Across the Pond

alright, after re-reading my last post i decided that i put way way too much detail in it. so this time im just going to give some hi-lights. we started class on monday and so far all of them have been good. the one that i am really the most excited about is my christian worship class. its meant to give us some different perspectives on the way we worship, and kinda what it is. our teacher is my second cousin, and i barely know her at all, but from my own experience so far and what other people have told me about her and the class, i think it is going to be my favorite. besides that i am taking intro to philosophy and the history and philosophy of science. we have had two lectures about old philosophers, and those guys were crazy. haha i think it might take me a while to get used to their thinking. seriously, it's weird.
one of our assignments was to go rambling sometime before next week. rambling is basically just going on a long walk. its a big deal here, and there have been some major issues throughout the years surrounding it. when the aristocracy started buying up all the land and not allowing people to walk though it, big fights broke out and some people were thrown in jail. now, there are public pathways through all private land through out the country and once a year everyone goes and tramps down the trails bc if they get grown over they go back to being private land. its funny because that isnt even an issue in america, and people would not be ok with having a trail running through their land. so today we went rambling for about two and half hours along the thames river (pronounced tims) toward a small village called iffley. when we got there we had to wait for twenty minutes for a bus back into town and i was really scared there wasnt going to be one and we were going to have to walk back. but thank goodness one came. ok so here are the pics from today. and also some quotes from my first day of worship class.

"If our hearts are not engaged in authentic expressions of love for him, if this is not about a relationship with our Creator and Redeemer, then God is not honored...I do not think that he is particularly interested in our theories or techniques of worship except as they are effective in genuinely drawing hearts to him. Worship that is not heartfelt and authentic simply does not interest him." Joe Horness

"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worhip HIm than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell" C.S. Lewis



the river thames



elaina and brooke walking. its so great how fast we are all becoming friends. granted we are with the same group of about twelve people most of the time, but the majority of them i didnt know before coming, so i feel good about that.



there were a lot of these boats along the river



another shot of the river, this time with some of the town in the background. i think the tower looking building that just barely pokes out of the trees is a 12th century church



check out that weeping willow.

well thats all for now. tomorrow we are all going into london tomorrow to the british library and to the globe theater to see antony and cleopatra. so ill probably have more pictures soon.