First Impressions

Hey everyone!

Well, I'm officially across the pond.  This is my second full day here, and so far, so good!  I'm already getting used to sitting on the wrong side of the car as we drive down the wrong side of the street...

I arrived on Sunday morning at 12 pm local time, where I was greeted by my programme (don't they spell that weird?) director Joe.  Everything about the flight and getting through customs, etc. went as well as I could have asked for.  Joe took me to the house where I'll be living for the year with four other girls, although only one of them is here right now, Lindsey from East Lansing, MI.  He showed the two of us where the nearest tube station is, which thankfully is just a few minutes' walk away, because I'll be using it quite frequently.  I'm living in East Acton, which is about 12 km west of the city center.

I now have a "dumb" phone, which I'm actually kind of excited for.  I feel like smart phones take the fun out of some things, like navigating around a crazy city, for example.  I have a giant map of the city, and a very tiny map of all the tube stations; what else does a girl need?  Outside of the city though, I've found it necessary to look up directions on my computer, take a picture with my camera, and hope for the best:

Things are pretty chill here right now, we don't officially start until tomorrow.  Monday was a day of epic adventures for Lindsey and I.  We rode the Tube into the city and decided to see all of the big tourist attractions.  We started by Buckingham Palace and worked our way over to Big Ben and Parliament.

Take the most touristy picture possible? Challenge accepted.

We then worked our way around central London in a circle, and also saw Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery of Art.  If you've ever had someone tell you that London is a very international place, they were right. I heard French, Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, Portuguese, and Romanian (I think).  And a little English too, but actually not that much!

The crazy people here drive on the wrong side of the road.  Growing up in the States, I'm used to looking left first before I cross the street.  So you'd think that in moving to the UK, all you'd have to do is look right, right? Wrong.  Figuring out which way to look before you cross the street is actually pretty tricky.  There are roundabouts and one-ways and random strange things that makes knowing which way to look difficult.  You could guess, but that leaves you with a 50% chance that you're going to get run over by a cabbie.  Thankfully, the powers at be realize the danger the large tourist population is in, so they have painted these at every intersection downtown:

Very helpful.

(I still look both ways twice.  Just in case.)

Today Lindsey and I went into town again.  This time we headed to Kensington Palace.  There's a huge estate and lovely garden/park area that is quite large.  One thing that I am really appreciating about London is that there are a lot of parks and trees.  You can almost forget that you're in a major city.

Standing in front of a statue of Queen Victoria.  Kensington Palace is in the background.

trees : )

Then we wandered through Knightsbridge, which is a very posh, well-to-do area of London.  There is a lot of premium real estate, and a lot of shopping!  On one road, we saw Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Gucci, Chanel, etc.  You name a luxury brand, it was there!  And of course we had to stop into Harrod's, a high-end department store.  It's the biggest one in Europe with more than 1,000,000 square feet.

Eventually, we stopped in a Starbucks to refuel.  It was crazy in there; an employee greets you at the door, asks what you want, then radios it to the baristas, who have it ready for you by the time the line gets you to the counter.  Crazy.  I really dislike being called "ma'am," but when the Starbucks guy asked (in an awesome accent) "What would you like madam?", it was pretty sweet.  Point London.

This is quite possibly the most British thing I've seen thus far:

Translation: Don't use the sidewalk.  Cross the road.

I really love this city so far.  Pretty much all of the buildings are beautiful.  You look across the street and say "ooh, what's that?!?"  And it's a dry cleaners! (but a picturesque one).  Tomorrow we leave early to fly to Belfast for a Kairos conference, called Student Worker Outreach Training (SWOT), which goes through early next week.  These last couple of days wandering around have been great, but I'm really excited to start training/working, which is what I came here for.

Thanks for reading!  I know this was a long post, but I've done a lot in the past two days!  For more pictures, check out my album on Facebook.

<3 Molly

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight."  ~ Proverbs 3:5-6

Beginnings and Endings

Hello and welcome!  This is my first official post, and I'm super excited to share with you what's going on in my life : )  T-minus 6 days until I leave for my GAP year!   If you're wondering what that is, or want some more details, check out the other pages (links on the left).

With my roommates of two years at graduation! From the left: Martha, Cara, Me, Naomi

Pretty much all of 2013 has been a time of transition.  I finished school at the University of Michigan in December 2012 and began working full-time from January until the end of July.  I had anywhere from one to three jobs during this time, working for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at the University of Michigan, an immigration lawyer, and an investment adviser.  I was very blessed by all of these positions, and I really learned a lot (if you need a visa or want to set up an IRA, let me know!).

Sarah and I in front of the famous Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken, NJ.  

August has been a time of (relative) rest.  I went on an awesome, totally impromptu road trip with my sister Sarah to visit family and friends up and down the east coast.  And last week I went to the UCO Summer Academy in Spring Arbor, MI.  The theme for this year was "Makers of the Modern Mind"; it featured great talks about some of the different people who have influenced the way we think today (Newton, Darwin, Marx, Nietschze, Freud), as well as talks about UCO and evangelism.

And now, the summer is winding down, and I am gearing up for my move to London!  I can hardly believe that it's almost time for me to leave.  Once I'm across the pond, I'll try to post every couple of weeks, depending on my schedule and internet access.  If you want to be notified every time I make a new post, you can subscribe to email updates on the left.  I'll be sure to keep you updated on all my adventures and follies as I try to make my way in a new culture : )

Thanks for reading!

<3 Molly

"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'" ~ Matthew 28:18-20