The Fears of Studying Abroad

I said awhile back I would post on some fears I had in studying abroad.  Ever since the small group I worked with a year ago (!) spent an evening talking about our fears, I've found that through discussion and in even just taking time to articulate my concerns, there is power.  Through addressing the fears or concerns I have, I'm allowed to really feel them, and quite often, hear just how silly some of them are.  (And it provides an excellent chance for others to help me confront them.)

So, here they are, in no particular order!  

(The advantage of making my list before I came here is that I have had two weeks to address them, so most have a response.)

1.   I won't be smart enough for Cambridge. 

Beginning my time here with intensives was maybe the best thing I could have done in regards to this fear.  I was able to be in a space that was comfortable and somewhat familiar with the courses (Godly Play and Storytelling) and also interact with students here.  I got to hear some of the lingo, talk one on one with students how they've journeyed here, and kind of get over the intimidation factors.  And after a few classes, the coursework I did last semester at CTS TRULY prepared me for the courses I am in here. 

Yee-haw. 

2.   I will be the epitome of an American Tourist, and maybe not in the best way.

I didn't pack sandals or a fannypack, so we might be ok on this one.  Also, lots of people here have experienced Atlanta via the airport or love the state of Texas. 

#win

3.   I will pronounce things wrong or won't use the correct word. 

To be honest, I do this anyways.  Like all the time.  The difference here is that my friend who is amazing at the English language isn't here to gently help me work through my word choices. 

Also, I'll figure out eventually what a Toad in the Hole is, and the boot, and why "z" over "s".  

4.   I won't like the food. 

This has not been a problem.  We have amazing breakfast.  And amazing lunches. And pretty ok dinners. And the desserts - y'all - chocolate sponge with warm chocolate sauce? Treacle tart with warm toffee sauce?  I'll be ok. 

5.   I will get lost.  Like, really lost. 

I remember moving to Atlanta and having this fear.  And I got so terribly lost all the time.  I would pull my car over, and study my map (no smart phone!), and then figure it out. 

I do the same thing here!  I have a map.  I have a smartphone that the GPS works all the time. And I retrace my steps.  Often.  The other night I got turned around one of the colleges, and between it being dark and having tiny alleys surrounding me, I felt a bit anxious.  After deciding not to panic, I just stopped, rethought how I got where I was, and finally figured out how to get back to school.  

(Mind you, the common language helps here, tremendously!)

6.   People won't like me. 

So, this is a fear probably everyone has at LEAST once in their lives.  Or everyday.  It's normal.  And it will be ok if not everyone likes me.  Lord knows there are people I struggle with. 

7.   I'll talk too much. 

When I confessed this fear to a friend over here, he kindly responded with this:

"We're British, we'll never tell you are doing this.  We will just leave, and the gripe about you later."

I'm not sure if this helped this fear, but it did make me laugh.  

8.   Planes & trains will be awful.  Or I will miss one of them.  Or end up on the wrong one. 

Maybe if I do miss one or get delayed or on the wrong one, it will be a memorable experience to blog about. Or at least laugh about. 

(My flight over here had curry as the dinner item - the entire plane smelled like hot curry - a smell which I have a huge aversion to.  But, that dish of hot chicken curry was just about the BEST curry I've ever eaten.  Totally worth the smells.)

***Mind you, last night I did have my first bad dream about getting to Taize.*** 

9.   I won't have enough clothes/shoes.  

Last week I had my first clothing tantrum - I was made because none of my shoes (I brought 4 pairs) "worked" with what I was wearing.  After a few moments of pouting, I built my bridge, and got over it.  My 4 pairs over here are not even half of the shoes I OWN - how many people in the world can say that?

And I made it work.  

And prayed fervently that the fashionistas around Cambridge would forgive my appearance. And thanked goodness I wasn't in London. 

10. HOMESICKNESS.

YAY VIBER, FACEBOOK, GOOGLE HANGOUTS, and SKYPE.  And internet access.  And, it makes spending time at home even sweeter. 

(This homesickness also applies to my being at the Columbia campus.  I'm gonna miss some buddies there! Well, already do!)

11. I won't be able to handle the workload for classes. 

I remember thinking this when at Columbia for the first time, and that included a foreign language.  

There is hope.

So, there are my fears - some rational, some not.  We'll see how this journey goes.  After two weeks, everything has been good.  I've enjoyed the community times and also having time to myself. I've talked to my sisters and emailed other family members.   (If you do want to skype/hangout/chat on Viber - let me know!)

In conclusion, I've linked to a video of an amazing video of what this one young man did while he studied abroad.  I'm sorry, but I'm not doing this.  He did it quite well enough for the both of us. 

Blessings, 

Katy

Olaf Explores Westminster

Olaf here! 
 I had fun this weekend exploring the college and having some pictures taken. 
 Take a look!

Westminster has been undergoing some remodeling and it looks fabulous!  It's been a busy place, full of the noises, smells, and stuff that comes with the work.  It's been fun to see everyday how much is getting accomplished!  

At the top of the stairs! 

Katy can never remember if these are pull or push doors, so it is quite hilarious at times, watching her try and open them. 

Yay safety barriers!  Keeping people (and me!) safe!

This is some kind of neat elevator, for a chair of some sort.  I saw them testing it today...looks neat!

 Here I am in the Common Room.  Students tend to gather here to watch TV (we watched Sherlock!) or to just hang out.  There is also a book auction that happens...woo hoo!

 This is what they call the Communal kitchen. Katy has cooked a few things in here.  It was quite funny watching her figure out the symbols on the oven.  Who knows if she used it correctly - it cooked her food, so yay!  

 I felt so cool being hung up here...might  have broken a rule though!  Katy looks here for announcements and most importantly, for the menu!

 Speaking of food - here is the dining hall!  This picture doesn't do it justice...it is gorgeous and big!  

 This is the chapel.  Katy goes here every morning and afternoon.  The stain glass is very colorful and detailed. 

 (see?  I told you it was detailed and colorful.)

(I'm not in these pics, but wanted to make sure you could see what  the chapel looks like!)

And a special announcement:

We moved!  

 While we were more than comfortable in our previous room and thought it quite perfect, a room with a kitchenette was made available.  It is like our room plus an extra side of a room, with a mini fridge, cupboards, and a george foreman grill (whatever that is!).  Katy is SUPER excited and I'm pretty happy too. 

 (I was so excited, I had to lay down for a moment.)

 Here's a comfy spot!  Time for tea!

 I can't wait to see what Katy cooks up on her weekends here! 

 Saturday we journeyed to a favorite place from the states, Starbucks!  Katy was pretty pumped to see her cards from the states worked here.  It was nice to have a little bit of "home".  And the latte was quite tasty too. 

 Public Service Announcement:  I LOVE Mark & Spencers.  (I think Katy is pretty in love with it as well...) It was like a foodie's wonderland.  And we'd gotten a fresh eccles cake from a baker outside of this shop.  

And finally, I've found a good friend.  We might be in love.  Recycling AND squirrels? 

 Yes, please!

Until my next adventure, have a lovely day!

-Olaf

Worship at Cambridge Presbyterian Church

***Disclaimer: I have to be completely honest and say that I am glad that all I did to prepare for this Sunday morning worship was to just show up.  I didn't google them or dig deep into CPC before attending. After worshiping there, and now having googled them, I think my worship would have been quite biased.***

First things first - this space is actually not CPC's "home".  This is All Saints Church, a church which can trace it's history back to being a medieval church (the 11th century!), while the actual building is from the late 1800's.  It has been without a congregation since the 1970's and a neighboring theological college, Westcott House, kind of takes care of it now, and uses it regularly.  

As does Cambridge Presbyterian Church, on Sunday mornings. 

So, with that being said, the space is GORGEOUS.  And ORNATE.  And BEAUTIFUL.  And COLORFUL.  And WARM (despite lots of stone!)

  And did I mention, GORGEOUS.

  Part of my problem staying focused during worship might have been my distractions in the space.  I just wanted to walk around and take pictures and read everything written in and around the space. 

The photo above was what was to the right of me while I was sitting in worship.  Right above the words begins the ceiling...

...which was done quite beautifully. 

Sorry this is so blurry, but these are placards from the church's long history.

All Saints is a beautiful space to worship in. 

After noticing the space, the second thing I noticed was the noise - and by noise, I mean children.  There were enough kids to have a full on American football game, with infants ready for the special teams. 

(Horrible analogy, I know.)

But seriously - so many kids - with their parents - ready for an hour and a half of worship.  

I love seeing families worship together.  

I had fun watching the family in the pew in front of me.  The girl (4?) seemed prone to immediate displeasure if something wasn't going her way (her mother was amazing at having things at the ready for her!) and her brother (6?) did a fine job tracing dinosaurs and reading the hymns.  I know, a bit creeper like for me to observe the family in front of me in such a fashion, but it was so great!  For their age, the length and timing of the service, these kids were AWESOME in worship!  

(I'm having a hard time imagining how my parents managed all of us in one pew...)

So, why am I glad I didn't know as much about the church until after?  

First of all, worship was good.  I enjoyed the songs and the prayers. 

And boy, did we pray.  The prayer of intercession was one of the loveliest prayers I've heard in a long time. (It could have been the Scottish Irish accent.  But really, it was so thoughtfully worded.)  

The Children's time really spoke to what this congregation looks like; as the kids came up, the minister greeted them by name, and also their heritage.  He welcomed the Irish, the Scottish, the Scandinavian, the Cameroonian, the "African Queens", the English - and more.  He basically gave a mini-sermon for the kiddos on the scripture (Ruth 1) and what I loved the most, is that he thanked the kids for being such good listeners before they returned to their pews to sit with the families.  Regardless of how the kids were during the service, they knew their time up front with the minister was special, and just for them.  

   

About halfway through the service, before the sermon began, I started thinking about the language being used.  While we had followed a somewhat traditional (meaning PC(USA) for me) order of service, the language reminded me of some other traditions.  

The sermon gave me the word I was looking for: evangelical.*   

Within the first few minutes of Ruth's story, somehow we were onto Paul's story.  And Jesus. 

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE JESUS. 

 AND I LOVE PAUL. 

But I also really love the story of Ruth and Naomi.  

Anyways, I'm not going to spend time critiquing or worrying about the sermon.  It was a good message, just one I had a hard time relating to.  In talking with my friend after the service, I discovered that CPC is part of  EPCEW (Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales).  

(Insert here a snarky comment that I deleted because I didn't want to sound snarky.)

As my friend pointed out, besides some doctrinal things (such as no ordaining of women), it felt familiar. 

It was an enjoyable morning of worship - the singing was simple and powerful. 

The church was FULL of life and it felt good. 

Even in nitpicking the differences, I know I am so blessed to be able to worship at a variety of churches and see God at work.  

All glory to God. 

*I don't mean to be a "hater" on the evangelical tradition.  I think it is a term that means something different to everyone who encounters it.  I'm working through my uncomfortableness with the word and seeking to re-define the word in my own faith life. Someday soon I hope to reclaim it and use it!  Below is the CPC's information about how they see their church.  

From the Cambridge Presbyterian Church's website:

We are an international mix of families, singles and students from a wide variety of countries - the UK, USA, Canada, Holland, South Africa, Nigeria, Malaysia, Zambia, Uganda, Australia. We are a friendly congregation that seeks to make visitors welcome.

Our worship is characterised by reverence: "Let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire". It centres on the praise of our triune God in psalms and hymns. The climax of our worship is the preaching of God's Word. We are committed to the systematic exposition of the whole of God's Word: "All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching so that the man of God may be perfectly equipped for every good work".

Being a Presbyterian Church, we belong to the Reformed Christian tradition, tracing our biblical and church distinctives back to the sixteenth century Reformation, and beyond that to the infallible authority of the Bible, the Word of God. Our distinctives are shared by all biblical, Reformed Churches in the world: We are an evangelical church, we preach the saving gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are a confessional church; our theological standards are the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. We are a connexional church, we are linked in a Presbytery with other like-minded churches. We are a covenantal church, we believe that believers and their children belong, by God's good pleasure, within his covenant of grace. We are a church committed to gospel holiness, living in evangelical obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "If you love me, keep my commandments".

Picture Post #1

St. Catherine's College,  Cambridge

St. Catherine's College, Cambridge

Quite a unique clock in Cambridge.

Entrance to King's College.

Cambridge Street

Ridley Hall has a sense of humor. 

What would you name this fella?

Westcott Courtyard

"Agnes"

Storytelling Demystified

Yesterday was our first day of the "Storytelling Skills in Ministry" Intensive.  This manual for intensives offers this course description:

This course offers a chance to develop your natural way of storytelling. You will learn to use different kinds of story, particularly Biblical, personal, and traditional stories. The course will help you to create and hone stories which are suitable for preaching, schools, small groups, fringe events and more. Story

is simply the best way to communicate, and especially when communicating the matters of faith. The

aim of this time is to build your confidence and enjoyment of story.  

Simon Airey is a half time Vicar and professional storyteller. He learned the art through using story in

parish ministry and later honed his skills by being mentored by master storytellers within the oral

tradition. He has performed and taught storytelling for over 10 years and believes storytelling skills are essential to enliven and enable everyone’s communication in ministry.

And because I am a semi-awful person and sometimes don't feel very excited to try things that will potentially make me feel uncomfortable (laughable, I know, I'm in seminary....), this is what I imagined I was getting myself into:

This would be our Master Storyteller

It would be kind of like The Princess Bride....

Basically it would follow the likes of a Jim Henson film.

And I would be doing this...all day.

Awful, I know, for me to assume all these things about this class.  But I did.
And, as you can probably guess...

I WAS WRONG.*

(*Like how I made that big and bold?!?!!?)

Yup....100% wrong.

I kind of love this course.

 I love that I get to listen to stories.

I love that I get to be creative and imaginative in thinking of stories.

I love that I get to listen to other people be creative and imaginative in telling stories.

I love that we are valuing the words we speak, treating them with care and paying attention to each and every one.

I love that I get to listen to stories in a variety of  voices: male, female, British, American, South African, German, old, young, timid and shy, bold and strong, quick and full of breath, slow and meditative.

I love how scripture seems to come alive with our storytelling.

I love this course.   I love stories.

I will be honest that it hasn't been exactly easy.

  It's been challenging to stay engaged and really be listening.

 It's been a challenge to not be so verbose (go ahead and guffaw here).

I've felt challenged in trying to not read the words I've actually written and just SPEAK, not read.

But it has also been very empowering.  By no means did I get a degree in Creative Writing, but as an inquisitive type, I love the wondering (and wandering!) that can come in storytelling, especially in looking at scripture.  There have been words spoken I've heard over and over again and yet in these new voices, reimagined but with no less integrity, the words truly come to life.

And I don't think it is just the British accents.

We've practiced techniques which didn't feel near as silly as I imagined them to be.  We've laughed together. We've sat in silence and have been completely captivated by what might seem like simple children's stories.  

Tomorrow class participants will share our final story, one we've labored over the most and done some partner work.  I'm a bit nervous about my story and yes, will probably write it all out.

But then, I will leave it in my room, and guess what...

I'll tell a story.

(I had to use this one.  I just had to.)