London Calling

Well after almost a week with no internet, here I am to entertain you all with my English antics once again!

This past week I enjoyed my last week of summer (although you wouldn’t know it based on the weather) and started in on my full time work at All Saints’ on Tuesday.  But more on that later.

First off I shall fill you in on the details of my lovely holiday.  After attending the lovely wedding of my mentor Carol, I set off with Mark and Lorna and their kids to the absolutely fabulous city of London!  It was truly a surreal experience to be in this city I had grown up seeing in films and television shows and dreaming of one day going to.

I spent the week from Monday to Friday with the Ashworth family and my dear friends Lissi and Tryni.  They took me into central London and showed me the sights.  There was so much in London that I really didn’t really do a whole lot, but rather saw a whole lot.  We hopped a sightseeing bus the first couple of days and did a tour around central London, seeing everything from Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the London Eye,  to Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and Westminster Abby, to Globe Theatre, St. Paul’s Cathedral and Tower Bridge and everything in between, including the very shop where the Queen buys her underthings.

I saw so much that I cannot really begin to describe it all, however I will provide you, my lovely readers, with visual aids in the form of photographs seen below.  These photographs will also be available for viewing on Facebook.

Well after departing from the company of Lissi, Tryni and the Ashworths I had the great pleasure of meeting my dad’s cousins, Lionel and Jill, the first of my English family I have met.  I spent the weekend with them, again traipsing around the streets of London while shopping, picnicking and taking in a few exhibitions at the Tate Britain, the Natural History Museum and the V & A Museum. It was wonderful to meet them and spend time with them.

As I mentioned, I started work this week, on Tuesday.  We started out by cleaning all the toys for one of our weekly groups, Panda Club.  This group is for mums with kids aged 0 to 4 and is a time for them to come and fellowship with other mums while their children play.   After about 2 1/2 hours we, myself, Carol and another apprentice, Elaine, along with 3 volunteers, had all the toys cleaned, dried and put away.  It was a big undertaking, but not all that tedious.  And now the Panda storage area is clean and tidy.  For a week at least.

After our cleaning fest, we did various office administration tasks.  Things that need to be done before the ministry year starts, not terribly exciting so I won’t bore you with the details.  Today was much the same, minus the cleaning and adding a staff meeting.  Thus far, I am rather enjoying work.  We’ll see how that goes when all the clubs and activities start up next week.  😀  I do really think I will love working at All Saints’ though.  I already feel so welcomed and accepted into the church family and it’s feeling like home which is truly a blessing.

Well that is all for now, please enjoy the following London-themed photos and thanks for reading!

A Taste of England

So the other night I had my first meal of fish and chips in England and it was very delicious!  Jeanne and David took me and Ilene, their friend who is visiting, out to dinner at their favourite fish and chips joint and it was so fun.  Great food and great company.  I have discovered that when you get Jeanne together with Ilene that they have a riot!  They are always cracking jokes and telling stories and just all around enjoy each other’s company.  It’s very sweet.  Below you can see a picture of me with my fish and chips!

Grab Your Wellies and Your Umbrella, It’s Raining

Well today after a week and a half I finally experienced classic English weather.  My raincoat and umbrella made their first appearance today as it rained quite steadily for most of the day.  And it was fantastic!  I watched it, walked in it and thoroughly enjoyed it.

So Holiday Club and Big Shout have come to an end and things have ground almost to a halt at the church.  It is strange going from busy and chaotic to a standstill but a welcome break.  I had a blast my first week here though so I can’t complain.

Holiday Club went wonderfully!  I led a group of 8 girls, alongside my fellow leader Andrew, called “Daphne’s Dream Team”.  The theme this year was secret agents and so the church was decked out as an old English manor with spy gadgets and memorabilia.  The drama was focused around the “Case of the Missing ‘Moaney Aunt Lisa'” which was a painting of the aunt of the Lady of the Manor, Lady Penelope. The bumbling secret agent 008 (think Inspector Clueso from Pink Panther or Johnny English) went undercover in the manor as a bodyguard to solve the case.  His assistant Watson (or as 008 says “What’s On”) was there to correct his mistakes.  It is believed that The Raven (dun, dun, duuunnn.  Shhhh!) a famous art thief stole the painting and every member of the household is a suspect.  These include Reginald, the butler who looks oddly like a gorilla, Graham the gardener who is rather gruff and can’t be bothered with stolen paintings, Margaret the maid who works at night (rather suspicious…), Christine the cook who spends all her time working in the kitchen (played by yours truly), and the crazy friend of Lady Penelope, Colonel Bertie Basingstoke who is mostly deaf and rather odd.  After spending the week questioning all the people in the household it is discovered in the end that Watson is The Raven (dun, dun, duuunnn. Shhhh!).  He is appreahended and the Moaney Aunt Lisa is returned to Lady Penelope.

We also looked at the story of the Israelites on their journey from the escape from Egypt to entering the Promised Land.  We learned that God Saves, God Forgives, God is the Greatest, God Gives Second Chances, and God Gives Us Power.  The kids were all really engaged in the stories and lessons and were so excited to learn about God.  We also had a blast making crafts, singing and playing games.  There was also “pieing” which is apparently a tradition at All Saints’.  Many leaders got a face full of whipped cream that week.  Thankfully I was able to avoid it. 🙂

Big Shout was also a big success!  We did everything from a photo scavenger hunt, to games in the park, to a spy quiz to a fancy spy dinner party.  Our speaker for the week was Glen and he showed us how the Old Testament links to Jesus.  He explained how Jesus is in the stories of Adam, Abraham and Issac, Moses, and David.  He was an amazing speaker and captivated his audience and not just the students, but also the leaders all learned something from him.

All in all I am thoroughly enjoying England so far.  I have already had the chance to swim in the English channel, eat English chips (french fries), and see fields full of English sheep.  God is truly blessing me.  Thank you all again for your prayers!