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.
