First Sunday Here...

Today was really great! I was kind of nervous about what church I should go to, because there's not a huge selection in England, but I had a lot of help from students and leaders in my program that regularly go to church here at Oxford. I ended up visiting one of the churches which, like most of the others, would be classified as Evangelical Anglican. It was actually really incredible; the worship was very beautiful...hymns that had naturally beautiful rhythm to them, and there was one that was SO good to sing, being in England. Here's one of the verses:

Come, young and old from every land
Men and women of the faith;
Come, those with full or empty hands -
Find the riches of His grace.
Over all the world, His people sing -
Shore to shore we hear them call
The Truth that cries through every age:
"Our God is all in all"!

Rejoice, Rejoice! Let every tongue rejoice!
One heart, one voice; O Church of Christ, rejoice!

It was just such a beautiful reminder that no matter where I'm at in the world, I'm bonded by the blood of Christ to people that I have never even met! Even when communicating may be hard in a country that has a different language other than England, you are still able to praise God together with your voices and be brothers and sisters in Christ! So incredible! They were all very friendly, and after the service at their short tea reception, there was a staff member that gave us information about small groups, so I'll probably end up staying there rather than church hopping until my head explodes (and the term ends).

Afterwards, we walked to the grocery store where the cashier told me she loved my American accent, which pretty much made my day, because they sound so much more sophisticated than me! But I guess if they're used to their own, I would probably sound pretty interesting to them when I talk because I'm usually smiling and pretty enthusiastic and friendly. They're pretty reserved, and I've realized they can look super annoyed but be completely fine...although, I realize this isn't probably always the case when there's a random group of Americans walking around.


This evening, we had another tea at the school in Oxford I'm studying at, and afterward we had a very entertaining game of travel pictionary and He Said, She Said (I think it was called...very similar to the former). I feel a lot closer to the students I live with as each day passes :)

Oh! Some more differences, just to keep the list going :)

• Fire hydrants are way bigger; not sure why.

• Fire Department = Fire Brigade. The British version sounds quite more noble and heroic if you ask me. They win this one too.

• After the light turns red, it doesn't turn green usually, it turns or blinks yellow THEN green. Much safer. Especially when you're me, on a bicycle, riding on the wrong side of the road, afraid for my life.

• The pastor today said that King Xerxes' bubble was pricked, not burst. Burst is more emphatic...pricked reminds me of needles popping a bubble, which sounds more painful.

So...I believe our scores of clearly better national objects is somewhere along the lines of...Americans: 1, British: 3.

Oh! P.S...I found out from one of the guys I live with that Emma Watson's parents live a few doors down from us. They found out when they went caroling this last December popped by the Watsons' place. I propose we use the excuse of delivering Valentine's or hunting for Easter eggs when the time comes, yes? 1/2jk

P.P.S. - Sorry if these blogs are really strange...I'm writing them really late at night and don't reread them so please excuse the odd stream of consciousness that this probably is.

Love you all, and I'll take pictures of the church soon!