Monday: Went for a run and found a replacement for the prowler: Primrose Hill sprints. I tried to walk them off before running back, but I ended up flat on my back in the grass! I was very thankful that it was a sunny day so that I could bask in it while I recovered! You can get paid to participate in psychology research projects here, so I've signed up for some this week. I had a preliminary meeting this afternoon for one I'll do on Thursday.
Tuesday: Move in day!! I moved into my dorm this morning. Jamie and Meghan helped me. It was really weird when they left since we've been together like nonstop. Hawkridge House is for postgraduates and each floor appears to be divided into four flats. Each flat has six bedrooms, one kitchen, one bathroom with a tub and toilet and one bathroom with just a shower. Each person has a key to the flat and a separate key to their room. Apparently the cleaning staff has not made it to our flat yet since people moved out yesterday because the kitchen and bathrooms definitely need cleaning!!! I also scavenged pots, pans, and dishes from the common room that the previous residents left. There is a common room for the whole building that was piled with stuff people who moved out yesterday left. With a bit of soap, I'll be set!
I've met two of my flatmates, both from China! I wanted to chuckle at that one. It didn't even surprise me. God is always so purposeful. The weird thing is though that they are both guys and I've seen one other person that also appears to live in the flat and be a guy from China. Seems really strange how each flat is co-ed. I hope at least one of the other two mystery people in my flat is a girl!! I mean, we have our own rooms, but the bathroom thing is weird. I don't like having to bring all of my clothes with me to take a shower. It's so much easier to just wear a towel back to the room and change, but I guess I'll just have to deal. I also hope that they aren't okay with the current state of the bathroom and kitchen. I know not all guys are super gross in their cleaning habits, but since everything is dirty right now it's hard to tell where these people lie...
I went on an exploration walk to find the grocery store. Bought some food and cleaning supplies. Then I went on an exploration run and found my way to the canal from here. Finally, I met Van at the Covent Garden tube station to show her where Chipotle is!! I had found it a couple weeks ago in my wanderings and tagged her in a picture of it since she is so Chipotle obsessed. I knew she would want come lol. She was a teammate of mine at Longwood that graduated this year. Now she's playing hockey for a club in a suburb of London, staying with an aunt and uncle and looking for a job. She treated me to dinner and then we wandered around. I showed her UCL and some other places nearby. It was really great seeing her and hanging out!!
Wednesday: In the morning I participated in a psych experiment about emotional processing. I was hooked up to an EEG while being shown various pictures. Also had a very interesting conversation with Guilia (the researcher) about possible differences between how Americans and Europeans handle their emotions. Anyone have any comments on that? I personally think that Americans tend to put on a facade more than Europeans, especially the males. We are more likely to box ourselves up and not share negative emotions that may be in a turmoil within us, trying to ignore situations and not get emotionally involved lest we be seen as weak. Just some thoughts that came out of that conversation.
After that I got free lunch from the monks and headed over to International Student Orientation. (I still think it's weird that I'm a foreigner in an English speaking country!) After getting my welcome pack and a tour of the Student Union buildings, I headed over to the welcome speech. I love how I spotted a seat, headed towards it, and then realized when I got there that it was right next to Meghan! Haha out of all the people there ( and there were A LOT) I managed to end up sitting next to Meghan! It was a big auditorium. Hundreds of internationals!!
Afterwards, Meghan wanted to walk down to Bloomsbury Baptist Church to get some information, so I went with her. Then I continued wandering around. I ended up in Chinatown for awhile. It's still decorated for the Mid-Autumn Festival that was last week. It's the second biggest festival in China, second only to the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year). The best comparison we have would be Thanksgiving. Families are supposed to travel far and wide to be together around a table and eat, but instead of pie they eat mooncake! Cake is a misleading translation because they're definitely not anything like our flour-based cakes. Very hard to explain. Someday you'll just have to try one! The festival always coincides with the full-moon. It evolved out of the legend of Houyi and Chang'e. You can read about it in the link above.
They also carry around carved lanterns out of smaller gourds like plants (kind of like our Jack-o-lanterns but not exactly) and paper lanterns on wheels. There are also paper ones that are 'flown' by lighting a piece of flammable wax-like substance attached to the bottom of it. It lifts into the air like a hot air balloon. Two years ago I was in China during this festival and we flew some from the coffee house roof. It was really beautiful to see hundreds of them in the air above the city.
Eventually I had made it back to UCL, as I approached I was wondering about the Christian student population. I was like "God show me your people" and then someone hands me a flyer for a church saying they were having a free international dinner the next day. Very interesting. By this time there was no point in returning to Hawkridge if I was going to go to Bible study at CBC, so I went ahead and began walking in that direction, hopping on the tube at Piccadilly Circus and then wandering around Chiswick until the doors opened (Yes, a lot of wandering today). I got a small hot chocolate during this wandering since it was getting cold and I would like to say that I love how much less sweet hot chocolate is here!
In the Bible study we continued looking at Colossians. Quote for today: "If God keeps the whole universe together don't you think He's got your life under control?"
Thursday: Day two of orientation but first the follow-up to yesterday's psych experiment and participation in another one. Apparently I have a large posterior parietal cortex. Put THAT on your resume LOL. Free lunch from the monks again and then headed over to enroll, but found out the system was down for non-EU students so I couldn't do anything. The Institute of Archaeology (IOA) had an informal reception and I got to meet Dr. Tanner, my course coordinator. He had interviewed me by phone (I believe it was back in March) before I was accepted, so it was really nice to meet him in person! Only ten people were accepted to my program. I met one of them, Felipe from Chile. Dr. Tanner said that a Dutch guy was also there, but I didn't meet him. It's really nice that when I said my name he immediately recognized it and was like "Oh, from America!" He seems like a happy person. I've heard that he's tough, but that's not always a bad thing. I'm glad that although I'm at a large school my program seems like it will have a small school feel. I walked back to the dorm with a couple Chinese girls who are in a different program of the IOA.
Went to the international dinner at the church in Angel that was on the flyer I got yesterday. Found out that the Christian Union (seems to be the British version of a campus ministry) had been handing out flyers on the Main Quad that I had missed about a meet and greet type thing tomorrow night.
Friday: Spent the morning getting enrolled and got my UCL ID. Participated in another psych project. Registered with the National Health Service. Went to the IOA library tour with Meghan. UCL has sooooo many libraries!! Sat on a ledge in the sunshine on the Quad until the Christian Union people showed up to show the way to the reception. It was really great to meet other Christian students and I hope to get to know them better! There were some Chinese students there, too, and I walked back with two of them. I showed the girl where Argos is (a store) and we both got coat hangers. I can finally hang up my clothes!! The boy became a Christian while studying in Macau. I thought that was interesting. One not so good thing though was that there was absolutely nothing I could eat at the reception and I was starving by the time I got back to the dorm!
Saturday: Spent the morning and early afternoon reading then went for a run to Regent's Park and did a couple loops before running back. Skyped with Michelle L. who leaves for the Peace Corps in Peru on Tuesday. It was really great to get that chance since we're not sure if she'll be able to use the Internet where she's going. Then I went back out and walked around the Camden Town Market. Oh man the selection there is crazy! It's just stall after stall of stuff and food from literally every corner of the world! When I got back all but one of my flatmates and I talked in the kitchen for a while. This is the first time I had met two of them! In total there are four Chinese (three boys, one girl), one Japanese girl and me. The Chinese girl was the one who was not there. Two of the boys have never been outside of China before. The other one studied for a year as an exchange student in another part of England. The Japanese girl has been a bunch of places. It was really funny that she felt like she was the odd one out because I speak some Mandarin, making her the only non-Mandarin speaker! Yesterday I had seen one of the Chinese boys and he had told me the demographics of the flat. He said, "We have World War II in our flat!" Hahaha don't worry there doesn't seem to be any animosity!
Sunday: Went to CBC. It was "Friend Day." The church has been making a great push to invite people to come to Friend Day and practice inviting people to check out Jesus. Definitely a lot more people, including some people that just randomly walked by and decided to come without any idea it was Friend Day. The Wednesday night prayers the past few weeks are being seen at work! One of these people was Brazilian and there was also another American couple (AL and TX). I am still continually being amazed by the diversity here! Pastor spoke on the story of Noah as an illustration of the salvation story. Not a story of how God destroyed things but a story of how God loves and restores. I hadn't really thought about how Noah wasn't so far removed from Adam and could've heard stories of God directly from him. That's really cool. And also sad that all those other people had that opportunity, too, and chose to reject something right in front of them.
After the service there was a birthday lunch downstairs for Felicity (one of the pastor's kids). Then I got a coffee with Emily (the eldest pk) until choir practice and evening service. Renee gave the message on Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, particularly on the verse 2 line of "A time to be born and a time to die." Basically that we are all born and then move on to dying. You can't escape it and you don't know when your end is so redeem the time God gives you. Don't waste it. I hope that we don't all have to go through loss to have that hit home.
Went to Pastor Steve's house with Joe and Judith for kabobs. Also played Mario Kart on the Wii with some of the kids and then after we ate some American football came on the TV to which we all said "NOW it's a Sunday!" haha great fellowship today. But the big game is tomorrow: Redskins vs Cowgirls. And unfortunately just like Pastor Todd I will have to forgive Pastor Steve for his poor choice in teams. Wish I could watch the game!!
Getting up early to head back to the church to meet Mallory and her mission team that is headed to Uganda at the tube station! They are being allowed to store their luggage at the church while they go to Ireland for orientation with their mission organization on a small plane that doesn't allow more than a carry-on. Such a blessing that they won't have to travel as far from the airport to drop off their stuff as they would if it were to all go in my dorm. And also a definitely blessing that I won't have a mountain of luggage filling up my room! Super excited to see her!!
And happy 21st to my brother Bobby today! It's times like these that I can't believe how time flies!
Yes, there is a Random!! You dated him!!! :P
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