Camden Town and Evensong

Yesterday we had a day off of work!  It was a national "bank holiday"...nobody that I've asked actually knows what that means, but I'm thankful to the British government for it.  Anyhow, the weather was gorgeous again!  Another clear, sunny day with cool breezes and no schedule.  The other girls and I decided to head north for an afternoon of shopping at the Camden Town market.

This marketplace is one of the most popular in London.  It used to be a weekend affair, but when the vendors realized they could get just as much business on the weekdays, they set up permanent shop and it became a daily occasion.  The stands sell just what you'd expect: clothing, shoes, handmade jewelry, watercolors, etc.  We did find some more unique places selling things like leather bound journals, Indian artifacts, and fresh squeezed orange juice (one of my favorite things!).  We decided to be adventurous and try some Indian curry from a street food stand - and it was delicious!

Getting ready to order our first bites of curry

At the eating area beside the street food stands

When we had finished spending way more money than we needed to, we wandered over to Regents Park.  In this park is the London zoo, the London Business School, and the residence of the U.S. ambassador (Winfield house).  We didn't get a chance to visit any of those, but they're all on my list!  Besides, we were too busy napping in the lush grass, as were many other groups of friends and families having picnics or playing soccer (oops...football).  As I said before, the weather could not have been more perfect, and it felt good to lay down after walking around bargaining with aggressive sellers all day.

Relaxing in Regents park

We woke up and were all craving ice cream, so we hopped on the tube and rode over to Leicester Square to search for the the quaint little gelato shop pictured below.  Gelupo was rated by Time Out London as one of London's best dessert shops, and as far as I could tell they were right.  It was tucked away on a quiet side street, and although it was obviously overpriced, the gelato was fantastic.  I picked two flavors: espresso and mint stracciatella, all of which was gone in a matter of seconds.

Gelupo, a gelato shop on Archer Street

Our sweet tooths now satisfied, we walked through St. James's Park towards Westminster Abbey.  This is yet another of London's beautiful parks, just east of Buckingham Palace.  The outside path of the park runs right by the Horse Guards Parade (the building and open grounds behind me in the picture below), which is where Henry VIII held jousting tournaments way back when.  Honestly, I only know this because I Googled it, but I'm glad I took the time to do so.  The thing about London is that there are so many ancient, magnificent buildings, that after a while you begin to overlook the fact that each one has a story behind it.  Hundreds, and even thousands of years ago, people from another world entirely walked, ate, gossiped, and battled in the same places I walk now.  I know it's cheesy, but I have really been surprised and fascinated by the history I've learned during my time in London.  Just about every landmark you see has been around much longer than the United States has been a country, so it's really worth doing the research to discover the history behind it!

The Horse Guards Parade (and the London Eye - upper right!) 

The girls and I finished off the day by attending the five o'clock service at Westminster Abbey, a choral worship service called Evensong.  We silently filed into the church, my mouth was hanging wide at the height of the arched ceilings and the detailed statues and inscriptions on every inch of the interior.  No matter how many times you walk into Westminster Abbey, it is always breathtaking.  The architects truly designed this church as a testament to the beauty, magnificence, and glory of God.  The choir's songs rang perfectly through the ancient halls; the way it echoed and filled the room gave me goosebumps.  We've all heard the sounds of medieval choruses on soundtracks of movies like The Other Boleyn Girl and Ever After, but it's just not the same as when you're standing in the church yourself, the sound reverberating off your own skin and flying to the unreachable nooks of the ceiling.  Although the service was an old-fashioned form of worship, the experience of God's majesty and grace was just the same, if not more powerful because it was displayed in a different way.

Westminster Abbey

I am so thankful for the gorgeous weekend I spent with my girls!  Now it's back to work for the week...more adventures coming up soon, including Engage, a connection event at Hillsong, and happy hour at the Marines' house...that's right ladies, men in uniform ;)  Stay tuned!

Much love,

Hayley

Perfect weather, and a perfect LOVE

I now have proof that sun does actually shine in London!  The weather this weekend was absolutely gorgeous.  We couldn't have had better luck with three days off of work.  My first ambition - sit in a park and read.  Enjoy nature.  Lay in the grass.  Look local.  Smile at the children and the dogs.  I am proud to say that I accomplished my mission.  I was even stopped a few times by tourists in need of directions, so I might even have the "looking local" part down ;)

First I meandered over to Russell Park, which is quite close to where I'm living (I can't believe I just used the word "quite").  It was crowded - clusters of families and friends sitting together on the grass, which is bright green due to all the rain, enjoying picnics and books and each other.  It's amazing to me that such beautiful, peaceful sanctuaries can exist right in the middle of a bustling city.

Russell Park

Next, walked over to King's Cross station to meet up with my Aggie friends for more sightseeing.  This is the station where scenes of Harry Potter took place.  There is actually a Harry Potter exhibit somewhere inside, but I have yet to visit it...yet again, sorry to all my HP-crazed friends (Emma) for my lack of enthusiasm.  The building is beautifully constructed, for those of you who haven't seen it.

King's Cross Station

For our sightseeing we decided to do a city river cruise.  It's quite touristy, I know, but it's one of those things that just has to be done.  We had some great views of the major sights, and we didn't feel so goofy taking pictures because everyone else was too.  Meet the MSC interns from A&M (and a friend from t.u.)!

From left to right: Colby, Kaley, me, Lesli, Jackie, Jay, Abby, and Cowboy (t.u.)

Aboard the river cruise

There's no better way to end this post than with a JESUS STORY!!! Prepare to be amazed...I sure was.

Sunday was a day of rest, as it should be, and my first chance to go to church since arriving.  The Lord blessed me more than I can say when I arrived at Hillsong Church London that morning.  It seems like a sort of megachurch at first, as it's housed in the Dominion Theatre in the middle of Central London.  However, it certainly didn't feel that way when I walked in!  I expected to head to the back, sit by myself, and possibly meet the two people on either side of me.  Instead, I was reminded that the Lord cares for me more than I know, and He loves to surprise His children.  As I was lost looking for the bathroom, a girl about my age offered to show me the way.  We got to talking, and when she found out I was new to Hillsong, she immediately exclaimed, "Oh no way!  Follow me, let me introduce you to all my friends!"  She did just that, and I was overwhelmed by the kind and welcoming nature of the people I met.  As I talked and laughed with my new friends, I had to use all my strength to choke down tears of joy and relief.  By the time we started worshipping, I couldn't hold them back anymore.  I just cried and lifted up my hands in praise and thanksgiving.  Seriously, the girl next to me was handing me tissues.  As embarrassing as it was to bawl my eyes out in front of these people I had just met, I think they understood perfectly how our Father had used them to comfort and refresh me.  When we feel lost and on our own, He wraps us in His arms.  He even blesses us by sending people that will physically do just that, even if they don't know us, so we can truly feel the touch of His unconditional love.  Thank you, sweet Hillsong friends, for being Christ's light to me just when I needed it!

If you haven't yet made room for God's love in your story, please just invite Him in.  I promise He's right there waiting for you, ready to love and bless and transform.  You won't regret it.

Much love,
Hayley

The Aggie Spirit is alive and well in London!

Friday night turned out nothing like I had expected!  I had planned to meet up with the MSC interns in an area of London called Pimlico, just north of the river.  We met at a pub called The Constitution, a seemingly humble place on a side street.  Inside it was quiet, yet crowded, and most of the patrons were beyond us in years.  There was one small room up some narrow stairs where we went to look for seats, only to find a group of about fifteen young Americans who seemed to be part of a school trip.  One of our girls sparked a conversation with them, and the next thing I hear from her is, "Wait...you're ALL Aggies?!"  It was a study abroad group from the Galveston campus!  I then noticed several of the guys were wearing boots, and I heard country music coming from someone's iPod that had been plugged in to the speakers.  I couldn't have been more happy to find a little piece of home in the upstairs room of a tiny pub!

Apparently the Galveston group had been to the same pub nearly every night of their two week trip, and that would be their last night.  The regular waitress had fallen quite in love with these Texans, so she had taken that night off of work just to come upstairs and hang out them.  She kept bringing up trays of food, free of charge, and we had ourselves a little two-stepping party :) and naturally, we finished our night off with the Aggie War Hymn.  In the first picture you can see that the group traveled with a big A&M Galveston flag, which they gave to the pub as a parting gift.

Hopefully I'll run into more Aggies during my time in London!

Much love,
Hayley

Catching up

Prepare yourselves for a long and picture-filled post!  Hopefully you'll still be awake by the end...

Sunday was a full day of sight-seeing.  The highlight of the day was the arrival of Emma Spoor, one of my best friends!  She just finished a semester of studying abroad in Russia, and she stopped in London on the way home to hang out for a week.  We also met up with a group of students from Texas A&M doing internships in London through the MSC, so it was great to spend time with other Aggies.

We started off in Brick Lane Market, a very trendy and cheap market towards the east side of London.  There was some great street food and a bustling, local atmosphere.

Emma buying a delicious pork sandwich from one of the street vendors.

The rest of our trek around the east side of Central London took us to a multitude of historical and cultural wonders...

• Covent Garden - A popular square with a market, shops, and street performers
• The Grand Lodge of England - For Daddy and all the other freemasons out there
• The Tate Modern - A contemporary art museum (quite a few Picasso's, and, naturally, an excessive number of nude paintings)
• The Globe Theatre - The original theatre in which Shakespeare acted and wrote
• Millennium Bridge - I'm told it's in the opening scene of the sixth Harry Potter movie? (sorry, Emma, for my lack of knowledge/enthusiasm)
• St. Paul's Cathedral - GORGEOUS church, absolutely huge, lovely gardens

The Grand Lodge of England

The Globe Theatre (and Emma's classic sight-seeing pose)

St. Paul's Cathedral

We finished the day off with our first bite of fish & chips!

Fish and chips and Stowford Press from Sir John Oldcastle restaurant

Monday was my first day of work at the Embassy!  I arrived and was greeted by the two other interns in our office.  Nadia and Madison have been here all spring, so they are leaving soon and I will take over.  I can't tell you how blessed I am to have had the guidance and support of these sweet girls!  I will miss them and our lunch/shopping breaks.  Everyone else in the office is incredibly kind and inclusive.  I have already been handed a few projects, and I love what I'm doing!  More about that later...

Tuesday evening we met up with the MSC interns for dinner at a pub called the Brass Monkey in Victoria.  The group had decided to see a play at one of the theaters, so I told them to buy me a ticket since I was just getting off work and would be late to dinner.  I had no idea what show we were seeing, and they couldn't have been happier with the group's choice...we saw WICKED!!!  I absolutely love that play (it may or may not have been my fourth time to see it).  It was fantastic, although I have to admit that the British accents were favorable to the acting but a bit detrimental to the songs (for those of you who are addicted to the soundtrack, like me).

Flash goes off right at the lights go off and the curtain goes up...awkward
Sorry, Emma, I just couldn't resist

On Wednesday evening, I had the pleasure of being invited to a reception at the residence of the Chargé d'affaires (a fancy French word for the diplomat who is in charge in the absence of a country's ambassador).  My colleagues and I took a cab to a gorgeous house (definitely a mansion by London standards) in one of the most "posh" areas of town.  We were greeted by security and invited in, then led to a perfectly kept garden, where uniformed waiters walked around offering us drinks and hors d'oeuvres.  I wish I had pictures of my own to share, but I didn't want to be that intern at such a classy event.  We mingled with corporate representatives from all over the world (it was a reception honoring British-American business relations), everything from American Airlines to the Royal Bank of Canada.  One thing I learned was that even one person's career can cross multiple borders - one of the representatives I met from the Royal Bank of Canada was actually Mexican, and yet he is based here in the U.K.  Here's a beautiful historical photo of the house, courtesy of the City of London.

Wychwood House, Residence of the Chargé d'affaires of the United States

Copyright City of London

http://collage.cityoflondon.gov.uk/collage/app;jsessionid=B76D8DCBC3C2500D22584FFF5DFFF047?service=external/Item&sp=Zlondon&sp=83108&sp=X

After the reception, I was kindly invited to eat dinner at Mary Nell and Bill Browning's home, some of our dear family friends.  They had also invited some two of their family friends who are students at Vanderbilt, so we met some other young Americans and ended up having quite a few mutual friends!  The Brownings used to live in Texas, so we ate Mexican food, drank margaritas, and listened to George Strait.  I felt right at home :) and huge THANK YOU to both of them for dinner and for all the support and advice they have given me for this trip!

Friday was cold and rainy.  The kind of cold where you can see your own breath - in late May!  The downcast weather was fitting, because that morning I sent Emma off at the train station bright and early so she could fly back to the States.  Emma, I had a blast exploring London with you and I hope you are so happy to be home!

I'm going to miss her!

There is no work on Monday!  In the U.K. there are lots of "bank holidays"...whatever that means.  I'll be doing a lot of exploring that day so expect something trendy and exciting soon ;)

I apologize for the length of this post...I will not be offended if you skimmed through.  I hope to use this blog as something I can come back to and reflect on, so I'm trying to be thorough and at the same time keep it entertaining.  I'm guessing if you're reading this paragraph now, you're still awake, so I've succeeded :) Once we get through all the touristy adventures, I can dig deeper into the truly captivating parts of London, so bear with me.  In the future I will try to write posts that are shorter and more frequent.  

I hope you are all doing well!  Feel free to leave comments or send mail :)

Much love,
Hayley

I'm definitely dreaming...

My first day in London was beyond anything I could have ever imagined!  I was singing the Lord's praises the whole day for bringing me to such an amazing and beautiful place.  I am already completely IN LOVE with London.  I'll give you all a quick summary of all that I've learned and seen in just one day!

Here are some things I observed during my first day (some being lessons learned the hard way):

1. Londoners walk extremely quickly.  They are not afraid to push you out of the way if you're slowing them down.  I will fit right in!
2. The ladies of London do all of that speedy walking in gigantic heels!  I don't know if I am that classy quite yet...
3. If it is clear and sunny when you get on the tube, it will be pouring rain when you get off (and vice versa).  ALWAYS have an umbrella...
4. Summer does not mean warm weather in London.  At one point today the temps were in the low 50's!  Should've packed more layers...
5. When grocery shopping, don't buy more than you can carry for the two miles it takes to get home.  Many people have to go to the supermarket every single day, if not multiple times a day, but it's definitely better than aching shoulders.

As I made my way from the airport to my flat, the driver had 97.3 FM playing in the car.  In San Antonio, Texas, that means pure country music from KJ 97.  In London, 97.3 gets you LBC - "London's Biggest Conversation."  I heard about all of the latest news in the area, and I got a solid hour's worth of listening to some lovely British accents - a perfect introduction to the UK!

After I got settled in my flat (actually more spacious than I was expecting!), I needed to run a few errands, so I headed to Oxford Street.  This is London's version of 5th Avenue in New York, only it appeared to me to be bigger, more crowded, and even more luxurious.  There is everything from a five-story H&M to an Aston Martin dealership.

Next, I took a walk in Hyde Park.  It's 350 acres of lush greens, ponds, and historical buildings right in the center of the city.  I was amazed at how quiet and peaceful it was!  The weather was fairly clear today so you can see just how pretty it is.

Right across from Hyde Park is Grosvenor Square, which is where most of the foreign embassies are located.  There are a number of special statues honoring American heroes, such as Dwight D. Eisenhower pictured below.  The building in the background with the gold eagle on its front is the U.S. Embassy, which is where I will be working all summer!

 

Just as I was about to head home, I noticed that it was getting darker but the skies were still pretty and clear, so it would be a perfect time to catch the last rays of light striking one of the most beautiful sights in the world.  As you can imagine, the sunset did NOT disappoint.  A perfect end to my blissful day.

That's all for now!  As I said before, I am already enthralled by this beautiful city.  I spent the whole day wondering if it was all real.  I'm pretty sure I'll wake up in Boerne tomorrow...but hopefully not ;) There is so much exploring to be done, and I will share more soon!

Much love,
Hayley

The Final Preparations

In less than 24 hours I'll be heading to the airport! WHOA!!!!

I'm sorry I have to admit this, but to anyone who saw me within the last few weeks: if I said I was excited, I was lying.  I have been nervous, scared, uncertain, emotional over leaving friends, and a million other things.  Unfortunately excited was far down on the list of emotions...until now!  I can honestly say that during the last few days, the Lord has filled me with both joy and peace about this journey.  I'M READY.

Last Thursday, less than a week before my flight, my visa finally arrived!  That was the last official thing on my checklist, so now I am legally allowed entrance to the UK (kind of important I guess...).

I started reading through the internship handbook that the program director from A&M gave to me during training.  Most of it is information on safety, transportation, etc., but one section caught my eye: "How to NOT look American".  Apparently all Americans are considered very wealthy and therefore become targets for pickpockets, so blending in is essential.  Here were some of the things on the how-to list:

1.  Don't wear bright colors.  Either Europeans are generally depressed or they just love black.

2.  Don't wear brand names or sports team merchandise.  No Aggie shirts?!?

3.  Don't smile, wave, or start conversations with random people.  Goodbye southern friendliness.

Somehow I don't think any of this will do much to hide the fact that I'm American, because as soon as I open my mouth they'll know... (4.  Don't speak. Ever.)

During my "London intern" Googling frenzy I ran into an incredibly funny blog devoted to stories about stupid interns.  It's based off the summer intern season on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., but the stories are relevant in any internship setting.  I am confident that my skills in professionalism will hold up, but reading this definitely reminded me to stay on my toes.  If you also have an internship or a job this summer, don't be THAT guy: dcinterns.blogspot.com.

Saying goodbye to all my wonderful friends and roommates wasn't easy, but I was blown away by the love and encouragement everyone showed me!  I honestly thought I would cry a lot more than I did, but everyone left me feeling so warm and comforted that I just didn't have the tears.  Speaking of best friends...in only a few days I will be reunited in London with Emma Spoor, one of my best friends in the world!  She's on her way back from studying abroad in Russia, and I'll get to spend a week with her and hear all her amazing stories.

Special shout out to my amazing Rudder Young Life team!!!  They're hard at work at Frontier Ranch in Colorado prepping the camp for kids, and I would give the WORLD to be there with them right now.

Pray for safe travels and minimal homesickness!  I love you all and I'll talk to you soon.

Much love,
Hayley