It has been a hectic past two weeks. I've had the normal routine of papers, but I also had the pedal fall off my bike, which severely limited my transportation. And I actually flew back to the United States to take part in my grandfather Denys' funeral. It was a beautiful funeral and I was so blessed to be able to make it back, see family, connect with friends and great-aunts and great-uncles, and say goodbye to Grandpa. Thanks especially to you for your prayers and encouragement for me and my family through this time. I also want to deeply thank Robert Miller, Shelby's dad, who arranged for me to fly home and back on such short notice affordebly. Thank you.

I also got to see the entire Voth family, for a short moment. They gave up their saturday morning to come to the funeral and that meant so much to me and I felt so loved and blessed to have such an amazing family. I'm sorry guys I didn't get more time with you. I was also blessed to make it to Tabor and connect with tabor friends. It was a valuable weekend in every way.

Since then, however, I've really been scrambling. I had a paper due, the day after I returned. But thankfully I got it done. I've since, fixed my bike, restocked my gorcieries, returned checked out books, and begun my next papers. However, I'm still trying to retrieve a bag that was delayed by the airport. There is so much to report, and the week feels like such a dream.

I don't know what else to say, I'm just trying to collect my thoughts and get back into the swing of life at Oxford. Tonight I'll catch up on sleep, and then I should be back in the groove. I've got a soccer game tomorrow, and I'm Emceeing a Halloween/ Fall Festival party on Friday, so it all should be a fun weekend.

Oh yeah, I also got an email from Dr. Jules Glanzer, Tabor College's next president. He seems like an incredible guy. It was so nice that he would take the time to talk to me, so that was an encouraging interchange.

I have also had contact with Dr. Timothy Richmond. Tabor College's next science professor. He is spending a year working in Belgium through a fellowship. He and his family will be coming through Oxford to visit a friend over Thanksgiving. So I'll be seeing Tabor people sooner than I thought. I'm really looking forward to it. I also hope to visit him in Belgium as I pass through on my post-Oxford Europe trip. You can see his experience at

http://oneyearinleuven.blogspot.com/

The picture is from the British War Museum and is a peice of the Berlin Wall. I thought it was especially poignant to be outside the entrance to the museum. In fact, I think the British intended this message.

Today was some what adventurous. I reffed an Oxford women's soccer game between Queens College and some other team... thankfully, these teams were in a lower league within the University so we didn't take it too seriously. I let a lot of things go, and I can think of at least five calls that I just missed... but otherwise I think I called a fair game. I hope my parents would be proud. So I was happy with how it turned out. I've actually got some things done today as well. Also an interesting aspect of life that happened today was the finals of the Rugby World Cup in which England participated. So all over town tonight, its been a crazy frenzy of English patriotism and celebration. I don't know quite how the game turned out, I was planning on going to watch it with the Englishmen, but we were dissuaded by the fact that the game would only be played in pubs, and in the event that England lost, it could get pretty crazy... I was a little disappointed, but I trust the advice of those who've done this all before. I'll let you know what happened tomorrow.

But let me tell you about my incredible day on Thursday. (This is another exerp from an email home)

I actually woke up at a reasonable time, I didn't feel rushed, we had a group lecture (for the whole program) today that was one of the strongest most Christ-like messages I've heard in a long time. He was one of the foremost economists in the world in fact, this guy David Hays has such an impressive resume that he was the Assistant-Chancellor of Oxford University... needless to say this guy is a big deal. He came in to speak about Christian Economics and how can a Christian interact with economics... are they opposed to one another... it was incredible. He looked at Old Testament theology on wealth, poverty, and accumulation... and he hit a home run. It was the academic equivilent of seeing Babe Ruth point out where he was going to hit the game winning home run. He answered every question right dead on with God's message... we have to find "enough" not pursue all we can get... Christianity is incompatible with unrestricted capitalism, ect... we have a responsibility to see the poor provided for.. ect it was awesome!!!

One guy asked this economist a series of questions trying to cut himself some breathing room. "What if God just blesses you with the ability to make money? Is that wrong?" he asked. "No absolutely not," Dr, Hays replied, "This is about Stewardship... its not a matter that you may be blessed with the ability to generate wealth. This is a matter of how you spend that wealth, is it only on yourself, do you invest in companies that pollute, or oppress workers and so on, or do you spend your wealth in bringing up the weak and poor and like minded companies?" To which the kid said, "Well then how can you become a savvy investor if you are limited in the companies you invest it? How can you get rich otherwise?" Which we were all shocked at his shortsightedness and wanted to say, "THAT'S NOT THE GOAL!!!" but then he went on to ask, "Can't you enjoy the nice things in life if you have the resources? Can't I own my Royals Royce and have three houses if God's blessed me with the funds to do it?" And then Dr, Hays gave the purest response I've ever heard, "No." It was so straightforward, from one of the leading economists in the world! It was glorious. Anyway, his entire message rekindled the fire in me... which I needed.

Then I went from there and joined up with the Queens College/Wycliffe Soccer team. We have a game tomorrow, I should see the second half. Then I was discussing my soccer experience and it was overheard by an athletic director here at the University. She hired me to assistant referee a Queen's College Girls Soccer Match on Saturday. So that felt good to the old ego.

Then to finish out the day I went to my primary tutorial... which last week I got through okay but only because I bunted a lot of his questions, well not today. Today I swung and hit some real homeruns and zingers. I was prepared and organized and educated... I did real well. Last time I felt 35% prepared and lucked out 40% more so I felt about 75% successful... today I knew 75% and lucked out on maybe 15% I felt really well. It was a great day!

As you can see some of those events has since transpired, but it was an amazing day. It really reinvigorated me. In fact, one of my three assignments for this next week just got completed. However, I've been thinking a lot of my family lately. My Grandfather Denys, who I know has been following these blogs, has been a pillar for my family, and I know it has been difficult for us all as his time with us has been running out. If you're still listening to these words grandpa, I want to tell you that:

"Thank you for always supporting me... and I always wanted to make you proud when I ran hurdles. Thanks for always seeing me through to the finish line. Thanks for all the magic... thanks for the smiles... thanks for the tears, those were always special to me... I love you very much. This is what Jesus told his disciples: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." John 14:1-4

I'll have to write about my amazing and awesome day that I had yesterday some other time because it would just take too long. But for those of you interested in my soccer experiences. I did make it on to the Wycliffe Hall Soccer Team. Wycliffe Hall is the school I'm connected to, and it is partnered with Queens College which is one of the major college's at Oxford University. So I made the team, and we had our first game today. This is an email I wrote my parents about the experience:

Well had my first Oxford Soccer game (Football Match) today. I'll tell you the bad news first. I am incredibly rusty... I'm horribly out of shape... my brain was mush, and for 3/4 of the game I was rubbish (garbage)... I played like a donkey and couldn't hardly control anything. "Thankfully" my team apparently isn't that good, so I kinda fit in. It was painful, and I felt old... it was like I had forgotten how to run. The first time I tried to turn on the speed, it just wasn't there. I really should have been working out and running or something. About the last 20 minutes, I could finally remember how to play, but it was embarressing. But the worst part, by far, was that I was incredibly timid. I wouldn't challenge for balls, I couldn't get any air, I didn't challenge, I was kind... it was horrible. Next game I first need to body up, and play like I care... I certainly wasn't myself out there today. We lost 6-2.

---BUT---

Knowing that I would be rusty, when I was asked where I'd be valuable I said, well I'm not very skilled, but I am quick... I'd do the least damage to us up front. At least I wouldn't give up goals. (Later I figured out I'd be much more valuable to the team in the back). And I really didn't accomplish much, although it is evident that plays do develop around me. When I developed something we got chances. So that felt good. I think it was a combination of athletics and American Fool-hardiness. After we were down 4-0 I said, hey let's not pass it back from this kick, let's just take it at them... so they tapped me the ball and once again everyone cleared out to guard for the pass, which never came... I just charged ahead, and got a shot off... it reinvigorated the team. So that feels good. In fact, of our dismal 6 shots on goal, 3 of them were mine. Which may just mean I'm being selfish. But all that being said the highlight for me was that one of our two points came from the speed of a certain Kansas AYSO Bluejay... that's right, my score streak continues.

In the last ten minutes, our team brought the ball down the sideline and crossed it in, the keeper went up for it and got his hand on it but it slipped through... it skipped across the goal mouth, and thanks to a burst of speed and some sliding maneuvers I got there in time to nick it in... it felt really nice. So Queen's College 1- Mansfield College 6- Tabor College 1-... a good day.

I'm still learning everyone's names, but it was a lot of fun, and I think I can make quite a few friends on the team, especially once I remember how to play this sport and get a little more competitive.

Something I didn't have in the email was that I did get two sets of grass stains... which always means something to the Voth men playing soccer. At least it means we were in the game. So two grass stains there dad. It was a very good day, but not half as good as yesterday. I'll tell you about that soon... which I suppose if you're reading this after I've posted it then it may be that you just read about it in the post above, in which case... what a cool day huh?

p.s. sorry about the shirtlessness in these pictures... it was really exhausting and the uniforms are long sleeves (English style).

I'm finally into the swing of things. That isn't to say that my weeks have developed the sort of regularity that will come in the next few weeks, but I've made it through the first gauntlet of Oxford, and although I lost some feathers along the way, I'm still flying high. Alright maybe that was too cheesy. The point is, I've experienced what Oxford has in store for me, and I'm excited for the rest of the experiences. I'm still trying to get connected to my college's soccer team, which should happen this week. That will be a nice diversion from constant reading and writing... which by the way is all that you are missing. The past few days have not been full of English life as you might expect, sadly they've just been like most of my time here. Another paper, another 10 books, another set of late nights, and yet another 2,500 word essay. Although this most recent one came together quite well... either I'm getting more fluid with this writing thing, or it was an easier assignment. I hope it is the first one.

The picture is from Ireland. This is Nick and I looking at the Atlantic on the Beara Peninsula.

However, I have had some great experiences the past few days. Last night was an especially valuable time. About 20 of us got together and had a night of worship. We just took an hour out of our studies and gathered together with a couple of guitars and sang for an hour and a half. It was wonderful. I enjoyed the chance to worship but it was also nice just to be able to sing. So that was the highlight of my week so far.

Another highlight of my week was editing a fellow student's paper on the Messianic Secret in the Gospel of Mark. Ever since meeting Dr. Tim Geddert from the MB Seminary I've been falling more and more in love with Mark, and I've been studying it quite a bit. I really enjoy it and I had a blast discussing the ideas with the student. I found a lot of self worth in that discussion, much more than I found in the philosophical theology discussion you can read about in the last post. Maybe its because I felt prepared and strong in my position... but I'd like to think that its because I see so much value and worth in studying the bible and grasping truth in God's word... instead of trying to find it in the conceptualization of philosophy that eventually makes God unrecognizable to us. But its probably just because I didn't get stomped. We'll see.

The paper I just finished, which freed me up to write another blog entry, is on St. Augustine again. But this time its attempting to answer the question: "Was St. Augustine a progression or a regression from Classical models of history?" It was a lot of fun to write, because it was one of the few times I've been able to really paint a picture or tell a story with my writing, which is really why I enjoy history. If you want a copy of any of my papers, (although I can't imagine why) I'll begin posting some so you can see what I've been up to, and hopefully the progression of my writing.

The paper that I started today for Philosophical Theology is on Miracles and Petitionary Prayer... I'll let you know how it develops.

Sadly, I can't think of much more to report. I'll let you know if something comes up. But I really want to acknowledge a few people who I'm told just starting reading the blog. Greg Claassen and Noelle Dickenson... glad you found the blog... tell your friends. Maybe we could start some sort of raffle for the person who introduces the most people to the blog, I'll bring you back something nice. I don't know, we'll work on that later.

For your viewing pleasure, here is another video from my time at Oxford. This video is of the River Avon as it runs through the city of Bath in South East England. In the background you can see a bridge with shops on it, this is the only remaining bridge in Europe that still has shops on it. Its not the same river Avon that runs through Shakespeare's home of Stratford... because there are many rivers named Avon in England. "Avon" is either Gaelic or Anglo-Saxon for "River." But none-the-less, this was an interesting river because the city of Bath has designed an artistic waterfall. I thought it was cool.


Also want to give my love to my family back home. Grandma Lil and Grandpa Charlie; Grandma Marj and Grandpa Denys, and of course all my Aunts and Uncles and Cousins that I love and miss very much. Praying for you all and thinking of ya.

Real quick: This is me driving in Ireland. Please notice how everything is opposite of what we're used to... the stick shift, the steering wheel... oh and that road may appear to be narrow, but that's actually one of the wider roads we traversed... it even had two lanes.

I've completed my first week of the "real" Oxford. For anyone I haven't told, Oxford operates on a tutorial system, which means that I never go to a class that meets regularly. Instead I meet with a tutor (professor) once a week for a primary tutorial. In these meetings I prepare a 2,000-2,500 word essay. We meet, we discuss the essay and then I receive a reading list and a new assignment for next week. My primary tutorial is on Wednesdays and is called Historiography- which is the philosophy of history... but basically its just the histories of historians. or History squared. The other aspect to Oxford is that there are constantly lectures taking place every hour of every day, even Saturdays... and my tutor suggests which lectures I should attend, so that is another aspect of the process.

I also have a secondary tutorial which meets every two weeks or (fortnight), for me this started this week. The same set up takes place, but I get two weeks to research an write a paper. So every two weeks is extremely busy and intellectually taxing. My secondary tutorial occurs every other Thursday, and is called Philosophical Theology.

So I've completed my first round of tutorials at Oxford. Met my tutors, presented my arguments and received feedback. My primary tutor I think was impressed by my answers, although I don't know what he'll think of my paper. It was on the topic of Augustine, and our meeting was basically discussing Augustine's influences, thoughts, and approaches. Truth be told, I came out better than I think I should have. I've compared the experience to winner a drawing to meet the best pitcher in the world... as part of the award you get to try to bat off the famous pitcher... but just before you grab your bat, you are blindfolded. What do you do? Swing at every thing you think is a pitch? Wait until you hear the 98 mile/hr fastball coming at you? No, you bunt. I pretty much bunted every thought and question he pitched at me. I had enough knowledge of the subject to get a few hits, and I even perhaps impressed him with a thought or two, but mostly I could guess what he thought the answer to a question was in the method he asked me, so I basically bunted through the meeting. I thought it went allright... but now I'm more nervous for the next one, where I was hoping to be more at ease. This will be very challenging.

I was hoping that the philosophical theology tutorial that I had today might be different. I was right, but in the worst possible way. If I came to Oxford to be humbled that was accomplished today. My secondary tutor let me have it. We discussed the existence of God and whether there was a rational justification for belief in God. I entered the discussion thinking- No, that "faith" is the act of making a belief even in the absence of evidence... that there is not sufficient evidence to believe in God or not to believe in God, and that we must have faith in order to believe.

She destroyed every one of my arguments. In fact, I've never been so completely and utterly refuted in every essence of an argument. Frankly, despite the embarrassment, I was really impressed. I think I've grown from it... but the strange thing is, despite the fact that she eradicated my arguments, it still doesn't make sense for there to be enough proof or evidence to prove God's existence. I have been thinking about the interaction all day and although I no longer have a defense for my position (which is really difficult for me, because I like defended positions) I still do think that all you need to reach God is a superb brain... there has to be an aspect to God's system that allows anyone at any level of intellect to have just as much access and reward to God... it can't be based on intelligence and access to information. I think I just need to come up with better arguments, not change my overall perspective.

Oh well. It was a good experience. Along with my tutorials which I will have for the next seven weeks and write ten more essays for, I also have an overall essay called the Big Essay (how original) that I will turn in at the end of the term. It can be on any historical topic of my choosing. So since I really enjoy Naval history and sailing, I plan to write on the either Napoleonic Naval History, the Naval battles of the War of 1812, Privateering, or the tension between Political history of naval battles vs. Naval history of political battles. Should be fun.

I'm trying to get connected with my college's soccer team. Apparently there is a game Saturday, so I'll try to join up. I'm really out of shape, but hopefully I'll be foolhardy and American athletic enough to make an impact. The soccer here is much more intermural in essence since no one comes to Oxford for athletics, we only play teams from the 28 other colleges. I'm really looking forward to it though.

As a result of the papers and assignments this first week, I didn't do much outside of the libraries and in front of the computer typing. I don't know if it will be much different for the next seven weeks, but there will be some highlights. I got voted to be on a seven member council for my program. Its basically student senate, and we plan events and fun nights, ect. Tomorrow is our first, just a movie night for the end of the first week. But we'll throw an amazing Dress up party over Halloween, and the highlight of the year is the Thanksgiving Party. Apparently we are the largest visiting student program at Oxford (close to 50 Americans, 1 Canadian) and we have a reputation for throwing an amazing Thanksgiving party, which Britain doesn't celebrate... so we've been asked by several Oxford locals about it. Our last event will be a Christmas Caroling/ice skating party. It'll be great, my parents should be here during that time, so I'll get to sing with my mom which is always special for me.

This is a picture of a road sign from Ireland. Reminding us not to drive our rental car off the pier into the Atlantic Ocean. I put this picture here to be funny and also to represent what my secondary tutorial experience was like today.










Well, I'll let you all go. For those of you who have stuck it out until the end of the message, here is the next addition to the house tour. Today you'll see the amazing features of the Vines' entry way, common room and dining room. Enjoy.

Hey everyone, I'm still writing papers. Sorry for the lack of updates... I'll be done by tomorrow so I'll write more then. Love God and Love Others.

-Trent

Well, the vacation is defiantly over. I got back from Ireland and the next day we had meetings all day. I got the names of my tutors and contacted them about meeting times and reading lists... by the end of the day I had two assignments due in a week. I meet with one tutor every Wednesday for the next eight weeks. We'll talk and study historiography which is basically the philosophy of doing history. How, and why we study history. I'll have a 2,500 word paper due every week, but thankfully he had mercy on me and only assigned me a 1,500 word essay for this first meeting. Its on an interesting topic- St. Augustine. The question is: To what extent does Augustine allow for human action in his account of history. The answer that I'm working on is vague and waffling, so its perfect for a college philosophy class.

I believe that by our post-modern standards, Augustine doesn't put much in the hands of men, and instead depicts history as the on going work of God. Augustine allows that man may be at least a contributor to the process, and would certainly hold that man has free will in the matter, but Augustine would also contend that God directs the paths of men and empires to His desired ends. Kinda like making a labyrinth in which everyone is free to move as they wish, but the end is always under control and always predictable.

However, in Augustine's day this position of free will and man sharing some role with God in the making of history was monumental. To Augustine and his contemporaries, his approach to history may indeed put a lot of weight on man... at least much more than previously placed. In that age, "fate" and "astrology" were believed to direct man's life... to take that power away from "fate" and place it in the free will of a single God and his creation mankind, was a huge shift in thinking.

Anyway, its a lot of fun to write. My other tutor is for the class philosophical theology, and I will meet with her every other week... so only 4 times, but one of those times is Thursday. While it is stressful to schedule our first meeting so soon, it will alleviate pressure in the final week of my term. The paper she assigned is on the topic of faith.

The questions are: "Is faith rational?" and "Is faith opposed to reason?" These are controversial topics and I hope I don't offend anyone with my positions on them, but none-the-less here we go. In order to answer these questions it is imperative to define what "rational" and "reason" actually mean. While these are lengthy topics for papers in themselves I will just contend that to rationally hold a position it must be justifiably defensible. There must be ample support in order to hold it.

With this definition I contend that faith must, at some core level, be irrational and opposed to reason. My favorite philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, is famous for claiming that in religious belief one must make a "leap of faith." Which is to say that, in order to believe in God, one must accept that a justified reason is unavailable and always will be... there will never be PROOF of God's existence, therefore God values our willingness to suspend and abandon justification and make the "leap of faith" that He does exist, even and especially in the absence of concrete evidence.

I think Kierkegaard is right. The value of Faith is that it depends on a lack of justification, that it has no dependence on human intellect or reason and depends completely on an unprovable truth revealing itself AFTER the point of no return. That's good stuff right there.

Needless to say, this will be an intense semester, but it ought to be a lot of fun.

I want to quickly tell my family that I miss you and love you all, and to Grandpa Freddy: "I love you very much and I am so proud of you, and thank you so much for your support, prayers and love through my life."

So Ireland was an incredible vacation. We left from London after a field trip to the British War Museum on Thursday. We walked to the nearest tube station and purchased Oyster cards, the most effective way to travel London, and set out for the town. Our plane was going to leave London's Stansted Airport around 6:30am the next morning and our plan was to board a bus to the airport around midnight and sleep at the terminal until check in at 4am. So we had a lot of time to kill.

Our vacation started at a tiny Chinese buffet in China town near Piccadilly. Five pounds bought us an all you can eat dinner, the perfect start. Then we decided to see Les Miserables, one of the most famous musicals in the world. It was stupendous! Afterwards we hopped around London on the underground and eventually learned the late night bus schedules. We made it to Victoria bus station and after about an hour of probing, discovered where and how to get to Stansted. We arrived a little after 1am, not too bad.

We tried to sleep in the airport which looked like a refugee camp of weary travelers. However, apparently every time we attempted to sleep somewhere, that was just where the airport was just about to open some new gate. So our sleep was constantly interrupted. Arrrggg. It was around 3am that I discovered I had a pocket knife and over 5ooml of shampoo, which would both be confiscated at security, so I spent time trying to think of how to keep them. Eventually, I found myself in the airport chapel and proceeded to stash the contraband in a broken cabinet that faced a wall. I prayed they'd be there when I returned five days later.

We boarded the flight, and we asleep before take-off. Landed in Dublin, already exhausted, and went to get our rental car. Upon reaching the counter, we discovered that the website we had gone through didn't reflect the policies of this particular rental company who did not rent to anyone under 24... after an hour of negotiating with the home office, it was acceptable for me (23) to rent the car because I was American and we get our licenses usually around 16 instead of 18 like it is in Europe. U-S-A, U-S-A!!!

Thus began one of the most stressful weeks of driving in my life. The car was a stick, but of course it and the steering wheel were both on the wrong sides. We drove on the wrong side, so now left turns were wonderful, but right turns were horrible. But by far the worst part was that Irish roads are so narrow. Highways were just like the colonies, but country roads, where we spent most of the trip, were barely a single car width, and we would often meet cars nose to nose.

We drove through Dublin, which was horrible, I hate European traffic and drivers, to get south to a beautiful place called Glendalough (Glen-Del-Lock). It is famous for being truly Irish. Its the greenest, cleanest, most pristine place I've ever been. There is an ancient monastic village there with a round tall tower that is in most Irish post-cards... you can see a picture of it above. Glendalough also has two lakes that are simply gorgeous. It is everything you'd think of being Ireland.

We left Glendalough about midday, and drove through the Irish country side for about three hours, eventually coming to a highway that led us to Limerick, the biggest city on the western coast. We got there around 11pm our first night. Now I hadn't slept real well since the night before, although we took a 2 hour nap at Glendalough, however my friends, Bryce and Nick hadn't slept in two days since they had put off their final papers until the night before, so they were in desperate need of beds. However, the whole week leading up to our trip I had wanted to plan it out, while they didn't want to take the time... I didn't like that until I found out we had a car, at which point I thought I'd sleep in the car the whole trip... not too comfortable on the back, but sure is nice on the wallet, and requires no planning. Well a total lack of planning results in no beds in Limerick at midnight... so it turned into all of us sleeping in the car that night. However, I wasn't tired yet, and decided to drive on south to Tra Lee.

We woke up in Tra Lee and went to a pub for coffee around 10am. We had actually slept pretty well, but the guys wanted beds the rest of the time so we were going to book hostels for the rest of the nights. In the pub the owner came up to us with our coffee and noticed we were trying to plan a time in Ireland. He asked us how much time we had in Ireland, about 4 more days, and then he proceeded to grab our map and explain exactly what we should do and see to get the best Irish experience and see what the tourists never get to on their buses. Patrick, which is what we named him since we never got his name and he turned out to be such a saint to our trip, turned the whole week around.

Going off Patrick's advice we drove the Dingle peninsula, the South Western most tip of Ireland. To get there you drive up a mountain pass, with Ireland on one side and the Atlantic and the Dingle Peninsula on the other. The Dingle peninsula is very cliffy. The views were breathtaking, and the video below shows the scene. Dingle is as close as you can get to the states. It took a whole day, and much more stories than you can take.

That night we drove to Killarney, a tiny Irish town in south Ireland. I had booked the guys a hostel and when I went to check them in the clerk noticed that I hadn't checked myself in. He asked what my plans were and I told him I'd sleep in the car to save money, he offered me a free bed, so how could I refuse. Killarney was a wonderful tiny Irish town. Then the next day we went to church the next morning in Killarney Cathedral. And walked in Killarney national forest.

We left Killarney by driving through the massive national forest, by this time I felt pretty secure on the roads, which was good, because every road in Ireland is a twisty-turny experience... I now understand the massive appeal of driving porches through roads like that. We proceeded to the Beara peninsula, which is the south-eastern most peninsula or Ireland. Ireland has three main peninsulas Beara, Kerry, and Dingle. Everyone goes to Kerry cause its the largest and most easily navigable by bus, but Beara and Dingle have very narrow, hair-pin curved roads, so most tourists never get there. We stopped every few miles to take in the scene. It too was gorgeous. We even drove down a farmer's access road to get to the edge of one outcropping.

After a long day on the Beara penninsula we drove into Cork, another major southern city on the south east coast. Our hostel that night was above a pub and we spent the evening listening to a local Irish band (my favorite type of music) and watching Rugby... it was crazy cause Ireland was playing Argentina in the Rugby world cup. It was intense, especially when they lost, but most people handled it well.

The next day saw the most variety of sites. We drove from Cork down to Cobh which is famous for being the last port of call for the Titanic, so the last land the ship saw was the cathedral at the port of Cobh. I got a great picture of where the ship was docked. Then drove to Blarney to see the castle and kiss the stone. From there drove up to Cashel the location of a famous castle called the ROCK of Cashel... it too was breathtaking and a fun time. Then finally we ended up in Dublin, and enjoyed the city. The next day we woke up, drove to the airport said goodbye to Molly, that's what we named the car, and eventually boarded our flight. Arrived at Stansted, recovered my stashed knife and shampoo, and made our way back to Oxford.

Believe it or not but this was just a short overview of the vacation. I can't hardly put it into words. It was stressful driving and at times God really protected us, because we were close to being in several wrecks. It was also way more expensive than I had been planning but in the long run I'm glad I did it and it was worth it all. I have incredible pictures, but sadly can't post them all. Ask me about it.

When I got to Oxford, I really experienced "homesickness" for the first time. I greatly missed my friends, Shelby, and my family. I think it was a result of actually returning from a vacation, which is what this whole experience has felt like, and realizing that I'm still not home. I went through a debriefing of sorts, like after every long vacation but still wasn't home with the people I love... so that was a difficult time for me. While waiting for the plane, we watched the tv show The Office, which is a tradition I had with my best friends at Tabor, and all I wanted was to be back with them watching the Office again. But such is life.

Ireland was incredible, the people were so nice... nicer than the British I am willing to say. We watched soccer in a Dublin pub and were immediately included in the family. It is truly as green, pure, and wonderful an island as you've heard. I understand why lucky charms are so charming. St. Patrick's day will take on a whole new meaning for me.

Wow, sorry I haven't written in awhile. I've been spending the last five days in IRELAND!!! It was amazing. Two friends and I left for Ireland Thursday, and rented a car and drove the south coast and country side. It blew my mind and took my breath away. I have more pictures than I know what to do with. I'll write more later with the itinerary and what all took place, but I just got home and need to accomplish a few things for tomorrow.

If you look at a map of Ireland, we basically traveled everything between Dublin and Limerick, and South. I never saw any other color but green. I'll write more soon. Check out this amazing video taken from the southern most tip of the island... this is as close as I can get to the United States.