Good Finds

On my way home from classes today, I stopped in this local and organic shop that one of my classmates recommended. They were wonderful local veggies, cheeses, meats and breads, and some pumpkins! I left with the lovely Coffee and Walnut Bread (which I had immediately with tea when I got home!), cherry tomatoes, a small batch of aspargas, an onion and some parsnips. Anyone ever heard of parsnips? We had them at formal hall - they are a little like carrots but sweet, like a sweet potato is to a potato! I am definitely going back to that shop to try their goat cheese! Yum! I also picked up a black wool coat at the charity shop for 1 pound - great finds all around today!

Mexican in England?

Last night I attended the Christian Graduate Society's International Dinner, so I decided to prepared chicken enchiladas. The dinner and 'pudding' was really nice. There was sushi, curries, sloppy joes, stir fry, salads, BBQ. The conversation was encouraging with British, South African, Singaporian, and Swiss friends. God has been so faithful in providing fellowship here. Joey Rosek & his family from Calvary Chapel have been blessing me as well with their Friday night Bible study and service on Sunday. (I hope to have photos soon!)

I bought extra enchilada stuff so I could make some for the housemates and food for the week...so these pictures are of our lovely dinner at home and the carrot cake dessert Jenny's mom made for us! (It had honey in it which made it amazing - I'm getting the recipe!) Once again, I heart my sweet housemates. :)

Proper Tea

This Sunday afternoon, I persuaded my housemates Margita and Christine to put off studying and go to proper tea with me in the City Centre at Auntie's Tea Shop, across from famous King's College.

Margita is from Croatia and had never had a proper English Tea with scones and cream! We enjoyed experiencing it with her for the first time. The fresh baked scones and tea were amazing, yum! We walked along the river and had a nice talk about how we have been challenged and humbled since we've arrived at the diverse backgrounds we are privledged to interact with here at Cambridge. I heart my housemates!

The Return to the Books

I haven't written anything about my course yet, so I thought I would comment on why I'm here! There is so much to distract here in beautiful and interesting Cambridge, but as the days get colder and the trees loose their leaves, there is a draw inside to a warm homes and pubs and to the books. Since most don't have TV's, our attentions and passions get caught up in the written and spoken word, which we can all agree is powerful.

My course, called Engineering for Sustainable Development, has been what I expected and more. My thoughts about how to approach design, my ethical thoughts concerning people, how I view "developing countries" are all being challenged. Would being "developed" mean being like the US? Would that be a good thing?

They claim that Sustainable Development is a homocentric worldview, concerned about man and the environment, not ecocentric, where the environment comes first. From a biblical perspective, Adam was tasked with being a good steward of the earth, subduing the animals. When sin entered that stewardship got distorted...come the Industrial Revolution, we now experience the consequences of a hurting earth. I know this sounds a bit negative, but the evidence for global warming and scarcity of natural resources is here and now. I think this hurting is not only on the physical level but the spiritual as well. I was reading in 2 Chronicles 7:14 "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." God has the ability to heal our land. I see a need for behavioral change in his people (the world) to make that happen - a humbling, a turning from our ways. Could Biblical wisdom with all this worldly wisdom help us arrive at some answers? I have hope...

The pictures above are of some people from my course at The Eagle Pub - there are people from France, China, Barbados, US, UK, Canada, Nigeria, South Africa, Pakistan, Cyprus & Egypt. I am enjoying each of them more and more. My two closest friends so far are Emily from Portland (you can barely see her head) and Keven from Northern France (red jacket on his chair). I really appreciate Rebecca from Nigeria who left her 11 month old baby at home with dad to come to Cambridge. There are some amazing people here! (P.S. I just returned from a Christian Graduate Society International Dinner and found out 2 people from my course are Christians! Yeah! A girl named Janice from S. Africa and a guy name Huag Kin (sp?) from Canada.

The second photo is some books I am reading for my course and for encouragement. "Cradle to Cradle" is a really interesting read about rethinking manufacturing processes to reuse what we now consider waste. C.S. Lewis' "Meditations" is a compilation of excerpts of his work - the photo on the front of the book is of a bench on Jesus College green. Lewis was a Professor of Literature here at Cambridge the last 9 years of his career. What are you reading?

Autumn

Just a few photos of Homerton College, where I was invited to eat lunch with my new friend Monika (who I met at Calvary Chapel Cambridge!) All the leaves are changing to beautiful bright greens, yellows and oranges as the fall. The first pictures show the trees that lead into an orchard that has apples for the students to pick. They also have a pond and two large green areas to enjoy. I know the winter is coming, so I'm enjoying all the colors of this delightful season!

First Formal Hall

Formal Hall is a tradition in Cambridge where the students join the Fellows weekly or bi-weekly to eat a nice 3-course meal (including beautiful desserts like these.) We started with drinks in a room upstairs, then dinner is served in the dining hall with a full place setting and candles, we finish with port and fruit upstairs once again. Hughes Hall does not require that you wear gowns (they look like graduation gowns) but many other colleges do. I wore mine just for fun. :) I wasn't able to attend the first formal hall, so I scheduled to come to the second which was on a Tuesday, so not very many people came, but it was really enjoyable. I sat next to Anne from Holland, a really nice girl. I'm going again Friday night, so that should be a great time! The food is good!

Stonehenge and the Fields of Gold

This past weekend my course set out on a two day trip to Stonehenge, Winchester and Hindhead (Devil's Punchbowl) to explore the concept of Roads and the Landscape. An Englishman named Jeremy Purseglove (yes, that's his name) a Landscape Architect and funny sorry teller was our tour guide. My theme album for the trip is Sting's "Fields of Gold" because he lives in the Avon Valley, just east of Stonehenge.

We met some Druids at the Henge and they told about their sacred temple where they and the witches worship. They were actually quite jolly druids, not creepy like I would have thought. (One had his cape in his moterhome :)). The stones aren't as impressive as I thought they would be, but it is amazing how they floated them down the river Avon and slide them across the frozen grass before propping them up in alignment with the moon every 60 days (or something like that). Stonehenge is essensially there to tell the seasons, a big sun dial in a way. People still come to celebrate the solstaces with all kinds of schnanaganes. Our job was to figure out a way to re-route the road so it didn't pass so close by the stones and ruin the landscape of the area.

On to Winchester, we had a nice meal at this zoo-themed resturant where we worked on our Stonehenge design, then woke up to hike a hill to overlook the town. The mist parted just in time for us to see the beautiful, quaint little town below. There lies the longest Cathedral in England where Jane Austin is buried. (Ladies, I know you are as interested as I am!) Apparently Jane lived nearby in a small village. :)

The last stop was a place called Hindhead where they are naturalizing a road (making it look like it isn't there) and replacing it with a tunnel. We hiked again out to this lookout point - all the trees are turning yellows, oranges, and bright green, it is amazing.

So my second weekend was a nice mix of touring and learning, I think I'm going to like this. :)

Rowing on the River Cam

In the fine tradition of Cambridge, I decided to head out to the river to learn more about rowing and all that. Jenny and I got up really early (as you can see) to meet a group at 7:00am to walk the half hour to the boat house. Not being a morning person, I dread the early mornings, but as I crossed the bridge over the river Cam, a feeling of excitement came over me. There is something great about being on the water in the morning - peacefulness, reflection, quietness. When we got to the boat house we were tasked to carry the 8-man boat out of the house, raise it to our shoulders, head and then turn it over into the river. Those with the oars on the water got in first while the others held the boat. The second group crawled in and locked in the oars, all the while listening to the cox for instructions. The whole thing seemed so proper and required such teamwork that it fit me really well and I wanted to go rowing immediately. Unfortunately they didn't let us, we just had to get out and let the next group have a try, but it was a nice teaser as to what to expect. We next tried our the "erg" machines, which are rowing machines, and were shown how to properly row as to not go backwards. The coaches are really nice and supportive, so I didn't feel like an idiot since it was my first time. The photos show people from my college, Hughes Hall. Jenny is wearing our college scarf, which shows our colors. :)

Introducing the Housemates

The most amazing part of my Cambridge experience so far is meeting my housemates. The first photo is of Margita from Croatia who is getting her Masters in Education. (Many have told her she looks like Britnany Spears before she went crazy. :)) The second photo is us dolled up for the Black and White BOP, which is essentially an ackward English dance party. Christine to my right is from Hong Kong, but lived in Sydney for many years. She is getting her masters in music education. Next to her is the lovely Jenny from Northern Ireland. She is getting a masters in Environmental Design & Architecture and is absolutely charming in every way. Photo 3 is the only photo I have of the beautiful & sophisticated Elizabeth from Montreal, French Canada. She is studying law and has already been practicing for 6 years or so.

We all arrived with 3 days of one another and are all here for 1 year or less, so we automatically bonded like elementary school girls on the first day of class. We shared the nervousness about meeting one another, so it seemed there was a sign of relief when we all met each other and found out no one was too eccentric or anti-social. Really, almost everyone I have met here is friendly, even if a little nerdy like those Math & Physics guys. :)

I have found time to "chat to" (talk with) all of them and appreciate each of them so much. Margita is a sweetly naive, yet overall joyful person. Christine is the oldest but has a youthful spirit about her since she is ~5 ft tall. She plays piano very well, so I look forward to a concert. Elizabeth reminds me of myself in many ways, reserved, mature, yet very interested in people and open to ideas. She is my neighbor here downstairs in our house. Jenny (from the Block as she's been nicknamed) is the youngest at 24 and very bubbly and fun. She has gone out nearly every night with all her new friends. She is warm and very easy to talk to, which seems like a trait of the Irish. (I have another new Irish friend as well, named Avril.)

Many of the Freshers as they call us have taken advantage of Induction Week to spend as much time their new friends as possible, as it seems we will be absolutely swamped with work for the 8 short weeks of term. The only time we will see each other is at meals and the famed Formal Halls where we come dressed fancy with our gowns and have a 5 course meal. Thankfully most people are "keen" (excited to) come to these events and make the most of their year at Cambridge. I an very keen indeed mate! More photos of friends to come!

Tea Time

So I thought I would start the tour of the kitchen over a cup of tea with you. I'm starting to see why people drink tea so much here, it is a tea kind of day, more cold and rainy than I've seen it since I've arrived. (As you can tell from the picture I am quite exhausted from all my activities.) I found this set of 3 brown and white tea cups and saucers made in England at the Charity Shop (Thrift Store) for 1 pound. They are something nice to bring back with me. :) Jenn Lawson, if you read this, know that I bought Yorkshire Tea in memory of our tea times in Scotland. I also got those Hob Nob "digestives" (cookies) that are soooo good. I love the sweets!

As you can see, our kitchen is a nice black and white theme with blue accents. We don't have any utensils or cookware, so the housemates and slowly acquiring things as we go. Overall it is a good kitchen for what we need it for. We are all headed to the famous Cambridge Blue Pub for dinner tonight as Hughes Hall doesn't serve food on Sunday evenings. The pub is a popular friendly neighborhood gathering place that has food and rowing things all over the walls. Jennifer took me there a year ago and now its about 10 houses down from where I live!

For those Mini Fans out there

I thought I would take a break from the tour of the house to show you the fun cars that are on my street. (Matt, that grey one has your name written all over it!)

Today was great - Matriculation Photo with 200+ Freshers (instead of Freshman) and I got a "mobile" phone. I also was invited by a couple who lived in SLO, Nicki and Eric Appeal, to their nice house at Jesus College for dinner. I was invited along with two American couples from the Presbyterian Church they attended to enjoy a homemade Indian meal. It was so nice to fellowship with Christians and talk about really important things concerning the election and the economy openly. I really appreciated the time - thanks Nicki! I am going to visit Calvary Chapel Cambridge tomorrow with the Appeals and see how it is. The pastor, Joey Rosek is from New Jersey and is a great teacher, so I look forward to it. Next on the list: buy a perfect bike for Cambridge with a wicker basket!

The House

When I opened the door to my room, I exclaimed "You are kidding me!?" because it was so big! It must have formally been the living room because as you can see there is a nice bay window and fire place with fancy tiles that I believe is operable. The room is 3 times as big as the one I was looking to rent, so plenty of room for visitors!
(Mom, thought you would appreciate some pictures of the detail of the crown molding around the room and light fixture. :) Oh so very English.)
I did some furniture arranging, so the desk is now by the heater because of the wired internet connection and the chair is by the window. I'm going to see if any of the other girls don't want one of their chairs so I can have two with a small table for visitors for tea. More of the rest of the house in my next post - this blog thing only let me add these 5 photos.

My first days

Here's my story by photos:

Photo 1 & 2: The view of Parker's Piece as I stepped off the bus in Cambridge. It was a beautiful day for England, sunny with some cloud and a little bit of rain. I walked across ~ 200 yards to the B&B I stayed in for the first night, a cute place called the Regency Hotel right next to the church steeple in the first photo.

This is me ready for my first day of school, nervous & excited for orientation!
My house! When I met with the accomodations lady called the "Domestic Bursar" she told me that a girl was unable to come to Cambridge, so I got a large room in a house with all girls. The room behind the bay window is mine!

So what's behind the door?