Nothing Like Undergrad

Induction day has finally come and gone and I have received answers to a lot of the questions I've had the past month (already a month?!) that I have been out here. I now know what classes I will be taking, who my teachers will be and more or less what is expected of me in these coming months. I knew going in to this that doing post graduate study is not supposed to be like undergraduate study with constant classes nearly every day of the week and with homework, quizzes, and tests to keep me constantly occupied but the schedule that I have for this upcoming year almost seems a little ridiculous to me. 

Let me start with my classes. This term (oct 6-dec 5) I am taking two classes, one is a compulsory class called Educational Issues in Christian Ministry. In this class I will be studying theological frameworks, current practices, contemporary contexts and professional insights in to the world of Christian Education. Thrilling to most of you, I know. My second class, Patterns in Youth Ministry, I am much more excited about. I will be studying theological approaches for Youth Ministry, frameworks affecting ministry with you people and issues of gospel and culture. 

Now two classes does not seem like much to me but at induction I found out that I am the only student in my program attending full time. Most everyone else in my program (and the other theology programs) are doing part time. Due to the fact that I am one of the only "young" people in the department who doesn't have a family and children I guess this shouldn't surprise me. But get this, each class that I only take is only twice a month. YEP, twice a month. I know. I don't understand it either. Again, I didn't expect class to be as frequent as previous educational experiences but really?! Each class only has 5 lectures each and rest is self study. Because I am expected to write a 6000 word essay for each class I have already been to the library this morning and checked out 10 books that I want to start reading. I'm not going to even try to hide it, I was pretty upset yesterday when I learned how little classroom learning I would be having. I got very discouraged and frustrated and if it wasn't for the fact that I am excited for the Youth Ministry class I will be taking I would be even more upset. 

Lucky for me, I have an amazing boyfriend who cheered me up with positive thoughts about all the opportunities I'll have to travel and relax in between holing myself up in the library to read mountains of books. It will be nice to have plenty of flexibility when family or friends come to visit and not be stuck in class all day but....*sigh* 

After Christmas I will have two new classes Theology, Church, and Worship & Theology in Practice. Theology in Practice should be interesting because it is a compulsory class for the entire department. I almost wish it was this semester so I could meet more people than the few in my program but that's okay. I need to stay focused! 

For anyone who is interested here are my breaks: 

Fall Break- Nov4-Nov 16

Christmas Break- Dec 16-Jan 11 

Spring Break- Mar 16-May 2 

Really after Mar 16 I will only have two more lectures to attend and they are on how to write your dissertation. So I will have the entire spring/summer to research for and write my dissertation. I think what I begin to write my essays on will help me determine what to pick for my dissertation topic. I can't even fathom writing a paper this big right now but hopefully by the time I pick my topic it is something so exciting and fascinating the words will just come flowing haha

Off to start reading some of this stack of books now on my bed.


Love from London,
Kristin

And they said it's just a bunch of stones....

 Well family and friends, it was a BEAUTIFUL day yesterday and I have officially visited Stonehenge.


 I  found it to be absolutely stunning! Before my visit I had people telling me "it's not that exciting", "it's just a bunch of rocks"and "you can't even get that close"....but from the time I arrived I was in awe. Maybe it is the part of me that gets excited to be in the presence of so much history but I just stood and stared for some time before I remembered the audio guide we had been handed and started to listen. It was very informative and I was fascinated by everything the tour voice had to tell us from theories of how and why the stones were moved there to funny myths that have circulated about Stonehenge. Each stone weighs TONS (literally) and they were somehow moved from over 200 miles away?! How does that even happen?! And what really blows my mind is how they were able to get the stones that lay flat across the vertical ones up on top. It is SO HIGH! There are huge festivals that celebrate the summer solstice and I think it would be so cool to go. As you watch the sun rise it comes right between the center and rises through the rocks. Incredible right?! Without any type of modern technology, people thousands and thousands of years ago were able to create a type of calendar based on the sun using HUMONGO stones. Seriously, I'm still in awe. Anne and I ended up spending over an hour walking around in a circle around Stonehenge. It doesn't seem possible but let me tell you....each side and angle is complete different! Maybe we were lucky because it was such a sunny day but it was really cool to watch the shadows move around the circle as well. You are able to use the sun to determine which month it is by counting from the center stone and going around. We were skeptical but did it and sure enough, the sun we peeking through the "September" space.

As if Stonehenge wasn't enough to excite me for one day, we were then taken by bus to Old Sarum Castle. I should have taken notes or something so I could remember what King lived in the castle but when he moved out (to be near where the new Cathedral was being built) no one else moved in. Years later it was deemed uninhabitable and the next King ordered the castle to be torn down and the stone used for other buildings around the city. When an excavation team came in around 1912 they began to discover that the foundation of the castle is still there! Somehow they claim to know where everything was likely to have been located from the dungeons to the toilets haha but it was really cool to imagine how intimidating this castle must have been back in the day. There is even a large ditch (really it looks like an empty moat, very deep and probably impossible to climb out of) going around the entire perimeter. Here where I'm standing there was no sign so we weren't sure what this room was haha It went waaaaay down so I of course had to run and take a picture.

The final thing we saw in Salisbury was the Cathedral. It is absolutely stunning. The architecture....the stained glass windows....this history!! There are Bishops and important people from the early 1000's buried in there. We were also able to see the Magna Carta! We arrived at the Cathedral around 425 and the room that holds this important document closes at 430! We literally sprinted through the Cathedral (we apologized to the church later haha) and to the back courtyard of the church. The man was just about to lock the doors and we put on our saddest puppy dog faces and he let us in for 2 minutes to take a look at it. I am SO GLAD because it would have been unfortunate to go all the way there and miss it. Again, something else that would probably just seem like a silly piece of paper but I think is SO COOL because it is so old and there is just so much history behind that. It is by far one of my favorite things about being in London so far....all the history that is EVERYWHERE I go.

It was a very long, very exhausting day of walking and exploring this cute little town of Salisbury but I am so happy I was able to go on such a beautiful day. I wish I could bring you all with me to see this. It is funny how going to see the sights has made me miss home more than going about my daily routines here. It is really nice not to feel completely like a tourist in a city that seems to be mainly tourists (that was a funny sentence) but when I go out exploring it makes me wish I had you guys with me to be excited with!

I finally have induction on Thursday afternoon so I am excited to find out what my course schedule will be like and to start studying! YAY!

Love from London
Kristin

Third Times....Not a Charm

Well, I am sad to say that after 3 Sunday's in a row of trying to go to Mass I have still been unsuccessful. Last week I showed up to St Joseph's Catholic Church at 4:30 for what was supposed to be a 5pm Mass to see a note on the door alerting all parishioners that there would be no Mass at 1700 (5pm) until further notice. I sighed and started the walk home which is luckily only about 20 mins on foot. This week, one of my roommates, Christina, and I decided to leave at 9:30am so we could get to the 10am mass with plenty of time to spare. We went outside to our bus stop just as the bus was approaching and we hop on for our 10 minute journey. 5 minutes in to our trip the bus driver tells us we are being diverted because of a marathon taking place in Greenwich today. Thinking we will still have plenty of time because we left early enough we do not take notice of the detour.

The detour turned out to be much more than your average detour. The bus driver managed to get lost and an hour later we ended up at the bus stop back in front of our apartment. I was really upset at first because I have missed mass for 3 weeks in a row but at least I can say I did everything I could to make it there. After fuming about it to each other for a few minutes we began to giggle because it seemed so ridiculous that a bus driver, in London, who is fully trained and supposed to be on top of the bus routes, would get lost just as easily as we would in a town we are still getting to know.  Cross your fingers for next week!



 As for the rest of the weekend, Christina, Mariel and I spent a lot of time at Greenwich Park yesterday which is so, so beautiful! It was a fairly warm and sunny day and we had lots of fun taking pictures and being silly.

Tomorrow I venture to stonehenge with one of my new friends, Anne! I will keep you updated with news and pictures as soon as possible!






Love from London!
Kristin

I feel very lucky today

While I continue to wait for school to start I have tried to take advantage of all my free time by seeing as many sites as possible. Twice this week I have been fortunate enough to visit the Imperial War Museum. They have a special exhibit going on until the end of the month called "Once Upon a Time: Classic War Stories For Children" and it is an exhibit dedicated to how children were affected by the war. Now earlier this week when I first walked through I spent over TWO HOURS reading every book, looking at every picture and trying to comprehend how a child could have survived such trials at these very young ages. Today, on my return trip with Mariel, I spent another 3 hours in the same exhibit but for over 2 of those hours I was lucky enough to speak with an evacuee, Ken Lester, who was a child during the war! WOW. The stories he had....the happiness he has discovered since the war....He was an inspiration. He told us about a Christmas he was lucky enough to spend with his whole family (mother, father, brother). He told us about air raid shelters and all of east London being on fire after the bombings. And he was more than willing to answer any and all questions we had for him. He was very kind and had a jolly laugh (he looks a little like Santa Clause too!) It wasn't just the war he was interested in talking about though. He asked us about what we were doing in London and was very curious about many of the current events and happenings of the United States (as everyone seems to be when they find out we are American). I feel very lucky to have been able to speak with him and for so long! He told us that we were like family after having talked to him for so long and he showed us pictures of him as a child and him with his family. He also still had his last ration card for food and clothing and some of the old money that England used before the early 70's when they changed to their current system.
I have always been fascinated with history and even growing up I remember reading a lot of diaries. This was even cooler because well....because it was in person!
After spending over 5 hours in just one exhibit in this museum I can not wait to go back and explore the other 3 1/2 floors! I am already certain this will be my favorite museum in London.

Mariel and I also had fun taking touristy pictures of Big Ben and the London Eye. We have done A LOT of walking these past 2 days and we were joking around about getting a pedometer to track how many miles we walk this year. Anyone have one of those cereal box ones?! haha We decided that one of these days we are going to go on a walking tour of all of London and do a tourist photo shoot. We will be obnoxious and in the way of everyone. It will be perfect.
Maybe I will wait for people to visit as all the places I want pictures other people are bound to want pictures as well.
Well family and friends, this has been the majority of week 3 here for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring my new city and I can't wait to show it off when you come to visit!






Love From London!
Kristin
 XxXxXx

Making New Friends

Well family and friends, good news.
I survived international orientation and even made a few friends! There was a welcome dinner, a Thames river cruise, and different sessions set up to help us with common questions that come up when moving abroad especially for such a long period of time. Of course I took a picture of how I dressed to impress....It was a sad but funny feeling being back at orientation, realizing that I was no longer a senior who had conquered LA (okay, I'm dramatic) but was basically a freshman again but this time, I am even less familiar with my wherabouts and King's definitely doesn't hold your hand through the welcome process like LMU did. But overall, the other students that I have met have been kind and we have stumbled through the past few days together. The orientation-like process with be complete on September 29 when we have induction. At that point I will finally be able to know my class schedule along with any holidays we get and what my workload will be like. My "I like to know everything in advance so I can make a plan" personality does not like waiting until 5 days before classes start to know what my classes will be like but....what can I do.

The Thames River cruise was really cool as well! here is a picture of us on the boat with history all around us: The boat was packed with international students snapping photos and wondering how on earth we were lucky enough to be spending a year of our lives in this beautiful city.







Like I've mentioned before, we have been very fortunate to experience lots of beautiful weather. Saturday evening, as the sun was setting behind my building I looked up and saw how clear the city looked. This picture does not even begin to describe how beautiful this scene was. I wish you all could have seen it with me. The rain has been around too, but it usually blows through within 15 minutes and then the sun shines on through! I am keeping pictures like this for the near future when (I have been told) the sun will not be around quite so much.



This church here is St Joseph Catholic Church. It is about 10 minutes by bus from our flat and about a 20ish minutes walk. I took the bus there this evening because their website it said there was a 5:30 mass which I wanted to go to because I missed the 10am mass. Unfortunately, when I got there at 5, there was a sign on the doors saying that the 5:30 mass was cancelled until further notice. I guess I will have to make sure I'm up in time for the morning mass from now on!
 It seems like a fairly large church from what I can tell and I am excited to go next week!


That's all I've got for this weekend!

Love from London,
Kristin

Not all who wander are lost

I know I have heard that quote many times though I have no idea off the top of my head who said it. I'm pretty sure someone famous. Anyways.

My day today involved more wandering and discovering this incredible city! I took the tube in to central London and was able to find my school all by myself! I was proud of myself. I even spoke to someone in the building who told me where I need to go for orientation tomorrow. I then wandered around eating a sandwich from a little bakery (delicious) and down the street to the waterloo campus where registration will be next week. These here are the views from my walk to campus. It was actually quite sunny until I took these pictures. The clouds rolled in, it began to pour rain for about 20 minutes and then it was sunny again!

It will be really cool to see this every day, I hope I don't begin to take it for granted.
I am definitely excited to have orientation tomorrow and hope that I am able to find answers to all the questions I have, namely, WHAT CLASSES AM I TAKING?! It would also be nice to have a schedule for each term so I can begin to make travel plans.




After wandering some more through central London I decided to head back home and explore Greenwich! It really is SO, SO beautiful! There is a park that I imagine would take at LEAST one full day to walk through and around. Lots of trees and it stretches on for miles of green, green grass. I took some pictures from the top of the hill where the Royal Observatory is:

This picture here is the view from the top of the hill. 

This here is where the Prime Meridian is! aka where time starts! Somewhere behind that wall anyways.....

That brought me to the end of my wandering. I really enjoyed the hours alone, lots of time for thinking and exploring at my own pace. I think all the walking is really doing me some good, it gets rid of all my restless energy and forces me to some small amount of exercise every day. 

Dinner time!

Love from London,

Xx Kristin

Meet our new friend.....

Today was a fairly lazy day around the apartment. I don't think any of us changed out of our pajamas until evening but in our defense we were waiting for the internet people to come set us up with wifi! YAY, we can officially be connected all. the. time.
Because we have been fortunate enough to have warm weather and sun this past week I have been spending time reading on our balcony. A few days ago I noticed that we had a spider creating his home outside our window. First instinct told me to grab the nearest shoe and swat him over the edge but this afternoon I have enjoyed watching our new friend, Peter Parker, destroy and then rebuild his web over and over again.  It was very windy out today and I think he got a little discouraged when a leaf hit his web and put a hole in it but cheered him on as he began to rebuild his web, bigger and better than ever!

Love from London,

Kristin

Learning my way

After spending the last 4 days in London I think it's time for another post.
It felt strange today, on this 10 year anniversary of 9/11, to be wandering around a city who doesn't commemorate it like we do. I haven't located the route the my local Catholic church, there are no memorials or commemorations everywhere as I know I could expect at home. It has saddened me but in my own "minute of silence" I was able to remember this day which no one will ever forget and say a pray for the friends and families who lost loved ones that day.
As for my wanderings....I haven't had the chance to wander around Greenwich much yet but I have been all over central London the last 2 days!
All day Saturday was spent familiarizing myself with my route to school which does involve 3 train/tube changes but was surprisingly fun and easy! (I am already preferring sitting on the train to sitting in traffic!) Ethan, my friend out here, has been tremendously helpful in helping me search for my campus and find the appropriate means of getting there. We walked ALL OVER central London Saturday and Sunday---we explored the market at Covent Garden, wandered through China town (it smelled so good!) and walked through waterloo, up and down the Thames. I really enjoy walking and find it an ideal way to discover the city.

I have also been running errands with my roommates to try and get our flat in order as well as get ourselves settled here for the next year. We opened bank accounts, got cell phones up and working, and of course, did more shopping! I went ballistic over the HUGE disney store we found, it has a castle in it and is 2 stories!

London is filled with (what seems like) mostly American stores, it's just like walking up and down 3rd Street promenade or Desert Ridge! Well, besides the fact that all their stores are in buildings that are hundreds of years old.

I'm happy to say that I believe I am done being jet-lagged which is a relief because it really is quite disorienting. I finally have international orientation this week, Sept 14-Sept 16 and at that point I will meet some more international students as well as find out more about my courses. School unfortunately does not start for a couple more weeks but I guess that gives me time to get back in to school mode which my brain is refusing to accept is happening again.



Big news of the week is that we are getting wifi! hopefully my updates will be frequent and pictures will come more rapidly. I guess I shouldn't guarantee that as school will be very busy.
I promise to keep you as updated as possible!

Love from London,
Xx Kristin

Mobiles, Crisps, Trainers and Jumpers

Hello dearest family and friends!

I have arrived in London safe and sound and decided that the best way to keep you all updated would be via a blog (seeing that the time difference is difficult). 

I am LOVING my new flat and have begun to put my room together. I am upstairs with the kitchen (of course you are, Kristin) and the living room that has a wall of windows overlooking the city and it's beautiful! My roommates, Mariel and Christina, each have a bedroom downstairs. I am within walking distance of the DLR (train) station and there is a bus stop outside our door! I have learned about oyster cards (for using all public transportation) and how to properly say jacket and cell phone (jumper and mobile respectively). 

When I first arrived I was able to meet up with Christina and Mariel (my roommates) at the airport and we cabbed it back to our flat. Ethan was then able to come over and we all enjoyed a day of shopping and walking around our neighborhood. 

Currently I am sitting in the pub across the street eating pea and mint soup and using the free wifi. I will take pictures when there are fewer people here and it is less awkward haha

Love,

living room

first half of the kitchen

that is an all in one washer and dryer back there! as well as a dishwasher under the sink.

little English refrigerator haha

living room, outside my bedroom

my bed, with pictures already up!

 Outside my flat

Kristin