What I've Learned in London: Week 1

So I can't possibly recount every day, although I have been keeping a pretty good journal so far. Here are my reflections after being in London for a full week:

* "Even the birds have accents!" said my housemate Katy. She's right. Not only are there some odd looking duck-bird-things with black pony-tails (I call them samurai ducks)

* Laughter is fun. Katy, Whitney, and I have had so many times of long, hard laughter. It seems like we're always having something weird happen, or one of us will say something off-the-wall, or we'll misinterpret something . . . it's so much fun.

* British scones are different from American scones. We went to high tea for the first time on Friday, and it was sooo good! Their scones are more like a cross between Fischer fair scones and our biscuits. Very good. We also had lots of cake. Pictures to come!

* No matter how far you get in your communist philosophies, capitalism will win out. We were going to visit Karl Marx's grave, but decided not to when we discovered that it cost roughly $5 to enter the Catholic cemetery.

* Sherlock Holmes did not exist, but that doesn't keep people from making a profit off of his address. We took pictures of his house and went in the gift shop, but decided to spend our money to tour a museum which was actually devoted to a real person.

* Pubs are a little intimidating, but really they're the British version of Denny's, except with more alcohol and less menu items. I had my first pub experience on Friday, and I was scared to death to order an alcoholic beverage for the first time, but the people were very nice, and I enjoyed myself. (I ordered a regular-sized White Zinfandel Rose, if anyone was wondering.)

* The Natural History Museum is quite boring, but Victoria & Albert Hall is incredible. The best part: I got to see a collection of William Morris' items! Anyone who understood that gets a gold star.

* Reading on the tube makes life more interesting. I think I'm going to get quite a bit of reading done in the next couple of months.

* Everything in London is an hour away. It doesn't matter if it's actually only a 15-minute drive, it will take you an hour on the public transportation, and you wouldn't think of using anything but public transportation.

* Everything is measured in walking distance. While we would say it's a 5-minute drive away, the British would say it's a 20-minute walk, or however long it takes. Why would you drive when you could walk, especially when it's so incredibly safe here?

* British bacon is infinitely better than American bacon.

* I want so badly to be a part of awakening the Church in England. I visited Christ Church Fulham today, and the associate vicar talked about the difference between a religious person and a spirit-filled person. In passing he mentioned that their church's goal is to see the sleeping Church in the land wake up by the love of the Lord. Something in my heart was stirred tonight. I remembered why God sent me here in the first place, at least one of the reasons. I don't know what it means, or what it's going to cost, but I want to be a part of this. I'm falling in love with this land, I want to see the Church awake to her Lover!