"Explore. Dream. Discover."

Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white. 
Mark Jenkins

Forever my heart will sing…

It is strange how the landmarks that you pass on a journey that signal you are getting closer and closer to the end of the road are the same landmarks that, at the beginning of your return journey, remind you that you are only just beginning and have quite a ways to go.

Last Wednesday, we had beautiful weather. It was still quite cold, but the sun was shining and everyone seemed to be in good spirits. Upon seeing the forecast, I decided I would walk to school; I was accompanied by my trusty-lucky iPod who makes a great walking companion. I used the 30-minute stroll as a preparation for the rest of my long day, breathing in the fresh morning air, smiling at passerby, and mouthing the words to songs like Phil Wickham's "Safe" and David Crowder's "Shine". It was an exhilarating experience, and one that I am attempting to repeat every morning, provided the weather acts in my favour.

It was on my walk back home that evening that I had the thought I have shared at the beginning of this post. As I was passing the "New Born Coffee Shop" and the "Hand Car Wash" that, earlier that morning, had let me know I was only a block away from my final destination, I became aware that now, these landmarks signaled that I was scarcely two minutes into my delightful half-hour walk. Chris Tomlin's "How Marvelous" accompanied me on this leg of the journey, and I was struck, for the umpteenth time, by the majesty of the sky over the Thames.

I am reminded, solemnly, that I am held every day and in every moment by the same "arms that were nailed to the cross to break our chains and set us free."

I'm so unworthy, but still You love me.

In other news, I spent this past weekend in central London with EuroLearn, the study abroad program through which I came to Kingston. It was a great weekend during which I got to meet lots of other students who are studying in the UK for the semester. We also saw Billy Elliot (a highlight for me, as a dancer) and visited the Tower of London (one of my favorite places in the world).

Tomorrow I have to perform lines from Merchant of Venice for my Shakespeare class. I will be quite glad when that is over! On Thursday, I am going to meet up with a friend in Central, and on Saturday, I am going to Stratford upon Avon and Warwick Castle. Big plans, y'all.

Also: I booked my plane flights for Italy and Ireland for spring break, which is coming up quickly. Expect lots of photos in the coming weeks.

Love,
lvp

The Bus Diaries

The bus system in Kingston gives me so many stories to tell. I think that I could write an entire memoir on my bus experiences. It is not easy to plan your life around a bus schedule. If you want to meet your friends in town at exactly 8:30, but your bus only comes at 8:05 and 8:35, you better plan to take the earlier bus and find somewhere to hang around, or take the later bus and be late. This is quite an adjustment for me—someone who is all-too-used to getting in her car at the perfect time to arrive approximately five minutes early, or late, depending on the destination. When I am relying on buses, I am somewhat out of control; there are times when I would like to ask the bus driver to take just a slight detour for my convenience, but then I very quickly remember that I am on public transportation, not a chauffeur service.

I was meeting some friends at the pub last night at 8:30. It's a 20-minute walk from my house that I can gladly make in the daytime, but will not do alone at night. So I planned to take the bus. As I near the turn that will take me to my bus stop, I see my bus turn and head toward the stop. I am far enough away that if I do not run, I will miss the bus (and it will be another 30 minutes before the next one comes). I start running, and praying that there is someone who has already queued the bus, since it is a request stop. If no one is there to get picked up, the bus will not stop. Thankfully, there are several people getting on, but I continue to trot toward the trolley. I jump on quickly with a smile, and a "thank you" to the driver. If I had not run and made that ride, I would have been half an hour late to meet my friends. Thank goodness I ran.

This afternoon, I was waiting for my bus, and a sweet old woman came to the stop dressed in the most awful outfit I have ever seen. I wish I could have taken a picture, but I did not want to be rude. She had a nice smile, which made up for the lack of fashion sense, I suppose. But when we saw our bus, she turned to me and said gently, "Do you mind helping me? I promise I won't make a habit of it, but I fell down today and am quite scared." I happily obliged, and linked arms with her as we walked to the bus. That is the end of the story, but I really enjoyed her assuring me she would not "make a habit of it," as though we met often or would be meeting again at this bus stop. I find the elderly British folk just as precious and precocious as the very young British folk.

Tonight, some friends and I went to see Valentine's Day at the cinema, which was interesting because our seats were assigned, like in a performance theatre, and they show more advertisements and commercials before the movie starts than they do previews. But, the point of this is my bus adventure following the cinema trip. I was waiting at the stop with several of my friends, but eventually all of their buses came and I was still waiting for mine. (Don't worry, parents; it was a brightly lit area with lots of people around). There was a cute old couple who were discussing whether or not their bus would be coming again, and since I knew the answer, I decided to help them out by sharing the information. They decided to continue conversation—which I found pleasant, because most of my similar experiences have been quite different; the conversation ends after the necessary discussion has been had. We first talked about nothing in particular, and then the woman asked if I was studying here from Canada. "The States, actually," I responded, and she said she could never tell the difference in accents. I assured her that I often couldn't either. When they asked me where in the States I was from, I said that I went to school in North Carolina. "Well, you don't have the North Carolina drawl," she answered, so I explained that I had grown up in Florida, near Georgia. This inspired the man to share his trip that he and his wife took to Georgia for a wedding; apparently the Georgian man their niece married was "horrible," because he did not offer him a drink. Then they rambled on about the dry county laws in Georgia, for which I could not speak.

And then, the inevitable question: "What do you think of Obama?" I smiled and, purposefully ambiguous, replied, "It's all very interesting." "Well that's noncommittal," the woman said to her husband. So I said, "What do you think of him?" He launched into his opinion of American politics and policies and did not stop talking until his bus arrived. I was amused. The man hugged me goodbye and kissed me on the cheek. His wife hurried him along, and they stepped onto the 71 toward Chessington.

Once on my bus toward home, I observed a young couple (cannot be more than 16 or so) that I had seen once before. They were holding hands, and the boy kept leaning over and kissing the girl on the cheek every few minutes. And the girl would turn and whisper something into his ear. And he would smile like a fool. 

There are some things that the British don't know how to do, such as make sweet tea. But I think they do love quite well. At least as far as I can tell.

Love,
lvp

Thank Goodness for Google.

There are no words to describe how much I love this commercial.

Please stand back. We are taking a professional photograph.

PHOTO FRENZY! 

The KU Study Abroad photo scavenger hunt

Team: Winning London

Rank: 2nd place

Photographer: Katie Shawcross

The girls at the start of the race! 

The first landmark: The London Eye

Second landmark: Parliament

Third landmark: The Aquarium

We took a detour to Scotland...

Mapping out our journey.

Fourth landmark: Westminster Abbey

Fifth landmark: Big Ben

Bonus 1: Telephone booth! 

These guys were not so cheeky about taking a photo with us.

Sixth landmark: Buckingham Palace (the creeper look was intentional)

Us in front of Buckingham!

Seventh landmark: Trafalgar Square

Eighth landmark: Piccadilly Circus (Eros)

Ninth landmark: Covent Garden tube station

Tenth landmark: Covent Garden street performer

Bonus 2: A Bobbie! 

Eleventh landmark: Leicester Square tube station

Bonus 3: Double Decker bus!

Twelfth landmark: Leicester Square, Sean Connery's handprints

Bonus 4: "You know you're in London when...in five minutes time, the weather changes from rain to hail to sunshine and back again!"

Our final destination: The Tigertiger in Haymarket!

And who knows but that you have come [here] for such a time as this?

One thing I really love about this country, and more specifically, the town of Kingston upon Thames, is that, when the weather is nice, you can randomly decide to stop by a pub or cafe on the river and have a drink with some friends.

There is something remarkable in this simple concept to me. Perhaps it is that I always feel at home when I am close to water, because I grew up in a city that is surrounded by it and built around it. Or perhaps it is that, for a change, I actually have the time to sit down for an hour on a whim. It is freeing, my friends: breathing in the air from the ancient River Thames, drinking Coca Cola from a glass bottle, laughing with friends I have known for a week but feel as though I've known my whole life. Between the six of us, there are three countries, three continents, three cultures, two languages, and an infinite number of life experiences represented.

I think, while observing the once again stunning London sky, "This is why I am here. This is why I knew, when I first met Europe, that we would meet again. This is what I came for." I feel nearly complete in this foreign land. This is a sensation  of which I cannot make sense, except to say that I think I left a piece of my heart here years ago, and I am being allowed to borrow it, to glimpse it again, during my stay.

I belong here. Like fish and chips belong together, so do I belong in Europe. Perhaps not forever, but for right now. For this moment, I am right where I am supposed to be. And I am so glad that I listened to Someone other than myself when I made the decision to come here.

I just watched the film The Young Victoria, which was excellent. Now I think I am going to go read the book of Esther, which is the story of another incredible Queen.

Love,
lvp

You know the sunlight always shines behind the clouds of London skies.

There is so much to tell, and so little space in which to do so.

I love it here. I wish I had a more concrete way of describing how I feel about this place; I wish that I could bring you all here to experience it alongside me; I wish that I could encapsulate in a photograph the array of emotions that I feel from being here.

But all I really have are words. And as much as I enjoy writing, I would really appreciate a teleportation device right about now. Words just aren't enough.

We started classes on Monday, and I am thrilled with both my courses and my schedule. For those of you who are interested, this is my timetable: 


Monday, 1500-1600: Children's Literature lecture
Monday, 1600-1700: Children's Literature seminar
Reading list: Alice in Wonderland, Treasure Island, The Treasure Seekers, Peter Pan, The Wind in the Willows, The Secret Garden, Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Coram Boy


Tuesday, 1200-1400: 19^th Century English Novel lecture
Tuesday, 1600-1700: 19^th Century English Novel seminar
Reading list: Mary Barton, Villette, Adam Bede, Great Expectations, Tess of the d'Urbervilles 


Wednesday, 0900-1100: Shakespeare: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow
Reading list: Merchant of Venice, Richard III, King Lear


Wednesday, 1400-1500: British Life & Culture seminar
Wednesday, 1500-1700: British Life & Culture lecture
Trip list: Brighton, Parliament & the Globe, National Theatre (to see London Assurance), Oxford, Stonehenge & Bath


If you're confused by the distinction between a "lecture" and a "seminar," just stop thinking so hard about it. The lecture is the main part of the class that may have anywhere between 40 and 100 students. The seminar, then, breaks us all into much smaller groups of about 20-25. It is here that we do discussions, turn in assignments, and get specialized help with the module. So far, I really like my teachers and have found them to be interesting, encouraging, and approachable.

I have so much to tell you about everything else I've been doing, but hopefully you've been following my adventures through my photos on Facebook or Flickr. This weekend (as in Saturday and Sunday) is sure to be eventful and full of pictures. On Saturday, we are going into Central (Central London, aka: what you all think of as London, with Parliament, the Eye, etc.) for a school-sponsored photo scavenger hunt around the city. Then, on Sunday evening, a few of my friends and I are going to ST. MARY'S (the mothership of my church back home) and then to a local pub to watch, of course, Superbowl XXXXIV. That's right: just because we're in another country doesn't mean we've completely forgotten our roots. Krista and Katie are big Colts fans, so I'll be adopting their Indianapolis devotion for the evening as well (seeing as how I don't have a real preference between the Colts and the Saints). 

Love,
lvp

P.S. The song doesn't lie: the sky is the most beautiful I've ever seen.