A November to Remember (Part 5 of 4)

On the Friday before the term ended we (the American students) decided that we needed to do a true Pub Crawl in a country where bars are actually called pubs. We also had not really gone out together (just the students without the Tutors) since we had gotten there. AND we wanted one last hoorah before we said goodbye to the 2 students from River Forest (Adam and Nathaniel) and the one student from Bronxville (Martin). So we mapped out our plan of attack, attempting to hit all of the major pubs of renown in the Cambridge area. Our starting point was “The Anchor.” This pub is one of the nicer pubs in Cambridge. Guinness is the best pint here (which tastes very smooth in England by the way). This pub also overlooks the Cam, giving it a nice ambiance. Our next stop was “The Eagle.” This pub is famous for being the spot where Watson and Crick announced their discovery of DNA. To celebrate this we sat at the table where they sat. The pub is also very “pub like” in that the seats and floors are all wooden, with low ceilings and dimmer lighting. I asked the bartender for a pint of their cheapest (one of two ways to make it through a British pub crawl without breaking the bank). After this short stay we headed down to “The Miter.” This pub was pretty packed and you could tell they drew a younger crowd. We ended up standing next to a trivia machine where the guys gathered around and cheered for our own right answers to trivia questions, and also our own dumb luck to answering them correctly. I ordered nothing (the other way to make it through a British pub crawl). Then, a short distance down the road led us to “The Pickerel.” C.S. Lewis used to frequent this pub when he was teaching in Cambridge. It is also darker and older (and smaller as you can see) leading to a good pub atmosphere. I split a pint with Adam that Yeager bought him (smooth, I know). After a long (not really that long) trudge up a hill we made it to “The Castle Inn.” This is the same pub that we stopped at after the Guy Fawkes celebration. It was packed inside so we stood outside in a light Cambridge mist. It was fairly warm this evening so we got good weather for walking around, except when it poured between our walk from The Anchor to The Eagle. Never leave the house without an umbrella in England. Our last pub stop was “The County Arms.” A more modern American bar style pub, but it was pretty empty so we all sat together and had a good time. And no good pub-crawl is complete without getting something greasy to eat afterwards. Half of the group went to The Maharajah which is an Indian (not Native American) restaurant specializing in dishes containing curry. I personally think curry is nasty, so Mandy and I opted to go down to The Trailer of Life. This is a trailer that parks in the city market square at night cooking burgers and chips (fries). We ordered a small chips (which is pretty big) with Ketchup, Mayo and vinegar. Europeans apparently eat their fries with Mayo so, when in Rome…The group met back together at Westfield House to sit in the living room and chat before we all went soundly to bed, feeling like we conquered the Cambridge pub system.

A November to Remember (Part 4 of 4)

Mandy and I joined a choir in Cambridge. No, we’re not singing at King’s college or anything like that, (although they are accepting auditions in January). One of the students at Westfield House lives in Cambridge and used to be a High School music teacher. He asked us to join his small choral group, just for fun, and start up a little choir. It sounded fun, so we did it. We meet in Tapani’s (the choir conductor’s) house for rehearsals and sing in their living room. It’s not the best for sound, but it works for us. We met fortnightly (read: bi-weekly) on Tuesdays for a while, until we decided that we were going to sing for a seasonal service that we would put on. We then met weekly, because we needed the practice, and because most of the songs, save 1, were in German and Latin. It’s a small choir with 3 Sopranos, 3 Altos, 2 Tenors and 3 Basses, although we lost 1 Bass at break who went back to Concordia Bronxville. Our service was held at Resurrection Lutheran church (our church, the Lutheran church in Cambridge) where we sang at the front. It went better than I expected with the short amount of rehearsal time that we had. A good crowd showed up as well. Jon Rusnak and I even invited our German teacher from Cambridge University, and she actually showed up. She said it was very good (although I think she was being nice). The service was only ½ hour long, but that’s all the music we could prepare in the short amount of time that we had. Afterwards we had a reception with free wine (which was used as an incentive to get people to come hear us). We will be singing in the choir again next term where we will learn something not in English as well I’m sure.

Check out the pictures of Aaron as the only person in Cambridge to not own a pair of black trousers.

A November to Remember (Part 3 of 4)

Once a term Westfield House likes to get everyone to go out together for a house meal. So on the 26^th of November we all went out together to a place called Anatolia. It is a Turkish restaurant and so we would hence have a fairly authentic Turkish meal. It was also a good deal for the students because the house only charged ₤5 per person and picked up the tab for the rest of the meal. The first course was wine, which was fairly nice. Next there were plates with a bunch of different dips along with bread to dip it in. There was hummus, couscous, a fish tasting thing, a cucumber dip and a couple others. Very good stuff, and apparently Turkish. While we ate this we watched someone grill the meat on a grill near our tables. He wheeled his blue office chair (seen behind flames to the left) up to the grill and sat there turning the skewers of meat. The main dish then was…meat, on top of rice. Not sure what kind really, but there were three different types. Possibly chicken and lamb and maybe beef, but we weren’t really sure. Everything was going great and we were just waiting for the dessert course when the unexpected happened. The music got louder and the owner told us he had a special surprise for us. Then out came a belly dancer. Apparently this is normal for a Turkish meal, but it’s not normal for a British meal. It was slightly entertaining for about the first 5 seconds, and then it just got weird. We got pretty uncomfortable with this girl gyrating around us and either looked away or starred in disbelief. Then the owner picked out some of the guys from our group and had them stand up and dance too. Don’t worry, it got weirder. Then the owner cleared off a spot and had her dance on the table. We politely clapped along to the music in the background (as was prompted by the owner), until we couldn’t take it anymore. A group of us decided to draw attention away from the belly dancer and the strange situation and get up to dance ourselves. This at least eased the tension a little bit and we could laugh at each other instead of stare at the lone belly dancer. The owner then had me dance with him (check the weird pictures) to show me that I was doing it wrong. I never got it, oh well. Luckily he ended it after that song and told us, “You will all come back now.” Um…no, we won’t, but it was an experience we won’t forget. Then the baklava came out for the dessert course, and it was delicious. If you’ve never had it, try it. Good stuff. So Turkish pros are cucumber dip, hummus and baklava, and cons are unexpected belly dancers.

Link to Pictures (PG: Parental Guidance Suggested)

A November to Remember (Part 2 of 4)

Being a house full of Americans we decided that we had to have a real Thanksgiving celebration. The Brits, of course, do not celebrate Thanksgiving, but they do have their own Harvest celebration that was had back at the beginning of October (It’s very informal and you can kind of pick whichever Sunday you want to have it on) . So we put up a sign-up sheet to get a decent head count and determine who would bring what (gotta love potlucks). All of the Americans signed up, the rest of the students in the house, and also one of the Tutor’s families, some couples from the church, and our Finnish friend Samuli. Altogether we had about 30 people for our Thanksgiving feast. Once we realized it would be a large bunch, we had to make sure we had enough food. Everybody picked their dish to pass, and Mandy and I picked mashed potatoes and gravy. It seemed like it would be easy at the time, until we remembered that we had to peel potatoes for 30 people. Plus I had no idea as to how to make gravy. We ended up buying 22 pounds of potatoes, and we bought some cheap packets of gravy that were “just add water”. Some Thanksgiving purists decided that we had to have giblet gravy as well, so I let them deal with that.
We wanted to do the dinner on Thanksgiving, but with the wives working and the guys in classes all day it wouldn’t have worked out, so Friday it was. For Thursday festivities I hooked up my computer to the TV in the house and we watched the Packers/Lions game. The Lions looked sad as usual, even when they made a desperate attempt to come back in the end. Same old lions, same old Thanksgiving tradition.
On Friday we decided that Thanksgiving just isn’t Thanksgiving without a friendly game of touch (American) football. So the manly men went out to the park and played for a good 2+ hours while we let the 3 turkeys bake in the ovens. After the wives got home from work the kitchen was in a flurry until the dinner began at 8:00 p.m. We finished mashing and mixing about 2 minutes before the dinner was supposed to begin…good timing for hot mashed potatoes. We had the meal in the hall of the church because there was such a crowd. The spread looked amazing, and it tasted the same. We also had some live music and a message from Andrew Yeager concerning the 1st Thanksgiving. Altogether it was a great Thanksgiving feast in the UK. The only thing missing was green bean casserole, but we lived.
And Thanksgiving also isn’t Thanksgiving without lots and lots of leftovers. The next evening we had Thanksgiving part II and everyone in the house prepared their own leftover plate. The mashed potatoes still were not gone after this. They were finished off after another day or 2 (we may have made too many). However, we now know how to make mass quantities of mashed potatoes and gravy, so we’re prepared for next time. In our home away from home we had a great Thanksgiving with the Westfield House family.
To see pictures of the game, the preparation, the feast and Thanksgiving part II, click here.

A November to Remember (Part 1 of 4)

Well it's now December and we didn't hold up to our promise of posting often...we didn't even post again in November. Mea Culpa. The good news is that now you get to read a Mega November Issue. Here goes...
On November 5th we celebrated, along with the rest of England "Guy Fawkes Day." It's kind of strange because it is a day dedicated to when Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the houses of parliament on November 5th, 1605, but his plan was foiled. He was then hung,drawn and quartered or something worse than that for his attempted terrorism. Every year they celebrate his squashed attempt and a poem was written that is usually recited:
“Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.”
In Cambridge they had a large fireworks show which is what most cities have on that evening, like our 4th of July. Most cities also have a large bonfire that they light. Another tradition is to have an effigy of Guy Fawkes which is paraded and then burned on the bonfire, but many counties (including Cambridgeshire) outlaw this because of obvious reasons. Cambridge at least had the bonfire. If at all interested in learning a little more about it, the movie V for Vendetta is based on these themes. This is one of the biggest British holidays so we are glad we got some good English culture by participating. Then in good English style we stopped at a pub for a pint on our way back to the house. More November to come...

Studies and Excursions

Well, seeing that it has been 3 weeks since our last post (which wasn't really a post at all) we decided that it was high tea time to update our Cambridge goings on.

First, The Computer - The hard drive in our laptop died, never to be used again. On the bright side, I backed everything up onto our external hard drive, so we didn't lose any of our pictures, files, etc. The only pain is having to buy another hard drive. One is ordered and is on the way. $100 for a new one (which is about a weeks worth of our budget), but it could have been worse, so for $100 we'll have a working computer again. In the meantime, another couple at Westfield House brought along two laptops, and offered to let us use one of theirs, so we will have been borrowing that one. We hope to have our laptop fixed and the borrowed laptop returned by the end of next week.

Aaron - Classes here in Cambridge are going great. The lectures at the Cambridge Divinity Faculty are excellent. It is such a blessing to learn from some of the top thinkers in the world in various subjects. And then the "in house" components at Westfield House are just as great. The Preceptor and the Tutors here lead us in stimulating discussions in topics ranging from Philosophy to Martin Luther. The courses I am currently taking include Philosophy of Religion, Synoptic Gospels, World Religions, Readings in Martin Luther, German and Latin. The two languages add a bit to the workload, but I am looking forward to being able to use them in studies in the future. I ride my used rusted black mountain bike to get to and from class at Cambridge every day. I'm glad I had the cycling practice last year at the seminary. In non-studying time, I play some soccer (football) every Wednesday to prepare for a match against the Lutheran Seminary in Germany in the Spring, I help organize Compline (a service of prayer at the close of the day) on Wednesday nights, and I play an occasional game of darts (if 5-6 times a week is occasional) since there is a dartboard in the house. I have also developed a strong affinity for tea, usually Earl Grey with milk and sugar, which is great at any time of the day.

Mandy - Well, well, well. Hopefully my news is somewhat interesting since I'm not sure how "Cambridge-y" it will be. Since I live in a house overrun by Americans and have been hired by Starbucks, I'm pretty sure I haven't left the U.S. It does feel that way sometimes, especially since I've gotten into a routine of your normal daily stuff: work, grocery shopping, blah-blah, etc. Until I hear those crazy British accents say something like "brilliant" or "stand in the que," or I ride my bicycle down the left side of the street next to a double decker bus, that is. Really, it is interesting how normal things feel when you're living in a place and not just vacationing. That's not a complaint, just an observation: its' like Cambridge is becoming more of a nice homey companion as opposed to the exotic stranger it used to be.
Working at Starbucks has been good to me so far. I love my co-workers, and they have fun making fun of me for using words like "bathroom" instead of "toilet." "What, did you miss your shower this morning?" Har, har, har. Other than working on my British English and meeting all the locals that come in for their morning caffeine fix, I can proudly say that I can make you a double tall, half-caf, irish creme, soya, extra dry, extra hot cappuccino whenever you come visit me. Sweet, huh? Well, I can make that for you when my store opens up again. It was recently shut down due to a little fruit fly problem, which has created quite the stir. We were even on the news! I seem to draw publicity wherever I work... But anyway, I should be back on the job in just a couple of days.
Other than that, I can now knit - sort of - as another of the Sem. wives joined a knitting club and has invited me along. There are three of us in the house who've taken up the ancient art, and hopefully we can encourage each other as we go. My goal is to finish a scarf before we move back to the states. (If I aim low, maybe I'll suprise myself!)
Anyway, I've been too wordy again, so I'll let you move on with the rest of this post!

Aaron and Mandy - Being two people in Cambridge, things seem to get expensive, but we're not letting that stop us from having a jolly good time while we can. Two weekends ago we went out on a house punting trip on the Cam River. Punting is kind of like canoing, but instead of oars you use a long pole to propel and steer the boat. Both Mandy and I tried our hand at steering, which led to us zig-zagging from one side of the river to the other most of the time and getting a bit wet, but we never tipped. It was a fun experience and it is highly recommended if anyone else ever visits Cambridge.
Then last weekend we went down to London to attend a Lutheran Student Gathering where students from all over the UK came together for some fellowship. For the rest of the time, we saw some London sights such as the British Library, the British Museum, Covent Garden, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abby and Big Ben. It was a very "touristy" trip. The next day we took a train to Oxford (which isn't as cool as Cambridge in our opinion). We visited Blackwells, which is a ginormous bookstore (bigger than any Barnes & Noble or Borders), Christ Church College, and the pub Eagle and Child, where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis would frequently visit to discuss their writings. We sat and read C.S. Lewis poems over a pint of ale. That evening we attended a Reformation service at the Oxford Lutheran church, which was followed by a wonderful English pot-luck. No green jello or lemon bars, but it still felt very Lutheran.
When we're not out traveling the English countryside we usually just sit in the house on evenings a watch LOST with a group of other students. If you have never seen ABC's LOST, and you don't have a lot of time to spare...don't watch it. It is very addicting (and a kick-butt show in our opinion). We have already watched the entire 1st season and are working on the 2nd right now. Our goal, as a house, is to get all caught up before the 4th season starts in February. There are about 12 of us who get together and watch it (pretty much whenever possible). It is great way to strengthen the house community, and also leads to fun discussion apart from Theology.

So to recap this post, Computer, Classes, Starbucks, Punting, London, Oxford and LOST. Now go check out the PICTURES. Cheerio.

Minor Blogging Setback

Sorry folks. The hard drive on our laptop was ornery and busted and making weird noises for a few days. Then it decided to stop working all together and the computer would not recognize any hard drive at all. Then with the small amount of computer knowledge that Aaron has he was able to fix it (we hope it's fixed) and we are now up and running without losing any documents and without having to reformat the drive. In the meantime we are making extra sure that we save everything we do to our external hard drive so that in the event of another travesty we will be safe. Please keep our computer in your prayers. Thank you for your patience, and we will be blogging much more interesting material ASAP. Cheers.

Happy Beginnings

"Big Brother: The Westfield House Experience" has begun for the Roggows. Those of you who have seen the slightly-strange CBS reality show about 8 or 12 or 15 or however many people living as house mates together will have a little glimpse into what I am talking about. After an intense go through security (our bags were specially screened, and we were frisked!) , a lovely flight on Virgin Atlantic (complimentary alcoholic beverages and personal TV/movie screens), and a tricky journey navigating England's bus system whilst carrying 120 lbs. of luggage each, we arrived at our very own house in Cambridge, England. Well, it's not exactly our own...

And that will be the concentration of this post. Westfield house is a beautiful, old, ginormous (did you know that word made it into the dictionary? I may have spelled it incorrectly here, though) English house located about a 10 minute walk outside the city's centre. It's drafty and quirky and filled with about 14 other people - give or take - and it's brilliant! First the logistical detail's: the ground floor (1st floor for all you Yankees) has a couple offices, a library, a living area, a kitchen, and a dining room. The dining room has maybe 5 refrigerators (big and small) and a couple of freezers, and there are 3 stoves and ovens in the kitchen. The first floor (again, think 2nd floor, Americans) consists of, I believe, 7 rooms and a private flat, a couple of toilet rooms, and a couple of shower rooms. Sorry to bore you all with such details, but the mums at least will appreciate them.

Now the reality show aspect. We are living in the same four walls as friends from home, students from South Africa, and a pastor from Ethiopia, just to name a few. It's crazy. And so nice. Guys play darts and smoke pipes, girls assemble Little Mermaid puzzles, students drink Scotch while simultaneously solving all the church's problems, and all these different personalities blend together to make a weird and very fun house. Somebody keeps leaving the toilet seat up, everyone's bikes keep braking, and nobody knows where the dishes go. There's been a bunch of laughing, some awkwardness, and a bit of heated discussion (i think it was mostly healthy, though). So maybe this isn't as titillating or scandalous as the original TV show, but I am definitely getting a kick out of it. And I am so thankful to be surrounded by such kind people. It's gonna be a good year.

Check out this link for our pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/ARoggow

Intro

We made it to England...more to come.