Here it is! The moment you've been waiting for!

Slowly, but surely, I am hoping to catch up my blog with the events that are happening in my life. If you look at my last post, you will see that I went to the Imperial War Museum in London on the 2nd of October. That night I pulled an all-nighter, which, for those of you not in college, is when you stay up all night and drink ridiculous amounts of tea and coffee and try to write your papers and edit them before your early morning deadline. In my case, I was writing a 2,000 word essay on the World War II poets and also editing my essay on the literary aspect of the abolitionist movement in England. (Commercial: everyone needs to watch "Amazing Grace.") However, I was not alone, since most of my housemates were doing the same thing. In particular, Kristin, Quinn and I were holed up in the computer room, furiously working away. Yet, this does not mean that we didn't have fun. At one point, probably around three in the morning, Quinn mentioned that he wanted to have a seance. Me being me, decided this was a great idea. So I ran down to my room and got in costume and talked Krisitin into being the spirit that I would summon. I returned to the computer room laden with random props (Statue of Liberty light, religious icon, fruit, jewelry, etc.) and proceeded to hold a mock ceremony complete with hand holding and chanting. Courtney and Quinn were in the computer room, so they got drafted into the the ceremony. Quinn, who originally had this idea, asked, about half way through, whether we were going to go to hell for this. Of course not, I said. Then I proceeded to summon David Hume (on Quinn's special request). However, Kristin thought I was summoning Hahalaba, so she was totally confused. All in all, the whole thing was hilarious and has now evolved into an urban legend in the house.

All of this is a back story to my fall break. After staying up all night and writing, I hurriedly packed a few things for my trip to London. I then scurried into town to drop off my papers and get on the bus. I managed to sleep for about an hour on the bus, which was amazing. I arrived in London around eleven or so. The plan was to meet my cousin Missy at Victoria Station. However, I think I got off a stop too soon, but I made my way to Victoria Station which turned out to be HUGE! I had no idea where Missy was, so I spent almost an hour wandering around and calling my mom on the payphones. Of course, it was around six in the morning back in the states, so when I called my brother Calvin to get him to check my e-mail and relay the information about the hostel that Missy and I would be staying at, he was asleep. But Calvin is an excellent brother and he did get up to check it. Thankfully, Missy showed up right when I was giving him my entirely too complicated password, and he was allowed to go back to bed.

My meeting with Missy was entirely providential and we were both thrilled to have found each other and be in London on an adventure! I can't really remember the order of what we did next, but we collected Missy's bags at the Holiday Inn and transported them to our hostel, Globetrotter's Inn. I think we did something that night, but the whole thing is such a blur that I can't recall what it was. Oh the disadvantages of sleep deprivation! However, I'm pretty sure that we went to the Tate Modern and tried to get Globe tickets. The next day we went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard. We didn't actually get to see it because of the crowds, but we did get to see the guards walk in and out of the Palace. Then we went on a quest for theatre tickets. This did not work out, but it was very interesting to wander about and see all of the theatres. We then made our way to the National Portrait Gallery and I was very excited to see the portraits of: Henry VIII and his wives, Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, Shakespeare, the Bloomsbury group, and a special exhibit for the World War I poets. If I remember correctly, we then tried to make it to Westminster, but by the time we got there it was closed, so we headed to the Natural History Museum and looked at the the whale skeletons of awhile. Then we went to St. Paul's Cathedral for Evensong. I had promised myself that I would not fall asleep like I did last time, but it was a futile effort. I could tell that I was falling asleep when I thought the priest was talking about shoes! Our next goal was to make it to a famous pub, but we had some difficulties. First, we needed to find a bathroom, but come to find out, almost everything in London (and England) closes after six, so we couldn't find one until we made it to the pub. The pub ended up not being as cool as we thought it would be, so we used the facilities and departed. We settled on The George, which was crowded and lively, but had good food and a cozy backroom. Afterwards, we walked along the Thames and decided to try to watch a movie, but by the time we got to the theatres, all the showings were under way. So, back to the hostel.

The next day was Sunday, and we had decided that since we didn't get to go to a show, we would go on the London Eye. Well, don't you know, it was raining! So instead we went to Westminster for church. The service was lovely and it was wonderful to be in such an ancient and historic place praising God. We were not allowed to poke around, but we did get to go to the museum, which was very interesting. I definitely need to go back to Westminster though. Next we went to Petticoat Lane to check out the markets. I got some Christmas presents for people and some Tchaikovsky. Then it was off to the British Public Library which was incredible! They have an amazing rare texts collection with: a Gutenberg Bible, the Lindisfarne Gospels, a copy of the Magna Carta, a First Folio, notebooks from Lewis Carroll, da Vinci, and Virginia Woolf, and so much more! Missy and I are both bookworms, so we were in book heaven. Really, I highly recommend stopping by this place if you're in London, it's just so cool! We spent a good deal of time here before heading to some more shops. As dusk descended on the city, we decided to try our luck with the Eye and we had success! The Eye is phenomenal! It's a huge Ferris wheel that gives you a perfect panoramic view of London and at night it is absolutely magical. Really, words can't properly describe it, but it was probably my favorite memory.

Monday came with Dawn's rosy red fingers gracefully touching Kew Gardens, our destination of the day. We only had about three hours to spend at Kew, but we made the most of it. Kew is just beautiful and the colors were just starting to turn. The greenhouses were fascinating and huge, wonders of Victorian construction and modern technology. I think my favorites were: the alpine garden, the Japanese garden, and the walkway through the treetops. After Kew we checked out of the hostel and then went to the bus station and got tickets to our separate destinations. This was actually quite a feat, but we managed it admirably. Unfortunately, I had to leave my dear cousin and head back to Oxford, but reunion was in sight and that will be the topic of my next post.

The Imperial War Museum, London

Dear Friends,

Here is yet another overly late post. On October 2nd, all of us SCIO students went on a field trip to the ever sunny and happy place otherwise known as the Imperial War Museum in London. In case you can't tell, I am being totally sarcastic about the sunny and happy bit. Rather, the Museum is vastly interesting and depressing. It is sobering to walk through the five floors and through all the exhibits documenting the cruelties of war, even just war. Here are some highlights of the trip.

1.) There is an excellent exhibit called "In Memoria" about the First World War. This exhibit was especially appropriate because I was writing a paper about why most people are unaware of the World War II poets and seem to think that only the First War had a serious literary output. In the entrance to the exhibit was a quote from a poem by Vernon Scannell, who was a World War II poet, describing how, even though he did not fight in the First War, he is able to write about it, due to the poets and the landscape of No Man's Land that they immortalized in their verses. (Si denote, Scannell also wrote an excellent book about the Second World War poets called Not Without Glory, which I relied on heavily when writing my paper.) The rest of the exhibit presented artifacts from various soldiers, nurses, etc. But the poetry remained the most moving.

2.) I also journeyed through an art gallery, complete with an absolutely gorgeous painting by John Singer Sargent of World War One soldiers who had been blinded by mustard gas.

3.) I did this last, but it was probably my favorite exhibit. In the lower floor, there were mock trenches set up. It was really interesting, because it was dark and the walls of the trench loomed ominously over my head. It was eerie because there were several dummy soldiers that talked, lit cigarettes, or just stood and surveyed the whole scene. All that was missing was the mud and the gunfire. It was very realistic and chilling. I couldn't help but feel very small and alone.

4.) Before this, I had gone through the three stories of the Holocaust memorial. This was my first visit to a Holocaust exhibit and I found the whole thing entirely depressing. I felt horrified at first, and then numb after viewing so many images and reading so many stories. A few things really stood out to me. The first was an operating table that Nazi doctors used to conduct their experiments on Jewish and other unwanted peoples. I was horrified to hear of the sterilization operations performed, even on very small children. The second was the shoes that were taken from the dead Jews and then given to the ones who arrived at the camps. This recycling process was so chilling, to think of all the men, women, and children who had used those shoes. Finally, the most disturbing was the pictures, particularly one of someone bulldozing the naked bodies of men and women into a mass burial pit. Sometimes, you can know about a thing, but not really grasp that it really did happen, but these pictures revealed the absolute horror and evil of what happened during the Nazi reign. It was really too much to take in, but necessary.

In the end, the trip was good and important. It was a time to reflect on war and why we fight. Sometimes, I can't help but get idealistic and think that someday we can really just get along. And then I remember that we live in a fallen world and war will be a part of it from now until Christ comes again. All we can do is pray for peace, share the Gospel, and, when absolutely necessary, fight those who are bent on the destruction of goodness.

Here are some pictures from my visit:

http://s531.photobucket.com/albums/dd355/Dabney_Kinser/Imperial%20War%20Museum/

The Pitt Rivers Museum

On September 30th, we went to the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. Admission was free and we were allowed to simply browse and soak up as much natural history and science as we wished. The exhibits were very hands on, for instance, we were allowed to pet the stuffed animals. (As in the ones that were once alive, but then they made a trip to the taxidermist!) All in all, it was really cool and I can't wait to go back! Here are a few pictures from the trip.
http://s531.photobucket.com/albums/dd355/Dabney_Kinser/Pitt%20Rivers%20Museum/

Bath--The Home of Frivolity

This blog is long overdue! My sincerest apologies. On September 25th, all of us SCIO students made our way to Bath. I was very sick that morning and running late, so I actually had to run half the way to the bus stop, and then the bus was twenty minutes late! On top of this, I had the pressure of knowing that I had lots to do on my essays. However, once I got to Bath, it was totally worth it.

Bath was originally discovered by the Celts, who built a shrine to the goddess Sul beside the hot springs. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, King Bladud, a man afflicted with leprosy, was herding pigs near the springs when he observed that the diseased pigs who rolled in the mud by the springs came out healed. The King followed suit and his leprosy was healed. Since then, the rumor that Bath's springs possessed healing properties spread throughout the country.

After the Celts came the Romans, who venerated the springs by constructing a bath complex and building a temple for Aquae Sulis. The Romans left in 407 AD, but people continued visiting the springs. Interestingly enough, if you watch "Amazing Grace," William Wilberforce pays a visit to Bath and there meets his future wife. (A great movie, by the way.)

Bath was interesting, but I was disappointed that I couldn't actually get in the water. However, my disappointment was quickly assuaged by Bath Abbey. The abbey is gorgeous! Words cannot describe how beautiful it is, you simply have to visit it. Check out the pictures and you'll get a small taste of its majesty.

Finally, we took an architectural tour of Bath, which included seeing the John Wood's Circus, Queen's Square, and the Royal Crescent. I also walked by the Jane Austen club, which was kind of ironic because Austen is Bath's most famous resident, but she actually hated Bath. As a side note, my friend Courtney went back to Bath the next weekend for a Jane Austen Regency Ball and got to witness a British reenactment of the American Civil War. How bizarre is that?

*All historical information is from Dr. Baigent's lecture on Bath, given on September 24, 2008*

http://s531.photobucket.com/albums/dd355/Dabney_Kinser/Bath/