Sunday
This afternoon we all piled into the mini bus and a station wagon with our little backpacks and drove three hours to the South side of London and St. Paul’s church (traditionally called the Church of Sea Captains as Captain James Cook was once a parishioner here). We took over the crypt, which sounds a lot creepier than it actually was.
I’m writing this while “in bed” - we’re sleeping on the plastic floor. I’ve only got a sleeping bag, which gives me a scant 1/2in of padding - it’s not as bad as I thought it would be, actually.
Monday
We came to this church to assist them practically by donating our work duty time, so we were split into three groups and assigned certain tasks. Today my group’s two hours were spent scraping paint and washing walls to prepare them for paint.
This evening we walked about twenty minutes toward the center of London and ended up walking smack into the Tower of London and Tower Bridge! I was very excited - I had no warning that I was going to see anything like that tonight, so I was bouncing off the walls with delight - the people who had been inside that building - !
Tuesday
We had an hour of prayer and worship then had an hour to wander around London before lectures on perseverance in relationships.
We cooked 6 giant ham-and-broccoli bakes to be frozen for later use by the church for work duty today; we packed into a tiny galley kitchen to peel and boil potatoes and make white sauce while several people chopped hills of broccoli and shredded mountains of cheese on one of the tables in the common room.
We had a big taco dinner in an unusual style - you couldn’t serve yourself or ask someone to serve you. You had to make sure that those around you had food on their plates and they had to look after you - this is relationship week, after all, so it was an exercise in thinking of others before yourself. It was interesting seeing how the different cultures and personalities reacted to the challenge.
Afterward we all went to a nearby pub called “The Promise of Whitby”, which was once frequented by Charles Dickens. London is amazing.
Wednesday
We had a four-hour outreach team meeting after breakfast and worship today - it was weird going even that long with only eight other students.
We walked to a café affiliated with the church we were staying at; a real arty place called departure - unfortunately we arrived a half hour before they opened for the day so we found a curb to sit on and took turns giving our presentations we’d prepared using research we’d gathered concerning our outreach location.
Once the coffee shop opened we spent a couple hours over cappuccinos and brownies talking about plans and browsing the books, art, and instruments in the café.
We talked about our hopes and fears for outreach over lunch back in the girl’s room in the church. I don’t know if I’ve told you yet who makes up my outreach team - Hanna is leading us, and eight other students are going: Turid, Vetle, Anne, Melody, Gary, Joel, and Jessica.
Today’s work duties were out in the garden today - they have a large, very overgrown garden, so we ripped out tons of brambles and overgrowth. It was really fun to work outside again - it was very satisfying to saw down shrubs (I’ve got a cut on the pad of my thumb as proof of my zeal) and pulling up root balls.
We had an extended small group time, so Ruth, Esther, Ketsia, Nika, Alex and I did each other’s hair and then went out to eat at an Italian restaurant called Zeezees. Our waiter was a Polish guy named Gregory - he joked around with us quite a bit.
This evening I’m sleeping on the frame of the couch in the common room (the pillows had been taken to be used as a floor mat), which, though rather cramped, is quite comfy.
Photos: At The Church First day of the long weekend! Eight lucky students (Nika, Daniel, Shea, Kayla, Jessica, Natasha, Jonathan and Gary) got to go to Rome, Turid and Vetle went to Dover, Gert-Jan was already on his way home to Holland, Becky and Hayley went home as well, Esther went to Ukraine to visit at an orphanage she‘d been to before, and Ruth, Ketsia, Joel, Anne, Melody, Joshua and I stayed in London.
We went to Café Rouge off St. Katherine’s Docks (and in the shadow of the Tower of London) for hot drinks, then walked all around The Tower and saw reenactors demonstrating a giant crossbow. We walked across Tower Bridge, along the Thames, through an old converted wharf called Hay’s Galleria, down a side street, and into an cool open-air market where we had lunch at the ultimate fast food stall - within 30 seconds of ordering I had a bacon and egg sandwich.
Joshua left us to go see debates at the Parliament Building and we went on walking along the Thames, past the Globe Theatre, over the Millennium Bridge, into St. Paul’s Cathedral, along Fleet Street, into St. Martin’s of Ludgate church, on to St. Arbuck’s for a rest, further along Fleet Street and onto Covent Garden for a couple hour’s shopping and listening to a string quintet in the main atrium.
We picked up some groceries at M&S then met Turid and Vetle for dinner at Pizza Hut (yep, we’ve got class) before making our way to our hostel in Kensal Green.
It was quite the experience. We stayed at Hostel 639 on Joshua’s recommendation as it is the cheapest in London (nine pounds for a bed in an 8-bed mixed room). There was a rave going on in the common room beside the reception area, so we could barely hear ourselves think as we checked in and disco lights flashed all around us - people in outfits meant for clubbing were crowded all around - luckily our room was on the second floor (third floor to the Americans) so we didn’t hear the music.
The place was clean enough, but there was a phone number for an individual of questionable virtue sharpied on my bedstead. The shower was in the corner of our bedroom, but there was no showerhead on the end of the hose, much too the chagrin of those of us who hadn’t had a shower since Sunday.
We shared with a very quiet Polish guy and two Dutch girls - they didn’t come in until late, though, so we got to goof around and munch on the snacks we’d bought at M&S.
Friday
We left the hostel by ten and met Ruth on the train and walked along the Thames past the London Eye, across Westminster bridge, past the Parliament building, and to Westminster Square to take photos with the statue of Winston Churchill.
At that point the pull of Westminster Abbey was too strong for me, so I split off from the group to go inside. I spent two hours exploring every bit I could get at; they had an excellent audio guide that came with the ticket. I saw the burial places of many famous monarchs and politicians (including but not limited to Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, and William Wilberforce) and learned a lot about the history of the Abbey and the Monarchy.
I bought a pewter cross pendant at the gift shop as my article of jewelry from England (I try to get one from each country I visit) then walked to the park beside Buckingham Palace to meet up with the others.
We went from there to Harrod’s, which was amazing - I focused on the food halls (yes, that’s halls - plural. I was on cloud nine.). I got a pasty and some chocolate fudge for lunch - while I was away paying the rest of my group got escorted out because ‘they don’t allow large groups’. Apparently we were cluttering up the place.
It was alright, though, since we had to meet Joshua at the Science Museum anyway - we waited for him but he didn’t show, so the rest explored the science museum while I went across the street to spend an hour in the amazing (and free!) Victoria and Albert museum.
We took the train to Becky’s town and she and her dad picked us up with their red minibus and took us to Becky’s flat in the UK headquarters of a Christian mission called WEC. Becky’s parents went out for the evening and Becky entertained us; she’d made us a lovely meal then we sat eating cake and watching TV for the first time in over a month - Friends. Anne and Becky both love Friends. We played a few rounds of Uno then turned in for the night.
Saturday
Becky made us a typical English breakfast: egg on toast, bacon, sausage, and baked beans. She showed us around the house and grounds of the Victorian manor WEC is based in; I got to climb up a tiny spiral staircase in the pitch black to an old attic room that I couldn’t see accept by the flash bulb of Becky’s camera.
We’d been planning on taking the train to Reading to stay in Joel’s house for the last night of the weekend but we’d discovered that in all transport would cost us over 50 pounds - we felt as though we’d hit all the things we’d wanted to see, so we didn’t feel too bad about getting home a day early.
Becky’s dad dropped Joel off at the bus station so he could get to his house in Redding and let the four of us girls off at the train station. We were home by 3:00 and had plenty of time unpack, relax and catch up on work.
Photos: Long Weekend in LondonSunday
Mostly maintenance stuff today - I did laundry, got a bunch of paperwork done, wrote emails etc - then I wrote this entry!
Everyone but the eight who went to Rome are back by now (it’s 12:34am). Gert-Jan, Ruth and I are looking at photos and waiting up for the Rome group - they should be here in in a half hour or so.
