Sunrise

There some downfalls to being in Northern England. It rains every day, and there is hardly any daylight in the winter. But, every morning we get to watch the sunrise over the english hills; a beautiful thing. Pictures to come in the future.

Beautiful Durham

Crisp air, soft breeze, leaves floating, colors variagated, sun shining--a few reasons I love fall days.

At present, Durham is beautiful. Of course, in England, present only lasts for about ten minutes. Today, however, time stood still. It was gorgeous, absolutly gorgeous. We look forward to posting some pictures. When we get a cable that will upload our pictures from our camera to the computer, you can share in our delight. For now, just imagine.

Update on Interview

Pam didn't get the job. This isn't such a bad thing though. There is now a girl from her temp agency who works with her, and used to work at the place that she interviewed. That girl told Pam that the boss at the other place wouldn't have been good to work for. So, it sounds like this is for the best.

Keep praying as she has sent off several more applications in the last week.

Interview

Pam is interviewing for a real estate job on Friday. We are hoping that she gets it as it will be a perminant position and in Durham. This will cut out 2.5 hours commuting time for her and will also save us $100 per month travel expenses.

The Benefits of Walking

Apparently walking covers over a great multitude of sins. That is the only reason I can think of as to how the British stay, in general, within a moderate to low weight range. Many Americans eat too much and exercise too little, and that is why they become over weight. So I figure all the walking people do over here must make up for the English diet, which can really be quite bad, even compared to the "Supersize" American one. I mean, you can order something called a "chip buttie" over here, which is basically a bunch of extra-greasy fries stuffed into a buttered sandwich bun. Yeah, a french fry sandwich with extra butter--the lunch of champions. For breakfast you can get a bacon buttie. And you can get "chips" with everything--Mexican, Chinese, Thai, probably Italian. From the magnitude of their availabilty, I'd guess the average British person might eat approximately 1-2 servings of chips every day. "Yes, I'd like the Kung Pao Chicken with chips instead of rice please. And could I get a deep fried Mars bar on the side? And maybe a pint of double cream mixed with bacon grease while I'm at it. No problem--I'll walk it off."

"These are a few of my favorite things..."

I was warned about moving abroad that I would go through stages of adjustment--like initial enchantment, to feeling like everything and everyone was backwards, to finally feeling at home. Well, I feel like, lately, I've been going through the "Proud to be an American" stage where I remember with fondness many of the culturally "American" things that they don't have here. You know, it's like that feeling you have when you've been away from your hometown for a long time, and upon your return, you notice with vividness all the charms that you usually pass over. So anyway, here is a list of some of the American things I've been missing.

1. African American culture---Ok, now hear me out. I know I am not personally African American, nor was I constantly immersed in that culture in the states. However, there is beauty to African American arts and music and people that is lacking over here. I miss their friendliness and their gospel and their hip hop and their colloquialisms. The other night I heard this totally white English girl say in her whitest, most British, most Princess-Di-ish accent...(imagine it with me)..."I'm a gangster, yo, yo, yo." (She was tipsy, and why she was saying this is beyond me.) I was like, "please, honey, don't even try it." The other day I heard "Mo Money, Mo Problems" blaring out of someone's car and I wondered if folks over here can even understand what is being said.

2. Simplistic English---It seems the British like to stylize phrases that would otherwise be quite plain, and call me simple-minded, but I prefer the straight-forwardness of American English. For instance, I spent a couple of days at work last week trying to figure out if the time "half eight" means 7:30 or 8:30 (it's the latter). However, "quarter ten" means 9:45. Why can't they just say 8:30 and 9:45? I am also having to learn to spell and give numbers like this: My surname is spelled W-E-double L-S; or my phone number is 6-treble 8 (for triple)-7-treble 4-double "not" (for 0)-and so on. Those Brits, they like to say it fancy. Its too easy to just say W-E-L-L-S.

3. Big bags of chips---The other day I bought some tortilla chips in a bag that holds approximately 2 servings. Who ever needs just 2 servings of tortilla chips? If there were a superbowl here to watch, I'd need at least 10 of those small bags to go with the guacemole for the party.

Speaking of tortilla chips and guacemole....

4. MEXICAN FOOD---Seriously, we need some Mexican immigrants over here! I don't want to pay the equivalent of $12 for one enchilada made with meat that is far too high-quality, a side of rice (or "chips"/fries if you prefer), and a garnish of cole slaw. And if I have to pay for my appetizer of chips and salsa, please give me more than 2 tablespoons of salsa. And have they never heard of sweet and sour mix? Its about as hard to find margarita ingredients here as it is to find authentic Thai ingredients in Clanton, Alabama. Oh how I long for some El Maguey or Panchos or even Taco Bell. And the white cheese dip, oh the white cheese dip.... Give me the good, cheap, sloppy Mexican with lots of refried beans, and Grade B ground beef, and $2 margaritas, and no cole slaw, and I'm one happy camper. Yes, they definitely needs some Mexican immigrants over here.

Infestations?

So Pam started her job today. It mainly centered on taking complaints from people in the community related to "Environmental Health." There were the usual type of complaints and some were a little more unusual. Some of these were so good that I have decided that i am going to have to arrange them into a top ten.

10. A burglar alarm has been going off since 5 am, somewhere down the street.
9. My neighbor's car is too noisy.
8. There is a wasp's nest in my air ducts.
7. I found a rat in my garden.
6. There is too much dog "foul" in the park. Can someone please put up a sign?
5. There has been a fire burning in the lot next to me for three weeks. Can someone please put it out?
4. I break out in a rash if i touch any surface that a bug has touched. I need someone to spray my house.
3. My neighbor's trailer is starting to stink. I suspect that they do not have a septic tank and are burying their waste in the yard.
2. There are fleas in my house and all over my son.
1. The lady downstairs is making a lot of banging. It is because she is a prostitute. (She proceeded to explain) No, like she has lots of different men coming over for sex.

There you have it folks. Dave, eat your heart out.

Do we really speak the same language?

I was told before coming over that Americans and Brits share a common language known as English. And so naturally, I assumed that when i told them that i was coming with my wife, and they told me that the apartment was furnished, it would have been understood that we aren't dwarfs! Thats right, those are pictures of our couch, where most of you will be sleeping should you decide to stay with us.

Classes

I started classes on Thursday and though technically, i don't have that many hours of class time, the work load is going to be difficult. The majority of the load will be in my Septuagint class (Septuagint is the Greek version of the OT). In this class i will be looking at different versions of the Septuagint, as well as reading Tobit in Greek. Considering that the only Greek that i have looked at is the New Testament, and considering that this is quite a slow read for me, I envision the class taking up a lot of hours. Beyond that class, much of my time will be spent on things that i don't have to take for credit, but will need. These classes include an introduction to theological German and a Dead Sea Scrolls course. Please pray as i try to balance all this.

KW

Nappies

Right off the plane, lost in wonder and confusion, while eating at a pub we hear a little boy say, “But I don’t want ya to change me nappie.” “But ya nappie needs changin” his grandmother replied as she took him by the hand and walked him into the women’s WC.

Pam got a Job!

We received a call this morning and Pam was offered a job. You will never guess what she will be doing, "working for the Gateshead City Council in the department that deals with infestations." In plain speak, she will be the 911 for when you have a bug problem. If you know Pam, this is a perfect fit. Gateshead city council can be assured that she will be richly invested in ridding their houses of bugs. From now on, you can refer to her as "Spider-Woman."