people. It's similar to Sac State's Quad during the first 2 weeks of the semester, except here, it's only one day. I made a cameo appearance in the morning, got some more papers to add to my massive stash, and left. They had some cool stuff there, but I was super disappointed that they don't have a volleyball team!!!
       I had the rest of the afternoon to myself, so I decided to do something daring. With my firearm (new local cell phone) burning in its holster (my pocket), my trustee bandana (scarf), my knapsack (purse), and my flask (water bottle), I headed out to conquer the terrain. Yes, I was going shopping - ALL BY MYSELF. Remember, this is a much bigger feat than it is at home. I have to navigate the bus routes AND carry everything I buy because, of course, I don't have my car to load everything into as I buy things around town. So, with an imaginary badge of bravery on my arm, I walked to the bus stop.
       I made it to a place called Enfield Town where there are tons of shops, and I spent a couple hours there. At this point, I am having a hard time buying anything but food because I'm still figuring out my budget, and I want to see what my options are (there are a lot of shopping options in London!). Still, I ended up with a pair of very British boots and some more groceries. After successfully completing my quest and making it back to campus, I painstakingly climbed the stairs to the 3rd floor where my room is, and found my door boarded shut. The repairman was fixing it. Exhausted, I waited it out, and he eventually came and let me into my room where I stayed (and slept) until that evening when the international students got together to go on a riverboat down the Thames.
       The view from the boat was fantastic! It was a clear night, so we could see everything, including Tower Bridge and the green lazer line that shoots through the sky from the Greenich Conservatory to represent the Prime Meridian. During the trip, a guy from Nigeria apparently chose me as his friend of choice for the evening. He bought be a drink and wanted to hang together the whole time. Interesting... I still can't decide if he is just being friendly or if he is hitting on me (cultural miscommunication, you know). He is studying at another campus that is about an hour journey to mine, so maybe that will settle things. After the riverboat cruise, we all headed back to campus on the coaches, and I went right to sleep (hence, no blog entry).
       I slept in on Saturday (naturally) and just relaxed until about 3:30. Like I mentioned before, the campus here is absolutely beautiful, so I took a walk "over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go." Well, grandmother's house is in California, so that wasn't exactly possible, but I did walk through the woods and over a small creek to get to a lake behind campus. The waterfowl over hear sound like monkeys, I just have to say that. It's hilarious! People were out walking with their dogs, and it was a very picturesque adventure. After killing some more time relaxing, I put myself together to go to the city (again) with my Finnish friend for a comedy show (she got tickets for 2 pounds!). I grabbed my jacket with its newly sewed on button (thanks for the sewing kit, Mom!) and went ot the bus stop. Of course, the bus driver had to go on a break right when I got there, so I had to walk to the next bus stop all the way down a street called Snakes Lane. It's beautiful, but creepy because it's fenced in by mysterious shrubbery ("you must bring me... a shrubbery!!!" - Monty Python seemed appropriate here. Afterall, I AM in England) on either side. It was a workout!
       The rest of the evening's journey on public transportation was a nightmare. An important portion of the Underground was closed so everyone was taking buses. I won't describe the cramped conditions in too much detail, but I will say this: You know the straw plexis they have on the hand-off counter at Starbucks? It felt like the mean barista of London public transportation was cramming us (the straws) all into a tiny plexi (the bus) because there wasn't enough room for us on the shelf (the Underground). After all was said and done, the comedy show wasn't really worth the effort, but we did find some very nice shops along Oxford Street. Because of the late hour, I had to take a taxi back to campus (=$$$). The driver talked about UFOs almost the whole time, but he was nice. When I got to my room, I had a few pieces of chocolate, checked Facebook (of course), and crashed.

Prayer Request of the Day: Simply, that I would make Jesus look good.

October 7

       I don't know where this song came from, but Mom used to sing it to me: "Let the sun shine in, face it with a grin, smilers never lose, and frowners never win..." Well, the sun was shining in my window again this morning when I woke up, and I faced it with the best grin that I could, considering mornings aren't my thing. The whole day was absolutely beautiful - the sun was out the whole time! It felt like California.
       In the morning, we had to take an assessment test at the library just so the school has an idea of where we are academically. Apparently, I left my math skills somewhere in the 2nd grade. I had a seriously hard time! I knew it was coming, I guess, this math deficiency thing. I've been noticing the signs. You know that billboard from McDonald's that advertises 20 chicken nuggets for $5 (or something like that)? The first time I saw that, it seriously took me at least 3 minutes to figure out how much 1 nugget would cost. Pathetic. This is why I have chosen English and Music as my subjects of choice. I don't eat chicken nuggets anyway.
       After the test, a couple of my friends and I took the Tube to central London. We had so much fun!!! First, we got me a local cell phone which was a relief. Then, we grabbed some paninis at a small shop where it is apparently acceptable to handle food with your money-soiled hands and then give it to customers to consume. (I was really hungry). The afternoon consisted of a sort of treasure hunt around the city which was fantastic fun! The lady who organized and facilitated it is a gem, and she is one of a very small number of competent university employees whom I have encountered so far at MDX. (After she made the call to the airport about my bag and it actually showed up, I knew she could be trusted). Amazing Race style, my friends from Germany, Finland, and Sweden and I ran around the city filling in our questionaire and seeing the beautiful and famous sites. In the end, we didn't win, but we did very well for ourselves and enjoyed it. All the groups met at a pub afterwards to rest our feet and settle our scores, and soon enough my Finnish and German friends and I were off for more food and an invigorating evening watching "Stomp," the stage show. It was unlike anything I have every seen! We got amazing seats - and for half-price too! I could get used to this London thing. The tube ride home took about 40 minutes, and I am currently exhausted.
       I love it when I get the chance to see what creative things people can do when they work together. Watching those dancers/musicians from "Stomp" perform made me think of the story of the Tower of Babel when God said that mankind could do pretty much anything they set their minds to if they work together. Even observing the way such a big city like London works is obvious proof of lots of teamwork and hard work. If mankind is this fascinating, just think how boggled out of our minds we are going to be when we meet Jesus, the creator of all this talent, face to face!

Prayer Request of the Day: That I would boast in Christ alone and learn to let His praise flow from me. He has created some super rad stuff!

October 6

       The Disneyland Fastpass was a genius idea. Why can't Middlesex get something like that for their administration department? Granted, dealing with paperwork in not nearly as exciting as Indiana Jones or Space Mountain, but strangely the lines can be just as long sometimes.
       I woke up at 8 (which is still difficult for me for some reason) so I could make it to the "module changes" session at 9:30. All I needed was to switch one English class to a Music class. Consistent with my experience with Middlesex all along, it couldn't be that easy. I showed up to the lovely Garden Cottage at about 9:40, thinking that everything would be taken care of by 11 as it showed on the schedule. I was wrong. There were already a number of students waiting to speak with advisors, and the zany office assistant had us all wait together as she haphazardly greeted others as they trinkled in. She warned us that it would probably would be about an hour and a half before we would see an advisor (only 2 were working), and we were ok with that. Soon, we realized the situation was much worse than it sounded. We heard rumors (which proved true) of numerous waiting rooms along the way to the advisors, and we cheered each other on as we progressively got to move to "the other side(s)." As the hours inched on, I couldn't help but think of the multiple levels of hell in Dante's Inferno. I know this is an extreme comparison, but something about the confined rooms and continual disappointment brought this book to mind. We passed the time by asking each other questions such as, "If you could only have one appliance in your home, what would it be?" "What is your favorite dish?" "What is one thing you definately want to do before you die?" etc.
       After all was said and done, I spent about 4.5 hours waiting to get my 5 minute issue resolved.
       I miss Sac State's online enrollment system : (
       Even though waiting that long was horrible, I got to meet a number of people who are pretty much extended family members at this point, after all we had been through together. I got to talk with people from America, Spain, Hungary, Japan, and France for quite awhile. We all learned a big lesson in patience today.
       After eating my leftover tortellini from last night, I took a 3 hour nap (which definately was NOT supposed to be that long) instead of going out to get a local cell phone or decorations for my room. Aside from taking a short walk around the beautiful campus at dusk, I stayed in and did laundry, played guitar, spent too much time on facebook, and watched an episode of Glee. Altogether, I enjoyed the second half of the day very much. I love having time to myself.
       The internet is very slow here (another test of my patience), but I'm glad we have it in our rooms at least.
       In hindsight, I can see that the Lord was working in me today. It's easy to get super grumpy and complain all the time when things get difficult and you just have to wait them out, but somehow He gave me a spirit of joy and love that I was able to share with those around me. He helped me to make the best of a crappy situation, and for that energy and optimism, I am thankful.
       Any similar stories of patience and deliverance? Share them!

Prayer Request of the Day: That I would let God love others through me.

October 4-5

       "Hangin' around, nothin' to do but frown, rainy days and Mondays always get me down" (courtesy of Miss Karen Carpenter's golden vocal chords). Ok, Monday really wasn't that bad (I just like that song). If we add colds to the list of rainy days and Mondays, that would pretty much sum up yesterday. I woke up sounding like a frog, and stayed in for the morning. A few of my hall mates and I went to Asda (again) to pick up some more essentials. I got Sudafed, vitamin C tablets (to replace my Emergen-C stash which is dwindling), and more orange juice. We got back to our halls where I promptly put on some comfies, chugged tea, orange juice, and vitamins, and took a nap. The housing company that facilitates the halls here put on a party (that started off with a surprise informational meeting - what kind of party is that?) that evening. After a free dinner which consisted of bad "pizza" and french fries (with no ketchup), they raffled off awesome prizes like an iPod touch, a flatscreen tv, and and iPad. (No, I didn't win anything). It was after this that my swollen sinuses somehow led me back to my room at 9 pm where I stayed for the rest of the night. My game plan for the evening? = Tea, salt water nose spray, orange juice, tissues, and the Sound of Music. The only thing missing was Cuddles, my teddy bear : (
       This morning, the frog voice was not as noticable, but I still felt gross. Thankfully, all I had to do today was attend as welcome meeting and meet with some people about my class schedule. Let me just say, this university employs some seriously unorganized people. Almost every student I have talked to has had some problem with registering, e-mailing, or communicating with the university in some way. It's unfortunate. Still, I'm not worried. Everything will fall into place. A couple of my friends (1 from Germany and 1 from Portugal) went to coffee, and we felt better.
       This evening, I cooked some tortellini and chatted with some of my hall mates in the kitchen. It's fun to run into other people and get to know them while we're cooking :) Unfortunately, there are no cupboards in the kitchen, so we all have to carry our own things from our rooms to the kitchen everytime we want to cook something. It's a bit of a hassle. ( Blee, I should get a cart . . .)
       Most of the people in my hall are girls, either international students or first year students. It's so funny to hear the freshman go on about "this" and "that" party. I guess I never quite understood the draw of college parties in general, especially the high price tag on alcohol. I would rather watch a movie or jam on some music. That aside, all the girls in my hall are super sweet and friendly. It's one of the quieter halls as well, which is truly a blessing - I can sleep!
       It's not even 8:00, but I'm in for the evening again. More tea which means more pee, but hopefully it will wash away this stupid cold! I want my singing voice back!
       Thank you for all your prayers!
       Prayer Request(s) of the Day: That I would get over my cold, and that I would love without condition.

October 3

       The earliest morning yet! I set my phone alarm for 6 but actually got up at about 6:55. Today's trip of choice for international students was a trip to Brighton, a cute town on the southern coast of England. We left around 8:15 on a 2-hour bus ride that put me to sleep with my mouth embarrassingly hanging open as it always does when I sleep. I don't understand why my jaw muscles never get the memo to hold my jaw shut and maintain some composure on occasions like this! When I woke up, I promptly asked the girl next to me (my friend from Cyprus) if she #1: Had a camera. #2: Took any pictures of me like this- [insert untaken picture here]. Thankfully, she was kind enough to resist that opportunity.
       Once in Brighton, we walked around the pier and saw 3 men in speedos and swim caps jump into the raging sea, which looked super cold. There were also some surfers - crazy Brits! The beach was awesome looking because it was made of small rocks (from the size of a kidney bean to a walnut, I would guess) instead of fine sand. For the rest of the afternoon, a group of 6 of us just walked around the town and looked into tons of shops. We went to Starbucks, but let it be noted that I DID NOT call the stop; my friend from Cyprus did. Starbucks has some different drinks and more food over here. Soon, it began to pour and the wind was horribly powerful (Thanks for the raincoat, Mom!). The weather is very intermittent over here, so it calmed down soon enough. After 5.5 hours of wandering around with our increasingly sore feet/bodies, we caught the bus back to campus. For the record, the countryside and houses are so beautiful here! I wish I was a photographer so I could capture it all better.
       Five minutes after the bus arrived at campus, I and another Christian American girl met up with a local girl from a church very close to campus and walked there for their Sunday evening service. The church was cozy, about the same size as the A-frame at home, just a few 100 years older :) All the churches here are so old-looking but beautiful. Tons of brick and stone. After singing Beautiful One, Consuming Fire, and I Can Only Imagine and having flashbacks to youth group back in the day, we had a greeting, times of prayer, and a message.
      The most hilarious part of the whole evening was that the students from the church invited us to the local pub after the service! A PUB right after CHURCH!!!! It was too funny to pass up, so we went. Nothing crazy happened, and we enjoyed ourselves. (No one got drunk). I wonder how that would go over at FBCFO?
       I'm really enjoying myself and making lots of new friends from all over the world. The Lord is so faithful, and He is taking care of me! Thank you for all your prayers. I know He is answering them because I didn't expect things to be going this well, especially my personal/emotional/psychological adjustment. It hasn't even been a week yet, so please keep praying!

Prayer Request of the Day: That I would be physically AND spiritually healthy for the duration of my stay (I'm still fighing a cold).

October 1-2

       Yesterday was the second and last day of orientation, and we received our student cards (with a mug shot picture, of course). That afternoon, my new Finnish friend, Jenni, showed me how to get to the local supermarket, Asda, using public transit. (She has lived in London on and off over the past few months, so she knows how to get around). Of course it had to be super rainy and gusty during our outing. Still, she was a life-saver! She showed me how the bus routes work, the smartest ways to pay for using the Underground, the local cell phone options, and took me on a double decker bus. School had just let out, so there were tons of little Harry Potters and Hermoine Grangers in their cute little school uniforms with ties (even the girls) all over the bus, and it was packed! We finally made it to Asda where I did some more shopping for food and essentials like an alarm clock and cookware.
       That evening, there was a party for all the international students at MDX's main campus, Hendon. When I heard party, I didn't think of a huge dance floor with tons of drunk strangers dancing awkwardly to music with weird beats (and no other option for entertainment or leisure), but that is what I found . . . FOR 4 HOURS. I guess that is not unusual, but I don't hang out on that scene at home, so it was new for me. (My mad dance skills only show up at the occasional wedding where they rock everyone's world with jealousy - just kidding). As the hours passed, and all I had to drink was water, I did not increasingly get into the action but the alcohol (or spirits as they call it over here) increasingly got into many of my fellow international students as the room began to heat up like an oven and smell like a locker room. EWWW. And I was stuck because the bus wasn't scheduled to come until like 2 years later. In the meantime, however, I met a Christian American girl who happens to live right down the hall from me which was an answer to prayer! (We're going to church tomorrow night together.) Finally, we went back to our halls, and my ears were ringing as I fell asleep.
       Today was the first day that I had to get up early. The international students were offered a guided tour of London from a bus that left at 9:15. Unfortunately, I woke up with a surprise party favor - a sore throat that stuck with me all day, but I still went on the trip. It takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the main part of the city on the bus from my campus. In Lauren language, this means, "Oh shoot, I should not have had that much fluid this morning!" Not soon enough for my poor bladder, we made it to Trafalgar Square where the toilet signs were just as exciting as the monuments. From there, our tour and bus guide took us all around London and showed us things like the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, Parliament Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, London Tower, and tons of other super interesting and beautiful stuff. We ended up in Covent Garden where the tour ended and we had about 3.5 hours to do some shopping and sightseeing. I met up with a girl from Germany, and we became travel buddies for the day. After having a delicious lunch, walking our legs off, enduring frustratingly intermittent rain, and seeing a bit of the city, we returned to the bus to go back to campus.
       It is crazy how many people I have met and how many countries they come from! I tried to keep a mental list, but it got too long to remember. Again, it amazes me how similar people from different cultures can be in certain ways. I have been making a point to talk to people who look lonely or who I have never met, and it has turned out very well so far.
       For now, I am staying in for the rest of the evening, drinking as many fluids as I can so I can fight off this horrid sore throat!

Prayer Request of the Day: That I would get healthy and stay that way!

btw, do you know those auto-release motion-detecting air fresheners that people put on their walls? Well, they have a few of them in my hall, and they are scary! I keep thinking a cat is gonna jump out at me and slash open my jugular or something - jk. That hissing sound is not ok. (The halls smell good, though).