Well, autumn is really making its way. In fact, it's almost like winter sometimes, with the snow and these low temperatures. But the leaves show it's not really winter yet. It's lovely to see the country from the train when commuting to London. Every day, the view is a little bit different.
But the view is not what I'm here for. I'm here to study. And do they study over here! The courses go a lot deeper than I had been used to, and I'm glad, because they give me a lot more insight in how society actually works. Because I won't be around at UCL for the exams in May and June, I have to write essays instead. Making a schedule helped me realise I actually don't have much time for them and I will need to work hard in the upcoming month. So that means no procrastination or lazying around anymore.
Last weekend, we went on a Church Weekend Away in Letton Hall, Norfolk. We had a splendid time! Because almost a hundred people will be coming over from another church (they are coming with the new vicar), we had a chance to get to know each other better. Also, we had several training sessions about how to deal with change. On Saturday, we went GoKarting, which was good fun. It was too bad the track wasn't wide enough to overtake, otherwise we could have held a proper race! And in the afternoon, there was an ultimate frisbee match with the youth and some other people. Being the only female, apart from an 11-year-old girl, made it into a challenge. Especially when the frisbee landed on the roof and I had to stand on people's raised up hands with a broom in my hand to get it off. As one of the lads said, he likes to see a girl who knows her place and picks up the broom... ;-)
And of course I shouldn't forget to mention the barn dance on Saturday evening, which was an outright exhausting but excellent experience. Coming from a culture where folk dancing has not been popular for a long time anymore, I enjoyed very much to be able to engage in some proper dancing. And this was already the second time dancing with my bo!
I felt very at home at the weekend away, and it certainly helped me to get more involved in church life and to get to know the youth a bit more, which will be helpful as I help out at youth group evenings on Fridays.
Today, we had a communal lunch with the people coming over from the other church, and it was lovely. It's a bit scary, but also very exciting to enter this community as it's on the brink of change. I hope and pray we each can find our own place, so that we'll be united and growing in Christ.
02 november 2008
22 september 2008
UCL
Well, Cambridge time has started now, and I must say the week's full of activities. Young adult home group on Monday, ICF on Wednesday, working as a volunteer in The Barn's international Christian cafe on Thursday evening, Harry's cafe on Friday evening, and The Coffeepot (guess what? a cafe) on Saturday afternoon. And then of course ICF every other Sunday, and the newly started gospel choir as well.
And in between I'll be commuting to London to follow classes on Latin American development, Tropical African decolonisation, and physical geography.
Let me just tell you how to get enrolled in a British university. Brace yourself... ;-) ;-) ;-)
First, you go to the main building, get a folder with all kinds of papers, follow the huge large group of other international people, because you think they may be going somewhere useful, attend a general welcome session, which tells you why this university is so great to study at, even though you have already chosen to study there. Then, a couple of people tell you about the student union and make you very enthousiastic about the different activities. After this, you go home, still wondering what your course schedule will be, because you have been told you can get enrolled two days later and will then hear about your courses.
So two days later you go to uni again to get enrolled. You go to the main entrance, pick up the folders that are lying on a table, read that it is very important to do a certain thing on Portico and that you need a computer id and password for it, and you follow the arrows to the blue area. There, you hand in your acceptance letter, which you have accepted by a form a few weeks earlier, and they hand you another letter, which you take to the green area. Do note that if you haven't paid your tuition fees you have to go through the red area first, and also through an orange area, and through a purple area if you are experiencing any problems. To find the areas just follow the signs, which after a 10 minute walk will lead you to the place you have to be. If you have paid your tuition fees, however, you can go to the green area straight away, where you hand in the second letter, and receive a third letter, which you take to the yellow area to get your university ID card. So you follow the signs, which take you through a labyrinth of corridors and outside, up the stairs and into a room with a lot of people, where they tell you to sit on a stool and smile. They count to three and take a photo on which you look horriffically confused, which they then print on your university ID card. After about 10 minutes, the card is handed to you and you assume you have to leave now, because ask the next person to sit down on the stool. So you leave through the door marked 'Exit' and stand in a hall, still wondering how to find out about your courses. Luckily, you bump into someone who looks like they know who and where they are, and ask about where to get a computer id and password, because it said on one of the sheets of paper that it was really really important. They then point you to a different building, just out the gate and to the right, and then on the corner, and you go there. You ask the receptionist if this is the right place to get a computer id and password, and he says yes, just go to the basement. So you go down the stairs, follow a few signs around a few corners, and get into a room, where someone points you to the alphabetical area in which your surname is and you go there. You wait until it's your turn, and they give you another folder filled with papers, as well as a closed envelope which contains your computer id and password. They then turn to the next person, so you assume you have to leave and go up the stairs. There, you see a sign which says IMPORTANT and something about 'if you haven't done this or that, you have to blablabla', and because you look at it in utter confusion, the receptionist, who just happens to walk by, smiles at you and says it's got nothing to do with you. You then ask him where you can get on a computer, and he points you to a different building. You thank him kindly and go there. When entering the building, you ask a person that's hanging around where you can find a computer you can use, and he asks for your ID card and says you have to go to the end of the corridor, down the stairs and then back again, until you are under the main entrance door, and there you will find a computer room. You then walk to the end of the corridor, find that there are only stairs leading up, not down, so you assume you have to take these first, before you will be able to go down. You go up the stairs, walk around a pillar, see stairs leading down and so go down. There, you see doors, and a sign which says room B12 this way. You follow the sign but end up in a lab, and assume this is not the right place, because it's not underneath the main entrance door. You go back and see a door, which you go through, and then you go through another door, and see the hallway leading back towards the entrance, only one level lower. You follow it and enter a computer room. Then, you try to log in and don't succeed because the keyboard doesn't work, so you try another computer and find out the mouse doesn't work. So you try another computer and log in with your new computer id and password. You go to the url the first information sheet of the day tells you to go to, and you play with the programme for selecting your courses. You have to go to a different website to find your course codes, and after you have clicked all kinds of links, you find the right codes and enter then. You then confirm your selection and confirm your confirmation. After this, you confirm that you have really selected these courses, and after this you click 'confirm'. You have then asked for permission to enroll in these courses, and so you go back to the course website, because you saw a Moodle logo there, and you want to try if maybe the course schedules are on that. You log in to Moodle, search for the courses, and find schedules for two out of three of them. It says you cannot enroll in one of the courses, and you wonder why, because it's a Geography course and Geography is your major. After this, you go to the international's homepage, why you don't know, but you do, and you find out that it is really really really important that you MUST go to the international officer of your own department, because otherwise you cannot get enrolled in your courses. You wonder why, because you have already registered online, but you log off, find the way out, and walk to yet another building. You enter the main door and ask for room G19, because it said you had to go there. The receptionist then points you in the wrong direction, but after a while you manage to find the room anyway. There, a really nice American guy gives you yet another booklet of information, and asks you to fill in which courses you would like to attend, and he hands you a full weekly schedule of all courses, at which you look in amazement, because you couldn't possibly find it anywhere on the internet. You write down your name, student ID (which is different from your computer user id), and the courses you would like to attend, and he tells you that you will not have any exams, but that for every course you will have to write a 4,500 words paper instead, because all exams are at the end of the year. You then ask what to do if you are suffering from repetitive strain, and he says he has got no idea, you just have to talk to the professor after the first class. When you ask about why Moodle wouldn't let you enter the Tropical Africa course, he stares at you opaquely and tells you to go to yet another building, to find the course coordinator. You walk for another 10 minutes, to a building next to the main entrance, and find you need to use your ID card to get in, but as you don't know how to, someone opens the door for you. You ask where to find this-and-that person, and he takes you to her. She then tells you that it doesn't matter if Moodle doesn't work properly for this course, as long as you have registered online with the Portico programme.
After this, you find out you have to get to Victoria Coach Station, in order to not miss your bus. So you find a tube station and go to Victoria. Doing this, you get stuck in the tube for 20 minutes, because of a sign failure or something, and the driver follows a funny procedure which involves blowing the whistle, going and stopping suddenly, and apologising every three minutes. After you arrive, you follow the signs to the coach station, but get confused if you don't see them anymore, and ask someone, who tells you in broken English that you have to go strrraight on and to the rrright. You walk straight on and turn right, and then finally see the entrance of Victoria coach station, a 15 minute walk from Victoria train station. You find out where your bus is and are just in time to catch it.
Well, that's all quite clear isn't it? :-D :-D Just do make sure that you confirm and reconfirm everything you're doing, because even if they ask you to do it and you say you will, you will still have to confirm that you are going to do it ;-) And please do smile at everyone and bear it patiently, because others are confused as well and need a friendly face.
Now it's time to go and buy some cheap food, and cook some supper for me and my housemates. And then the first young adults' home group. Wicked man!
Let me just tell you how to get enrolled in a British university. Brace yourself... ;-) ;-) ;-)
First, you go to the main building, get a folder with all kinds of papers, follow the huge large group of other international people, because you think they may be going somewhere useful, attend a general welcome session, which tells you why this university is so great to study at, even though you have already chosen to study there. Then, a couple of people tell you about the student union and make you very enthousiastic about the different activities. After this, you go home, still wondering what your course schedule will be, because you have been told you can get enrolled two days later and will then hear about your courses.
So two days later you go to uni again to get enrolled. You go to the main entrance, pick up the folders that are lying on a table, read that it is very important to do a certain thing on Portico and that you need a computer id and password for it, and you follow the arrows to the blue area. There, you hand in your acceptance letter, which you have accepted by a form a few weeks earlier, and they hand you another letter, which you take to the green area. Do note that if you haven't paid your tuition fees you have to go through the red area first, and also through an orange area, and through a purple area if you are experiencing any problems. To find the areas just follow the signs, which after a 10 minute walk will lead you to the place you have to be. If you have paid your tuition fees, however, you can go to the green area straight away, where you hand in the second letter, and receive a third letter, which you take to the yellow area to get your university ID card. So you follow the signs, which take you through a labyrinth of corridors and outside, up the stairs and into a room with a lot of people, where they tell you to sit on a stool and smile. They count to three and take a photo on which you look horriffically confused, which they then print on your university ID card. After about 10 minutes, the card is handed to you and you assume you have to leave now, because ask the next person to sit down on the stool. So you leave through the door marked 'Exit' and stand in a hall, still wondering how to find out about your courses. Luckily, you bump into someone who looks like they know who and where they are, and ask about where to get a computer id and password, because it said on one of the sheets of paper that it was really really important. They then point you to a different building, just out the gate and to the right, and then on the corner, and you go there. You ask the receptionist if this is the right place to get a computer id and password, and he says yes, just go to the basement. So you go down the stairs, follow a few signs around a few corners, and get into a room, where someone points you to the alphabetical area in which your surname is and you go there. You wait until it's your turn, and they give you another folder filled with papers, as well as a closed envelope which contains your computer id and password. They then turn to the next person, so you assume you have to leave and go up the stairs. There, you see a sign which says IMPORTANT and something about 'if you haven't done this or that, you have to blablabla', and because you look at it in utter confusion, the receptionist, who just happens to walk by, smiles at you and says it's got nothing to do with you. You then ask him where you can get on a computer, and he points you to a different building. You thank him kindly and go there. When entering the building, you ask a person that's hanging around where you can find a computer you can use, and he asks for your ID card and says you have to go to the end of the corridor, down the stairs and then back again, until you are under the main entrance door, and there you will find a computer room. You then walk to the end of the corridor, find that there are only stairs leading up, not down, so you assume you have to take these first, before you will be able to go down. You go up the stairs, walk around a pillar, see stairs leading down and so go down. There, you see doors, and a sign which says room B12 this way. You follow the sign but end up in a lab, and assume this is not the right place, because it's not underneath the main entrance door. You go back and see a door, which you go through, and then you go through another door, and see the hallway leading back towards the entrance, only one level lower. You follow it and enter a computer room. Then, you try to log in and don't succeed because the keyboard doesn't work, so you try another computer and find out the mouse doesn't work. So you try another computer and log in with your new computer id and password. You go to the url the first information sheet of the day tells you to go to, and you play with the programme for selecting your courses. You have to go to a different website to find your course codes, and after you have clicked all kinds of links, you find the right codes and enter then. You then confirm your selection and confirm your confirmation. After this, you confirm that you have really selected these courses, and after this you click 'confirm'. You have then asked for permission to enroll in these courses, and so you go back to the course website, because you saw a Moodle logo there, and you want to try if maybe the course schedules are on that. You log in to Moodle, search for the courses, and find schedules for two out of three of them. It says you cannot enroll in one of the courses, and you wonder why, because it's a Geography course and Geography is your major. After this, you go to the international's homepage, why you don't know, but you do, and you find out that it is really really really important that you MUST go to the international officer of your own department, because otherwise you cannot get enrolled in your courses. You wonder why, because you have already registered online, but you log off, find the way out, and walk to yet another building. You enter the main door and ask for room G19, because it said you had to go there. The receptionist then points you in the wrong direction, but after a while you manage to find the room anyway. There, a really nice American guy gives you yet another booklet of information, and asks you to fill in which courses you would like to attend, and he hands you a full weekly schedule of all courses, at which you look in amazement, because you couldn't possibly find it anywhere on the internet. You write down your name, student ID (which is different from your computer user id), and the courses you would like to attend, and he tells you that you will not have any exams, but that for every course you will have to write a 4,500 words paper instead, because all exams are at the end of the year. You then ask what to do if you are suffering from repetitive strain, and he says he has got no idea, you just have to talk to the professor after the first class. When you ask about why Moodle wouldn't let you enter the Tropical Africa course, he stares at you opaquely and tells you to go to yet another building, to find the course coordinator. You walk for another 10 minutes, to a building next to the main entrance, and find you need to use your ID card to get in, but as you don't know how to, someone opens the door for you. You ask where to find this-and-that person, and he takes you to her. She then tells you that it doesn't matter if Moodle doesn't work properly for this course, as long as you have registered online with the Portico programme.
After this, you find out you have to get to Victoria Coach Station, in order to not miss your bus. So you find a tube station and go to Victoria. Doing this, you get stuck in the tube for 20 minutes, because of a sign failure or something, and the driver follows a funny procedure which involves blowing the whistle, going and stopping suddenly, and apologising every three minutes. After you arrive, you follow the signs to the coach station, but get confused if you don't see them anymore, and ask someone, who tells you in broken English that you have to go strrraight on and to the rrright. You walk straight on and turn right, and then finally see the entrance of Victoria coach station, a 15 minute walk from Victoria train station. You find out where your bus is and are just in time to catch it.
Well, that's all quite clear isn't it? :-D :-D Just do make sure that you confirm and reconfirm everything you're doing, because even if they ask you to do it and you say you will, you will still have to confirm that you are going to do it ;-) And please do smile at everyone and bear it patiently, because others are confused as well and need a friendly face.
Now it's time to go and buy some cheap food, and cook some supper for me and my housemates. And then the first young adults' home group. Wicked man!
29 maart 2008
An IFES Easter
What a wonderful Easter it was! We (14 members of my CU) travelled to Linz, Austria, by night train to attend a European IFES conference there. The main theme was 'Because of Love'. When we arrived on Thursday morning, it was snowing and ice lay on the pavements. We had to wait a while before we could enter the stadion where the conference was held, because breakfast started at 8 am, and we had arrived earlier. After breakfast, we lay down on our mattresses to rest for a while, because sleeping in a train is not very comfortable. I had had about one hour of sleep, so my dreams started almost immediately. After an hour or so, I woke up, lying on the hard floor: my airbed had a leak. The rest of the day we merely spent waiting until we could subscribe and drop off our luggage at the schools where we would stay.
In the evening, the programme started. First, we were welcomed by two Austrian politicians, and after that, Charlie and Becky were introduced to us. Charlie did the Bible talks in the mornings, while in the evening, Becky gave lectures on how to spread the Gospel.
On Saturday, some friends and I went for a hike in the hills near the city. When driving, we saw the 'real' mountains, but they were very far away. So we climbed hills instead of mountains, swung on loose branches, climbed tree huts, threw snowballs at each other and talked about the conference. Especially the part where Menno was laying on top of the car while Sander drove off was exciting. It looked like fun, however I didn't dare to give it a try. After the hike, I chased someone's plastic bag and fell flat in the mud (don't laugh!). So the rest of the day I had wet clothes; I 'washed' them under the tap, but couldn't go and get dry clothes from the schools; they were closed 'til 9 pm. And the whole time, my rain trousers were in my bag. The irony...
Hearing about the meaning of Easter in a different context was quite refreshing for me, and also gave me more will to go on working for Christ. He gave up everything for us; he didn't just give us all he had, he gave himself. He could have quit the whole time, but he didn't. That's what love is. So when on Sunday morning we were wakened by the song 'Jesus is risen from the dead', I was glad to go to the early morning service. In a large group, we roamed the streets and walked 'zum Schloss', where we stood outside on the grass, proclaiming the resurrection of Christ, singing, praying, and listening to someone speak. Also, Easter hymns were played on a trumpet. This was similar to Easter at home: the same songs were played. After the service, we went to the stadion shivering and not feeling our feet from the cold. However, we soon warmed up after breakfast, and then we celebrated the Lord's Supper with the 2000 people that were present. How amazing that was!
So many things have happened during the conference, that I could talk for quite a while before every topic would have been covered. The main highlights were Good Friday evening, where we could all confess and be forgiven and healed from sin; sharing and praying with some friends of my CU; meeting people from other places; finding a peace of chocolate next to me when I woke up from a nap in the retreat area (the cooking crew had put it there, because they had made so much noise - so sweet!); going through books that were sold on the conference; worshipping God through song (and sometimes dance); and the mere knowing that everyone present was a real Christian. It was a taste of heaven. I pray we all will keep finding courage and will to go on in our work for Jesus, and to show and share Jesus' love wherever we are.
On Saturday, some friends and I went for a hike in the hills near the city. When driving, we saw the 'real' mountains, but they were very far away. So we climbed hills instead of mountains, swung on loose branches, climbed tree huts, threw snowballs at each other and talked about the conference. Especially the part where Menno was laying on top of the car while Sander drove off was exciting. It looked like fun, however I didn't dare to give it a try. After the hike, I chased someone's plastic bag and fell flat in the mud (don't laugh!). So the rest of the day I had wet clothes; I 'washed' them under the tap, but couldn't go and get dry clothes from the schools; they were closed 'til 9 pm. And the whole time, my rain trousers were in my bag. The irony...
Hearing about the meaning of Easter in a different context was quite refreshing for me, and also gave me more will to go on working for Christ. He gave up everything for us; he didn't just give us all he had, he gave himself. He could have quit the whole time, but he didn't. That's what love is. So when on Sunday morning we were wakened by the song 'Jesus is risen from the dead', I was glad to go to the early morning service. In a large group, we roamed the streets and walked 'zum Schloss', where we stood outside on the grass, proclaiming the resurrection of Christ, singing, praying, and listening to someone speak. Also, Easter hymns were played on a trumpet. This was similar to Easter at home: the same songs were played. After the service, we went to the stadion shivering and not feeling our feet from the cold. However, we soon warmed up after breakfast, and then we celebrated the Lord's Supper with the 2000 people that were present. How amazing that was!
So many things have happened during the conference, that I could talk for quite a while before every topic would have been covered. The main highlights were Good Friday evening, where we could all confess and be forgiven and healed from sin; sharing and praying with some friends of my CU; meeting people from other places; finding a peace of chocolate next to me when I woke up from a nap in the retreat area (the cooking crew had put it there, because they had made so much noise - so sweet!); going through books that were sold on the conference; worshipping God through song (and sometimes dance); and the mere knowing that everyone present was a real Christian. It was a taste of heaven. I pray we all will keep finding courage and will to go on in our work for Jesus, and to show and share Jesus' love wherever we are.
Abonneren op:
Posts (Atom)