Flat 10: Part 2 - Our lovely little bedroom

Street side widows

Brit's closet; Drew's is in the door on the right

Our American double-sized bed

Cozy and quaint, simple and sweet. 

Bikes and Biscuits or Cycles and Scones

Saturday morning we cycled out to Grantchester to The Orchard, a famous place for tea and delicious scones. It's also famous because in the early 1900's the "Grantchester group" used to meet there (made up of E. M. Foster, Rupert Brooke, Virginia Woolf, Bertrand Russell, Augustus John, Maynard Keynes, and Ludwig Wittgenstein). The main building is cottage like, surrounded by French doors. The lawn is dotted with lawn chairs where people can be found enjoying scones, sleep, dogs, and conversation.

(Drew's reflection): Our first encounter with British scones came with specific instructions from one of our British friends here at Tyndale, Ruth Norris, with the help of Nicki Wilks. We were told that there was a particular way in which the scone was to be eaten, and if one deviates from said way, then one has not experienced true British scones. Needless to say, I had lost my way. First of all, I had eaten one scone with only jelly, which I soon found out was quite the abomination (if you'll allow me such language) to our new British friend. She quickly alerted me to the presence of nearby double cream (for which we Americans have no counterpart). The jelly goes on the scone first, followed by a heaping portion of double cream; essentially, one should not be able to see the jelly underneath the cream. These instructions changed my life (hyperbolically speaking), and since then I have had several gorgeous (the Brits call food 'gorgeous', it basically means 'really delicious') scones including the one below with raspberry preserves and clotted cream (a step up from double cream, more posh, and again no American counterpart). I thanked my British friend over and over, for she had provided not only a window into British eating and culture, but a reason to love this old, rainy country. 

Hope this makes you proud Ruth!

After enjoying tea and delicious scones we read for a few hours before cycling back home for a lunch of soup and warm baguettes. The food has certainly made the transition easier.

Drew's bike

Brit's bike

Drew found a great commuter bike for me on Gumtree (the UK's craigslist if you will). Essentially a commuter bike is the way to go if you happen to be a slightly vertically challenged person, such as myself, without submitting yourself to the mockery that comes with riding a children's bike. On to the cool factor, the bike collapses down so that one can carry it inside or on a train, etc. So... the moral of the story is I own an awesome second-hand bike. Drew got his bike from our lovely neighbor, Joel Dixon. 

breakfast inspired by mom

This morning we enjoyed a yummy breakfast inspired by a conversation with my mom last night. It took all of 5 minutes, and was healthy and delicious.

1 pear per person
some granola or dried crunchy cereal
plain yogurt (or yoghurt if you're on this side of the pond)

Cut the pears in half lengthwise, removing the core. Place on a baking sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon. Cook on 350 F for 15 minutes. When you remove the pear they should not look super cooked. We cut off the skin, but I suppose you don't have to. Chop into bite-sized pieces. Put in a bowl with a few scoops of plain yogurt and dried cereal/granola.

Enjoy!

The Selwyn College Cut Through

Yesterday I had a little extra time to capture images of my walk from Tyndale to the Divinity Faculty building, where I attend German class and other seminars throughout the week. The fastest and most pleasant route is to cut through Selwyn College. 

Through the front entrance

Left view inside the college

Right view inside the college

Walk along the left-hand side, and through the small gate

Around the corner

And down the garden path 

Out the back gate

Turn left, along the side of the building

Arrive at the DivFac building, with a warm greeting from the automatic door

Tea Time @ Tyndale

As is the custom at Tyndale, the gong is sounded at 11am and 4pm each day, signaling the mass exodus of the library into the parlor for tea and conversation. The double gong, however, is where my heart lies; it is the secret signal that there are treats to accompany tea. Ruth Norris, Sarah Dixon and I half-heartedly decided we would form a double-gong club, in protest of all teas void of treats.
In this gathering of the Tyndale community, where many might be wearing an ensemble constructed in the dark or the same clothes as the day before (which is actually rather refreshing to eliminate the pressure to put oneself together each day - very similar to the Harvard community which contributed at one point to Boston being designated 'worst-dressed city in America'), the one defining quality to take notice of is the mug which one carries. In order to eliminate paper cups many of the readers at Tyndale keep a mug at their desks especially for tea time, embellished with the Hebrew alphabet, their favorite football (soccer) team, or the like. As my apartment only rendered 4 flowered black and white mugs that look like they belong to a 13 year old girl, my Saturday morning was spent endeavoring to find a mug which would define me to the tea time world. I settled finally on a British-Oklahoma hybrid made by Cath Kidston (essentially the British Vera Bradley). This mug epitomizes the English concept of a cowboy, and by proxy Oklahoma, since the only things known over here about Oklahoma are the musical and Twister. Thus, I resigned myself to sport with pride my British cowboy mug each day at 11 and 4.

Oklahoma in Cambridge

Drew & Brit w/ Asher, Candice and Collin Bullard @ The Orchard

Tonight our Australian friend Simon said, "If the American people that I know are representative of the population of America, then a fifth of Americans are from Oklahoma." This is due in part to the fact that out of the 10 flats here at Tyndale House, 3 are occupied by Oklahomans. The Oklahoma Crew here at Tyndale includes us, the Bullards (pictured above) and Sarah and Joel Dixon. We feel so blessed by our safe haven of southern twang and Mexican food.

Flat 10: Part 1 - the kitchen/living -ish space

our front door, at the tippy top of the Main House at Tyndale

the breakfast/every meal nook

the living space; note the kitting basket and radiator, very British

the kitchen

this may seem small to the American mind, but in fact it's massive compared with our kitchen in Wheaton

the view of the courtyard from our living room window

Spoiler alert: Our apartment was furnished.
So, while it took a few days to get over the hodge podge of quaint low ceilings and old charm mixed with modern furniture and leather lamps, I am so thankful to have started with something. In this phase of life I pray that I would be truly refined to see what's essential as far less than before. I also hope that this sense of simplicity will follow me here onward, wherever we end up next.

Studying @ Tyndale

I assume most of your wouldn't know or care about the name Walter Brueggemann (one of the leading Old Testament scholars in the world). However, for the select few of you actually reading this blog who do... consider the daunting daily experience of pulling books off the shelves at Tyndale in which the last borrower listed was "11/2006 Brueggemann, 9." 

Most recently, this morning the man next to me kindly asked, "Will you be a permanent fixture here?" which is British for "Do I have any reason to spend my time getting to know you, or are you just here for a short stent." Once we had introduced ourselves I went back to work on my bibliography, and realized that the man sitting next to me was in fact the last entry on the page: Ian Wilson. NBD.. maybe I'll just skip reading that one and ask him what he wrote about. Needless to say, it has been an inspiring first few weeks interacting with the book logs and people at Tyndale House. Maybe in my wildest dreams someday someone will be excited when the see the last entry on the book log as "Melton, 47." 

Views of Life at Tyndale

The Main House

Tyndale House Library is the Building on the Left

Through this doorway to my desk in the library 

The parlor where everyone meets for tea at 11am and 4pm

The back porch of the main house

The courtyard behind the main house

Weekend Review

Yesterday we moved into our permanent flat at Tyndale House (pics to come soon!), with the help of Sarah and Joel Dixon, in a mere 20 minutes. This seemed so strange, that for the first time we could move essentially our whole life in such a short amount of time. Very refreshing, indeed. Then we went to Tesco (the grocery/walmart of England) with Collin and Candice. Let me just say that this was no small undertaking. If you're ever in need of a zucchini, it's known as "courgettes" across the pond. (Strangely enough the British have seemingly adopted random French words for things, such as "courgettes" and "serviettes," which are what we in the States would call "Napkins." Unfortunately a "nappy" is a diaper and a "napkin" would typically refer to feminine care products.) Resume thoughts on the grocery store adventure: If you're looking for familiar cheese at a British grocery store, forget it! Candice politely informed us that there is nothing close to Monterey Jack cheese, but Red Leicester is nice. ;) Also, no luck finding heavy whipping cream (O, how I miss the free days of Starbucks at moments like this), squash, or canned crushed tomatoes. I know these things seem minor, but if you've already trimmed the recipes down to ones that include simple, non-brand-name ingredients, it's a bit overwhelming to plan even a few meals. Essentially flexibility is the key to surviving here, and a British cookbook will be the next thing I purchase. Regardless, thanks to all of our Oklahoma friends in Cambridge! I would be even more lost without you.
Today's lessons included: (1) using our electric shower, (2) learning more Cam. U. jargon at Wolfson College Orientation (my college @ Cambridge), and (3) learning that College Porters are essentially the RA on duty, except they know the answer to almost any question. After a few hours spent at Wolfson I went to play in my first University football (soccer) match. We won 3-2 against the Witchford Ladies. Lastly we made a delicious dinner, with essentially no kitchen gadgets (I feel so spoiled for feeling that I need a garlic press, but not so bad for hoping for hot pads/oven mitts and scissors), inspired by a lovely little diner in Austin called Magnolia. The dish is called Love Veggies; please try it out if you like some spice and veggies:

1 head broccoli
1 handful of sliced mushrooms
1 yellow bell pepper, or squash
1 red bell pepper
2 handfuls of spinach leaves
1 purple onion
2 small zucchinis
2 jalapeños
3 cloves garlic
1 stick of butter
salt and pepper to taste
Tortillas
Shredded jack or red Leicester cheese
* optional to add scrambled eggs

Chop everything. Melt butter in a large frying pan. All jalapeños, then garlic; simmer. Add all veggies and s&p; simmer until done. Place veggies in a serving dish, and sprinkle cheese on top. Serve with  warmed tortillas.

More lessons in surviving English everyday life and studies to come...

A Weekend in Oxford

Our run through University Parks in Oxford

Wycliffe Hall

On Friday afternoon our trip to Oxford started with a trek across Cambridge to catch the megabus, on which you submit your stomach to endure an obscene number of roundabouts for the next three hours. We arrived at the Hardins' shortly after 5pm for a delicious dinner. Saturday morning we started our day with a run through University Parks, which lay directly behind the Hardin's house. Wycliffe Hall, an evangelical hall of the University of Oxford, where Justin works, sits just in front of their house. After the run we all went to watch Drew Hardin's football (soccer) matches against the "well-organized" Abingdon team. During the afternoon we went for a walk through Port Meadows, which also included foot races, posh dog petting, and a little game called "piggy in the middle." Afterward we went home for a nice English meal: duck, brussel sprouts, asparagus, & potatoes. On Sunday we attended a lovely service at St. Andrew's church. Our weekend also included Justin, Drew, Ethan, and little Drew determining to contact J.K. Rowling concerning their brilliant ideas for a new youth literature series, English cooking tips from Jill, skipping rope in the living room, cheeky conversations with Drew's friend Felix, picking flowers and reading The Potty Book for Boys with Annie, late night conversation with Justin and Jill (ranging from nostalgic phrases created by the musings of curse-free TV to SBO's [soil-based organisms], filtering chlorinated water, and the not so recent news of BPA free plastic drinking containers), and many more memories we will hold dear for years to come.

Fuchs House

For the first two weeks we're staying here at the Fuchs House.

It's a guest house typically for fellows at Wolfson College.

This is what the British call a "twin bedroom."

Our study.

The bath.