This is the first blog post that I've written since arriving in England so I'm kind of feeling the pressure to make it really impressive, full of fantastic stories about my adventures, and at the same time, provide meaningful insight into all these new places that I've been seeing and exploring. Except--I don't really like to write meaningless lists of places where I and probably millions of other tourists have been. My mom asked me to keep a travel journal so each evening right before I go to bed, I write a few sentences in a purple notebook that I purchased in the U.K. that basically describe what activities and events my day is comprised of. Since that's hardly a huge commitment, places that I have visited will be ascribed meaning because I interacted with them and have unique impressions of said place--in my journal for my personal recollection; not because I consider it private, but because it's meaningless outside of that context! I live what E.M. Forster would call the "inner life" as opposed to the "outer life" as most of my personality--my thoughts, opinions, feelings--stay inside my head. Often, I don't feel like I can accurately articulate this inner monologue and my goofiness around friends and acquaintances is hardly enough to make me an extrovert.
So, I'm here in Bath--this is probably what you expect me to talk about in a blog post but I have hardly anything to say on the subject. Buildings are impressive; people are British, things are expensive; and I just feel incredibly sad. This is something that I struggle with...maybe other Christians feel this burden as well? Most, if not all, I think, of the other people that I've met in the program--the Americans--are not Christians. Of course, that's a sweeping assessment considering how short a time we've all been together but we'll see if that assessment changes. In Orientation, Ruth and I have had many excellent opportunities to talk to the others about whether or not they're interested in joining a Christian group. I actually talked to one of my new housemates, Sam, about this and we had a very interesting conversation that just broke my heart. We were filling out a sheet where you can indicate which groups you're interested in joining and she mentioned that though she doesn't believe in any specific religious doctrine (a "lapsed Catholic," she said, managing a chuckle), she still feels compelled to pursue social justice. I responded by nodding my head and murmuring "yeahs" as if I sympathized, or worse, agreed with her! Another housemate "friended" me on facebook and I saw listed under her religious beliefs that hateful word, "atheist." I don't hate these people, mind you; I hate myself for not being bold enough to take them aside and tell them the simple truth: that God loves them and sent His Son to die for them on the cross. At the Tenth Avenue North concert that I attended a few weeks back, the lead singer guy used his parents and a random guy to illustrate a simple concept. There's "Jesus" standing there (his dad) and he had random guy hold hands with "Jesus" (they did the hand holding in a very manly fashion that made me laugh). Anyways, he has random guy/ Christian take hold of his mom's hand (she was the token sinner). Then-- here's the cool part--random guy now forms a connection between "Jesus" and "sinner." Then random guy brings sinner's hand to "Jesus." Very cool. I like that illustration because it shows me exactly why I need to have non-Christian friends! It is imperative! Lots of the ASE folks went pub-hopping tonight to celebrate some guy's b-day. Ruth and I are just hanging out at Linley House, skyping and relaxing.
Sorry I thwarted any expectations that would fill you in as to what my room looks like and what I'm eating and if I'm drinking a lot of tea (yes, to that question)...if you have specific questions about my study abroad experience thus far, please ask! I'll do my best to answer.
