Dear family, friends, colleagues, and all,
This blog posting will probably be more reflective than my earlier postings. I don't have any new photos to show you, but I will when I do my next entry a week from now.
This past week was what they call "Freshers Week" here, which is an introductory week for freshmen and others. I did take part in a couple of the welcoming events for graduate students, and I met a few PhD students from all over. Then I took the one-day introductory class on how to teach at the university level, which I had very much been looking forward to. This was all day on Friday, and the class was excellent and very well taught, but I felt so, so, so old. I don't usually think much about my age, but I was sitting in a lecture hall with 50-60 PhD students, and most of them were in their 20s. I truly did feel old, and I could see all the wrinkles and faults on my face and neck when I got back home. Even so, I am plowing forward, and I am eager to figure out how I can take advantage of my age, wisdom, and experience in a new field. I just wish I felt more assertive. I do not feel as much like myself here. :-)
The other major accomplishment of this past week was that I was able to walk everywhere by myself, thanks to all the things Debbie and I did last week, and thanks to the lovely walking tour of the major parts of the city center (or "centre" as they spell it here), given to me by my wonderful landlord Rosie. I was able to go out to eat by myself twice at night, and once for lunch on campus, and I figured out the British pounds. I also have made additional forays to the grocery store, to get more things since the time Debbie helped me stock up, and I've cooked and eaten at home many times. So I am really making headway.
This morning I went back to the United Reformed Church (URC), where I will be attending weekly services, and it was very nice to be there. Some of you at our church in Bethel know that I like to sit in my pew and gaze up at the cross, and I was able to do that today at the URC church, and it made me happy. I stayed for coffee hour, and they were very cordial to me, but then the coordinator of next week's Harvest Brunch asked me to sign up to bring something! You know what that means to me! It has to be something I can buy! She asked me last, after she had everyone else signed up, and we could not settle on something. So finally she agreed, very kindly, to allow me to bring an item of my choice to put on the table for all to enjoy! I promised her it would be something good.
I do need to finish my huge chapter and give it to Morwenna by two weeks from tomorrow, so I have some work to do. All the research has been done for a while. It's the serious, heads-down writing time that I need. Thank God --- literally --- I do have that time here in Exeter. I am all settled now, after having spent last week doing things to get myself acquainted, and I have all that I need here, including your love and support. Please pray for me. And please stay in touch, whether by email or Facebook or other ways. By the way, SKYPE video sessions work fairly well, although those of you who have SKYPED with me have found that we do get scrambled and dropped.
Blessings,
Jane
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