Lloyds of London and Parliament - 3-5-10

On Friday, March 5, 2010, the whole Oxford group left Oxford on a coach and drove to London. We stopped to view St. Paul's Cathedral, built in the 1600s. It was beautiful and ornate. Once inside, I noticed how different it was from Westminster Abbey. It appeared majestic and clean - a perfect place for a big wedding. (Charles and Diana) The Westminister Abbey dates back to 1066 and houses many remains and memorials to kings, queens, poets, and wealthy aristocrats. After the Cathedral, we headed over to Lloyds of London where David Bruton (his son attends ACU) set up a three hour information session for all of us. It was interesting to listen to an explanation of the UK's banking system and realize that the US has many banks whereas the UK has only a few. We had an opportunity to be a part of their trading floor where they receive calls and bids, to listen to how they assess the credit risk of loans, and to understand the impact of the recent economy on their banking philosophy.
My favorite part of the day was visiting Parliament. The history behind their two party system was quite interesting and our tour guide was quite animated. Parliament meets on a piece of property that was a working palace for 900 years. A fire destroyed many London buildings in the 1800s so parliament's reconstructed buildings are not as old as its neighbor, the Westminster Abbey. The parliament is actually a palace that has been turned into the home of the UK government. Henry VIII moved out of the palace and into Hampton Court. Consequently, the lords meet in what used to be the chapel and it is so very beautiful. Where the altar of the chapel used to be, they now have a seat for the head of the Lords. It is all gold leaf and rich, dark wood. For the house of commoners, the room is quite plain with long rows of green seats. The queen may not enter the houses even though she opens parliament each year. Dating back to the time of Charles I when he forced his way into the house and demanded several officials who were opposed to his ways, the parliament does not allow the queen into the chambers displaying the separation of powers. Along with the beautiful building, this palace's artwork displays images of the monarchs and the prime ministers throughout history.
For those planning on traveling to the UK in the near future, please make reservations ahead of time for this free tour. It is well worth your time.

It's Life((:

Today i finished my Algebra class, finally!! So i have completed my History and Math lessons and just have to take the finals for both now. Then i went to Young Life with some good friends from church. Felicity, Nick, and I carpool together to the house where everyone meets because kids here can not get their licence till they are 17 and it's a long and expensive process. I'm pretty sure my driving is going to be crazy when i get back, considering everything is backwards here and my six-month restrictions will be up and i haven't even been driving!
We got to the place and it was a night full of prayer and praise. We sang to the lead of a Guitar. As i said earlier singing is my favorite way to worship God so it was so refreshing to be in the company of sweet people and beautiful songs. Some songs i didn't know, but most of the choruses were the same even if the intros were different.

A few nights ago i went to hang out with some of my friends at Josh's house, but pretty much had no way of getting there. I had no idea how to use the complicated bus system, so my friend Caleb offered to cycle to my house to get me and then we walked about 20 minutes to Summer Town to catch a bus. It just amazes me how different the living style is here and how lazy I become at home just being able to just hop in the car and go wherever in minutes notice. It was so nice to slow down, enjoy ourselves and actually get to know each other because there was time for it.

On Sunday we went to the small Church of Christ about 2.5 miles from our home again. This time we took some of the students with us, thus doubling the population of the small place and warming each one the members at just the thought of us coming back to visit. Although it is not my ideal church home, it was great to be able to feel that in a small way those people were blessed. We went out to eat at a fun place after and then Mom and i broke off to go shopping for a little bit. I love shopping here with so many different options; it's one of my favorite things to do(:

We leave for Italy on Thursday and I'm so excited mostly because of the thought of going to Rome and throwing a coin into the Trevi fountain. This trip is special to me because i have spent months thinking about it, researching it, and writing descriptive papers over it concerning where to visit and what to see.
Prayers would be ideal for this time, the students are traveling all over and safety if much needed.

Love&Miss
Michelle

Land of the Swiss

Sooo this last week, I Kelly, traveled to Switzerland with five other friends and absolutely loved it. The mountains were perfectly serene and so grand. It felt like I was in a fake backdrop for pictures because it was so pretty. We had a lot of good experiences traveling to and from; however, once we got to Interlaken we had a very relaxing week and got to do so many great things. I got to go paragliding with a very interesting Pilot named Pashai. I was soo scared to go sailing 4,400 feet in the air, but after I was in the air, it was breathtaking and not scary at all. I loved every minute of flying over the mountains of Switzerland and would tell everyone to do it at least once in your life time. We got to go up to a town called Lauterbrunnen and hiked through this winter wonderland about four miles. It was a snowy playground. The sun was shining the whole time we were there and the group was just so much fun. I feel privileged to be able to return to Switzerland again and experience God's BREATHTAKING beauty. I kept making sure all of this was real.Unbelievable. After many snow ball fights, too many pb&js, hostels, hikes, customs four times-we made it safely back to lovely Oxford. James 1:17

London

We spent several days traveling by train to London. The first trip we spent most of our time on Regent Street shopping for clothes. Hannah and Michelle enjoy shopping at Accessorize, H&M, and Zara. Rick just headed for the local Starbucks to use the WiFi and work. In order to travel from the train station to Regent Street, we walked through a part of town where Arab shops abounded. We encountered many people sitting outside at tables smoking with "Hookah" machines. We had never seen anything like this before so we stopped and talked to those smoking. We could smell the fruity scent in the air as we passed.

We traveled last Friday to London to visit the Kensington Palace and the surrounding parks. The castle is beautiful and it houses many famous painter's works throughout the first and second floors. Kensington Palace was the principal dwelling place of Queen Victoria as she grew up and Princess Diana lived there (in the back away from public view) when she was alive. We walked by a memorial Queen Victoria built to her husband, Prince Albert, when he died and it is located at the end of Hyde Park. We also walked to Harrods, a famous shopping store in London. Harrods is quite unique with its Egyptian motif throughout several floors: Pharaoh statues, hieroglyphics running across the ceilings, etc. We walked throughout the floors viewing elegance and gaudiness. Our plan was to travel to St. Paul's Cathedral and then to view the London Bridge at night; however, it was raining quite hard so we are leaving the rest of the trip for another night.

While in Oxford, our family primarily attends the Woodstock Baptist Church, fifteen minutes walking time from our house. Michelle met several high school students and Hannah and Kelly befriended several college students. On Tuesday nights Michelle attends a Bible study and Hannah and Kelly meet their friends whenever possible. Last night we had about twelve over for dinner; we enjoy listening to their accents while they enjoy listening to ours.

Love and Blessings
Jeanne