Trains, Planes and Automobiles...and Ferries and Buses

My Time in Taize

Picking up on Wednesday morning now...Karen and I were up just after 6 am to get to the airport. After picking up a coffee and a farewell pasty for Karen, we took the tube all the way to Gatwick Airport, about a two-hour trip. We checked her in and then I waited with her until she went through security about 11 am. After seeing her off, I took a shuttle bus from Gatwick to Heathrow to await my 6:30 flight to Lyon. I spent a rather long afternoon at Heathrow and left the airportabout twenty minutes late, after which the flight went without a hitch. I got into Lyon about 9:30 pm local time (France is one hour ahead of Britain). I wandered around Lyon airport and after getting some directions, I found the shuttle bus I needed to get to Gare Part Dieu, the train station from which I would be departing the next morning. Then I walked to my hotel very close by to get some z's.

12th century Roman church in the village of Taize

Being rather tired, I decided not to be up at the crack of dawn the next morning to catch the 7:22 train to Macon that I had originally intended to catch. I got to the train station a bit before 8 am. I discovered the next train departed at 9:20, so picked up some pain du chocolat (basically a croissant with chocolate inside, for the uninitiated) for breakfast. After arriving at Macon-Ville about 11 am, I finally found the bus stop for the bus to Taize. After a rather long wait and a bit of a walk around Macon itself, I finally got on the bus to Taize about 1 pm.

The drive from Macon to Taize was gorgeous. We passed countless vineyarards, field after field of gravevines that had been pruned almost down to the root with grids of staking wire everywhere to guide the vines. It was a lovely first view of southern France. Driving through the small village of Taize, we passed lovely stone cottages set on a hill overlooking pastures with sheep calmly grazing and trees in full flower.

I arrived at the Taize Community about 2 pm where I was given an introduction by Marie, a German volunteer there this summer. Shortly after arriving, I was sent to the "Canadian regional" meeting, which consisted of a Canadian Taize brother and Laura Thiessen, an girl I went to university with in Winnipeg some ten years ago. We had a great hour or so of getting acquainted/reacquainted. Laura's an English high school teacher in Altona MB now and on a sabbatical year this year in order to travel Europe, including visiting Taize and completing the Camino de Santiago Compostela.

At Taize every day is virtually the same, so I'll go through the daily routine to give you an idea. Morning prayer begins at 8:15, followed by breakfast about 9 am. Then Bible study (basically a lecture/exegesis of part of the gospel of John led by one of the Taize brothers) was at 10 am, and then we had a small group discussion of the morning's Bible study. At 12:20 we gathered for mid-day prayer, after which lunch was at 1. At 2, there was "choir practice" (practicing some of the songs we were learning; I went on Friday and we worked on the pronounciation of a Polish song and a Dutch song we had sung). Mid-afternoon was free to do whatever, and then there were several workshops offered at 5:45 pm every afternoon from Tuesday until Saturday on a variety of themes ( from the Trinity to the Eucharist, to helping someone going through a difficult time). Supper was at 7 pm, and then Evening Prayer was at 8:30 and usually went on for several hours.

Prayer services also followed a routine. Scriptures were always read in 3-4 different languages, most often in French, English, German, Korean, and Spanish. We sang in each of the following languages at virtually every service as well: French, German, English, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Dutch, and Latin. Near the beginning of the service, there was always a ten-minute silent prayer time. I enjoyed these services very much. Since everyone sat on the floor--or if they were early and lucky enough, on one of the prayer stools provided, it was discomfort that usually made me decide to leave after two hours at the evening service.

Demographically the 17-24-year olds (the group that Taize primarily caters to) were the largest age group by a long shot. They came as large groups and had their own Bible study group and were employed afternoons cleaning bathrooms and washing dishes and various other jobs around Taize. I joined the 25-35 young adult Bible study group (about 30 of us). There was another Bible study group for all the other adults as well. For meals, all the under-30s ate near the main picnic area, while the over-30s ate in a separate tent quite removed from the youngsters. I was officially supposed to be in the older adults tent, but since I had a few friends in the under-30s, I spent some of my meals in both areas. In terms of languages, the French were by far the greatest majority, followed by the Germans. There was quite a large group of Chinese people that arrived on Friday afternoon as well.

Some people came with tents, but the remainder of us were housed in dormitories. During the day, we spent most of our time outdoors, sitting on benches or grass. There were lots of tents and benches set up in squares or triangles to facilitate visiting.

I th0roughly enjoyed the prayer services and the Bible studies. Not sitting on a chair with a back for three days was the hardest part of the experience I think. I'm a terrible sloucher...

Somewhere halfway through my time there, Brother Jean-Marie(?--our Bible Study leader) told us about Iceland's volcano and the problems at airports.

So on Saturday, I went online to find out how I was going to get home. It quickly became apparent that my scheduled flight from Lyon to London on Sunday morning was not going to be happening. I considered staying put at Taize for a few days, and I thought about trying to get a high-speed train to Paris (for 150 euros) and then a 9-hour coach to London. I also talked to various people at Taize who encouraged me to find someone who could give me a ride. Through talking to various people, I was introduced to Karen, an English woman who was driving home to Oxford. She was leaving on Sunday morning, so I quickly accepted her offer. We drove to Lille, where we were hosted by the family of a girl whom Karen is employing as a nanny for her daughter. So I entered my first French home where I was treated to their hospitality, including what my cousin Alex calls "la bise" a kissing ritual of greeting (L cheek, R cheek, L, R). Each member of the family kissed me upon arrival and again at departure. They served us a lovely meal. Then we drove to Dunkirk with Anna Joy (Karen's daughter) and Elise (the nanny) for an 8 pm ferry ride across the channel. From Dunkirk, we crossed over to Dover. Even at 9 pm local time, the white cliffs were visible upon arival. Karen dropped me off at the end of the District tube line at 11 pm, and I got home about 11:4o.
L'Eglise--the newer church where the Community worships three times a day

Since getting home this week, I have been supplying in the classroom of a teacher who had been holidaying in Greece and last anyone had heard, she had made it back as far as Madrid. British skies are supposed to be opening tonight...who knows how long it will take for things to get back to normal. My sense is that a lot of schools have between 5-10 teachers that are still stranded abroad trying to get home. What a nightmare...I'm happy to have made it home myself.

Karen's Visit Continued...

So much has happened since I last posted about Karen's visit. Where to begin? I think I left off the story of Karen's visit after our first day exploring around Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace and Gardens a week-and-a-half ago. The following Friday morning, we headed into Southwest London to visit Hampton Court Palace, best known for being Henry VIII's favourite hangout. Every day this summer, they are re-enacting the day of Henry's wedding to his sixth and last wife, Cateryn Parr. Over the course of the day, we met with various characters who each gave their own perspective on the wedding and what it meant, giving us some cultural context, including Cateryn's sister, Thomas Seymour (who was in love with Cateryn) and Henry and Cateryn themselves. Much was made of the fact that women of the time married for duty rather than love, accepting matches that would advance their family's status within the society even if it meant saying no to the men they would truly have liked to marry. After a good but long day there, we headed back to central London to go on the London Eye, London's giant ferris wheel. Karen was enthusiastic about the London Eye, but when she saw hot tall it was, was very reluctant to get on. I was sure she would enjoy it if she got on it, and with the help of the staff there (who volunteered to let her get on and see if she liked it, and told her she could push the emergency button to come down at any time if she didn't want to do it) cajoled her into going for it. It turned out to be a great highlight for both of us; I had been on the Eye last fall during daylight hours, but enjoyed going on it after dark and seeing the city skyline lit up along the river. Karen also discovered pasties that day, a delicious pastry filled with various savoury things. I ordered one to share filled with pork and apple that morning, and before the day was out, she enjoyed two more with various fillings.

Saturday was the last day we could use our London Passes, so I wanted to get as much value out of them as we could. We went to the Tower of London early in the day, where we saw the crown jewels, and some of the instruments of torture used to extract information from prisoners, and various pieces of mail and armour. We passed the Traitor's Gate, where prisoners were brought in by boat, never to leave, except for execution outside the tower.

After that, we took a Thames ferry ride from Tower Bridge to Westminster, where we walked around the Parliament buildings, Big Ben and then up towards Covent Garden to the London Transport Museum. We quite enjoyed that, and we got some pictures of Karen driving a bus. After another long and busy day, we headed home for some spaghetti. As there was a potluck lunch at church the next day, we also spent the evening making potato salad and rhubarb crumble for the dinner.

After a few days of almost frenetic activity, Sunday was a nice quieter day. We slept in and then headed to the London Mennonite Centre for lunch. After church, a few friends joined us at the nearby "Vic" or Victoria Pub for a drink.

On Monday, my friend David joined us for a trip to the Natural History Museum. After a good sleep-in, we dropped David's car off at the LMC and took the tube into central London for the day. We saw the dinosaur exhibit, and and the butterfly conservatory. Karen was delighted when a butterfly landed on her finger. For supper, we went back to Maxwell's again (where we'd been on Thursday evening) for their half-price entrees (Monday Madness). Then we said goodbye to David and headed to Mamma Mia at the Prince of Wales Theatre. It was excellent; we enjoyed the costumes and of course the music.

Tuesday, I had a dentist appointment (already alluded to in my last post) so let Karen sleep in a lot that day while I ran a few errands around town. Then we headed into the city to see and eat at the original 1971 Hard Rock Cafe. It hadn't been anywhere close to my radar to make that a stop on our tour, but Karen was very eager to get there. She got some pictures to take back to her cousin in Canada (who's the owner of a franchise in Toronto) and we had a lovely--if rather pricey--meal. We headed back home to pack our bags for travel the next day and kick back with a movie before bed.

To be continued in the next post...

Dental Care in Barking

More on my visit with Karen coming soon...in the meantime, I had my first encounter with Britain's dental care system this morning and was quite favourably impressed. I arrived at 8:25 for my appointment and spent about 10 minutes filling out information forms. Then I had a consultation with the dentist (though no cleaning), an x-ray, and another appointment to fill a small cavity. Payment for the entire thing (including the upcoming filling appointment) came to 46.50, and I walked out of there at about 9:00. Dental health is considered as part of the National Health Service, which I pay for out of my income, and as such I am entitled to relatively inexpensive dental care. 16.50 for a basic consultation and/or cleaning, 46.50 for fillings, x-rays, root canals and the like, and 198.50 for crowns and other major work. I'm thinking any major dental work I need done I should do before I return home to Canada!

First Day with Karen

My friend Karen (Kitchener Karen, not Toronto Karen) arrived in from Toronto last night safely. David kindly offered to drive us back to my place in Barking. Then this morning after a brief sleep-in (9:15 for Karen), I roused her out of bed to start the day in London. We got to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guards at 11:30, and proceeded to walk through Green Park, take a brief stop at the Wellington Arch (from where we could get a nice view of the surrounding area while eating our sandwiches), and then carried on to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens/Palace. The gardens were every bit as lovely as I remembered them being last fall...they must employ a host of gardeners who work from 9 pm until 7 am keeping the flowerbeds in tip-top condition. At Kensington Palace, they had a mystery you were supposed to solve, using the clues provided, decide which 7 princesses were being described who had lived at Kensington (including Victoria, Margaret, and most recently Diana). Karen really wanted to go on the London Sightseeing Tour bus, so we had a good two-and-a-half hour trip around the main sights in London. Karen was absolutely fascinated with all the different forms of transportation available in London and wanted to try them all--tube, train, and especially double-decker bus.

We ended off the day at Maxwell's, a yummy American (I think, since it listed "fries" and not "chips") restaurant. I highly recommend their burgers--very tasty indeed.

Tomorrow we hope to get to Hampton Court Palace, and take a trip on one of London's iconic red buses--which we didn't get a chance to do today--and Karen really wants to visit the original Hard Rock Cafe, something which was pointed out by our tour guide on the bus today. We want to get an early start, so I should get to bed now.

Ciao.

Mr Nobody

I swear there's a ghost at our house. Our internet connection is regularly down for short periods of time despite the fact that Sky reassures me that we are very close to the base (I forget what the technical jargon for that is), and the heat and water also turn themselves off requiring resetting quite freqently too. It's rather annoying when you're in the middle of a shower and the water goes from hot to cold in a matter of one second. Then there's the phone that sometimes has a clear connection during calls to Canada, and other times there's a frightful buzzing static that makes it very difficult to hear the other party. Or worse, you get an echo of your own voice back to you about one second after everything you say.

When I was in Gr. 3, the Ontario correspondence course my mom and I were using had a textbook that included a poem about "Mr Nobody" who makes all the messes and does all the damage in the house. Our family got great mileage out of the poem at the time and still refer to it occasionally. Therefore, I hereby christen our Park Avenue ghost "Mr Nobody."

Easter Holidays

Greetings from London, where the weather has turned rainy and cold this week again, after taunting us with sunshiny weather and highs in the mid-to-high teens for a bit. Never mind, it's supposed to be sunny and warm (14-15 C) by mid-week, I just have to endure rainy and gray for the duration of the Easter weekend.

My biggest news is that I am now on Easter holidays for just over two weeks. This last half-term has gone much more smoothly and less stressfully for me. Going back to supply work was definitely a positive move. Even if I have a rotten day here or there, when I walk out the door at the end of the day, I can learn any lessons I can from it, then forget about it and move on. I have also enjoyed the tutoring work. While I haven't gotten quite as much work as I'd hoped (which essentially means a slight pay cut from supply work), the work I have gotten has been really rewarding, and I have truly enjoyed working with the kids.

We had a Passover Seder meal (what my Mennonite friends and family would call a Maundy Thursday meal) on Tuesday this week at the London Mennonite Centre. With 15 people there, everyone had to take a part in the readings, either as a host, or narrator, or child (we had several teen children and a 20-something year old "child." After the ritual eating of the cilantro with salt water (symbolic of the Israelites' tears in Egypt) and matzah (unleavened) bread, among other things, we sat down to eat the matzah lasagna and nut roast. I made the nut roast using a recipe that was given to me...very interesting food, containing walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, celery, tomato, mashed potatoes and onions, and egg to glue it together like a giant veggie burger. I wouldn't have thought to put nuts and tomatoes in the same recipe. It was a good evening of food and fellowship and worship together.

Today, I'm leading the music at our Good Friday service at the LMC, and then my friend David and I are going to hear the Bach St. Matthew Passion tonight. Tomorrow is a pretty quiet day, I think I might make cinnamon buns for Easter, and then on Sunday I've volunteered to be the Wood Green songleader at a joint service between Wood Green and the Westbury Avenue Baptist Church whose space we use every Sunday.

I plan to spend the early part of next week doing some cleaning/organizing in my room, as well as planning for my tutor students and accomplishing some things that don't get done when I'm in school, like visiting the dentist. Also, my housemate Kim has gotten a new job in Colchester, teaching a Yr 4 class. She is very excited about it, and will be moving on Tuesday. Since she doesn't have a car/van to move her stuff, I've volunteered to help her carry stuff on the train on Tuesday. I will miss her, but it will give me an excuse to visit Colchester now.

On Wednesday, my K-W friend, Karen will be arriving for a week-long visit. I ordered two London Passes, so we can travel around and see as much of London as we can. I will try to post during her visit with photos and notes about where we've been.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Time for another Post...

Greetings. It has been almost two weeks since I last posted, the time has just passed quickly without my getting around to blogging. Teaching has been on the whole fairly positive lately. I've been doing more teaching in Yr 2 and 3 classes which is really my preferred age group. As of last Thursday, I've started tutoring students at Richard Alibon Primary school two days a week. I met with the homeroom teacher on Thursday, then met each of the students briefly that afternoon just to introduce myself and get to know them a bit. Friday, I worked with three students. The two main areas of focus for most of the Math students (I also have some in English as well, whom I haven't worked with yet) seem to be decoding word problems (identifying exactly what information the question is asking, and what operations are required to solve it) and converting between decimals, fractions, and percentages. I'm hoping to be able to work with at least 4-5 students those days so that I'm not taking a major pay cut over supply work (I talked to the principal and he said he has two more students for me which would bring me up to a total of 8), but already on the first day, I found it a much more rewarding job than supplying. The kids were eager, and they worked really hard, and they each learned something...even something like, reread each sentence carefully to be sure you understand the information you've been given.

Aside from teaching, I'm beginning to plan seriously for visits from friends for each of my upcoming school holidays in April, June, and August. In April, I'll be showing my friend Karen around London. After she goes home, I'm going to visit the Taize Community in France for four days, a ten-year old dream of mine now that I can finally fulfill. For anyone not familiar with Taize, it's an ecumenical monastic community that works and worships together, and has welcomed Christian pilgrims from around the world (particularly young people) for many years. In June, Emily is coming to visit, and then in August, my other friend Karen and I will be backpacking across Europe together. I'm doing lots of research right now about how best to see as much as we can on a budget as possible. Paris, Bruges, Amsterdam, parts of Switzerland and Germany (where we have IVEP friends), Salzburg and Vienna, Rome and Venice are on the wish list right now.

Last weekend, I saw Chicago with some friends from teacher's college. We managed to see the show and get dinner at a Thai restaurant nearby for 27.50. It's wonderful to be in London and be able to take advantage of such deals...I know I am fortunate.

Yesterday I led a musical gathering for my church friends at the London Mennonite Centre. I got out the blue hymnal and Sing the Journey books, and picked some of my favourites--mostly short and simple, but beautiful pieces to teach in parts to the gathered assembly (about 10) by rote. We had fun, and several people expressed interest in doing it again.

Well, it's time to get outside and take advantage of the glorious weather. The crocuses, daffodils and pansies are all in their prime...spring has officially arrived!