Saturday, 2-17-96
9:20 AM London
3:20 AM E-Town
Well, as often recently, it has been a few days since I have written in here… So backtracking… Tues. afternoon I had British Society class. Nothing too exciting, Matthew Broderick babbled on as usual & at one pt., mid-lecture, busted out with “Life is not a bowl of cherries! … But we all know that.” Random! Also, at the break I talked with Dave for a little while about our weekends! He had gotten his hair cut & it looks real good.
After class I did e-mail & then mass w/ Jill.
Tues. night I can’t remember exactly what I did, I think I just hung out… I know I hung out & chatted w/ Lori, Melissa, & Ruth for a while. We also stayed up till midnight (V-day) to open the gift Debbie & Alex left for me, but told me not to open until Valentine’s Day! It was a cute Mary Engelbreit tin w/ white choc. covered pretzels in it! They know me well…
Wed., Valentine’s Day went to “Hampton Court Palace” again, only this time w/ my London History Class. Jill & I toured most of what I had seen the first time. But, we did see the Tudor kitchens & a garden that I didn’t see before. We hung out for a little while w/ Lauren, Rachel, Matthew & Brendan (Tume). Brendan had just been to Scotland & went to St. Andrew’s! He said it was awesome & made me want to see it even more… Jill & I went in the maze & got lost worse than I did on Sat.!
That afternoon I sat in the kitchen/dining room of Pembridge & worked on my architecture presentation… I just remembered Tues. night I read Time Out, worked on my presentation, & called Ron, my secret Valentine! It was great to hear his voice & we planned to get together not this weekend, but next! Either he will come here, to London, or I will go there, to Southampton! ☺︎
Okay, back to Wed., late afternoon I met Jill & Raymond at Leicester St. Station to go to the Westminster Reference Library. We decided to either do “The Body Shop” or “Guinness” for our Int’l Business MNE project!
Then I went to “Growing in Faith!” We explored, w/ Fr. Tim’s guidance, the prophecies of Christ’s coming, a messiah… (in the Old Testament) Then we looked at verses in the New Testament to see where the prophecies were fulfilled & where the prophets & others witnessed to Jesus being the messiah, & our savior! It was real interesting… It was a short session, so at the end Fr. Tim opened the floor to questions. I asked how much control God has over us & our lives… Another woman asked if people can pray too much for their own personal desires… Fr. Jim encourages us to try to answer each others questions, before he puts his “2 pence” in. My question was deemed somewhat to be one of life’s mysteries… The ques. about prayers was answered by a bloke sitting next to me, who happened to be protestant, who seem to have some real issues w/ the “Church.” His answer looked to Phil 4:4-7, my fav. verse, & he talked about how God wants to hear everything we feel, hope, & dream for! He also questions Fr. Tim a lot about “the church.” Fr. Tim admitted things like confession are not in the Bible. But he also brought us the question of, “Which came first, the church or the Bible?!” (not to be confused w/ the chicken & the egg, he said!) The church, he said. The Bible was not until like 100 A.D. I am not sure how I feel about what is & is not in the Bible & what should be considered part of my religion yet…
After “Growing in Faith,” I was invited to stay for a Charismatic Prayer group! I am starting to actually get to know some more of the students in the Catholic Community here. I only stayed for a short while, due to “Canoe Club,” but it was really spiritual & powerful! It was full of song & open prayer… it was a cross between a K-Mass & one of Kelly’s church meetings. I was surprised, pleasantly, that the students were so into it! ☺︎
I will pick up my Wed. evening later… I am on my way to “Stonehenge” w/ ISA! I am getting bus sick…
CHEERS! ☺︎
Saturday, 2-17-96
12:15 PM London
6:15 AM E-Town
Well, I just saw “Stonehenge!” Wow! After all these years of dreaming about it & watching “Time Life Books” commercials, I finally saw it! ☺︎ Granted, at face value, they are just a bunch of rocks in a field, just off the highway… their history is amazing! I was very impressed & in disbelief that it was for real & I was really there! I took tons of pics, bought 3 postcards, a little book, & a pewter thimble w/ it on it! You could listen to a little guided tour on this thing that looked like a cellular phone!
On the way back to the bus I had lost track of Ruth, Mel, & everyone and was just taking it all in… when I came across Dave. I know, I know, here the fantasy goes again… but it was a nice little chat! We talked about the stones & their meanings & I told him about the “Mbuti Spirit Talk” concert that I went to last night. (I’ll explain later in my recount of the week…) Anyway, I really enjoy talking w/ him & when I re-boarded the bus he asked what I got (bought)! Okay, enough of my lil’ crush…
Wed. night at “Canoe Club” Rita taught me many new skills! She taught me how to paddle sideways using a figure 8 motion & then began to teach me how to do an “Eskimo Rescue!” It’s what you do if you flip over when paddling on a river or while playing polo…
More later!
CHEERS! ☺︎
Saturday, 2-17-96
11:28 PM London
5:28 AM E-Town
My 3rd entry of the day! Okay, Wed., Canoe Polo, “Eskimo Rescue…” So I spent most of practice dunking myself over in the kayak and then using my hips to pull myself back up! I also used the side of the pool at first & then Anna’s boat (the front tip) to help me up! Then I played one game of Canoe Polo w/ a paddle! I even did one pretty smooth defensive more!!! ☺︎ After practice I went up to the “Duck – N – Dive” w/ the club & hung out a bit. I gave Paul my £39 for the “Purple’s Ball” so now it is official, I am going! ☺︎
When I got in, a little past midnight, or maybe a bit before, I spent even more time preparing for my architecture presentation!
Thursday morning was the big “Hawksmoor’s London Churches” presentation! It went very well, despite my tutor’s attempts to heckle me… He did succeed in keeping me on my toes, making me nervous, etc. But in the end I believe it was fairly painless… He even said it was good! ☺︎ That’s saying a lot from the omniscient architecture tutor…
After class Melissa & I were off to “Harrods,” but it took us almost 2 hours to get there due to another bomb scare! Half the city was under a major security alert cuz 2 bombs had been located or called in, but they had not been diffused yet. We at first took it in stride, as we passed blocked off st., after blocked off st. & tons of policemen keeping people from the Covent Garden/Charing Cross area… Then we realized what was going on & got scared! We tried to rationalize our fears away & looked for a tube stop that wasn’t closed & found the most obscure way to get to Harrods!
Upon arrival there, we felt all around safer (but Mel did remind me on that way that a few yrs. back “Harrods” had been bombed…)! I suppose it (our feeling safer) had something to do w/ the fantasyland-like quality of the most famous Dept. store in London! It has 25 restaurants, 7 floors, luxury bathrooms that cost £1 to use (which we didn’t venture into), & more… The toy dept. is called “Toy Kingdom.” They have a section for “Weekend Getaways” in clothing! They had a huge food court w/ fresh everything & Mel & I stopped there for a late lunch/snack. I got some yummy pizza bread! ☺︎
We stayed for hours, as we explored every room on every floor from furnishing to hats… There was even a player piano! The security guards even made us hold our backpacks by the handles on top, instead of double-shouldering! They really try to be classy there or something…
Soon after we got home, Lori & I left for the very area where just hrs. earlier they had diffused 2 bombs… We went to see “Waiting to Exhale,” since we’d both recently finished Terry McMillian’s novel! We had heard it was not good & both felt it was better than we’d thought it would be, but not great! ☺︎
Lori left early Fri. morning for Belgium & has been gone since… I slept in till almost noon & then went to ULU to work out, after running some errands.
After working out, I went to daily mass. Father Scott gave mass & told a funny homily, relating 2 cute stories, about a priest who always gives the same sermon & a similar goose, to the readings which remind us that faith alone doesn’t amount to much w/ out good deeds to back it up… (to recall a favorite Tuxis song, “They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love…”)
After mass I got a snack at Birkbeck’s Snack Shop & then got some books at the library for my History of London paper on Leisure in the past (maybe in the Victorian period, but we’ll see…)
I checked e-mail quickly & had received great messages from Deborah, Cheryl & Kelly. Kelly commented at length about what I had shared in a recent e-mail about “Growing in Faith.” She had some wonderful insights…
Oh, I got a great letter from Erin on Thurs. & she had been bridesmaid dress shopping w/ Martha Westin & told me I was invited to Martha & Luke’s wedding in Aug.! ☺︎ Yeah! Now, if I go to Lori & Cam’s, I’ll have 2 weddings to attend this summer! I can’t believe I am old enough to have friends getting married… My friends & I will now be those cool people, who knew the bride & groom from college, that I always looked up to at family weddings! ☺︎
I also got a newsy letter from Tara on Fri. She was down at school for a day & had lunch w/ Deb & Craig!
After e-mail I met Jill at the SOAS Auditorium for a “Spirit Talk Mbira” concert! I had seen a flyer for it at the ULU & instantly knew I had to attend… The mbira music I had heard back in that World Music class really touched me & so when I ran into Jill at “The Works,” I invited her to join me! It was really awesome! Full of grooves & spirit & culture… From the music, to the audience, it was an experience! What great music! The mbira, the kora, the mjuba, were all beautiful music to my ears & soul! Jill enjoyed it as well…
Okay, my hand is gonna fall off from writing so much & I am tired! I have been up since 8 AM for the ISA excursion today… After Stonehenge we went to Salisbury. It was a quaint town, w/ a big market & a beautiful huge cathedral! The cathedral had one of four remaining copies of the “Manga Carta!” The Chapter House also had a great sculpture, as part of it’s inside frieze depicting scenes from Genesis & Exodus!
I spent most of the afternoon roaming w/ Mel, Ruth, & Nick… I enjoyed their company! We met up w/ Adam, Paul, Mark & Paul’s friend Dan at the end for a drink at a pub before heading back to the bus! That was a relaxing & pleasant end to the day…
On the way home I believe most everyone napped… as did I, till we were almost back & then I had a nice chat w/ Mel, who I sat w/.
My dinner was yummy real “Kraft Mac & Cheese!” Oh, so good! ☺︎ Tonight I just organized stuff & hung out w/ my housemates… nice & relaxing.. CHEERS! ☺︎
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Note from Present Day Kathy: Well, this was a long one… 3 entries in 1 day! I guess I was making up for not journaling for 4 days and had a lot to catch up on. Once again, I was transported (in an awesome way), getting to revisit so many fun adventures and special experiences I had across the pond, including participating in faith related activities at Newman House, learning how to play Canoe (Kayaking) Polo, and visiting more awesome sites in England.
Our Modern British Society tutor, (not his real name) Matthew Broderick, had the same name as a very famous actor from an American TV family sitcom, that was popular when we were kids. So I felt compelled to make his alias that of another famous actor, known for being very funny (especially in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) when I was younger.
A K-Mass, or Koinonia Mass, was a special mass, held by/for members of the Newman Foundation Koinonia (NFK) group/faith community that I was part of at U of I. The Newman Center at U of I, affiliated with St. John Catholic Church, was similar to the Newman House I went to/got involved with in London. There were two NFK weekend retreats a year and after a student participated in one they were welcome to attend K-Masses at the rectory for St. John’s (where the priests lived). These masses were more intimate than regular ones held at church and I felt like they reflected more what the early church might’ve been like, meeting in smaller groups/people’s homes.
I served on two NFK retreat planning teams, after attending my first as a participant, during my years in undergrad and grad school at U of I, both were incredible experiences on my faith journey. For the first one, I was a “Wheatie,” the nickname for members of the cooking team, who did a lot of the behind the scenes work, to fuel the retreat team members and participants, leading up to and during the weekend. For the second one, I gave a talk on “Prayer” and co-lead a table/small group discussions during the weekend. Ironically, reciting the verse I mention in this entry, my fav from Philippians 4:4-7, is how I started my talk about prayer on the retreat.
One of my closest friends back then and to this day, (not her real name) Kelly, is part of a Christian faith community that prays with great passion. Having been to gatherings with members of her church, the way those at the Newman House Charismatic Prayer Group prayed also reminded me of praying with Kelly at her church meetings.
I remember how excited I was to see Stonehenge, having always been fascinated by it! I do recall it being a bit anti-climatic when we approached it on the highway and it was just there, in the middle of nowhere.
I also thing it’s funny that I said the self guided tour things looked like “cellular phones,” as at that point I’d never owned one and wasn’t abbreviating them as “cell phones” yet.
I do recall how bizarre and scary it felt to be dealing with bomb scares, which impacted my friends and my ability to get around London, sometimes on our way to school at Birkbeck and other times, as I shared in this entry, when (not her real name) Mel and I were going to check out the famed Harrods department store.
Yesterday on Facebook one of my college friends, who happens to be in London with her family, shared a picture of her family having tea at Harrods. Seeing that was timely and nostalgic for me, knowing I was working on this entry/post, in which I wrote about going there.
Tuxis was the name of a Presbyterian high school youth group that I participated in. Sheil Catholic Center in Evanston, the Newman Center for Northwestern University, where my family and I went during my formative years was an awesome place to learn about and grow in my faith. However, Sheil didn’t have strong youth group for most of my adolescent years. My older sister Meg got involved with Tuxis when she was in high school and then suggested I do so when I was old enough. I found many similarities between the two Christian denominations, Presbyterian and Catholic, but there were some differences, including songs that we sang. “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love,” was a new (to me) song, that I learned through participating in Tuxis, and I always appreciated the message in it. I googled the lyrics today and found it interesting that the song was actually written by a Catholic priest.
I also think its fun how excited I was to have friends who were starting to get married and invite me to their weddings!
I love that I continued to seek out unique events and experiences, such as attending the Spirit Talk Mbira concert! I’ve always loved doing things like that and appreciate that it was a priority for me during my semester abroad.
I also found it interesting later, when I talked about our visit to Salisbury and meeting up with friends for a drink at a pub, before heading back to London, to try to remember how we coordinated things like that back in the day, before texting and such. I imagine we either ran into them or made a plan earlier in the day to do so. But in this day and age, it’s somewhat hard for me to recall the time when we didn’t have such easy access to friends and family to get together, even though that’s how it was for so much of my life.
I admit I still enjoy some Kraft Mac & Cheese now and then and remember how much I loved it at that time in my life. Too funny that I had visitors from the States bring it to me, as I guess I couldn’t get it over there?
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Reminder: Unless I’ve been given permission to use people’s actual names, in most cases I’ve removed or replaced the names of the real people who were part of my journey/experience there, in effort to protect and respect their identities/privacy in my London Semester Journal entries. I will also not share details that I think and feel are too personal for anyone I interacted with, my loved ones, and me.
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Here’s the back story of My London Semester Journals from 1996, including what prompted me to revisit and decide to share them here in 2018. And here’s a list a list of the entries, which I will update as I share them.
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