As of right now I am sitting in the lounge at Hostel Backpackers Sonnehof in Interlaken Switzerland and it is amazing. I don't really have much energy right now, we started traveling at 5am this morning from Aix-en-provence and got into interlaken at 5pm - good ole 12 hours of traveling.
Just now I realized that half of the story to get to Interlaken is a result of circumstances from the beginning of the trip. But I will have to explain that some other time because it would make this post about two times longer than necessary... so, anyways.
We started in Aix-en-provence and once we got to the TGV station we realized the train we made reservations for does not exist... So we contacted help and received information enough to rebuild our travel plans. Our original reservations started in Aix then to Lyon Part-Dieu then Bern then to Interlake all by train. However we took the train from Aix to Lyon and from Lyon to Annemasse by bus then Annemasse to Geneve local, then the from the local Geneve station to Geneve SFF station then train from Geneve to Bern then a local train from Bern to Interlaken.
Now Ryan Nakao and I are planning out our day tomorrow. We starting with breakfast then paragliding over the Swiss Alps. Then lunch. In the afternoon we will go up to Jungfrau although I will probably just kick it around Grindewald because the ticket up to Jungfrau is a bit to steep for my budget. The next day we are going to go snowboarding in the Swiss Alps for the day and hopefully the day after I will get some time to myself to bike around Interlaken and just chill.
I will update tomorrow about how everything goes! Love you all!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Extraordinary Events
Ok, warning... this will be long but hopefully very entertaining.
-Exiting the TGV from Aix en Provence a lady allowed her miniature poodle to fall through the crack between the train and the platform. The scene was hilarious. The French are notorious for their love of dogs and the obscene pampering they allow with their precious pooches. I thought it was rather hilarious, but as the crowd behind me passed the situation, I heard mainly gasps and Oh-la-la’s. I wish I were joking. Wait, no I don’t, it’s freaking hilarious. As I passed by I noticed the lady and a TGV worker squatting down next to the train. I thought it odd; maybe she lost a bag in the crack, a wallet, her phone, something trivial but worth getting at. Then I noticed the leash. I stopped as the lady and the TGV worker hoisted the dog out from the crevasse and the look on the dogs face said it all. I mean I don’t blame it! If I was its size and dropped into a crack that small I would FLIP. Plus, just thinking about what that poor lady was thinking makes it even funnier. ‘What if the train starts! Or shifts! Or Slides. Oh no! Mon pouvre chien!!’ I know it’s kind of jacked up making fun of the situation but when you are traveling by yourself in a nation completely void of any English (written or spoken), you take advantage of every possibility for entertainment.
-The thing about all of these stories is they happened in one day: my LAST day in France, which makes it even funnier.
However, Humor and Panic were companions on this day. After I acquired a sandwich at the Gare de Lyon I wandered around the Gare for a few minutes, chewing and swallowing, the whole eating deal. Then I realized that my train wasn’t on the departures board. Mistake number one. I had misread my ticket. All of the times I looked at it I had only checked to make sure of my departure and arrival times. Even though I have been to Paris several times before, I completely forgot that there are about three or four train stations in Centre Ville. My train arrived at Paris Gare de Lyon and departed at Paris Gare Nord with about an hour and half between. “No problem,” I thought to myself. “I can totally do this. I’m pro at the whole metro thing.”
So I inquired at the information counter for directions with my signature phrase ‘Excusez-moi, parlez-vous anglais?’, because my French is so horrible, descended into the Paris underground and encountered the first complication to mistake number one. I have no clue which ticket to buy. The English translation isn’t working on the billet automatique and I don’t have a large enough vocabulary to ask someone how to work the infernal thing. So I do what any even keeled traveler does: I stare at the screen for 15 minutes making up my mind. At this point I have about an hour until departure so I am still pretty calm. I get the ticket, which I still don’t know if it was right one, and descend to the correct voie (track); I then doubt that I chose the correct voie, go back up, then back down to the same one and stare at the metro map for the third time. I am working off of pure genius and intuition at this point. I thought to myself, “So what if I let a few trains go by, they probably were the wrong ones anyways. I am totally good.” Honestly, the tough part of the whole situation was knowing whether or not the trains stop at every stop. The signs didn’t specify, so like I said, my only choice was to rely on intuition. I got on the next train going in the direction that my stop was and held my breath. I was correct. Thank God they don’t make metro’s difficult or else I would have been late, even might have missed my train.
But wait! There’s more!!
I get to Paris Gare Nord and settle down, I still have about forty-five minutes left and looking good. My train is on the departures list and it is not early. Great. So, I wander around for some time and end up leaning against a pole to take the weight off of my shoulders (I have your standard hiking backpack, holding about 35 pounds worth of clothes and my Chrome bag with computer and a multitude of accessories). After a few moments a pretty girl came up to me and said, “Excuse me, do you speak English,” with her gold fillings twinkling from her mouth. Excited to speak English to anybody, I said yes and she proceeded to place a card out in front of me. Badly spelled and incoherent, this girl was supposedly from Bosnia, with a mother who was dead and a brother with “luchymea” (I read it as leukemia). She wanted money to have something to eat.
The thing with people who do this is you never know why they need the money or what they are going to do with it. Most likely this girl was just trying to make a living illegally, but there are a multitude of other possibilities. I try to be as generous as my budget will allow me. I have been convicted in the past that the compassionate but not ignorant trust that it requires to give money to people who ask for it reflects the character of Christ.
So, I reach into my pocket. I have a few 2 Euro coins lying around and grapple with one of them, as a French policemen walks up behind this girl, wagging his finger at me like a does mom with a bad child. I immediately laughed to myself and looked the girl in the eyes and said, “sorry.” She tried to mutter a response but it was broken off short by the cop who spoke something into her ear and she whipped around. From that point I was strictly an observer.
They pulled her and her friend who was on the other side of the station over to the side and began an in depth discussion. I watched until the ordeal was over and then started walking around again. Half an hour, sweet I’ll be home soon. Next thing I know it’s thirteen minutes until departure and they still have displayed the voie for my train… Mistake number two: I completely forgot that you have to go through customs when you enter into a different country… Derrrrrrrrrrr.
So I go ask the nearest person where the Eurostar departure area is, run up, tear through customs, throw in my bags to the X-ray machine, walk through the metal detector and BEEP BEEP. Oh my God. I walk back through and take out my keys. Ok good to go. BEEP BEEP. Grrrrrrr. Take off my watch. Ok, NOW I am good to go. BEEP BEEP. GAAAAH!!! I check both pockets and completely forgot about my ipod, so I pull it out, walk through completely beep free and run to the departure area. I made it. Sweaty and freaked out, but barely on-time.
I know someone is praying for travel grace for me, so thank you.
-Exiting the TGV from Aix en Provence a lady allowed her miniature poodle to fall through the crack between the train and the platform. The scene was hilarious. The French are notorious for their love of dogs and the obscene pampering they allow with their precious pooches. I thought it was rather hilarious, but as the crowd behind me passed the situation, I heard mainly gasps and Oh-la-la’s. I wish I were joking. Wait, no I don’t, it’s freaking hilarious. As I passed by I noticed the lady and a TGV worker squatting down next to the train. I thought it odd; maybe she lost a bag in the crack, a wallet, her phone, something trivial but worth getting at. Then I noticed the leash. I stopped as the lady and the TGV worker hoisted the dog out from the crevasse and the look on the dogs face said it all. I mean I don’t blame it! If I was its size and dropped into a crack that small I would FLIP. Plus, just thinking about what that poor lady was thinking makes it even funnier. ‘What if the train starts! Or shifts! Or Slides. Oh no! Mon pouvre chien!!’ I know it’s kind of jacked up making fun of the situation but when you are traveling by yourself in a nation completely void of any English (written or spoken), you take advantage of every possibility for entertainment.
-The thing about all of these stories is they happened in one day: my LAST day in France, which makes it even funnier.
However, Humor and Panic were companions on this day. After I acquired a sandwich at the Gare de Lyon I wandered around the Gare for a few minutes, chewing and swallowing, the whole eating deal. Then I realized that my train wasn’t on the departures board. Mistake number one. I had misread my ticket. All of the times I looked at it I had only checked to make sure of my departure and arrival times. Even though I have been to Paris several times before, I completely forgot that there are about three or four train stations in Centre Ville. My train arrived at Paris Gare de Lyon and departed at Paris Gare Nord with about an hour and half between. “No problem,” I thought to myself. “I can totally do this. I’m pro at the whole metro thing.”
So I inquired at the information counter for directions with my signature phrase ‘Excusez-moi, parlez-vous anglais?’, because my French is so horrible, descended into the Paris underground and encountered the first complication to mistake number one. I have no clue which ticket to buy. The English translation isn’t working on the billet automatique and I don’t have a large enough vocabulary to ask someone how to work the infernal thing. So I do what any even keeled traveler does: I stare at the screen for 15 minutes making up my mind. At this point I have about an hour until departure so I am still pretty calm. I get the ticket, which I still don’t know if it was right one, and descend to the correct voie (track); I then doubt that I chose the correct voie, go back up, then back down to the same one and stare at the metro map for the third time. I am working off of pure genius and intuition at this point. I thought to myself, “So what if I let a few trains go by, they probably were the wrong ones anyways. I am totally good.” Honestly, the tough part of the whole situation was knowing whether or not the trains stop at every stop. The signs didn’t specify, so like I said, my only choice was to rely on intuition. I got on the next train going in the direction that my stop was and held my breath. I was correct. Thank God they don’t make metro’s difficult or else I would have been late, even might have missed my train.
But wait! There’s more!!
I get to Paris Gare Nord and settle down, I still have about forty-five minutes left and looking good. My train is on the departures list and it is not early. Great. So, I wander around for some time and end up leaning against a pole to take the weight off of my shoulders (I have your standard hiking backpack, holding about 35 pounds worth of clothes and my Chrome bag with computer and a multitude of accessories). After a few moments a pretty girl came up to me and said, “Excuse me, do you speak English,” with her gold fillings twinkling from her mouth. Excited to speak English to anybody, I said yes and she proceeded to place a card out in front of me. Badly spelled and incoherent, this girl was supposedly from Bosnia, with a mother who was dead and a brother with “luchymea” (I read it as leukemia). She wanted money to have something to eat.
The thing with people who do this is you never know why they need the money or what they are going to do with it. Most likely this girl was just trying to make a living illegally, but there are a multitude of other possibilities. I try to be as generous as my budget will allow me. I have been convicted in the past that the compassionate but not ignorant trust that it requires to give money to people who ask for it reflects the character of Christ.
So, I reach into my pocket. I have a few 2 Euro coins lying around and grapple with one of them, as a French policemen walks up behind this girl, wagging his finger at me like a does mom with a bad child. I immediately laughed to myself and looked the girl in the eyes and said, “sorry.” She tried to mutter a response but it was broken off short by the cop who spoke something into her ear and she whipped around. From that point I was strictly an observer.
They pulled her and her friend who was on the other side of the station over to the side and began an in depth discussion. I watched until the ordeal was over and then started walking around again. Half an hour, sweet I’ll be home soon. Next thing I know it’s thirteen minutes until departure and they still have displayed the voie for my train… Mistake number two: I completely forgot that you have to go through customs when you enter into a different country… Derrrrrrrrrrr.
So I go ask the nearest person where the Eurostar departure area is, run up, tear through customs, throw in my bags to the X-ray machine, walk through the metal detector and BEEP BEEP. Oh my God. I walk back through and take out my keys. Ok good to go. BEEP BEEP. Grrrrrrr. Take off my watch. Ok, NOW I am good to go. BEEP BEEP. GAAAAH!!! I check both pockets and completely forgot about my ipod, so I pull it out, walk through completely beep free and run to the departure area. I made it. Sweaty and freaked out, but barely on-time.
I know someone is praying for travel grace for me, so thank you.
Friday, March 19, 2010
France - Aix en Provence
Aix en Provence... Oh why does it have to be so far from what is familiar? Why does it have to be so far from home?
I love it here. I love how foreign it is. I love the adrenaline rush of being embarrassed by not knowing enough french to know what I did wrong. I love learning french and i love watching people here.
Aix en Provence has been amazing. I promised to blog later, after I got back to Oxford, but I figured why not give a mini version of what is to come.
I am staying in the very center of centre ville (the center of the center of the city lol). Every morning I wake up to a colorful open market being set up with the most gorgeous fruit and veggies straight from the country-side of rural France. Am I dreaming? pinch me, please.
I have been doing work around the office of ICCP (international community church of provence) where I am staying. Small things, like fixing door knobs, glueing linoleum down, building shelving units, fixing doors etc... That has been fun, it is nice to do something productive with my body after a rigorous semester.
In my free time I have been writing more of my novel. My goal has been to get to chapter ten and I am somewhat there...
I have outlined (read planned) half of it and started on most of them, however I haven't fully flushed out all of my ideas but I am very close.
I have one day left in Aix and I am sad, but will probably return for Easters (I just watched Nacho Libre again) lol, "Do you realize I have had diarrhea since Easters!" lol
My stay here has been very very pleasant, and J'espère revenir pendant LONGTEMPS (I hope to come back for a long time).
That is all for now, soon I will post pictures of my stay and a more detailed description of what I have done during my stay.
Until then, stay well and enjoy whatever you are doing.
Ciao
I love it here. I love how foreign it is. I love the adrenaline rush of being embarrassed by not knowing enough french to know what I did wrong. I love learning french and i love watching people here.
Aix en Provence has been amazing. I promised to blog later, after I got back to Oxford, but I figured why not give a mini version of what is to come.
I am staying in the very center of centre ville (the center of the center of the city lol). Every morning I wake up to a colorful open market being set up with the most gorgeous fruit and veggies straight from the country-side of rural France. Am I dreaming? pinch me, please.
I have been doing work around the office of ICCP (international community church of provence) where I am staying. Small things, like fixing door knobs, glueing linoleum down, building shelving units, fixing doors etc... That has been fun, it is nice to do something productive with my body after a rigorous semester.
In my free time I have been writing more of my novel. My goal has been to get to chapter ten and I am somewhat there...
I have outlined (read planned) half of it and started on most of them, however I haven't fully flushed out all of my ideas but I am very close.
I have one day left in Aix and I am sad, but will probably return for Easters (I just watched Nacho Libre again) lol, "Do you realize I have had diarrhea since Easters!" lol
My stay here has been very very pleasant, and J'espère revenir pendant LONGTEMPS (I hope to come back for a long time).
That is all for now, soon I will post pictures of my stay and a more detailed description of what I have done during my stay.
Until then, stay well and enjoy whatever you are doing.
Ciao
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Last day of term
Today I woke up late... much later than anticipated. But, I got to work soon after and had a semi-productive day. I was informed today that I won 50 quid (around 75 bucks) through being a subject in an experiment for the department of experimental psychology at Oxford. That definitely made my day!!
I just got back from dinner with one of my housemates, her boyfriend, and two other friends (all brits). I have gotten quite close to all of them and it was nice to sit down to a very nice late supper at Jamie Oliver's Italian before we all part for the term. At the moment I am just about to start and finish the outline for my essay due tomorrow (the last one!!!).
Countdown to France - T-minus 1 day!!!!
I just got back from dinner with one of my housemates, her boyfriend, and two other friends (all brits). I have gotten quite close to all of them and it was nice to sit down to a very nice late supper at Jamie Oliver's Italian before we all part for the term. At the moment I am just about to start and finish the outline for my essay due tomorrow (the last one!!!).
Countdown to France - T-minus 1 day!!!!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
New Post... New Question
Hello all!
The last few days have been pretty uneventful. Today I woke up late, met a mate of mine that I met in college and we grabbed some food and chatted for a while. Now I am studying for an exam tomorrow and reading for my Arthurian Legend tute on Friday.
Through studying for my Theology exam I have found I have a couple of questions - the likes of which you may have some thoughts on.
The most pressing question I have is on the consistency of religion:
Must religion be consistent?
I understand and agree that it must be reliable, but there is so much debate in the church over theological matters, in fact very vital aspects of Christian faith, and they can't seem to be answered.
For example, election and eternal security. There seems to be much on both sides to say that you can BOTH gain and lose your salvation depending on the circumstances. But it seems like that is far too inconsistent. I want to know whether or not I need to guard myself in order to maintain salvation instead of being surprised when I see God face-to-face with him saying "you know, I know you tried your best, but it just wasn't good enough. Those habitual sins that continually crept into your life cost you."
The bible says that salvation is founded on God not on the works of man (Jude 1:24). But it also says that a lifetime of on-going unrepentant sin may lead to a loss of salvation (Heb. 10:26-31). Which is it? Is it both? If it is both how do they work together?
Ultimately my question is, Does religion need to be consistent and for those who follows Christ, does Christianity need to be consistent?
I know how I will remain until my questioning is appeased - in the grace of God, training myself to be like Christ so that God will transform me into his likeness - but the question still remains.
What do you think?
Anyways, love you all. Only four more days and I will be in France!! So excited, I will be sure to actually post pictures, I know i've been slacking off a lot so I will make much more of an effort that you will be able to share the experience with me.
May the peace of God be with you.
Alex
The last few days have been pretty uneventful. Today I woke up late, met a mate of mine that I met in college and we grabbed some food and chatted for a while. Now I am studying for an exam tomorrow and reading for my Arthurian Legend tute on Friday.
Through studying for my Theology exam I have found I have a couple of questions - the likes of which you may have some thoughts on.
The most pressing question I have is on the consistency of religion:
Must religion be consistent?
I understand and agree that it must be reliable, but there is so much debate in the church over theological matters, in fact very vital aspects of Christian faith, and they can't seem to be answered.
For example, election and eternal security. There seems to be much on both sides to say that you can BOTH gain and lose your salvation depending on the circumstances. But it seems like that is far too inconsistent. I want to know whether or not I need to guard myself in order to maintain salvation instead of being surprised when I see God face-to-face with him saying "you know, I know you tried your best, but it just wasn't good enough. Those habitual sins that continually crept into your life cost you."
The bible says that salvation is founded on God not on the works of man (Jude 1:24). But it also says that a lifetime of on-going unrepentant sin may lead to a loss of salvation (Heb. 10:26-31). Which is it? Is it both? If it is both how do they work together?
Ultimately my question is, Does religion need to be consistent and for those who follows Christ, does Christianity need to be consistent?
I know how I will remain until my questioning is appeased - in the grace of God, training myself to be like Christ so that God will transform me into his likeness - but the question still remains.
What do you think?
Anyways, love you all. Only four more days and I will be in France!! So excited, I will be sure to actually post pictures, I know i've been slacking off a lot so I will make much more of an effort that you will be able to share the experience with me.
May the peace of God be with you.
Alex
Friday, March 5, 2010
Another new day!
Herro!
So I have just woken up at 12 pm :) gotta love sleeping in.
The reading this morning for me was on the crucifixion of the cross. My prayer is "Father, I fear I have become so used to my seen that it doesn't bother me much, Change me!!" Amen
Today I have to finish a response to a prompt on the salvation of those who aren't Christian or who are pre-Christian. I am excited about this concept and what the fore-fathers of the church have to say about it, for I have always wondered and supposed how salvation extends to those who did not know Christ or those who know Christ but not by his given name. It will be cool.
Here is a question for you:
Is it possible for someone who has never heard the name of Jesus to be saved? On the other hand... Do you think it's possible for a non-christian to be saved (mormon, muslim, buddhist, hindu) if they believe that a Christ existed but they haven't heard His name?
I'm curious to hear your responses.
As for the next week and what it has to offer. I have a Final exam for my online Theo course and my final Arthurian legend tutorial next week. After travel week is over, I have a three meeting course on British History 1900- and then I'm done :)
I hope all is well with you :)
Love,
Alex
So I have just woken up at 12 pm :) gotta love sleeping in.
The reading this morning for me was on the crucifixion of the cross. My prayer is "Father, I fear I have become so used to my seen that it doesn't bother me much, Change me!!" Amen
Today I have to finish a response to a prompt on the salvation of those who aren't Christian or who are pre-Christian. I am excited about this concept and what the fore-fathers of the church have to say about it, for I have always wondered and supposed how salvation extends to those who did not know Christ or those who know Christ but not by his given name. It will be cool.
Here is a question for you:
Is it possible for someone who has never heard the name of Jesus to be saved? On the other hand... Do you think it's possible for a non-christian to be saved (mormon, muslim, buddhist, hindu) if they believe that a Christ existed but they haven't heard His name?
I'm curious to hear your responses.
As for the next week and what it has to offer. I have a Final exam for my online Theo course and my final Arthurian legend tutorial next week. After travel week is over, I have a three meeting course on British History 1900- and then I'm done :)
I hope all is well with you :)
Love,
Alex
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