Explorers are we, intrepid and bold,

Out in the wild, amongst wonders untold.

Equipped with our wits, a map, and a snack,

We're searching for fun and we're on the right track!

Kate bought The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes last week to become a permanent staple here at Crick House.

Needless to say, it has brought much delight and endless distraction. So much for reading Shakespeare.

Out of the Blue

Today ten of the Crick girls walked to Magdalen -- "maudlin" -- College to watch Grant and his a capella men's group, Out of the Blue, perform with the Princeton Tigressions, an a capella women's group from Princeton. (And when I asked Grant, "What, Princeton Princeton Princeton??" He said, "Yes, the real Princeton. In America." That Princeton.)

It was absolutely dazzling. They were soo excellent and so animated and so funny and so freaking good at singing. They opened with "Don't You Want Me Baby" and we were screaming with delight by the end.

Other songs they performed:

Stevie Wonder's "Knocks Me Off My Feet" (which, had I been standing, would have knocked me off my feet)

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight"

"Stacy's Mom"

"Lullaby (Goodnight My Angel)" (aaaaaahhhh!!!! one of the greatest songs ever-ever-ever)

"Pokerface" (yes, Lady Gaga)

Kate and I agreed that Covenant needs an a capella group. Officially.

Harry Potter

Tonight's chapter of Harry Potter is being read aloud by Jonathan Kirkpatrick -- who possesses a real live British accent.

I have never been this close to Hogwarts in my life. Ever.

(JPak)

(Listening: Hutton, Emily, and Katie)

(Grant and Alison)

(One more for good measure)

(JPak is our substitute Junior Dean, by the way. "Junior Dean" = RD. "Substitute" because our original JD has been gone for a few weeks because of family tragedy.)

We Are Tourists in London for a Day

[Music: Beach House's new album, "Teen Dream"]

Because I should be doing homework, I am updating my blog.

#1: I have a cold. (I mostly say that so my family can feel sorry for me.) Which means I have consumed even more tea today than usual. Which is a lot. Also, I probably got the cold in London. So that's kind of romantic, right? I miss how Laura used to come in the room when I was sick and start coughing pitifully and say "Pa, I think I've got the black lung!" Yes, I miss how she used to mock me.

#2: Reading for this week, GET THIS: Alice in Wonderland (Carroll), The Man Who Was Thursday (G.K. Chesterton), and Measure for Measure (Shakespeare).

#3: A Summary of the London trip:

Simon (picture below) -- our witty, jovial, sarcastic, and hilarious tour guide/student life leader/counselor -- led us through the historical sites of London for the whole day, beginning at the Marble Arch bus stop and ending in Chinatown for supper at the Friendly Inn. I swear, that man knows everything there is to know about London's history. The main thing you need to know: "This whole town is lying on blood, really."

(Simon)

The rest of this is going to be bullet-point form. Read the ones that seem interesting:

• The U.S. Embassy is built on land owned by the Duke of Westminster. It's on a 999-year lease to us. It is also fantastically ugly.

• The taxis are made like old cars from, like, the 30's or something.

• The Monument to the Great fire of London (1666) is 202 feet high and has 311 steps spiralling up inside of it -- kind of like Dante's circles of hell, according to Emily. You have no idea how many steps that is until you've climbed about 155 up and you still have just as many more to go and your knees are wobbling. But it was so worth it.

• We saw all those things you read about and hear about: the places and monuments that figure into great novels and poems and history. Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, St. Paul's Cathedral, Big Ben, the Tower of London. As we walked along the Thames in the evening and watched the inky water heave and ripple and cast back sparkling reflections of all the city lights, Kate and I were awed and silenced by two things: 1) How much great literature has been inspired by this very river. 2) WHY DID WE NOT HAVE BOYFRIENDS WITH US? It was epically romantic.

• Even surrounded by all those monuments, and the incredible art inside the National Gallery, I continue to be far more fascinated by the people I pass by. I love seeing the statues, but relationships between live people will keep my attention much longer.

(...what is more subtle than this which ties me to the woman or man that looks in my face, / Which fuses me into you now, and pours my meaning into you...)

(The certainty of others--the life, love, sight, hearing of others.)

(Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes! how curious you are to me!)

("Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," Walt Whitman)

There was so much to see, and of course we all want to go back because we haven't begun to see the half of it. That's all I got for now, though, mostly because this post is already atrociously long and my brain is all fuzzy from the Sudafed I took an hour ago.

Thrive, cities! bring your freight, bring your shows, ample and sufficient rivers; / Expand.

A foggy day in London town.

We went to London today for the big tour. YEEAAAH!

I'm too exhausted to do it justice in blog form, but here's a crash course review:

Grosvenor Square, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London Tower, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge (because the actual London Bridge is in ARIZONA. WHO KNEW?? Talk about disappointing).

Also: I got hit by a cab. In London.

I am S p a r t a c u s.

Better description/pictures to come. (Of the London trip, not the cab mishap.)

Goodnight!

How Kate made Nick cry.

OK, he didn't actually cry. And Kate didn't do anything. So you could say the title of this post is utterly misleading. But here IS what's happening in the kitchen of Crick at 11:40 at night:

Grant is staring determinedly at the water pot (I think he's trying to figure out how to open it) while Kate, Nick, and Shane are having a serious philosophical/theological discussion at the table next to me. Kate just said Dante didn't write "religious works" and Nick and Shane almost started crying. (That was hyperbole. Also where I got the title of this post.)

Laura is handling the water pot now and Grant is adding an opinion to the discussion in his gentle way.

I'm rejoining the conversation now.

[10 minute interval]

Now everyone is mad and Nick keeps prefacing what he says by: "I don't even know if I want to say this."

[4 minute interval]

NOW we all agree and Alison just joined the conversation with "Can I just ask what the heck we're talking about?"

[90 minute interval]

Topics have ranged from: reality to the Trinity to musical theory to church history to the Cross. It's a really serious conversation and the circle has grown to nine people. It's like this vortex that no one can escape. And probably something we all needed to talk about.

I still don't know how much I love this kind of discussion, though I know somewhere in my head that it's important to be able to have it -- because God is worth knowing and worth the struggle it takes to know Him. And people are worth hearing and worth the struggle it takes to understand them.

A possible ultimate conclusion to the discussion: Jesus is the one way to God, but there are wondrously and marvelously many ways to Jesus Christ: because no one is beyond the reach of God's love in Christ. And other than that, there is so much we just don't know.

Also, that we're really glad we can still laugh in the middle of this over someone's bizarre analogy and that we can still go read Harry Potter and know God loves us. And that we still love each other.

It is good to sit and talk.

Guess Who . . . .

Emily and I walked into a lecture today slightly late, so we settled into a couple seats perched up on the side. Our seats overlooked the main part of the room, where the tiered desks cascaded away from us down to the front of the room. And as I shuffled my papers and scanned the room for interesting-looking people, I suddenly realized - right below me - she was sitting . . . . . SHE was:

Susan from the Chronicles of Narnia!!!! *GASP*

I wrote a hardly subtle note to Emily sitting next to me and we just stared at her for the rest of the lecture.

Could we be any creepier?

I submit that we cannot!!

Sunday: I went with Shane, Irene, and Emily to the Solemn Mass at St. Aloysius ("al-uh-wish-us"). Shane is on his way to being Catholic, while Irene, Emily, and I were just curious to experience the mass sung in Latin.

It was beautiful. I tried following along in the liturgy booklet since I know enough Latin to keep up but then I realized it was much more worshipful to just listen and watch. I love the solemnity of the music, the liturgy, the smell of the incense, the beautiful architecture, the reverent expressions. It's a seriousness that's bursting -- like the angels are about to bust out with joy.

But I think I prefer worship where the people literally are busting out with joy.

So I'm trying to decide how I'm going to do church here. I love the possibility of seeing new traditions (Hutton wants to go to the Quaker meeting with Jay next week) and slightly different ways of worship -- but, at the same time, I know I need to plug in somewhere and make it home. For a home church, I want something as much like New City as I can find over here. :)

After church we went to The Lamb and Flag pub for lunch (across from the Eagle and Child and much better) and Emily and I split a steak and kidney pie!!!!! I AM HARRY POTTER!!!!! :) It was actually really good, and I hardly even noticed the slightly squishy, strangely tough bits of not-meat that must've been kidney.

Monday: I went to my first tutorial. ::gasp::

After winding my way down High Street and through criss-crossing cobbled alleys, I finally arrive at Merton College on the other side of town and stepped into the Porter's Lodge to wait for my tutor. He showed up five minutes later: skinny, bespectacled, about 28 years old, well-dressed with a scarf and sweater and shiny shoes, and topped with a mop of dark hair and a five o'clock shadow. But he's from Boston. So no accent. (BUMMER.) He led me to a big old room where we sat huddled at a table at one end near the heater and talked about Shakespeare for an hour. I think it's going to be great, especially as we get used to each other.

Today: I had my second tutorial. It's my "C.S. Lewis in Context" tutorial and we were talking about George MacDonald's books Lilith and Phantastes. IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!! My tutor is Emma Plaskitt and she is the SHIZ, man. I feel like I just sat there and talked about all of my favorite things and then she assigned me more of my favorite things. I can't wait to meet with her again in two weeks. My next assignment is to read Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday and Alice in Wonderland. WHOOO!!!

Today also involved all of us students having tea and treats in Simon's office and then Katie and I grocery shopping because I HAVE NO MILK.

Tonight: We are going to start reading Harry Potter out loud to each other because some of our group have NEVER READ IT. Katie has Book 1 and tonight we're cracking it open.

Tea. At Crick.

Jonathan Kirkpatrick (the previous Junior Dean at Crick House) and other Crick people from past years made up a system to tell people how to fix your tea. Here are the ones I remember:

If you want nothing in it at all, you just ask for "Object."

If you want just milk (a lot of milk), you ask for "Dracula's Dream."

If you want milk and one sugar, ask for a "Fat Cow."

If you want milk and two sugars, you'll get a "White Desmond." (As in Desmond Tutu. As in "two" sugars. Sound it out.)

I feel like there were more, but I can't remember them.

So now, instead of asking simply for a "milk, two sugars, please," you gotta remember all this about animals and monsters and world leaders. Somehow I haven't found that it simplifies anything when six people are yelling for cows and draculas and desmonds and the odd "Isn't there one about the Queen? The fat white queen?"

But the point is -- it's hilarious. So the system has been adopted.

I'll take a White Desmond, please.

London + Vampire Weekend + Free Tickets

AWESOME!!!

Need I say more? I really don't, but what else are blogs for?

So, on Wednesday of last week, Robbie told me that Vampire Weekend was giving a FREE concert in London at the Somerset house the next day. And about twelve hours later, Kate, Alison, Laura, and I were walking through the slush to the Oxford bus station to spend the day in London, suddenly and blissfully regardless of the books to be read, sources to be sought, and papers to be written before the week was out.

First of all, I can't wait to go back and see more of it. After we emerged from the bus at the Marble Arch station, we got on the subway and headed north to hit up some of the British Museum and get lunch at a pub (which I never want to go back to -- Piece of Advice #1: don't just eat at the first quaint-looking pub you happen upon). By 2:30, we headed off to find the Somerset House, which we discovered after walking almost the whole length of the Strand. (All the people we asked for directions, "Why, yes, just keep walking that way a bit - you can't miss it.")
It's beautiful. We walked all the way round the skating rink and made it to the other side -- right under the balcony which that night would function as a stage. And, let it be known: we were the first ones there. Within ten minutes, there were four more groups of people, and within thirty more it was starting to get crowded. But we had our spots: directly in front of the balcony, backed up against the ice rink: front and center.

The concert was fantastic, charged. Everyone was giddy -- from the hundreds of fans to the band themselves. (Maybe the freezing cold had something to do with it. :)) They opened with "White Sky" and, dude, that Ezra Koenig can do things with his voice...WOAH!!!! They did some of their old ones and some new ones and we all sang along and yelled our support up to their colorful perch. We took pictures and they took pictures and everybody was laughing and singing and ecstatic. The concert had the very same giddy, frenzied energy to it that you can hear in their songs.


Then the sound blew out during "Horchata." Yeah, it was just the saddest thing ever. We all started yelling up at them but they couldn't tell what we were saying and they kept playing through. When it was over and someone told Ezra that the sound had gone out halfway through, he walked up to the mic, ran his fingers through his hair and let out the quirkiest "Well, f***!" I've ever heard. The drummer, Chris Tomson, stood up covering his mouth with his hand and made a gesture saying something like, "You'll have to excuse him - and us" and then immediately grinned and started taking pictures again. Everyone quickly rallied and they played one last song (the most energized version of "Walcott" I've ever jumped up and down to) before they breezed out.

Here's a review Kate found the next day:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/news/20100115_vampire_weekend.shtml

I would just like to point out the part towards the end: "People in the crowd directly beneath were shouting up to them, inviting them to play the rest of the gig on ground level."

That would've been us. :)

The day was rounded off with a stroll guided by Nick through Trafalgar Square, over some bridge to see the Thames, and into The Ship and Shovel to thaw out our frozen toes (a pub I would return to if given the chance).

Now: Back to work! Tomorrow: My first tutorial.

As I hauled three heavy grocery bags the whole slushy, icy mile-and-a-half from Sainsbury's to Crick...

...I realized that I'm going to be in great shape by April.

Over the past couple days:

-Slush

-A late evening spell Saturday night in the "Rabbit Room" of the Eagle and Child ("bird and baby") where Lewis and his cronies used to hang. Yes, it is just exactly how you pictured it. And it is awesome.

-I searched the United States for MONTHS for brown boots and navy tights. Two days here and I have both. WOOH.

-(^That^ was my sordid materialistic bullet point for the week. Don't let me do another one or I'll hate myself.)

-Two new phrases: "Kick up a fuss" (as in, I will just literally kick up a fuss if you throw that muddy snowball at my face). And "cheers." (as in, Cheers!)

-Hutton, Alison, Amy, and I rearranged our room Sunday and it is SO MUCH BETTER. Forgot to take a "Before" picture and I have yet to take an "After" picture but, trust me, it's improving our psychological health already.

-Went to St. Ebbes's Sunday for the evening service and loved it. Ohhhhh, my. I can't wait to get plugged into a church group here. One guy asked me (after assuring me he was NOT trying to offend me) whether people from Texas actually wear cowboy hats. I was able to reassure him that the stereotype is accurate, alive, and real.

GAAHHH, WE HAVE TO START BEING RESPONSIBLE PEOPLE NOW!!!!!!! (And by "responsible people," I really just mean "students." Pass your own judgment.) Guys, we are literally FREAKING out. I'm scared out of my mind.

Prayer for: Academics, that stress would NOT rule my life and I wouldn't just freak out automatically. Relationships, that I would have the energy and love to keep developing these friendships that are just starting. God, that he would be first and more dear to me than ever before.

[Tomorrow morning's playlist by DJs Kate and Hannah: "Pet Sounds"]

Hilary Term 2010: Starting now.

[Listening: Au Revoir Simone] <--(Sarah, I'm doing this mostly for you, so we can still share music even though we aren't making each other CDs. :))

Well, kids, the leisurely and profligate days are over. No more bumming around throwing snowballs and acting like tourists: tomorrow (well, today, since it's after midnight) Hilary Term 2010 officially kicks off for us. In the words of Kate (Harrison), "Guys, we have to start actually working tomorrow!" Because we're not shelling out scads of money so I can go window shopping.

So I am glad to start the academics and learn things, but a little anxious about how it'll all pan out. Plenty of late nights and early mornings and drinking too much tea, I'm sure. (Which - let's be honest - isn't exactly an astronomic change from Covenant.) I have a lot of expectations, apprehensions, and hopes about what these next four months will be like and what I will be like when it's all over. Who knows how many of them will ever see the sheer light of day? I really have little to no idea of what to expect from what's ahead. But I have the feeling that, if I can trust it to the right hands (you know whose those are), this is going to be an important four months for me.

I'm nervous and giddy and glad.

So let the sun shine. / So let the sun shine. / So let the sunshine, / let it come. / To show us that tomorrow is eventual. / We know it when the day is done.

Oxford at first sight.

At approximately 11:00 am Oxford time, Hutton, Al, and I arrived on the doorstep of the Crick house with luggage in tow having braved Heathrow terminals, customs, the central bus station, the Oxford bus station, and a taxi driver. After a brief pick-me-up in the form of peanut butter sandwiches and tea with milk and sugar, we defied the jet lag and went exploring!!!

Guys, Oxford is the most quaintly and exquisitely lovely place I have ever experienced. These pictures - of course - can't fully capture it (1, because it's a crap camera; 2, because I'm a crap photographer), but try to experience it with me. :)

Crick. Our house. It's a duplex like most houses here (it reminds me of The Magician's Nephew!). See those basement bay windows? Mine are just like that only in the back.

The view from our door. The basement rooms are separate from the rest of the house, so you have to come down these stairs to our doorway. It's all icy and I slide all over the place.


Then a tree attacked me. And by "attacked me" I mean a load of snow from one of its branches suddenly dropped on my head.

That car was stuck in the snow and these guys were trying to push it out. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of that moment because I was busy rushing up and offering our help. Like we could've done anything. They laughed and said "No, thanks, we got it" in fabulous accents.

We walked through a very dark and narrow doorway and found this fantastic vista that looked like Hogwarts. It was actually Keble College.

Shopping.

Then we found THIS!! (Something we later realized is quite commonplace.)

AND THIS!!!! I have yet to enter the doorway.

We're excited. :)

Five Hours in the DFW airport.

[Current music: A folk mix that the itunes genius thing put together for me]

Three hours down and and I'm still in a really good mood! It's probably all downhill from here.

I'm slouched in an armchair in the "DFW Comfort Lounge" in terminal D, one gate away from the one I fly out of. From here I can comfortably surf the web (for $7.99) and watch all the interesting people hurrying by. Airports can be anything from creepy to boring to overwhelming, but they're always fascinating. Between the people-watching, the overhead announcements (that startle the crap out of me every time), and the phone conversations, I haven't felt stir-crazy at all.

"Leaving on a Jet Plane" just started playing. It's like God is making a soundtrack for me.

In the airport:

-This middle-aged cowboy walked by me with one of his pant legs rolled up to show his enormous tattoo to the world. I've never seen that before. I guess if you get a tattoo that big, you should keep it on display.

-A family that flew with me from Shreveport had twin baby girls. Dang, they're going to have a great life.

-The people at the information desk in front of me look like park rangers. And when I was talking to Nat, the lady turned around and glared at me. I think I was being too loud. That's shocking.

-The guy who was working in Starbucks thought I said I wanted "coffee" flavoring in my hot chocolate instead of "toffee." He made me feel stupid for not knowing that what I was ordering was the same things as a mocha. And then I was so confused I didn't correct him and so I ended up with the wrong drink AND a frazzled ego.

Welp, now I'm getting hungry. So here's the end of my last post State-side. In an hour and a half, I'll board my plane and hopefully sleep my way to snowy Heathrow. See you in Oxford!!

A place to start . . .

The Point: So, I'm blogging again. Some friends suggested a blog as the most efficient way to share about my exploits in Oxford. After mild protesting, I realized they were right: blogging is murderously efficient. I don't even have to talk to anyone. Just about myself.

I hope this becomes a place where I can share experiences, document adventures and - most of all - keep writing.

The Name: Dad wanted it to be called "Sheep . . . Why are there sheep everywhere?" Then he wanted to watch Monty Python's Flying Circus all night long.

I picked this name because, 1) I am living in a house on Crick Road in Oxford for four months and it's practically a castle (as like a castle as a large-ish Victorian house can be). 2) I distilled it from one of my favorite books, which is also set in England. 3) I like the way it sounds. 4) Sarah and Robbie, my two main advisers for the title, like the way it sounds.

Grandad came up with the subtitle: "Well, Hannah, it's rainy and foggy and you'll be depressed the whole time so why don't you call it the 'London Foggy Blog.'" That was right before he began muttering "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, what a crazy world."

The Starting Place: An open suitcase full of books, journals, winter clothes, and Snort the Red Stuffed-Animal is sitting at the top of the stairs and tomorrow I leave the country for England.

WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"But you know no matter where we are / we're always touching by underground wires."