We’ve been hanging out and attending classes like the regular SWYM students and we’ve been having a great time. Today, I sat in on some post-grad theology lectures with the students getting their Masters degree in Missional Leadership. They were really intense and inspiring.
Yesterday I had an interview with some of the admin about attending SWYM. My application process is all complete now, but I don’t know when I’ll find out more specifics about placement or anything. If I did decide to come here, it would be for the four year Bachelors Degree program, which would put me in the UK for four more years.
I go really back and forth about whether or not I want to come here though. I also applied for an internship project in Texas, and I’ve been looking at various YWAM programs in Thailand and Australia. Who knows? Hey, there’s always UW- Waukesha…
My team has one more day here in Exeter before we go to Bristol for the field work part of the trip. I’m really looking forward to the inner-city youth club that Daniel and I will be leading. The schools work makes me a bit nervous though, mostly because I know nothing about English schools.
Capernwray’s Kenya team is in the air right now, on their way down to Nairobi. I think they have a layover in Amsterdam first, but they’ll be there sometime today. They’re going to have an amazing two weeks leading soccer camps and other things.
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Mon Feb 23
We left Capernwray at 8 this morning in a mini-bus driven by two SWYM students. Six hours and two rest stops later, our van full of 13 arrived at the conference center in Exeter. (Isn’t it amazing that we can drive all the way from the top of the country to the Southwest corner in 6 hours?) We brought in our luggage and went to a lecture about schools work right away. There are four different levels of lectures going on at the conference, for the BTh students and the Foundation program. I met lots of international students at dinner, from Germany, the UK, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Egypt, etc. I love being in a multicultural environment. It sounds cheesy, but I learn so much, and it’s really fun.
Tomorrow morning we have breakfast at 7:30, a meeting with Paul about the schedule and everything, and then a day of lectures. I met some of the admin from SWYM, and will be getting the chance to talk more about my application and the degree program this week. The rooms are so much nicer than Capernwray; I’m sharing a room with Nicolette, right next to the bathroom. (The bathrooms are a lot nicer than Capernwray too.) Then again, this campus is a lot newer than Capernwray. It’s not quite a castle. It is gorgeous though, up on a hill, overlooking the water.
Today made me realize how much I want to live and work in another country or culture. I love England, and the English people, but what I really love is being in an international environment. We’ll see where next year takes me. =]
Tomorrow morning we have breakfast at 7:30, a meeting with Paul about the schedule and everything, and then a day of lectures. I met some of the admin from SWYM, and will be getting the chance to talk more about my application and the degree program this week. The rooms are so much nicer than Capernwray; I’m sharing a room with Nicolette, right next to the bathroom. (The bathrooms are a lot nicer than Capernwray too.) Then again, this campus is a lot newer than Capernwray. It’s not quite a castle. It is gorgeous though, up on a hill, overlooking the water.
Today made me realize how much I want to live and work in another country or culture. I love England, and the English people, but what I really love is being in an international environment. We’ll see where next year takes me. =]
Saturday, 21 February 2009
So much for frequent updates...
My promise to write regularly didn't work out so well... but here I am!
My outreach team leaves on Monday morning at 9, which means I need to work out all of my travel arrangements beforehand. I'll be staying at the cottage with my friends until the 23rd of March, but a glitch leaves my plan-less until April 9th, when I'm going to Dublin to meet my mom. I'd like to stay in England, mostly for convenience, but I don't want to travel around by myself. I got invited to come along with some friends to Barcelona and leave my luggage at their house in Manchester, but I'm going to be in Madrid with my mom a week later. I also got invited to go to Sweden with another friend, but that's really expensive. I don't know, we'll see. Anyway, I leave on Monday, which means I'll be gone from Capernwray for 15 days, which means limited internet communication.
I've been doing lots of hiking and exploring with my friends lately, so here are some of the pictures from our adventures:
Karena, Kate, Jonny and I on top of "the hill"
My outreach team leaves on Monday morning at 9, which means I need to work out all of my travel arrangements beforehand. I'll be staying at the cottage with my friends until the 23rd of March, but a glitch leaves my plan-less until April 9th, when I'm going to Dublin to meet my mom. I'd like to stay in England, mostly for convenience, but I don't want to travel around by myself. I got invited to come along with some friends to Barcelona and leave my luggage at their house in Manchester, but I'm going to be in Madrid with my mom a week later. I also got invited to go to Sweden with another friend, but that's really expensive. I don't know, we'll see. Anyway, I leave on Monday, which means I'll be gone from Capernwray for 15 days, which means limited internet communication.
I've been doing lots of hiking and exploring with my friends lately, so here are some of the pictures from our adventures:
Karena, Kate, Jonny and I on top of "the hill"
Public footpaths are awesome!
At the bay in Silverdale
The old piano that Karena and I found on our walk.
Hiking to the sea on a sunny day
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
I enjoyed a quiet weekend this last weekend. All of the teams except ours and Kenya were on pre-outreach preparation trips. There were twenty-some of us still at school. I watched Iron Man with some friends and just spent the weekend relaxing.
London had a record-breaking snowfall this week, with the most snow they’ve had in twenty years. It was enough to “cripple England” and prevent 6 million from attending work on Monday. How much was it?
Six centimeters.
I’m definitely not in Wisconsin anymore. It was fun to have a bit of snow here, though. Some of the students from Africa and South America had never seen snow before.
Capernwray has been busy lately. Our last big paper of the term was due last week, and we have a project due today. In between working on those, Karena and I have been preparing a Ben Folds song for the talent show. The talent show theme is “things that start with ‘D’,” so we’re calling it a duet.
On Saturday we’re going to Silverdale for hiking. It’s an ocean-side hike that ends up a tea shop. This is our third attempt at going, hopefully the weather actually holds up this time.
I’ve been working on finalizing spring break plans. As of now, I’m spending a week in the Lake District with some friends, working at Capernwray for a week, and then traveling to Ireland and Spain with my mom. It’s all tentative, except the Lake District. Seven of us are renting a cottage on Lake Windermere. It’s right outside of Windermere, and is right at the hub of lots of hiking trails through the “mountains.” One of my friends also wants to go to the Beatrix Potter museum, and Keswick, home of the world’s largest pencil, is also nearby. Those two don’t sound all that thrilling to me, but I’ve been looking at trail maps and I can’t wait to get into the National Park area.
London had a record-breaking snowfall this week, with the most snow they’ve had in twenty years. It was enough to “cripple England” and prevent 6 million from attending work on Monday. How much was it?
Six centimeters.
I’m definitely not in Wisconsin anymore. It was fun to have a bit of snow here, though. Some of the students from Africa and South America had never seen snow before.
Capernwray has been busy lately. Our last big paper of the term was due last week, and we have a project due today. In between working on those, Karena and I have been preparing a Ben Folds song for the talent show. The talent show theme is “things that start with ‘D’,” so we’re calling it a duet.
On Saturday we’re going to Silverdale for hiking. It’s an ocean-side hike that ends up a tea shop. This is our third attempt at going, hopefully the weather actually holds up this time.
I’ve been working on finalizing spring break plans. As of now, I’m spending a week in the Lake District with some friends, working at Capernwray for a week, and then traveling to Ireland and Spain with my mom. It’s all tentative, except the Lake District. Seven of us are renting a cottage on Lake Windermere. It’s right outside of Windermere, and is right at the hub of lots of hiking trails through the “mountains.” One of my friends also wants to go to the Beatrix Potter museum, and Keswick, home of the world’s largest pencil, is also nearby. Those two don’t sound all that thrilling to me, but I’ve been looking at trail maps and I can’t wait to get into the National Park area.
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