To Walk Those Roads Again

A year ago today, I would have had my first day of lectures at Capes. I would have been exploring the grounds around Capes for the first time. I would have been doing my daily duty for the first time! I would have been having one of the best days ever.

I wish I could be back, walking those winding roads. I wish I was running under the stars, faster than them all, and feeling the crisp evening air in my lungs. I wish I was hearing Rachel talk about Jon, giggling with Deborah, and seeing Yejin dance in her crazy pajama pants. I wish I was trying out for netball!

All this said, I had a really good day here at "home" today. I learned a lot in my lectures at uni, had some great conversations with lovely people, won a pair of socks (which I actually really need, since most of mine are fully of holes), and even finished my biology lab early so I could get out and enjoy the sun.

I am glad it was sunny today, and not just for obvious reasons. For a while, feeling the heat of the sun on my skin and nearly being blinded by its brilliance took me back to those first few days at Capes, and the beauty of it all.

I felt God closer than my skin today, and that is a lovely feeling. I know he is here with me, and that brings such peace and comfort and joy, and even happiness. I am so in love with my Saviour. I only wish I could show it to Him better.

Icarus

For my English class, I have been studying poetry based on the Greek mythological character, Icarus. In summary, he is trying to escape from the island of Crete. His father is an inventor of sorts and crafts Icarus wings made of feathers and wax. Once the "flying machine" is created, the father instructs Icarus not to fly too close to the sun, or its heat will melt the wax and Icarus will go plummeting into the sea below. He also tells Icarus not to fly too low to the water, because then his wings would become weighed down and he would drown.

In the end, Icarus makes a foolish decision and flies too close to the sun and tragically plummets into a watery grave: the sea below.

A poem I found particularly striking this week was "Musee des Beaux Arts". I forget the poet's name off the top of my head...I think it's W.H. Auden. Anyway, the poem itself is really quite interesting. It's short--only two stanzas long. The first stanza discusses the life of Jesus, and how many people did not notice the miraculous things or the "dreadful martyrdom" he experienced, because their lives were too busy to truly see.

The second stanza brings Icarus into play. There's this painting by Brueghel (I think he may be Belgian), that depicts the demise of Icarus. In the painting, there are people walking around and going about their own business, and it seems as if they do not even notice Icarus' white legs, sticking out of the sea.



The point is, we pass people whose lives are falling to pieces on the proverbial street every day. Sometimes the catastrophes are obvious, and maybe we choose not to get involved or to see, because we don't like being uncomfortable. Or maybe, sadly enough, sometimes we are just truly too narcissistic to see past our own problems.

I know that the next time I feel like my world is crumbling, I want someone to notice, and to be there with me.

I hope that I can be the kind of person, with the help of Christ, who isn't afraid to be inconvenienced.

So go ahead, inconvenience me!

Magic in the Mundane

Have you ever thought about just how much can happen in one year?

One year ago, at this time, I was frantically preparing myself to go to England. The 7 months or so that I was there was undoubtedly the most amazing experience I have ever had in my life. In some ways, the adventure was idyllic: I lived in a beautiful old manor house in the English countryside, twenty minutes from the ocean. Pictures of all the beautiful things I saw, whether they be old buildings, myriads of artificats located in a museum, or the rich hue of the always well-watered grass still sit in the forefront of my mind, close to my heart.






But even closer than that are the travel stories; the grime of a city street hundreds call home, the sheer multitude of of people sleeping under the fluorescent lights of an Italian train station, myself included...

...the many times I actually got to live out my faith in real and scary scenarios. The conversations about God I had with the boy in the hostel, the lady in the airport, the German journalist...

Six weeks of travelling as an unemployed student pushed me to the extreme when it came to money. I lived in an incredibly minimalistic way. I spent night after night without a bed or a blanket, on a cold floor or under a bench. But I was nowhere close to living in poverty; I had bread to eat, I had clothes to wear.

I can't help but think that "now that I have seen, I am responsible...faith without deeds is dead".

...

In my head I think I had this fairytale view of magic...and I pictured myself, walking into a ball in a lavish gown and tiara, or receiving a distinguished honour of some variety. I dreamed that "big" moments such as these would be the most important, magical, incredible ones of my life; it made me a little depressed because I am a very average person who lives in a small town...and I know these big moments will be few and far between.



But after traipsing around Europe, and months of reflection at home, I realize that magic can be found every day. In my cheese and lettuce sandwich, a cup of coffee shared with a friend, seeing the leaves change colour, feeling a raindrop on my skin...

There is magic in the mundane.
There is magic in my life in Saskatchewan.

In England, I came to a beautiful place in my relationship with Jesus where I realized He is not only my Lord, but my Friend. My best friend. I am sad that I am not living in England anymore, to be honest. I love it there; I think part of my heart is still sitting in the courtyard of that old manor house. Despite any sadness I feel though, there is an underlying happiness; I have brought the best of England home with me: I have brought all the adventures I had with my Best Friend.

I guess what I want you to get from this is:
a) I'm sorry that I talk about England so much when I'm with you. I try to control it, but what I learned overseas has truly shaped who I am, and my life with Jesus. I feel bad sometimes, because I just can't stop talking about all these little things that happened to me, but maybe now you have a greater understanding of it all.
b) It doesn't matter where you are in the world, or what you're doing: you can experience the truly magical in your life all because of Jesus.

The best thing is that this magic is not an illusion or trick.
This Love is real.

And thus, my England adventures continue...
because He is here with me.

Bath, Stonehenge, and the Last Day in London

Stonehenge

The Roman Baths

SPQR

The Jane Austen Centre

Last view of Capernwray and the surrounding hills

Final impressions from my window--a view of the courtyard.

Abbey Road!!

Inside one of the last trains we rode on in Europe--finally making it out of Italy!!

Border of France/Switzerland from the train

On the tube with my suitcase--almost home in London.

The Sleeping Beauty Motel

At the Tower Bridge again. The bridge was raised so that a sailboat could pass through.

I want MORE LONDON!

Better pot-luck with Churchill today than humble pie under Hitler tomorrow.

Don't waste food!

WWII posters at the War Museum

Oh, look...another cathedral.

Tate Modern. I like this art gallery.

We went to Legally Blonde!

Home

I am home again, and it is nice...but strange.

And, I don't have anything to do--so if you aren't busy or need something done, let me know.

Finishing Well

I left London last night at 9:50, and should have arrived at Capernwray by 7:30 this morning. However, one of my trains was changed, so I ended up waiting in Manchester Piccadilly station until 5:45 (instead of 4:15), and I got to Capernwray by 9. I am pretty exhausted! I'm staying in a guest room here tonight, which is really nice. Hopefully I can finish repacking soon and be able to get a good rest before another early morning tomorrow!

I tried calling to arrange a taxi to take me to the train station tomorrow morning, but none are running in time for me to make my train at 6:15 am. Fortunately, one of the staff members here heard about what was going on and kindly offered me a ride.

The last two days in London were really fun, but bittersweet at the same time. Coming back to London made me realize how much more I really want to see in London still, even though I've spent a lot of time there. And the UK/England in general is just really nice...definitely a second home to me now. I want more time here, but not now; it is time to come home.

Jaline's last day with us was on Saturday. We didn't have much time, but we managed to have a nice walk along the river, snap a couple pictures of Abbey Road, and surprisingly, go to another musical! I was glad we could end with something fun for Jaline, before she flew back home. We were going to go to Macbeth, which I really really wanted to do, but by the time we got there all the tickets were sold. The gift shop at the Globe is a dangerous place--there's a lot of really cool stuff in there, which I was tempted to buy.

Since the Glove thing didn't work out, we asked around for the closest theatre, and took a bus there (it was after 6, so it was nearly time for all the musicals to begin). That particular theatre, the Savoy, was showing Legally Blonde. We asked about tickets, and they were 42 pounds and up, which was a little more than we wanted to pay. The lady at the ticket office was really nice though, and we ended up getting 62.50 tickets for 32.50. It was a really funny, lighthearted, and well...pink musical.

Really funny, because Jaline HATES pink. I've been bugging her about it the whole trip. She really enjoyed the musical, but let's just say she wasn't rushing to be first in line to buy the pink feather boas at the end of the show.

Yesterday, I spent the day at Stonehenge and Bath, which was really enjoyable. It was certainly another highlight for me on this trip, and just a nice way to end the adventure. I'll have to put pictures online once I get home, now that I'm back to "Capern-net". :)

Okay! Well, it's time to get back to packing. I can't wait to see you all tomorrow and to finally unpack, for real, for the last time (at least for a while).

3 Days

Hey everyone! I made it back to London!! It feels so good to be here again...it's almost like being home. Almost.

I will be home for real in 3 days, and I still can't even imagine what it will be like to come back!

Today we were supposed to meet up with 2 of the guys from Capernwray, but we didn't find them at our meeting spot, so I'm not sure if it will work out or not now. They may have gotten a flight unexpectedly, which would be great for them, but it is kind of disappointing to miss out on seeing them.

I am sitting in a Starbucks in downtown London, drinking my caramel frapp with toffee nut and a fruit salad (p.s. Thank you uncle Cam--I am still using up the starbucks card!). This feels like being home again. The people around me are speaking English again, in their beautiful accents, which I am definitely not used to anymore. This morning, we checked into our new hotel (the Sleeping Beauty!) and met Courtney at Victoria Coach Station. I am so thankful that her flight arrived on time and that she is able to come hang out with us for the last couple days.

Plans for later today: see Abbey Road, a couple parks...perhaps even go to another show, if we can find any inexpensive tickets last minute.

Jaline flies home early tomorrow morning...it will be a sad and strange goodbye.