It has been a very full week. Last Thursday Shelby came to town. It was a great fun time. She's so good at interacting with people that she fit right in. Everyone in the program commented about her, she made a great impression. She stayed in Oxford about a 45 minute walk which got tiresome for us both, but it was well worth it.

A wonderful addition to the week was that Shelby and I were able to meet and eat lunch with future Tabor science professor Timothy Richmond and his family. We ate pizza and just talked for hours. I think it was tough on his little girl Mia, but we all had a blast. His wife is a former Kansan and they are both amazing people... they'll be great fits for Tabor, and I'm excited to see how they impact our community. I'm also hoping to see them again after the semester is over, because Tim is doing a post-Doctorate program in Belgium, and I'm hoping to see them as I go through on my European tour. I'm hoping to get a picture soon, but Shelby's camera is where it resides for now... so its coming soon.

Shelby and I also got the great chance to spend a day in London. It was beautiful. Saw the sites, and enjoyed London life... riding the tube, evensong at St. Pauls, meetinWe saw all theg up with our friends Nick and his girlfriend Christin. Big Ben, Parliment, the National Art Gallery, Trafalgur Square, the Canadian Embassey... it was all a blessing. We even got the chance to debate a little. At Shelby's hostel that night in London, we got into a discussion with a Cambridge (ha) Math professor.

He asked us where we were from, we said the colonies, and he asked whether we were comfortable being hated by the British and Europeans. I replied that our government and the Bush administration have enacted a lot of policies that have pushed us in that direction and that I don't care much for what our American reputation means in the world. He responded by praising the policies of the Bush administration... so of course you can see how it began. By the end he had said, "I think America is the strongest best country in the world, and they shouldn't be slowed down by people disagreeing with them." I responded by saying, "And that's why the British and Europeans, our allies, dislike us... that attitude is completely incompatible with international diplomacy, and we have ignored that."

Then the discussion turned to Christianity, because this Cambridge Professor was an atheist. So we argued whether it was reasonable for an educated person to believe in a man walking on water. I argued that "natural laws" are predictive not explanatory, that any evidence is based on testimony and that any natural law in regard to buoyancy is at best 99.9% predictive, which cannot account for the .01% of historical accounts of people walking on water. I've got to say, thanks to my philosophical theology class and Tabor experience, it was a great conversation. Go OXFORD!!! It was a ton of fun, but sadly the guy was was pretty inebriated so I don't think anything stuck. However we did make some great friends in Chris and Eli, a Canadian and Australian who had joined the conversation. It was a fun night.

I left the hostel at 3am, got on a 4am bus back to Oxford, and was in bed by 5am. The next day I pushed the envelope to finish a paper in two days. Thankfully it was probably the easiest paper of the entire term. Whether it is accurate or useful to label Thomas Macaulay a Whig historian... the answer is YES and YES... so all I needed to do was say that in 2,000+ words. It went fine and I finished my last primary tutorial of the term. I only have one paper left to go.

This week also contained our program's Thanksgiving feast. On Saturday we hosted around 80 American students, SCIO workers, and famililes at our house. I was in charge of carving the seven turkeys with Adam Grahm and organizing the Football game (American style). Both went amazingly well. We had a great time. The football game was a lot of fun, and I remembered how to tap the speed, so I was able to kick it into high gear a few times. It felt great. I decided to wear blue for Tabor and Oxford, so it was my Oxford Soccer uniform + some blue tights. It ended with a double overtime field goal kick, by Clint (our RD) who is also a soccer player. It was also an opportunity to start Christmas. What fun. Here's a video of the common room.




I got the chance to interact with Ethan Rosenburg, our director's seven year old son. We played a Star Wars card game, and discussed American Football. He explained that the Denver Broncos was his favorite squad. I said that I liked the Kansas City Chiefs and he responded that they were the Broncos rival and he often rooted against them. It was all very British and proper... I loved it. Then we proceeded to talk Star Wars, could it get any better?

I'm certain that there is more I should cover, and sadly I've just given a very rough overview of the week. There was so much more contained in each one of these events. There's simply not enough time or space to explain each. However, I hope all these photos and videos have in some ways given you a view into the experience.

One more paper to go. My parents are almost ready to come over. It should be a great last week. I'm planning an end of term European tour. Edinburgh, Scotland; Luxembourg; Brussels,Belgium; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Budapest, Hungary; Bratislava, Slovakia; Vienna, Austria; Prague, Czech Rep; and Frankfurt, Germany. I'm hoping it all comes together.

I'm also sleeping a lot better. The week exhausted me and allowed me to jumpstart a new sleeping schedule. Last night I was out by 11pm, and up at 6am... pretty normal. Tonight seems like I might be able to do the same thing, which was wonderful because it allowed me to have a time for prayer and bible study. Its been a great week.