Building too many relationships?

Another dreary day here in Oxford, actually one might think that would be the case, but this is really only the second day of unpleasant weather:) I am seated at the Botley library using the internet, no we do not have it at Sycamore yet, no I'm not going to go into the reasons or the lack of ability, interest, caring, service or pulse of our supposed phone provider that will remain nameless in case they use this rant against me. Anyway we will be travel on the info highway sometime, just maybe not for another fortnight or so. Speaking of pleasant weather brings me to thinking of pleasant people. One of the aspects of KBC that sets it apart from just a seminary is the community of students that truly enjoy, want to, and are encouraged to hang out together. Tonight Rebecca is going to a friends to have a girl movie night type deal, meanwhile I'm having some bloaks over to play poker. Tomorrow night we are hosting a showing of Napolean Dynamite complete with a planned discussion afterward to help those who don't get it to hopefully get it. So ya it sounds like I'm not studying or focused on the Word, or on God, or on prayer, oh contrare (rhyme not planned) (spelling?) I am on all of those in addition to building with people from all over that have an incredible heart for the Lord and doing His will in their lives. I firmly believe that this year is all about being given to God, part of that is in the wonderful relationships that he has set up. On a later post I will put some pictures so you can put faces with names like Jansen, Dave, Ian, Mike and Mike, Ellen, Beth, Anna, Amy, Katherine and so on, there are so many people with a focus in the right place that it makes me somewhat giddy if you will. Enough rambling for today, I plan on writing again tomorrow, maybe about some of the odd snack foods they have available, we'll see if I've got it in me. Later
Here are some of the girls at the party talked about above.

What is Kings Bible College?

The reality is that now I am a student again, that seems weird since I just graduated from IUSB only 3 years ago, but that is the way it is now. Along with being a student comes certain responsibilities including; writing papers, reading books, reading articles, discussion, lectures, projects, seminars, actually it sounds a lot like being a teacher without the 22 little ones looking for your attention. Of course this material is much more difficult than 3rd grade stuff, but the theory is the same, learn all that you can, do your personal best and work together as a community of learners as best we can. Many of you have asked what is KBC like, so if that was you, eat your heart out, if not at least you’ll have a clue what Kings is like. It is not your typical college or seminary, rather it is an interactive, highly relational (friendship based including lecturers), academic yet laidback, practical, push out of your comfort zone training ground. There are 40 students this year, that means we are quite cramped in our lecture room, but the good news is that we might get to have a couch or two soon in another room:) The lecturers come from mostly England, but there are ones from New Zealand, Canada, France and just this week a speaker from South Africa was in our chapel time. They speak on many different topics, for example the next two weeks are an Old Testament survey, which basically means going through the Old Testament book by book, looking at themes, characters, backgrounds, and the story of the Bible. In addition to lectures daily, we also have community groups (small groups of students) that meet on Thursdays, an extra lecture on Monday afternoon, and much interaction with other students during the week. As time goes on there is more of a workload, but for now we have a large paper due at the end of October, and a timeline of the Old Testament due in the middle of October. That is just a taste of what life is like here at KBC, it is a vibrant, creative, fun to be with group of people, who are immensely talented.

A view of what our lecture room looks like and the hall that we have tea in daily

Home?

We have been in Oxford for over two weeks now; wow it seems like forever since we have seen familiar soil. By now it has seeped in that our home for the next while is 21 Sycamore Road Botley, Oxford. By American standards we dwell in a small house, but to us it is about the size we are used to, hence it is not as difficult to deem this home. Our garden by comparison to American yards is quite small, but here there has not been one visitor to our house that has not commented almost immediately on the immenseness of our garden. With that being said, not one of those people has walked out into the garden and for that matter neither have we except to see what is in the old shed. Maybe at some point we will host a big garden party but soon the weather will turn foul and all hope for our garden will be lost for the season. Our flat on the other hand is able to hold visitors, and has already hosted a large gathering of girls, and numerous other guests. We are blessed with a good size living area, again not huge by American standards but for here, we are in the penthouse, while other college houses are in the proverbial outhouse. We can seat quite a few as you can see by the picture, and all 4 of us can have our own couch if we so choose to use the uncomfortable wicker seat in the corner. It is home here in England, and we are quite happy to call it our own, at least for a while.

Hello from Mr. Robinson

While all can read this it is written more for elementary students than normal, so as they say in England, have a go!
Hello all of you Ox Bow Eagles, I am writing to you from jolly old England. England is the country that used to “own” America, but then the Revolutionary War happened and in 1776 the USA was formed separate from England. As a result you don’t drink tea all the time, drive on the other side of the road, wear trousers and jumpers or have a funny accent like my English friendsJ My wife Rebecca and I are in Oxford, a city famous for learning, writing, church steeples and it is where Harry Potter movies have been filmed. It is really pretty here, you can look at the pictures when finished reading. We are studying the Bible, learning more about Jesus, the church and how to work with people better. We live with two young ladies from Derby their names are Jazz (short for Jaskiran) and Rachel, they are both lovely and a lot of fun to live with. We only go to school for 3 and a half hours per day, and only 4 days per week, but we have quite a bit more homework than you do! Each day we walk to school, our walk is about 35 minutes long, and then home it is uphill and is about 45 minutes, we are tired once we reach our flat (British for apartment). There is no football, baseball or basketball on TV here, just soccer, it is the most loved sport in this country, so I am missing watching Purdue, Florida State and what is that school from South Bend, is it Notre Dame? I trust that you are having a great school year, learning a ton, and having a wonderful time while learning and pushing yourself hard. Read all that you can, write creatively, sing beautifully and don’t settle for less than your personal best. For now cheers,
Mr. Robinson

Enjoy the pictures they are
Our apartment
Our housemates
Part of our walk to school
The city of Oxford

English?

This might be the post that you all have been waiting for. Some of you might care less, others of you might refer back to this post, I'm not sure, hopefully what I share will be worthy of this specific introduction. I speak English, you all speak English, whether you know it or not, there are many terms that are British, not American English, to be honest it is one of the greatest parts of being in the UK, along with the stupendous accents, especially the ones from Middlesbourough, I can't understand half of what they say. Anyway following is going to be a beginning list of terms that I and Rebecca have been willing to accept to use here, so that people have a clue of what we are talking about. For the sake of clarity (the British love clarity) I will commence with the British term and henceforth shall be the American word.
biscuit = cookie
boot = trunk
hoover = vacuum
tin = can
crisp = potato chip
chips = french fries
trousers = pants
braces = suspenders
tea = supper
pudding = dessert
prawn = shrimp
tap = faucet
toilet = bathroom
rubbish = garbage
bin = wastepaper basket
mobile = cell phone
subway = underpass
car park = parking lot
uni = college or university
petrol = gasoline
squash = unsweetened kool aid or some other wierd mutated juice
faggots = meatballs
jelly = jello or gelatin
garden = backyard
pitch = field
football = soccer
ring = call or add up numbers
tick = check off
and so the list goes on and on, surely with the differences there will be an ammendment to this short dictionary, but from now on in my world I am going to enjoy a biscuit with some pudding, whilst wearing my beige trousers. Love you all
earl

Go for a walk?

“Ya let’s walk down to the shops, we’ll then pray that we can hitch a ride back home” This is a statement or thought that we have all the time, the hill we climb after going to town puts most to shame. It is not so much the grade of the hill, more the length as it extends for about 5 blocks, all the while going up, up, up. It is pretty at the top, but I would trade the half view we have for a house further down. When we walk to school we don’t go down this hill, rather we traverse more across the hill going a combination of down and across, this means that the walk home is not quite as bad. When we walk to friends’ houses it is only down a little ways, and then back up a little ways. When we walk to the city centre (British and Canadian spelling) it is mostly flat, one must watch out for buses, bikes, cars on the wrong side of the road and other pedestrians, at least it is even plane. In case you have not noticed as of yet WE WALK EVERYWHERE! Let’s just say that we have walked more in the weekend in the UK than we did in the last month and half in Indiana. That is good and bad, probably more good than bad, although after today’s travels our dogs are barking. Thank the Lord that Jazz (one of our housemates) has a VW Golf and we all went to Sainsbury’s to buy groceries, it was wonderful to ride in the car and think about tomorrows walk.

what's this internet access?

So I'm sitting here in McDonald's on Cornmarket ST in downtown Oxford typing this blog, not the normal spot for access but the golden arches sell a half hour for a pound. We have not had much access for many reasons, but hopefully that will change soon. I have never typed on a metal key pad, let's just say it is not very easily done, I can't count the number of letters that have been incorrect, but with the grammar check on this blog (you know who you are:) ) I don't dare mispell (spelling?) words or not use write grammar. There is so much I have planned to write, so many great pictures to show, so many interesting tidbits to share, much English culture to disuss, unfortunately now is not the time based on my explanation of the difficulty of typing. A huge shoutout to you faithful readers and responders, your faithfulness will be rewarded, if you enjoy the blog and the virtual interaction. I must roll, the little clock up at the top of my screen says under 10 minutes, and I've much to do online in those minutes. Tell your friends and neighbors hello for us, later
earl

Getting acclamated?

We have arrived successfully, the trip was quite uneventful, actually everything ran as clockwork. Made it through customs, met another student of Kings at Heathrow, then found our rides to Oxford within 2 minutes of looking for them, that was cool, the airport is large and we had a great deal of stuff with us. Our house is typical for the area, a decent sized living room, smallish kitchen, 2 bedrooms upstairs and then a little room that is being treated as a bedroom for our housemate Rachel, hopefully when she sees it she'll be cool with, she has not arrived yet. We are tired, that is normal we understand it, but that does not mean that we are not dragging somewhat. You know that kind of tired when you don't want to do anything but sit, gaze or daydream while you attempt to do something as menial as put away a shirt or fold a pair of trousers (English translation for pants), anyway the pace I did those tasks yesterday would make a snail proud. I expect we'll get over this sleepyness soon but until life has slowed down for a period of time. Are we getting acclamated (spelling ?) I think so, next post will explain and show pictures of the hill that we traverse daily:)

Embark or Disembark?

The day that we have been planning for, thinking about, anticipating in a dreadful type of way is here, and as we wait at the international terminal of O’Hare we are realizing that we are indeed not going to be waking up in the US for quite sometime. That is an interesting feeling, all of you who have lived abroad probably understand what I am not understanding yet, and this is the shift of lifestyle that improbably takes place. I found out that our flight is actually just under 7 hours, not the 8 hours that I was anticipating, that means I have one less hour to sort of watch a movie, fade in and out of sleep to 16 channels of music that I don’t care to listen to, or I could try to fill in the complementary crossword at the back of the Flights magazine. I have had a discussion/argument with a friend as to whether we are embarking on a trip or disembarking from home/US on the trip. I argue that it could be looked as either, he sort of agreed, we never did figure it out totally, either way the plane is in the air now and as they say “There ain’t no turning back now” The stewards are almost here with that half glass of ginger ale and tiniest bag of pretzels ever, so I must log off for now.