Before I go on, let me just say that the news of the terrible events in CT on Friday greatly saddens me. At the moment, we as a country (and even those in other nations) are grieving. Right now, that is what we need to do. Sometime soon though, I hope we as a nation can sit down and discuss how to prevent these terrible things from ever happening again. My heart goes out to all those affected, especially the families of the victims. ...
I am so blessed to be here in London following my dreams and to have such wonderful family and friends back home and all over the world supporting me. I just want to thank all of you and tell you all that I love you and appreciate you! ...
Since your support means so much to me, I want to go ahead and update you on the things I have been doing this past month. I feel like this is my small way of sharing something with you. A lot of great things happened so please forgive me for the abrupt transition to talking about them...
Well tomorrow morning I leave for Scotland! I've never been so I am very excited (and a little nervous)! But I thought, since I am sure to have all sorts of new adventures that will beg to be blogged about, I better get caught up on the past month before I go have more fun. So I will try to give you a brief overview.
Other than my last post which focused on only one day (you can get a sense of why I don't blog all the time-a lot happens) this past week, I haven't told you what I've been doing since I saw the Queen and that was way back on the 14th of November. So, here's what I've done:
-I turned 23! As a senior at F&M I tended to feel rather old, but in busy London, I am reminded that I am quite young and still have a lot of learning to do! The day after my birthday, a group of friends and I went to a pub here in London and celebrated my birthday in the British way (don't worry, that basically means we had dinner in a pub, nothing worse than that)! It was wonderful to get together with my friends and another reminder of how blessed I am to have met some great people here! Then a few of us went to Covent Garden for frozen yogurt before heading home.
-I met Danny Alexander! He is a Lib Dem MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and member of the "Quad"--the group consisting of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minster, the Chancellor and Danny (i.e. two Conservatives and two Lib Dems) that makes final decisions on coalition policy. This was an awesome talk! Danny was at the coalition negotiations and so his first-hand account was fascinating (although, basically what I already knew). I almost didn't go to this event as it was at UCL so a bit of a walk, but thanks to my friend Anna, I went for it and so glad I did!
Here's a picture of Danny and I:
-I wrote two more essays. One I have received feedback on and it went well. The other...I am still waiting on the results. I don't have much else to say about that! Although, I will say it was really odd to be done with most of my work (aside from some minor statistics homework and reading) two weeks before term was over! And then of course, term ended and I still have months until I take my finals (i.e. until I do any work that is actually graded)!
-I got and mailed my Christmas gifts! This is noteworthy because I am usually not on top of this and wrapping on Christmas Eve, but when one has to mail things abroad, one is forced to get everything together sooner rather than later!
-I had drinks with the LSE Liberal Democrat Society and Lord Wallace (a Lib Dem) in Parliament! That was a pretty cool experience! Having drinks with a Lord in the Lord's bar! He is our new patron and it was wonderful to just talk with him! He seemed to genuinely want to hear our opinion on the coalition, Lib Dem election prospects, and policies and we had a great discussion (and I use the word discussion very purposefully here)!
-I went to my first doctor's appointment in the UK. Nothing to worry about-simply checking in. But my first experience with the NHS made me feel like I really am living here (not just visiting for a bit)!
-I went to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. This was absolutely crazy! There were so many people there. Basically they have stalls where you can buy gifts and food (lots of very pricy food and drinks) and they also have rides (also very pricy). My favorite part was getting a souvenir smashed penny for my friend LaRee back home (she loves them and that is the only thing she asked me for)! I actually had to go back a few nights later to get more pennies! But, shh! I want to surprise her!
-I went to the Advent Procession at St. Paul's Cathedral! This was my first trip to St. Paul's and the first time I've ever been inside. It was amazing! I just kept thinking how many copies of St. Barnabas would fit inside (at least 5 or 10 I think)! The service was about a transition from light to dark so it began with almost no lights. Then as the procession (including clergy from all over the diocese of London and the Bishop of London) moved from the West to East end of the church over the course of the hour-long service, there were hymns, readings and slowly, more lights were turned on. It was quite moving. But the most amazing part for me, was the very end. I turned around to watch the procession and I realized they had opened the huge doors at the back of the church. These doors are almost always closed so the symbolism of those open doors was very powerful! For me it was a symbol of both the church going out into the world as well as welcoming the world in. I almost started crying.
Here's a picture of St. Paul's with the doors open:
-I went to the "blessing of the crib" in Trafalgar Square. This was a service put on by St. Martin in the Fields. The choir and a Salvation Army band led the procession down the middle of the road (that was something to be a part of!) and into Trafalgar Square where the "crib" or, as we would say, nativity, had been set up. Then there was a service of readings and carols. It was really cool and moving to be singing hymns in the middle of Trafalgar Square and have passersby join in! Here's a picture (sorry for the poor quality; you can see the base of Nelson's Column, the band is on the far left, the box is the nativity and the choir is on the left, in white):
-Oh, and I finished my first term of graduate school! As I mentioned earlier, I haven't taken the finals and won't until summer term. Therefore the end of term doesn't really feel like the end. I don't feel like I can say I "survived" yet. But still, it was a major thing! Apparently, I can do graduate work! :-)
So I think that about covers it! I hope you enjoyed the update. As always, thanks for reading!
Love,
Abbey
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