Cheers Dundee!

So, yeah, I got a car. It's wonderful. I have freedom, I can get places on my own, it gives us another person to pick people up for church which is sometimes kinda tricky...just all around it's a great thing that I now have transportation. However, having a car comes with it's risks. It might get scratched, it might breakdown, or in my case, you might lock your keys in your car......twice. There's no need to explain how it happened twice in a week, but it did. The first time, it was an expensive mistake, to the tune of 35 pounds (which for my American readers would translate to about $60).
The second time was the interesting one. It happened on a Sunday when we(Liz, Hayley, and myself) got back to my place after church. It was cold, drizzly, windy; just perfect to go along with my mood after I'd locked my keys in my car for the second time in a week. Being a Sunday, some locksmith places weren't open, other locksmith places don't do cars, the police couldn't help, and the place that could do it wanted to charge me 100 freakin' pounds!!! No, thanks! Here's where living in Dundee comes in handy. A couple good friends of mine from church haven't always been church-going people, and have been associated with people of a slightly shady reputation(but, I should add, are as faithful as anyone now). So they start making phone calls. The calls sound a little something like this:

-Hey (name here), it's Hayley, how are you?
-Fine.
-Good. I know this is really cheeky but do you know how to get into a car without smashing the window?
-Umm...what kind of car is it?
-It's a Hyundai Accent.
-Ok, see if you get a coat hanger...(then several ways of getting into the car were shared).

Then we went with Greg, who has recently been baptized into Christ, and is a great example of the power of Christ, but who also had a really rough youth, and he showed us a few ways(see Liz Cail's blog for picture). He told us that he was never a car theif, but some of his mates were, so if we couldn't get it then he'd make another phone call and get one of them down to help. But then something happened that surprised us all. I broke into my car myself! Just the old 'coat hanger down the side of the door and pulling the latch up' worked like a charm. So that was it. After calling lots of locksmiths and lots of possible car theifs, I ended up breaking into my car on my own. It made for one of the more interesting Sundays I've had in a while.

Part II

Subway- Italian Herbs and Cheese bread, Chesse steak sandwich with lettuce, onions, and southwest sauce. I beg my readers(both of you) to do three things in life: first travel...even if it's to the other side of your state, go see how other people live. Second, read good books(this is only assuming that its not taking away from reading the Bible), go see how other people think. Third, eat this sandwich. Subway is a glorious place and lights shine down from above when this sandwich is put together. Trust me, just do it, your life may never be the same.
Car- This car far outweighed any expectations I had of a car I might drive over here. It looks nice, it drives nice, and it has a freakin sunroof! I will now take this time to officially name my car. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Claire(I know there might usually be a picture here, but just imagine for now)!!! I'm just going to ignore the fact that it costs a fortune to fill it up with petrol.
Nickel Creek- (start with a moment of silence while I gather my composure before talking about this) Throughout history, songs have been inspired by major events, i.e. war, death, victories, homecomings, and of course many others. Well, there should be a song written about this concert. I sat 10-15 feet away from the stage. The girl didn't get my phone number, but I'm pretty sure we caught eyes once, and oh yeah, there was a connection there. There really aren't words in the english language fit for describing such an event as this concert. It's not really fair though, because I am convinced that the members of Nickel Creek aren't human, they are actually angels. Human fingers just don't move that fast. So if you're still wondering exactly what I thought about Nickel Creek....yeah, they're ok.

Happiness and contentment are the fruits of joy. Joy comes from giving your life back to the one who gave it to you.

Part I

First in the set of 2 blogs: Looking forward...

Each day brings me joy. It's not all the same kind of joy and it comes from a wide variety of sources. For example: the 81 year old man from church who lets us listen to his clocks that play music(he has several) all at once. That symphony of mechanic tones brings me joy. It is a far different, however, from the kind of joy I get from being out in the Scottish hills surrounded by snow-capped mountain peaks and waterfalls.
Friday the 10th, Saturday the 11th, and Wednesday the 15th each have something in them that is going to bring me a great deal of joy, in three very different ways.
Friday, Feb. 10th (At the time I'm writing this, I'm talking about tomorrow)- a six and a half minute walk from my front door will get you to the newly opened SUBWAY in Dundee! I will be partaking in my first Subway sandwich at this new location tomorrow. For many reasons that could make this post a whole lot longer, Subway brings me joy.
Saturday, Feb. 11th- My daily schedule, my work in Dundee...heck, my life will change this day. For this is the day that I will obtain my 1999 Hyundai Accent. That's right, I'm getting a car!!! The joy this brings me rivals the joy of a mother who has just given birth.........well, maybe not, but I think you get my point. I've never been more excited about driving on the wrong side of the road in my life.
Wednesday, Feb. 15th- Sweet Afton, Lighthouse, Ode to Butterfly...that's right, Nickel Creek is comin' to Scotland. Nine of us from church here are going up to Aberdeen to watch the stylings of one of the best bluegrass/country/easy listening bands to ever grace human ears. I'm going to need to get back home pretty quickly after the concert, because the girl in the group will have my phone number, so I'll need to be by the phone when she calls me.

This is the before blog. When these events have taken place I will write again.

Joy is a seed. Happiness and contentment is what it sprouts.

What'd you say?

Before I left for Scotland, people would ask me lots of questions that started with "Are you gonna...". Well, after tonight, I am able to tick off two of those things I was asked about. I can now say I've worn a kilt, and I can now say I've eaten haggis. Both of these occured because we celebrated a special person here in Scotland by the name of Robert Burns. Those of my readers(both of them) that are familiar with Chi Lambda Phi know that they have a "Robbie Burns" dinner each year. Well tonight, I did the real thing. Robert Burns is a famous Scottish poet who wrote poems the way Scottish people speak. Now it's necessary to note that not all Scottish people talk like this, although some do, it's not a common thing everywhere you go. There are people, however, that can read it fluently and understand what it means (I am not one of those people). His poetry is well known by people all over Scotland, enough so that he has a holiday. The following is the first three paragraphs of a poem that was read tonight before we dug in to our feast of haggis.

ADDRESS TO A HAGGIS

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the pudding-race!
Aboon them a' yet tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o'a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin was help to mend a mill
In time o'need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An' cut you up wi' ready sleight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like ony ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin', rich!

Haggis isn't nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be...if you can get past the thought that you're eating sheep inards. I actually quite enjoyed it.
So...kilts, haggis, I'm becoming more and more Scottish as the days go by.

Light the Fire

So I hear Oklahoma is burning up. That's not cool. But one story I heard from my mom got me thinking. One fire in Ardmore was apparently started by a cigerette not being properly put out before being disposed of. That one spark cause a fire that burned 22 houses. A fire that started small was made to be something big because of the wind. There are 2 different kinds of flames. There is the flame like you'd find on a candle, that with even the smallest burst of wind will extinguish. But then there are flames that are bigger, and with the wind only get stronger. We sing several songs that use fire as an analogy for the life within us (Light the Fire, Pass it On, etc.). If you are relying on your own fire, then its likely to be a flame that goes out quickly from the slightest breeze. But should you choose, as I have, you can have access to to a fire that will not go out. There have been winds trying to blow it out since the beginning of time, but you cannot extinguish a flame that is started by the one who created fire. So either use your own flame, and continually be searching for something else to keep you temporarily lit, or get to know fire's creator and the winds of life will only make you stronger.

A bit of irony about the OK fires: the governor has offered to give the OK fire departments a load of money to keep up the work they are doing. That money comes from the "Rainy Day" fund.

i'm back

OK, well, it's been a long time, but after talking to Bonnie, I realized that I probably should be updating my blog. And she's right, I need to be writing about my experiences here. She is going through the same thing that I am so I look to Bonnie for encouragement and any advice she would have to offer. So, for my first blog back, I say thank you, Bonnie. You are a very special person and I'm blessed to be able to call you a friend.
So this past few days, I went down south to England's Lake District. We hiked for 2 days and had SUCH a good time. The second day, our route started out going pretty much straight up a pretty large hill. Any feelings of being tired or hurting from walking up a VERY steep hill were quickly curbed by the fact that right beside us was a cascading waterfall rushing forcefully down the hill. Once at the top, I realized that we were in a large valley. It happens to be the spot that gets the most rain of anywhere in England. Luckily, we did not experience that firsthand. At the summit, I could literally lean back and be held up by the wind gusts. Not often do I experience wind that could actually knock me over, but I did and it was quite exhilarating...and cold. Our descent was once again accompanied by a waterfall, this time a bit more gentle in nature, which led to a tarn(a natural lake up in the hills). From there, the rocky path guided us slowly down back to our starting point. This was my 4th full-day hillwalk(that's what they call hiking here), and I'd say it was my most enjoyable. Snowcapped mountains, cascading waterfalls, colorful valleys, and the company of 4 great ministers of the Lord's church made for one great day.

nae bother

Aye, today was brilliant. This one lassie that's nae been comin' ta church came taday. I's well cuffed w' her bein there. She does nae want'a come much cause of some bad stuff tha's happened. I'm off to eat with her tomorrow at KFC. Oh, their twisters are well good. I'd fancy one a'em for every meal like. Last night I caught The X Factor on the tele. It's the same as American Idol excep' there's cate'gries like. There's a 25 and older tryout and a tryout for groups. These 4 blokes that came in 5th last year came back and sang and they was pure dead brilliant. Simon Cowell is a judge and he's dead mean ta the ones that are nae good. I was in stitches at stuff he'd tell 'em. He just couldn't be bothered with the ones that kep' speakin' ta' him. Ahnyhoo, the church ladies made up a box of messages fr me to stock ma fridge like. I's so chuffed. They're grand. They take care of me like i'm their own wee son. They keep on like 'at i'll nae be hurried comin' home. o/j (only jokin'). We thought about goin' to the pictures tonight, but me and ma mates couldn't be bothered, we were just knockered fr no good reason like. K, i'm bout ta be over ma bed. Thanks fr readin'. Cheers. Cho.