Day 29: Packing

Today we cleaned. Then we packed. Then we cleaned some more. We spent the whole day getting ready to go. Everyone else was packing to go home. I was packing to travel some more. I was a little jealous of everyone that gets to go home, but at the same time, not at all. I’m excited to get the next adventure started. Austin and I haven’t seen a whole lot of each other on this trip, which I think will turn out to be a good thing. It means I’m not tired of him yet, nor him of me.

We went into London to see a movie tonight since we had a little bit of free time. I saw World War Z. Soundtrack, incredible. Movie itself, pretty good. It would have been better if I hadn’t been so stressed out the whole time; it’s an intense movie. It was a long day, but the last one. Tomorrow morning all of the art students are leaving at 5:45 to get to the airport. The youth ministry students leave at 8. Austin and I haven’t decided when we’re going to leave yet. We are fairly certain we’re going to church in town. We like to keep our options open.

It has been a long trip. It was good at times. It was bad at times. It was amazing at times. It was stressful at times. Overall it was a fabulous experience. I’m so glad that I’ve had the opportunity to come over here and work with YWAM. Now, onward to more adventure!

Day 28: Home Stretch

Today went by fast. We got up and learned that there was still some work that needed to be done. But not everyone had work to do, so some of us watched videos while others finished up the work. Me and the other guys on the team cleaned up the building we have been staying in after lunch. The youth ministry students have been doing most of the cleaning since we’ve been so busy. So I’m sure they enjoyed a break from cleaning. Snaking the drains in the showers was my least favorite part. I’m pretty sure I was cleaning the women’s bathroom, cause there was a lot of hair. After that we hopped on a train into London. Max wanted to find fake Ray Bans so we went to the market. Everything was starting to close down by the time we got there, so we were able to get dinner for cheap. We got our fake sunglasses and wandered around for a little before heading back to campus. When we got back we discovered our room ransacked. Some of the girls apparently thought it would be funny to make a mess of our room. Needless to say, we didn’t find it quite as jocular as they did. After some searching and straightening up everything got put back in place. We only have a few days left here before we head out. This month has gone by crazy fast. I’ve learned so much and can see some of the things I have learned very clearly, some I hope I will see later down the road. I’m just ready to get to traveling with Austin at this point. Especially since the work is all done. I’m getting antsy.

Day 27: Oxford

So today we went to Oxford, and it was incredible. We went to The Eagle and Child, the place where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien would meet and talk about what they were writing. It was so cool to be in that place. Right when we walked in there was a quote dialog between Merry and Pippin. The burger that I had was absolutely amazing as well. It was massive and mouthwateringly tasty (yep, it’s a word).

After lunch we met up with a guy studying at Oxford right now. One of the guys in the group knows him from back home. He took us around and showed us the different libraries and colleges. I have officially studied theology and Oxford. I read part of a theology book in one of the libraries. We saw an exhibit of original notes and illustrations by C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. That was pretty cool. After talking with this guy for a while I found out that his tutors for class include Ravi Zacharias and John Lennox. That was really cool to hear. Oxford is just a really cool place.

Next we went to a restaurant and had High Tea Time. It’s basically tea time but more fancy. It was really cool. The tea was good and we each had some tiny little sandwiches and cakes. It was very British. It was a wonderful day.

Day 26: Sleep!

The day started with sleeping in. It was wonderful! We are finally done! We had the day off. We had nothing planned and could do what ever we wanted. So I chose to sleep in. So much so that by the time I got up all of the hot water was gone, so I had to wait a while to shower. The day was very relaxing. I spent a good portion of it tossing around a disc with the guys. After doing absolutely nothing for most of the day, me and the other guys headed into St Albans for the evening. We walked around to different shops. We checked out some stores and even a thrift store. We got dinner in St Albans also. We came back to the YWAM campus full and content. We spent the night lounging around and doing different things. I had a good talk with some of the people from the group and there was also movie watching and card games happening.

The other exciting thing that happened is that Austin and I booked our tickets to Paris. We have a lot of planning to do still but we have our flight and our first three nights in France figured out. And today I bought some pants that’ll be great for climbing, so I’m pretty much all ready to go.

Day 25: We’re not done?

We spent the morning scrambling to get everything done for our presentation. Then we spent the afternoon scrambling to get things done to show the community tonight. And now we’re scrambling to get everything completely done so that we can have a free day tomorrow. We’re all operating on little sleep so this could get interesting. It’s down to a skeleton crew now. Finalizing and mocking up everything we’ve done so we can hand it over to the client. We all had an individual meeting with our profs today where they evaluated our performance over the last month. Everything is coming to a close here; at least work wise. We still have a couple days left that are going to be devoted to sightseeing. This time went by so fast. A lot has happened. A lot has been learned. Austin and I still need to finalize our plans for after the trip. Actually we need to finalize/plan everything. I’m excited, but haven’t really had time to plan since we’ve been so busy. Ok back to work. Peace!

Day 24: Crunch Time

Today when we got up we expected to have two days to finish up our final presentations. At 8:30am we were told we have 24 hours to be completely finished…with everything. Crap. So we have been working straight from then until now. That’s fifteen hours straight; with meal and bathroom breaks thrown in the mix. I still have at least a couple hours of work left before I can even think about going to bed. Everything has come together quite nicely. It has been such a long day but so much has gotten done. Everyone has been working hard all day and it’s cool to watch everything come together. Everyone was working on a small part and seeing it come together to the whole is a lot of fun. Today I edited all of the images for around the reception area and I also have done quite a bit of work on the App. All of the images are done; the app is still in the works. I designed some of the app and I’ve been working on making it interactive for most of the day. Jay, one of my housemates this upcoming year, is working on tweaking the pages and once he’s done he’ll give them to me so I can put them all together and make everything work. The interactivity isn’t super impressive. I’m just linking all the pages and making sure all of the buttons in the app work and do what they’re supposed to do.

One thing that has been so cool is the youth ministry students. There were a couple of them around today and they were nothing but encouraging. Every time we saw them today they would ask if we needed anything. They kept coming into our workspace and asking if we wanted tea or coffee. They even brought us some candy tonight. I am so glad that they came on this trip. I’ve been so blessed by them and have loved getting to know them, especially the guys. The second night we were here it felt like I’d known them for a lifetime. They are encouraging in everything they do. Even just listening to their stories of what God has been doing in them while they’ve been here has been a blessing.

Today was so mentally draining and stressful. There were several points where I was on the brink of going crazy. It was five-minute breaks of throwing a disc around that kept me sane. When I was younger my mom had me and my siblings memorize scripture. The passage that has stuck with me the most comes from James, the first chapter of James to be exact. “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” This passage has stuck with me through my entire life. Sometimes I really don’t like James. It’s a very good passage to think about though. I could use some extra patience for long days like today. It’s funny how God works. Right at the point when I was most frustrated that passage popped into my head. I just repeated, “count it all joy” over and over in my head. He definitely gave me an attitude check. Today has been pretty exciting. I’ve been able to see what an actual design firm is like the day before a proposal, pretty freaking crazy.

Well, I’m going to see if there’s anything else I can be getting done. I’ve taken enough of a break to write this. I think I’ll make myself some tea. I hope you all have a wonderful day and that God teaches you something today; cause it’s pretty cool when He does.

Day 23: Rest?

Today we went to a park in St. Albans in the morning where there were ruins of a Roman city. St. Albans is a city south of Harpenden that is quite a bit bigger than Harpenden. You could see where the towers and gate of the old Roman city were, and some of the wall was still up. It was crazy to think about the fact that the Romans were here, and that we still can see their ruins. The cool thing is that the Roman city was about the same size as present day St. Albans. One of our Profs gave a devotion under a couple big trees in the park. He talked about Paul and his missionary journeys. It was a nice little pep talk.

For lunch we ate at the oldest pub in England. It was called Ye Olde Fighting Cocks. I had lamb; it was delicious. We also checked out the nearby cathedral. After that we came back and started up on work. Me and a couple other people shot the carnival/fair that was happening on campus. It was put together for the community as an outreach effort. There was music, food, a bouncy castle, and even a dog show. Everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun. Today we got kicked out of the room we’ve been working in for the past three weeks. So we’ve set up shop in another room here on campus.

I’m ready for a break. We haven’t had a real rest for a while now. It seems like our days off have been as hectic as our workdays. And I haven’t had good alone time since I arrived here, which isn’t good for an introvert. Only a couple more days of crazy busyness and then we can take a break!