Back in Canada

Hello:

I have now been back in Canada for the better part of two weeks. It has been a bit odd adjusting to life back here again, though very good to see everyone again too. Happily, I have found a place to live with my friend Karen in Kitchener for this fall. The job search is next on my agenda.

I've been following with some alarm news of the riots in London (and as of tonight, Birmingham too). Unfortunately, it doesn't surprise me that much, given the draconian measures taken by the Con/Lib Dem coalition in cutting social programs for the poor, rather than raising any taxes for the better off.

David and I have gotten into a routine of calling daily on Skype...most of the time it works reasonably. I'm looking forward to his visit in early September.

I'm enjoying being home, but have by no means forgotten London. I'll be back for visits every now and then...

I think I will close this blog with this entry though.

Cheers,

Julie

Just a week to go...

Hello again. The last few days have been a bustle of activity, with packing, sorting, binning, recycling, and taking things off to be mailed home or given to thrift stores. As of now, I feel like I'm just about packed and ready to go, with the exception of those few items that have to be packed at the last minute...good since I leave on vacation with David down to Cornwall tomorrow morning.

Today I took my last batch of stuff to be mailed home--between my postal and DHL trips, I have spent somewhere in the neighbourhood of four hundred pounds sending stuff home now. I also stopped in at the bank and gave them instructions to close my account at the end of August, called my mobile provider and asked them to close that account, and booked my trip to the airport next Wednesday. Yesterday, I had a furniture and electrical charity store come to pick up our TV plus a few bookshelves. There is so much stuff to cart away and get rid of....it's times like these that one longs for a car of one's own, despite how happy I generally am to be living without one now.

My housemates are all in various stages of moving too, so our house is going through lots of chaos, as our main living area fills up with boxes and suitcases as people's rooms gradually empty out.

Off to Cornwall to see David's sister and family, then Friday we leave her place to do a bit of our own visiting around. Unfortunately, the forecast is predicting light rain Thursday and heavy rain Friday, and we're camping Friday night. Here's hoping we don't have to set up camp in pouring rain.

See you soon.

Julie

Engaged!

Hello! Well, it has been an eventful week. I celebrated my 32nd birthday last Wednesday by going out for dinner to a lovely Mediterranean place called Comptoir Libanais in Central London with David, after which we went back to his place for strawberry shortcake and he proposed to me.

On Thursday night, my housemates (Jen, Esther, and Anne) and Jess threw a surprise party for me, which was definitely a surprise. Jess lured me out of the house by promising dinner in Romford, and then when I called to find out where she was (some 25 minutes late), she told me her ride home had left without her and I should go home and she would bring fish and chips asap. I was about to go straight up to my room when suddenly everyone yelled surprise! and I realized the living room was festooned in balloons and banners announcing Happy Birthday and Happy Engagement. Jen had checked FB on her iPhone on the way home and discovered that I was engaged (I had just posted that) so she picked up a card and banner for that too.

Sunday we met my brother-in-law Ben for brunch. He had been attending conferences in Manchester/Leeds the week before and had just arrived in London for a few days of relaxing before going home. In the evening, there was a farewell party for me at Wood Green, and that's where the photos at the top are from. We had a good time at a very tasty and atmospheric Italian restaurant. The chef is responsible for the paintings of London on the walls, including the one David and I are standing in front of.

Monday, I met Ben and we visited the Victoria and Albert Museum, where we explored the special exhibit on the Aesthetics movement as well as other areas displaying a great variety of silver items (from crosses to crowns to weapons to cutlery). Then we took the ferry down the river to Tower Pier where we met David and then his sister Jo and her family for dinner.

My time here is winding down fast. I just finished my last day of tuition today, and I expect I'm either done or almost done supply teaching. It has been an exhilarating and exhausting week for both David and I, with work stresses and questions about the impending changes facing us compounding the emotional upheaval (both positively and negatively) of getting engaged. I am taking tomorrow off to participate in my choir's concert, and I haven't decided yet whether to be available for work on Friday or not. I am feeling pretty "stuffed," as the Brits would say, pretty good and tired and ready for a holiday. I intend to take next week off for sure, so I can get all my packing done before David and I go down to Cornwall and Devon--in part to see his sister, Christine, whom I haven't met yet.

Hope this finds you well. I look forward to seeing many of you soon.

Love in an Apron

I had a week of holidays last week, and I split the time between spending time in London with David, and relaxing/organizing/ jettisoning things I no longer need in Chase Cross. On Monday, David took me to Cirencester, an old Roman settlement in which he spent the bulk of his growing up years. I saw several different homes in which his family lived, including the home with the creek (called a river by the locals) nearby and the remains of an old Roman wall where David used to play fort as a child. We also met his old next-door neighbours who still live in the same house. They were surprised and happy to meet him, and gave him the scoop on what family members and neighbours are up to now. Despite being quite a rainy day, we had a good time exploring David's old haunts...a real trip down memory lane for him.

Tuesday I went to Covent Garden, where I picked up some souvenirs (professional photos of London, and one of a typical English village scene) while David went to work. Wednesday I was at home doing my organizational stuff--I'm very aware that my time here is running down now! On Thursday, I met David's mom Joan at the Tate Britain, a gallery of mostly British artists. We saw a lovely watercolour exhibition. As Joan is a watercolourist herself, she was able to tell me about some of the artists and their work. We walked to the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, where we looked at art from the 18th-early 20th centuries. I enjoyed John Constable, and (J.M.) William Turner (whom Joan told me is one of the greatest English watercolour landscape painters).

On Friday David and I went to the Geffrye Museum, a compound of almshouses that has been turned into a museum displaying how the middle classes (or the "middling sort," as they were consistently called in the museum) lived in different periods of history, from the 17th century to the 20th century. One room would be decorated as a 1630's sitting room, and the next room as a 1670's one. Then the following room would be dressed as a 1740's parlour, and so on up to about a 1980's living room. There was a clear progression from very bare and plain in the early 17th century, to much more sophisticated and furnished in the 19th and 20th centuries. Clearly the "middling sort" grew in numbers and wealth and status during that time.

Saturday we saw a musical in West End London called Betty Blue Eyes. It is set in 1947 England, where severe austerity measures and rationing have dampened the spirits of everyone. The wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip is just what they need to perk themselves up a bit. The elite of the town are planning a pork roast "private function" for themselves only, trying to keep under wraps the unregistered pig they are raising illegally. Meanwhile, the meat inspector keeps making his rounds condemning animals not fit for meat or meat sold under false pretenses (horsemeat sold as prime sirloin steak, for instance). I enjoyed the show....it was historical, with clips of film and photos of actual posters from the time and showed the class distinctions ("Fair shares for all!"), and quite funny too, especially when a "non-elite" couple tried to steal the pig only to have it shitting in their bathroom and creating quite a stink in the neighbourhood.

Sunday Wood Green had our last formal gathering--potluck and service--at the London Mennonite Centre. A very poignant day for those who have accumulated years and years of memories at the LMC--weddings, funerals, worship services, fellowship meals and more. About the photo at the top, David and I were washing dishes after lunch, and one of our friends pointed her camera at us. David stuck out his belly to make himself look really fat, so that is what we are both laughing about, although in the picture it doesn't really doesn't look that way. As Sue (the photographer) commented when she emailed the photo to me, "Love is finding a man who's comfortable in an apron."

I fly home in 48 days now, and David is planning to come in September for an exploratory visit--to see me, and also to interview with several prospective employers and a prospective school (Regis College--associated with U of T--has a program that combines mental health and spirituality that he is quite interested in).

Take care,

Julie

More Turmoil in the Education System

Hello. Having almost completed the first half of the summer term (they call April to July the academic summer term here), it is becoming clear how much schools have scaled back demand for supplies since Easter. More and more, TAs are taking over classes (if they haven't been cut too) or deputy headteachers and resource teachers and PPA covers give up their normal duties to take over classes. Alternatively, classes are getting divided up and sent to other classes around the school if a teacher can't make it. And teachers are increasingly hesitant to take any sick days at all. I have been glad for two days of tuition a week, as it has been difficult even to get four days of work a week if you're just on supply. There have been quite a few days where I, and all of my friends sat at home the whole day. Due to all of the holidays we had the last five weeks (Easter Monday, wedding, May Day), TimePlan wasn't having to pay its guaranteed staff for eight days, but this fortnight, I've been called in a few times to go to a school that hadn't requested a supply as a support person. I speculate that TimePlan is trying to curry favour with schools by sending freebie teachers sometimes--they have to pay me now anyway, so they might as well get some value out of me.

It is not an easy time to be in Britain, and for my housemates who are planning on staying around for another year, job security is a precious commodity in terribly short supply. The management who look after our house recently changed hands, and there is some question as to what the lease arrangement will look like come September. My housemates then, are all trying to consider different options for what they might do given various options and circumstances. For my part, I am very happy to be saying goodbye to Britain shortly...it just doesn't seem like a very hospitable environment in which to live and work at this juncture.

In the meantime, I am home nursing a cold today, and hoping to be well enough to accompany David on a daytrip to his old stomping grounds of Cirencester (where he grew up) on Monday. Next week is our holiday week, and then it's another 6-7 weeks to go before school breaks up and I come home.

Until next time...

Postscript: It is now six hours later, and I thought it was worth noting that we have just had our first decent rain in about three months. Or rather, I periodically hear thunderclaps and it starts up again, so it may keep up for several hours yet. Fine with me since I'm in today anyway. A good start for the parched plants here.

Hello, and hi again after a long silence. The last two months have been filled with lots of things, and it's hard to know where to begin. I finished one term doing full-time tuition at three different schools, and have now started part-time tuition two days a week, with the intention of supply teaching to supplement my income. In between academic terms was the Easter two-week holiday during which my family ( mom, dad, and Joel) came to visit (their first time in UK).We had a fantastic time, though like North Americans, we tried to cram-pack way too much into the time we had. We spent a week or so in London environs, exploring Greenwich, watching the Changing of the Guard, touring around the city on double decker buses, and taking in all the concerts/shows we could (a choral concert at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Lion King). Pictured

below, here are some of us at Kew Gardens, a horticulturalist's paradise SW of the city in Richmond.

We went to the Netherlands for my family's middle weekend here, where we had the opportunity to visit some friends from Nigeria whom the rest of my family had not seen in 22 years (I had visited them last fall). Ali and Djurre went out of their way to show us lots of things, and we had lots of laughs, besides getting to know their sons (2/3 of whom were not yet born 22 years ago).

After our brief trip onto the continent, we began our road trip up to Edinburgh. David did most of the driving, for which we were all grateful, since road signs/rules are rather different in Britain than in Canada. We stopped in York for a very brief visit one evening. We participated in an Evensong at Yorkminster Cathedral, and walked through the Shambles and along a small portion of the medieval wall that still stands.

In front of Yorkminster Cathedral

From York, we went to Durham, the site of a lovely Norman cathedral. We walked along the banks of the river in the sunshine.

After a two-hour stop in Durham, we moved on into the Borders of Scotland, where David stopped to meet a friend, and we stopped for lunch. Then David took us to Greenlaw, from which my dad's Robertson ancestors emigrated in 1826. This is the (typically, sandstone) church where we found several distant relatives buried. David was also speculating about my blue blood when he found a connection between the Hume and Robertson families--apparently there is a Hume Castle nearby, though we didn't have time to stop and check it out.

We got to Edinburgh at last, and spent some time our first evening there wandering around the Leith Docks and area, since we were staying nearby.

The next morning, we set out to explore Edinburgh and walked along Princes Street, where we stopped to see the large Jenner's store (think Macy's), before walking along toward Edinburgh Castle, pictured below.

That afternoon, we visited the John Knox House, located on the Royal Mile, before scaling the trail up to Arthur's Seat. It was a fairly steep climb, but interesting craggs and heather(?) along the way. That night, David took us across the Forth Bridge and we looked at Edinburgh from

South Queensferry.

The following morning, we set off for the Lake District. Again, we felt the tension of not being able to stay and enjoy the scenery as long as we would have liked.

This is one of the lakes, where we ate our lunch. After lunch we walked along the trail to the Aira Force waterfall. We drove through Ambleside and got out in Grasmere, with the intention of finding the lake and walking around it. We never found the lake, but we saw lots of sheep and lots of stone walls and stone houses, with the evidence of an abundance of stones all over the area! We were impressed with the narrow lanes and switchback roads also in abundant supply in this area. In many areas, the roads were no more than 1-1/2 lanes wide (British lanes; with North American lanes, we would've been ok:)We stayed in Conniston for the night...the parking regulation stated that starting Good Friday, cars could only park on the street outside the hotel for 30 min at a time. We arrived on Maundy Thursday, so we just made it under the wire...David drove the car around the block for 10 minutes on Friday morning so we wouldn't get ticketed after 9:30 (the regulation took effect at 9 am).

Early afternoon, we arrived in Birmingham. We went to a pub for lunch on the enthusiastic recommendation of our hotel staff. I had an insight into the pecking order in terms of who gets served. Joel ordered two meat items plus a beer, and he got served in short order. Mom and dad had each ordered one meat entree, and they got served next. David ordered a vegetarian meal plus a soda and lime, and he had to wait a bit. I ordered a vegetarian meal (since I was not eating meat or dairy for lent) plus a water, and I had to wait an additional ten minutes after David was served, probably half an hour after Joel was served. I was not a happy camper at all, since this was now a 3:00 lunch. Lesson learned: never eat at a pub if you're a cheap, no-alcohol, vegetarian eater.

We attended a Tennebrae service at a church in Birmingham that evening before heading back to our hotel for a quiet evening.

The next morning, we headed off to Stratford-upon-Avon, where we discovered that masses of people had arrived for the convergence on one day of: St George's Day, Shakespeare's birthday, and Shakespeare's deathday. We walked around town, and visited Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried. We also took a boat tour of the River Avon, which was quite nice, although hot enough that one woman fainted from heat stroke. The weather was highly unusual for the duration of my family's stay...highs of 17-26C every day and only 5 minutes of rain one day. Heck, it hardly ever gets to 26C here in July or August, never mind April. Here is the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, home of the Royal Shakespeare Company, which has just been reopened after several years of renovations.

We had a lovely dinner with David's family on Saturday night, before heading back to London to the London Mennonite Centre--where we had stayed a week-and-a-half earlier while in London. We are some of the last folks who will be able to stay at the current LMC, as it has been sold, and will be closing in July. The trustees are working to find another place with less expensive real estate, probably elsewhere in London, though it's possible it could move away from London altogether.

Sunday morning, we celebrated Easter at Westminster Abbey. The security cameras were already up, though no the trees for the royal wedding.

Since my family left, it's been a bit slow getting back into work. The first week, we had Easter Monday and the Royal Wedding to chop two days off the week, and this week, we had May Day. Furthermore, today is polling day, the referendum on the alternative vote as well as some local elections, so some schools are closed for that. (I am suspicious I will have a qiet day home today, as it is 9:35 and I haven't gotten a call yet.) Nevertheless, I have no doubt the next ten weeks will fly by. I just booked my flight back home for July 27 this week.

I'm hoping to make a trip up to Iona for the June half-term holiday, and then David and I want to get down to Devon/Cornwall after I'm finished school to meet his sister and tour a bit of England I haven't really seen yet.

David and I are pursuing leads on work for him in Canada. He has a passport, and is working on getting a visa. He has been in contact with a number of people at York and Ryerson Universities, among others. If you have leads on jobs in mental health/public health and/or the immigration process, I'm all ears!

Shalom to you this spring...Julie

Reflections on "The Naked Now"

I have been reading a very engaging and provocative book by Richard Rohr recently, entitled The Naked Now. It is subtitled "Learning to See as the Mystics See," and has provided much food for thought. The dense ideas contained within have caused me to read and reread and reread again many of the chapters in an attempt to begin to understand what he's actually saying. While I'm sure I haven't grasped more than a fraction of what he's saying yet, here are the main messages I am drawing from the book.

Authentic Christian faith is NOT about adhering to a correct set of dogmas, principles or beliefs about God. That is a very dualistic, either-or, win-lose approach to seeing the world, and unfortunately, Western Christendom has fallen into this very trap as much as anyone else. The church tells people what to know more than how to know, what to see rather than how to see.

What Rohr is challenging us to is a nondualistic way of seeing the world, of opening ourselves to being open to experiences, of being willing to hold unresolved tensions within ourselves without needing to find immediate solutions, and to weigh positive and negative consequences without rushing to label, analyze, or judge the "wrong" or "perfect" answer. He calls us to let go our need for control.

I particularly liked what he said about how we transfer our own either-or mentality onto God. This is what he referred to as "the two heels of a Christian Achilles":

1. The individual Christian is told to love unconditionally, but the God who commands this is depicted as having a very conditional and quite exclusive love himself or herself! The believer is told to love his enemies, but "God" clearly does not; in fact, God punishes them for all eternity. This stifles and paralyzes many believers at the conscious or unconscious level, and it should. Such a message will not save the world and surely will not produce many great or loving people. The many loving Christians I have met in my life usually have had at least one unconditionally loving parent or friend along the way, and God was then able to second the motion. There are remarkable exceptions to this, however. I have met a few humanly unloved people whose need for divine love was so great that they surrendered to it--utterly. The Gospel worked for them.

2. Under the message that most of us have heard, we end up being more loving than God, and then not taking God very seriously. Even my less-than-saintly friends, the ordinary Joes on the block, would usually give a guy a break, overlook some mistakes, and even on their worst days would not imagine torturing people who do not like them, worship them, or believe in them. "God" ends up looking rather petty, needy, narcissistic, and easily offended. God's offended justice is clearly much stronger than God's mercy, it seems. Why would anyone trust or love such a God, or want to be alone with Him or Her? Much less spend eternity with such a Being? I wouldn't. We must come to recognize that this perspective, conscious or unconscious, is at the basis of much agnosticism and atheism in the West today.

He describes Jesus call to repent as really a call to change: to have the humility to keep growing and changing throughout our lives. Love and suffering are the two paths by which our inner defenses must be broken down to enable us to open ourselves to nonpolarity thinking, to die to our old selves and open up in new ways to new understandings and ways of knowing.

I have been through a range of emotions today, both joy at some of the ways I feel God is speaking to me through Rohr, and also anger at current world politics--both the way I think the current British government is causing great injustice by forcing the poorest people in Britain (through massive cutbacks of social services and unfair taxation) to pay for the economic problems brought about by the richest members of the population, as well as the whole situation in Libya, and confusion at what a faithful response to such situations might look like.

I think if I read Rohr correctly, it is I who need to be changed: to forgive myself for the ways in which I am complicit in the structural injustices in our world, and to seek to live more justly on a personal level in whatever ways I can.