About our crazy French teacher, the "blue banana", and God's blessings

Last Saturday I went to the Cottage again with David four this time wounderful football. I expected Tottenham to win, actually, after having beaten Liverpool twice as well as Arsenal and some others since Harry Redknap took over as their new manager. But Fulham was just not the team I had seen in the first two games anymore. They entered boldly into a thrilling game and Tottenham hardly had any chances. In fact, the only chance they had they turned into a goal. But Fulham was leading by then and the game was almost over. Hangeland, Johnson, and Bullard made the most impressive performance, as far as I am concerned.

Afterwards, I headed to a bar at the Thames to chat with David and we had a really good time. We also talked about God and I felt it was really blessed.

On Sunday I started reading again and got a book and some articles done until last night. My screwed schedule did not allow me any sleep before five in the morning again. So when I got up at eight and looked out of the window it looked like a harsh and mean day with lots of London drizzle. But then I started to smile - because it was really absurd that I have not been able to sleep before five and, on the other hand, because I felt cheered by God's love and thought it would be a great day (I am really an optimist:) - for those who do not know me so well).

My French classe went well. As we were learning the future proche (aller + infinitif), our teacher asked the only Arab student in our class, who did not seem to dig the concept, whether he would bomb him later on among other things. It did not seem to bother anyone. Probably they were all too tired;).

Also a Chinese in my class told me he knew an undergrad. student from my residence. So I asked him whether it was Avery. "Is he Chinese?", he replied. I found that really funny. How can a Chinese be called Avery? He is American.

Then I read some in a cafe, had my secularization class, another coffee with Nick, and finally made it to a lecture about the "blue banana";).

Now it is midnight and if I can sleep now, it really would be a blessing.

The owl of Hampstead Residence

What a wonderful day! Some reading peppered with a linguistics seminar on language and identity, my advanced skills class (today it was all about how to make an argument), and a follow-up session in a bar near Covent Garden on 19th century superstition (after it was criticized that Maria always appeared in exactly the same shape she was portrayed in contemporary pictures, I was after a beer, which my lecturer bought for me, lucky me - nice he:), bold enough to share God working in our times: of angels seen by a bunch of Indians attacking churches and about to set fire to them and then running - all terrified - away. Later asked, they speak of a huge bright figure with a sword). They did not really know what to say about that;) So good, Open Doors provides us with loads of victory news in the kingdom as well!

Thereafter, I met my American friend Timothy at Canada Water to go to a friend's vegan delight dinner. But just in the moment we met outside the station my cell ran out of energy. Since I was supposed to give her a call, so she could pick us up, our evening plan - but not the evening;) - was screwed. We decided to get some chicken and bred at Tesco's instead and then went to St. John's Wood to the Beatles' thing (I will just coin this expression now for an action imitation a previous one performed by the Beatles after Obama in his first press conference after the election responded to the question if he was about to seek the former presidents' advice now, that he was only about to speak to those alive and not willing to "get into a Nancy Reagan thing... doing any seances" - I thought that was pretty hilarious. He could have called it Clinton thing as well though, since she allegedly did the same kind of "thing" in the White House). So what we did was to walk in their shoes as we walked on the famous Abbey road pedestrian crossing (long blabla around the message - that's me;) You really have to do that to make everyday experiences interesting and a decent anecdote though!;)

After we then zickzacked London on different buses, 'cause we passed my station, we Zenned out big time, especially Timothy who has not been up really since then and has been already asleep for about four and a half hours. Even the first term students - basically everyone here - who try to catch up with what we did when we were 15, 16 are not slamming their doors anymore.

So that makes the owl of Hampstead Residence considering the time - 4:33 in the morning.

But I better go to bed now "to make the most of my life" - as good 'ol Brett Dennen keeps singing on "So Much More". Especially with the super exciting Fulham vs. Tottenham match I am going to attend with my most loved London cousin:)

Good night, says the owl, and seeks its aerie...

Vom Fuchs, großen Freuden, Segen und Plänen (natürlich;))

Es ist jetzt mittlerweile drei Uhr, bei euch vier. Langsam werde ich echt zum Fuchs.

Apropros Fuchs, wenn ich aus dem Fenster gucke in meinem Zimmer, dann sehe ich einen Fuchs. Man hat mir gesagt, es gäbe sogar zwei!

London ist wirklich teuer, aber derzeit lese oder recherchiere ich so 10 bis 12 Stunden (neben meinem vollen Stundenpland: sieben SWS;)), da habe ich fast gar keine Zeit mehr zum Geldausgeben;)

Ich habe gestern von David, meinem Camino-Kumpanen aus Uruguay, ne mail bekommen. Er hat sein Buch mit dem Titel "La conjura de Moises" endlich fertig. Wenn ich da mal nicht in irgendwelchen verkappten Rollen vorkomme;) Er hat nämlich den Jakobsweg als Inspiration genutzt, um seine Verschwörungstheorien von den Templern auszubauen;) Muss ihm gleich mal schreiben und nach ner handsignierten Ausgabe fragen.

Sonst habe ich kürzlich ein Buch über Marpingen gelesen. Marienerscheinungen im 19. Jahrhundert und Pilgerungen, 400 Seiten . Harter Tobak. Wenn das so weiter geht werde ich hier noch ein Spezialist für deutsche Sozialgeschichte im 19. Jahrhundert. Yeah!

Sonst habe ich heute Uni gehabt (Franze und A Second Confessional Age?), mit Nick nen semi-guten Kaffe getrunken, recherchiert und für mein etwaiges Masterarbeitsthema. Noch ganz grob: Die Entwicklung von Baptistengemeinden im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert in Nordwestdeutschland.

Wenn ich wieder komme nach Deutschland werde ich ja noch nen Master of Education machen, das habe ich jetzt entschieden (und damit den Traum vom Lehrjob in den USA erst ein Mal verschoben) - zu 99% in Oldenburg, denn so sehr ich mit meinem Herzen an meinem Münster und an meinen Freunden dort hänge, es gibt dort noch nicht ein Mal eine Professur für Fachdidaktik, beim Hochschulranking belegt die Anglistik dauerhaft einen der letzten Plätze und man lernt dort gefühlt nichts.

Falls das also so werden sollte, dann gründen Eugen und ich ne WG. Das wird derbst lustig. Letztmals schlief ich öfter bei ihm als wir 13, 14 waren und da ist er dann immer so um 2,3 eingepennt als ich noch Becker gegen Agassi in Flushing Meadows geschaut habe. Am morgen hat er sich dann mit Igor in Unterwäsche gefetzt während ich seine Fische überfüttert habe (natürlich nicht mit Absicht) und die am nächsten Tag alle tot auf der Oberfläche des Aquariums trieben. Das waren noch Zeiten!

Ach ja, ganz vergessen: Am Samstag war ich mit meinem Freund Timothy und ner Freundin von ihm im British Museum: Mit ner kleinen Starbucksunterbrechung (kann man sich ja leisten, da das Museum kostenlos ist; was ist eigentlich dein Lieblingskaffee da, Stefan? Den Mocca fand ich mit der Schokolade und der Sahne ganz gut, nur der Kaffeeanteil war soso). Nun konnte ich endlich ein Mal den Rosetta Stone sehen (bei näherer Betrachtung, trotz seiner enormben wissenschaftsgeschichtlichen Bedeutung, auch nur ein Stein). Wirklich fasziniert war ich aber von den Artefakten der Assyrer, Babylonier und Perser. Denn plötzlich konnte ich mir die Reliefs mit den ganzen Geschichten anschauen, die in der Grundschule mein Geschichtsinteresse geweckt hatten. Doch hauptsächlich haben wir uns mit Karen, der Freundin von Timothy, über Gott und die Welt unterhalten. Das war wirklich so wunderbar. Danach war ich unglaublich froh, denn das Gespräch war so dermaßen gesegnet. Auf das Gott den Samen aufgehen lasse!

Von meinen Eltern habe ich ein riesen Paket erhalten. Nachdem Mama gehört hat, dass ich hier keine Winterjacke habe, war das ja klar:) Darüber hinaus gabs noch massig Käse, Südtiroler Speck, Schwarzwälder Schinken, Marzipan, Hustenbonbons, Tempos - wirklich! Ich habe mich unglaublich drüber gefreut.

Auch über Trauis tolle, außergewöhnlich künstlerische Karte (das ist abstrakt, oder?).

Sonst habe ich gestern mal mein Zeit hier in London rigide durchgeplant (Abgabedaten, Prüfungen, Urlaub und so). Ab Mitte Juni werde ich wohl wieder nach Deutschland kommen und dort Recherchen anstellen, wenn es bei dem Baptistenthema bleibt.

Vielleicht komme ich ja nächstes Jahr so Mitte September nach der Abgabe meiner Masterarbeit wieder ne Woche zum Wandern; dann auf dem Camino Arragones. Und danach bei den guten Farmers in Estoril abspannen - das wärs!

Für alle noch ein ganz großer Tipp: William Fitzsimmons in Münster am 16.12 (Gleis) und in HH am 18.12 (Grüner Jäger).

So jetzt ist es 3 Uhr 48 und trotz der guten französischen Worship Musik von Phare FM bleibe ich jetzt im Bett - aber der Compi nicht;)

Also, gute Nacht und cheers!

Historic moments and great sisters

I don't wanna ad to the extensive body of info and enthusiasm on last night.
Just would like to say that I now have to keep my promise from the Iowa primary more than a year ago: I will become American.
Let's all work for a better future - Yes we can!

My 15 year old sister is the coolest. She is going to have a class party at our house and told her mates that there will be no alcohol. If someone pukes in our garden, he must clean it with a shevel.
She is so hilariously outspoken:)

P.S.: If you really knwo what happened last night, check this out:
http://allsp.com/l.php?id=e179

About God's answers, snow in London, and a great artist

On Monday I was pretty stressed out because of my first French test the following day. The problem was that I still had not received my course book and the week before I could not even conjugate s'appeler. So I tried to find as much information as possible in the internet and skyped with mum and Tina to study some. That night I told God that I'd rather avoid taking the test. Then, on Tuesday morning I went to the Strand, but could not really approach the building since the sidewalk was jammed with students. So I had to fight my way to the entrance, but it was closed. A sign said: Due to a power outage Strand campus is closed for today! I did not have to take the test:)

Last night I could hardly believe my eyes: it was snowing in London! What was sleet at the beginning turned into beautiful and immense snowflakes. What an awesome winter-feeling! After our lifegroup in a hotel lounge, Karim and I went to a pub to have a pint and whisky.

Now I am about to go to Hammersmith to watch Tottenham vs. Arsenal in the Old City Arms with David.

About a week ago I booked my flight home for Christmas. I will not only see beloved Münster again on 16 December, but also a great artist: William Fitzsimmons is going to jam in Gleis 22 - one of the greatest Indi-Folk singer songwriters of our times! I discovered him at the beginning of last year and found his music so great that I just had to write him on myspcace. I invited him to Münster and now he is coming! I am so looking forward to it! I will try to meet some friends then. I also have to go to Berlin to check out the Baptist archive for my dissertation and to see little Mia for the first time before going home to my parents' for Christmas.

p.s.: yesterday we prayed for my radiator because after two weeks and several complaints it still has not been working. I already though it's because of Joe "the plumber" Wurzelbacher being busy in helping the GOP beat Obama. Anyway, I got home last night and it worked for the first time:)

SDW, Sonntag und der fiese Leiter des Berliner ZfL

Ab Freitag war ich auf dem ersten Studienförderwerk Seminar (bin ja sonst beim Stuidenkolleg für zukünftige Lehrer) der SDW ,in London. Mein Befürchtung, nur fiesen BWLern mit rosa Hemden, hochgesteckten Kragen und Segelschuhen zu begegnen, bestätigte sich nur zum Teil;)

Ein Doktorand aus Cambridge schlief bei mir. Es ging primär ums gemeinsame Kennenlernen,
die Stadt erkunden und Aktivitäten planen. Im nächsten Jahr stehen u. a. ein Kultur-Trip nach Edinburgh, Segeln, Stadterkundungen von Cambridge (mit PhD-Seminar) und Oxford (mit Inklings-Exkursion) auf der Agenda. Es gab auch einen Vortrag von unserem Vertrauensdozenten der LSE über credit crunch und bailout. Das Wirtschaftsvokabular habe ich schon mal verstanden. Der Inhalt war für mich wie weitere Puzzleteile, um das grande énigme Wirtschaft besser zu verstehen. Abends gingen wir dann Essen und ein paar Bier trinken.

Heute gehe ich wieder zur Christ Church. Dort gibt es viele junge Leute in meinem Alter – so 400, 500. Ich habe da auch einen Jungen aus Barcelona getroffen, dessen Eltern bei JmeM in Spanien sind. Ich war 2005 als ich mit Tom und Stocki in Lloret war schon mal bei ihm in der
kleinen Gemeinde in einer ehemaligen Disco. Wahrscheinlich gehe ich ab nächste Woche auch in seinen Hauskreis. Die Gemeinde ist eher pfingstlerisch. Letzten Sonntag sang da jd. in Zungen. Es gab aber auch ne Übersetzung;) Da ich ja einmal die Woche auch zu den Rogglis in die Bibel- oder Gebetsstunde des Brüdervereins gehe, habe ich so wohl das ganze Spektrum abgedeckt;)

Mittwoch geht's wahrscheinlich wieder zum Fußball. Wigan fordert Fulham.

Ach ja, ich habe mich respektvoll mit dem Leiters des Zentrums für Lehrerbildung in Berlin angelegt. Das ist ein Spaß. Ich schwanke nämlich zwischen Berlin und Oldenburg. Aber in Berlin kann ich angeblich keinen Master of Education machen, da ich nicht die erforderlichen 30 LP EW im BA gemacht habe (bei 10 LP Toleranz). Da ich nur 10 gemacht habe, fehlen mir 10. An denen kann es ja nicht scheitern, so schrieb ich Dr. Hreusen, denn, ich habe allein in Münster (geschweige denn jetzt am KCL) schon mehr Fachwissenschaft betrieben als Berliner Bachelor. Da Fachwissenschaft in Berlin auch Teil des MA Ed ist, müsste ich so wesentlich weniger Fachwissenschaft im MA Ed studieren als die Berliner und hätte Kapazitäten frei, um EW nachzuhohlen.

Dazu Dr. Hreusen:

"...eine Kompensation Fachwissenschaft - Erzwiss ist leider auch nicht möglich.
Sie müssten sich also auf den Bachelor neu bewerben.“

Das fand ich ziemlich dreist und ein wenig stupide. Offensichtlich hatte er mich auch missverstanden, denn es geht mir ja gar nicht darum Fachwissenschaft mit EW zu
kompensieren , sondern Fachwissenschaft mit Fachwissenschaft.

Daher meine Antwort:

"Sehr geehrter Dr. Heursen,

entschuldigen Sie bitte meine verspätete Antwort. Bei allem Respekt, ich habe für Ihre Darlegung überhaupt kein Verständnis. Es kann doch nicht sein, dass ich wegen 10 fehlender Leistungspunkte in EW, den Master of Education in Berlin nicht antreten kann. Gerade auch deswegen, weil ich schon mehr fachwissenschaftliche Module in Münster und in London studiert habe, die Berliner Bachelorstudenten dann im Master of Education studieren. Daher geht es mir gar nicht um eine Kompensation Fachwissenschaft-Erziehungswissenschaft. Vielmehr müsste ich mit aller Wahrscheinlichkeit ob besagten Grundes weniger Fachwissenschaft im Berliner Master of Education studieren als die Studenten, die in Berlin ihren BA gemacht haben. Damit hätte ich dann Kapazitäten frei die 10 respektive 20 Lp EW
nachzuhohlen.

Es kann doch nicht sein, dass ich ohne weiteres mit meinem Münsteraner Bachelor an eine x-beliebige, hervorragende Uni im Ausland wechseln kann, aber innerhalb von Deutschland kein Wechsel möglich ist. Bitte nehmen Sie es mir nicht übel, aber das kann, will und werde ich nicht akzeptieren.

Bitten ziehen Sie dies noch ein Mal in Betracht.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen,

Andreas Bruns"


Daraufhin seine Antwort:

"Sie haben Recht, was Ihre Klage über die Nicht - Nachholbarkeit von Studienleistungen aus dem BA während der Masterphase betrifft. Indessen ist es im Lehrermaster so geregelt: Voraussetzung für eine erfolgreiche Bewerbung ist die volle Leistungspunktzahl des Bachelors in jedem der drei Bereiche; also auch in den Erziehungswissenschaften. Das ist die beratende Auskunft, die ich Ihnen geben kann. Es bleibt Ihnen natürlich freigestellt, sich trotzdem zu bewerben.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
G.
Heursen"

Klingt wiederum sehr freundlich, aber ist m. E. aber eine absolute Dreistigkeit. Viell. nicht von ihm, aber vom Beschlussgremium. Daher werde ich mich jetzt erst ein Mal an den Berliner Senat wenden. Falls das nicht hilft, an Frau Dr. Schavan bzw. den Spiegel. Die letzte Instanz wäre, mich
einzuklagen. Es geht hier nämlich ums Prinzip. So eine schwachsinnige Regelung. Sie verbaut nicht nur mir die Wahlfreiheit, sondern auch allen anderen deutschen Studenten.

Return of Sparfuchs, my room is always clean

After having spent 44 GBP on my first trip to Sainsbury's, the local grocery store, I was quite depressed and it really felt like a defeat. But last week I already cut it down to 28 GBP. And guess what? Yesterday I left Sainsbury's with a broad smile on my face carrying three full bags for 12 GBP! After a long lean period Sparfuchs is back:)

Over the course of the last two weeks I have not cleaned my room a single time, but it was always clean. The only way to make sense of it was to praise myself for being such a clean and tidy person;) But I just realized when I was about to brush my teeth and could not find my washbag (hung next to it, so once could clean the mirror on wish i hung it up before), that I must have a secret cleaner coming in my room once a week. Probably good to have him/her as part of the deal:)

May you dwell in the Secret Place of the Most High

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." (Psalm 91, 1)

A week ago I went to Hillsongs London to attend their service in Dominion Theatre. The best was not the music (rather clear for those who know me well;)), but the sermon. Joseph Prince, a pastor from Singapore preached about the verse above. When Sars hit Asia several years ago they did not know what to do about it because they have a 9000 strong congregation with many international visitors. Many suggested to close the church until the virus ceased. But God told them to trust in him and proclaim the said verse. So they gave out cards to everyone with this great biblical truth on it and challenged them to proclaim it every time they leave their houses. And not a single one was infected. (Joseph Prince - Under His Wings, 12 October: http://www.hillsongmychurch.co.uk/index.php/resource-and-giving/podcasts)

He told us about the Ark of the Covenant which was situated in the Holy of Holies in the temple at Jerusalem. Two cherubs are on top of it. Those who protected the entrance to the garden of Eden. The law of Moses was in the Ark. Once a year a priest had to sprinkle blood on the Ark which symbolizes redemption through grace. So the morals were that grace is always higher than the law (let's not fall back in works righteosness!), and that we are protected now "under the shadow of the Almighty". We just have to proclaim it (James 4,2b)!

I did this morning. Since I have moved to London, now about five weeks ago, I had trouble to settle down and consequently to study effectively. I thought I first have to read and when I did the work I would find time for God. But that never worked out well. I could not concentrate while reading and tended to become very tired. So I did not really get anything out of it. It seemed like I forgot everything I read. But this morning I spend some time with God reading his word, talking to him, and proclaiming the aforementioned truth. The result was that although I had a sinusitis and a fever today, I could effectively study for about eight hours because God equipped me with strength, motivation, and self-control (I did not even feel the temptation to check my emails every minute:)).

Thank you, God! May I continue to dwell in your secret place and abide under your shadow!

Football and Christ church

It has been a fabulous weekend (apart from not tackling the work load). Yesterday I went to watch Fulham play Sunderland with David. Although they tied and neither team scored, it was an exciting game with lots of passion and many chances. Afterwards we met his wife Carol and another producer from CBS in a fancy outdoors restaurant. I will go to David's on Friday to wait for the electrical service which is supposed to fix something at the TV because it's hard for them to take time off and I do not have classes in the morning anyway.

Today I went to Christ church, a New Frontiers church. Some people I met at the Christian Union (CU) invited me. The service took place in Piccadilly Theatre, but unlike Hillsongs, which I checked out last sunday and which holds services in Dominion Theatre, it was a lot more personal and they did not make such a great deal of the donation. Afterwards we hung out in the theatre bar and then went to another pub to socialise. Besides many friendly people, I met Karim, who lived in Barcelona for 14 years and went to "El Local", the church I went to when I was on vacation in Lloret de Mar with Tom and Stocki. He is a medicine student at UCL. We had a really cool conversation and I will probably go to his "lifegroup" on Tuesday.

I feel sort of thick again. It looks like a sore throat. So if you believe in prayer, please pray for this and lots of motivation and discipline for next week. Thumbs up if you do not:)

dulce vita

Sleeping on the Camino

Hampstead Residence

As time was running by lots of things have happened.

A month ago I went to my first football match this year. The Cottagers (Fullham) played against West Ham United. I met my English cousin David at the Old City Arms pub where we saw Everton - his favorite team - loose to Liverpool and had a couple of beer. Then we walked on the embankment next to the Thames to Fulham. The picht is right beside the river. It is a small (about 30000 spectators) stadium from the 19th century. The tiny entrance to our stand is about two feet wide (so good I stopped to lift weights;)) and hardly visible in the brick facade. After climbing about 20 stairs in a wooden staircase I had my first view on the pitch: amazing! A beautiful green lawn so close to our seats - about 20 feet away from our seats right in the middle of the pitch.

Fulham rocked in the first half, but towards halftime had a lapse of concentration which Zola's squad used to score. Since then an old 'gentleman' and a chap next to us used the word fuck in most creative ways to talk about the referee. To be honest: the second half was sort of boring, though I saw two more goals. I am just not emotianally attached to these teams like to good old Bayern München or two other German clubs playing internationally in important games. I hope Bayern or Bremen will make it to the knock-out round to face Chelsea or Arsenal:) But I am so glad that David is taking me and actually I will go again this afternoon to see Fulham play against Sunderland.

For about a week now I have been sleeping in my new room in Hampstead residence now. It is a really cool area and all the VIPs are said to live here. So last Friday I went running in the morning in the heath expecting to meet Pete Doherty or so. But I did not see anyone in this huge park. Probably he had better stuff to do, eh;) I am so grateful for my room because it was really hard to get one. I checked out several internet platforms such as gumtree or christianflatshares. But apart from a really cool room in Putney, an ever nicer area than I am living in right now, in a vicar's house who would have even let me have friends over for weeks, the rooms were either to expensive, too far away from my college, or too small and dirty. So I really prayed for the room in the vicar's house. The problem was that two people were in front of me in the queue. On monday he informed me that I would no get the room. Instantly depressed, I decided to trust God in this and continued praying. That night the accommodation office offered me a room which I checked out the following day. It is the biggest by far and 'just' costs 400 pounds. The only disadvantage is the rodent in the fridge who has already eaten my Milka chocolate and ketchup. The people here are all about five years younger, but de buena onda.

Two days ago I woke up from a terrible noise in the morning - the fire alarm. I pulled my blanket over my head to continue to sleep (I thought it is a stupid joke by some British fresher) because I heard no one running out there. But it just did not stop. So after five minutes I went into the kitchen to see if something is on fire. Nothing! So I finally went out barefooted in my green pyjama (the crazy looking 80s-style one). About 200 students were already waiting for me as I was the last one (by far:)) to come out. At least now I am popular with everyone;)

I got my Oyster photocard card now. So now I can use puclic transportation for 30% less.
I also got a new laptop (thank you mum and dad) after my old one broke down. You cannot believe how grateful I was when I had it in my hands for the first time: God provides! Only my mp3-player got lost in the mail. Hiking on the Camino de Santiago I was so yearning for music that I called my good ol' friend Fuchsi Fuchs to buy and send me one because I was constantly in the middle of nowhere. That was one and a half month ago:( But well, God will work that out as well. I do not worry.

I will continue to catch up with the last month tomorrow as I have just four and a half hours of sleep left (I decided to get up at six now during the week so I will time for God, running and my course work).

Dear Jesus,

thank you for always being at my side and rocking my life. I could not live without you! Give me a good night's rest, so I can get up refreshed tomorrow to experience more of God's beauty and to reflect it to the world.

God, sadness and cigarettes

My fourth day in London is a lovely Thursday. It is sunny and the thermometer shoots around 19° C. I have been busy over the course of the last days with enrolment (KCL is such a posh place:)), looking for a room, getting a UK simcard, painting (I love it!), a prayer meeting , tuition fee dealings, watching football matches in pubs, etc.

Until last night I felt like in a glass house. I saw so many things in London while cycling through it, but I did not feel like exploring it. Probably I was in the process of adjusting to a new place after Spain and Portugal and this was one of its sideeffects. Yesterday afternoon I was really depressed because I could not find proper accomodation - it was either too far away from my college or too expensive. But the prayer meeting last night totally cheered me up. Even though I am in a pretty conservative household (I don't know if I have been too such a conservative place) the fellowship in prayer in the Swiss pastor's living room was super encouraging. We were such a diverse bunch - a baltic gypsie, who has been translating the bible into his native tongue over the last 20 years; a German Aupair and a German language student, a retired English arts teacher, an American Humanities student and the pastor and his wife with their Swiss secretary - but every single one of us felt so unified in the spirit. It was a really blessed time we had worshipping God and asking him to help us in our daily lives. Since last night I am prodigiously enthusiastic about my stay.

I think God really wants me here and it was no accident:) After the christian roller coaster ride I was on for about the last five years, I hope he rather places me now on a route 66 like christian path - I would not even mind to start a climb a la l'Alpe de Huez or Mount Ventoux - but at least something more steady even though strenuous.

Last night I started to read the gospel of John with Darby's commentary. The verse of the day really inspired me: "If you hold on to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8, 31 & 32)
So I thought to myself I really need to investigate this truth all over again and apply it to my life. I am sick of being a mere believer with a freeway ticket to heaven. I want the real thing again and take up my cross like a real disciple.

This afternoon after lunch we had coffee together. I was so super shaken by my yearning to smoke a cigarette during those twenty minutes that I really needed to make conversation in order to distract myself from this inner yearning. The brownies helped, too. I was feeling a little bit like in Trainspotting. Maybe cutting down on cigarettes added to my instability and sadness.

Monday morning I smoked my last Vanelle and left the rest in a bar in Santiago. On Tuesday I could not overcome temptation and had two with Claire, a South American studies major I met just outside King's. And then at night went to a bar in the neighbourhood to enjoy some Champions Leage action. There I met Melville and David who went out for a smoke and I just could not resist. But, on the other hand, on tons of occasions I said no. I am only realizing what bad type of drug it is and that I was addicted to it to a great extent. I really need ex anastasis power to overcome it.

Yesterday I could do without any. But I feel temptation rising again this night. I am about to meet my cousin David again after all those years. We will watch the Uefa cup encounter between Everton, his favorite club, and Standard Liege. Beer and Coffee really make me want to smoke.
I might have one;) Let's see...

London

I was constantly confronted with problems on the way to London. To start with I bought a train ticket in Santa Apolonia for the ride to Oriente. And the conductor I asked whether it was the right train or not told me I could not go. But I told him I have a ticket and I need to go. Otherwise I would miss my bus and the plane in Santiago. But he did not show any sign of understanding. So I asked him several times why I could not go until he finally said I could try it with the ticket collector. Who let me hop on in the ultimate second. Then at Oriente the ticket office of Alsa was already closed. So those guys I asked for the way told me I had to go tomorrow. But then I talked to the bus conductor who finally let me go. Later I had to purchase a ticket in Porto at around 2 am and then we arrived at 5am. It was so freaking cold. So I had a coffee and read Einstein before I took a nap in the bus station. Finally the nice guy from the bike shop brought me and
my belongings to the airport. But in London it was really a problem to get the big pack with my bike to the house of the Swiss pastor with whom I am staying because no one had the proper tools to put it together.

But finally I am here:) My first impression is that London is not that big and the people were so friendly until now. Many gave me a hand and a group of roamers helped me with the way. Now I am super tempted to go to see the Montain Goats who are playing in London today. But I better save the money:(

Lisboa

I have been in Lisboa now since last monday. I am staying with this wonderful American family - the Farmers - after having spent the first night in a hostel.

After having finished the Camino de Santiago I was left with a nother week of vacation, so I thought to myself 'why not go to Portugal? You have never been there before!'
It has been such a good idea.

Here in Estoril I have been painting a christian school which is supposed to open next Monday.

Yesterday I had a day off. So I went to Jona's Bar to have coffee and to wait on Stefanie who is here for three years with Young Life. We went cycling, had an ice-cream and then later dinner at this Portugese restaurant with a funny Portugese waiter next to the sea. Stefanie is really a happy person with a contaging laughter. We talked about God and the world and my past relationship. It really helped that she listened so well. I had such a good time:)

I hope to see her again, but don't know whether it works out here. She is coming to London though next week. Maybe she finds time for a coffee?

18.05

Jetzt ist erst ein Mal die Bachelorarbeit bis zum 19. Juni Priorität, dann die EM, zwei Hochzeiten (ohne Todesfall, hoffe ich;)), Arbeiten bei VW (?) und England (wohin gehts?). Viell. klappts ja auch noch mit dem Camper...