Of Squirrels and Twins

Wherever we go, bluebirds sing
And the flowers bloom
And the grass gets green
It's a curious thing
But it's just our thing
Wherever we go, the bees behave
In the treetops, squirrels smile and wave
It's a curious thing
And it's humbling
- Newsboys, Wherever We Go

This song has been playing through my mind for the last two hours, which is no surprise to me because it brings to mind so many images from the last two days...

Yesterday was another beautiful day, yet I didn't spend very much time outside. A very slow day, I slept in until 10:00, read for awhile, posted pictures on facebook, responded to some e-mails, and even did some homework. At one point I did leave my room to go to the learning cafe so that I could get some caffeine in the form of a double caramel latte, complimented by a pear and chocolate biscuit. Yummy. Then at 5:30 I went to dinner with Laura and Hannah and two other American students. Laura, Hannah, and I then went to Christ Church, which is the church Hannah and I had adventured to last week. Which, by the way, is only about a 4-minute walk from campus through the cemetery - last week, it took Hannah and me over 20 minutes to get there because we went the long way around... ah, silly new American students. After church service, which was about the parable in Matt. 13 and overcoming barriers, we attended Radical Living. Radical Living is sort of a bible/book study and discussion for uni students, and they feed us while we're there - does it get any better than that?! At Radical Living, I heard two of the best phrases ever:
1. Turn or Burn (in reference to a certain type of evangelical witnessing)
2. Mind the Gap (in reference to "the bridge" diagram of witnessing - really hilarious because at all the train stations, there are signs everywhere by the track that read "mind the gap")
After I got back from church and group, I spent a few hours looking up tickets to Paris, and then convincing Laura to come with me. Much confusion enveloped me and Laura as we tried to skype each other to talk while looking up tickets and schedules and costs and information. By 1 am, we had tickets book and are set to go to Paris next weekend... via a coach bus! yeah, that's about a 9-hour ride...

Today I had my normal 9:00 Monday module, Language and Society. Modules are composed of two parts: a one-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar (which is small group discussion). I'm really enjoying the class so far. Then I went to lunch with some Eau Claire students. After lunch, Laura, Hannah, and I took advantage of yet another gorgeous day (sunny with a high of 55!) and walked to the city centre. We first walked to the train station to figure out train schedules and prices, and then we walked to Blacks (an outdoors shop) to get backpacking backpacks. I'm sure there's a more technical name for them, but I don't know what that is. Hannah found a great deal on one, so I followed suit and purchased the same backpack. Turning down plastic bags to put our backpacks in, Hannah and I decided to wear them while we went to Sainsbury's (a food market) to get chocolate and toilet paper, of all the random combinations. But the silly part of all of this is that Hannah and I both have green pea coats, green side bags/purses, and the now the same exact backpack. We looked insane, like twins! Crazyness. We got many not-so-discrete glances as we walked through town in our practically matching get-up, eating chocolate oranges. At least we are able to laugh at ourselves :) We had a hoot!

Tonight I will go to Christian Union, and that concludes my accounts of yesterday and today.

And did I mention that on the way to Blacks, a man approached us, dressed all spiffily and holding a clipboard, and said "Have you heard about us? We save squirrels." Not sure what that was all about... if it was a joke, or some psychology project, or if there really was an organization trying to save squirrels. If such a group really does exist, they aren't doing a very good job, because I have yet to see a squirrel in England...