Wait...I actually have to learn stuff?

Well, I'm finished with my first week of classes, and I think I'm looking at a good semester! I take Intro to Linguistics on Mondays, and while it's a looooong 3 hour lecture, it is an interesting subject. 19th Century London is on Tuesdays, and our professor, who is an interesting character, took us on a field walk on the first day. It was cool to hear about the history of the buildings that are right around our classroom!

My Art & Society class is on Wednesdays, and it is the most exciting by far. We meet for an hour for lecture, and then the next two hours are spent in museums and other cool places. And where, you may ask, did we go on our first day? WELL...none other than St. Paul's Cathedral! I was so excited to go back! We got to go back into the Quire, up into the Whispering Gallery, and then up to the very top of the cathedral. The view was absolutely spectacular, and it was worth every single one of those 528 stairs...even the scary ones. You'll see what I mean if you look at my photos.

London Theatre and Performance takes the Thursday slot. I think that this class will be fun and relaxed; the professor seems to be very easygoing. There is a recommended show to see every week of the semester, which could be very expensive, but we are not required to go to all of them. I have never heard of many of the shows that she listed, but I'm going to see Rain Man (starring Josh Hartnett!) on October 22 at the Apollo Theatre.

Outside of class, I visited the London Zoo, Primrose Hill, Abbey Road, and Kensington Gardens this week. The weather was absolutely gorgeous for 5 days in a row, so we definitely took advantage of the opportunity to see those outdoor sites.

I have really begun to look forward to Sundays here; I always seem to come away from them with awesome stories. I decided to try a different Lutheran church this week, so I chose Luther-Tyndale Memorial Church from the list that Google gave me. I had a really good feeling about it as soon as I walked in...the sanctuary is beautiful, and it just felt very comfortable. The congregation was small, but it had a nice mix of ages, and quite a few college-age people. Christian fellowship is something that has been lacking during my 3 weeks here, so I was really excited to see so many people my age. The service was great, and everyone really sang out during the hymns, filling the sanctury with beautiful music.

You Roths and Faith Lutheranites will appreciate this: at one point during the service, the pastor (who already kind of reminded me of Dad) divided the congregation into two groups to sing "Seek Ye First" in...you guessed it... a round. It was also the only hymn that was accompanied by the guitar instead of the organ. I kid you not. Needless to say, I felt right at home!

Afterward, I went to coffee hour in the gathering area and sat with a lovely older Chinese man named Joseph. It turns out that he went to a Lutheran seminary in Hong Kong and was taught by Lutheran missionaries from the U.S. I also met his wife, Gina, and the three of us sat and chatted for a while, mostly about Lutherans and why Shanghai is awesome. :-) After talking to them, I talked to the pastor for a bit and then to his daughter, who is in her final year of university in London. She introduced me to the other college-age folks, and pretty soon I found myself agreeing to go to Bible Study at the church's student house on Tuesday night! They were all so unbelievably welcoming, and I can't wait to go! I will definitely be going back to the church next Sunday, and probably for the rest of my stay here. God is good!

New photos! http://picasaweb.google.com/MariaKristineRoth/PalacesParksAndCathedrals#

Take care, everyone! Love and miss you!

Maria