Guy Fawkes Day
Things have been progressing rather routinely as I settle into London. There is a risk that with mixing with a lot of Australians and talking about the different places that they have been to and are intent on going that I lose focus on why I am in London. That is, primarily to experience living in London itself; the lifestyle, the feel, the slow progress of becoming a 'local' and getting to know it as well as I might know Melbourne. So whilst I do plan to travel around I also want to immerse myself in London for the time being. And with regards to this aim it has been great to be able to get all my stuff out of my suitcase and know that it won't be going back in again for at least six months! To know that I have a permanent base from which to explore London really helps in the sense of establishment. Moving into a place and having my own room is a joy you don't know unless you have been deprived of it for a while!!
My housemate is the general manager for operations for a rather large private members club (two 18 hole golf courses, 27 tennis courts, swimming pool, restaurants, etc) South of the River Thames so he tends to work quite a lot of hours. He also has other responsibilities on boards, lectures and studies as well! So he has quite a bit on his plate! What this means for me personally is that even though I am sharing a place it feels like I am not as he is hardly ever around!
A couple of weeks back I went to church (All Souls) on Sunday, the BSF mens class at Hammersmith and the All Souls newcomers evening on Tuesday so it was starting to feel like the busy schedule of God related events that I had back home!
During my time in between contracts I decided to see where exactly the BSF men's class was being held and found that it was in Hammersmith which isn't that far from Chelsea where I was staying at the time. So I went down on a Monday night to see what it was like and ascertain if it was much different to BSF back in Melbourne. Well being a men's class there were only men obviously but it was quite a bit smaller than I had expected; only 35 registered people. They meet in a Chinese church that used to be a synagogue. I think I was quite lucky to catch them as if I had gone the following week they would not have been there because it was 'mid-term' (some strange British one week off for students). The Teaching Leader was an American, Bill, who would be in his sixties I'd say and was a great preacher! BSF here is doing the Genesis study and I got to stay around to listen to the lecture on Genesis chapter 4. I was only able to register myself for the waiting list as there were not enough discussion leaders to allow new people to join.
The house that I am living at now is in Hammersmith so hopefully I will be able to go soon and make the most out of being in the same suburb as the class.
At the All Souls newcomers evening there were about 20 people mainly in their 20's and very multicultural. Met a Brisbane guy, German girl, Singaporean girl, Scottish girl and an English guy. It was a good chance to meet other people new to the church and some of the church staff. The rector (pastor) is actually appointed by the Queen because it is a Church of England church! Of course, it is really the church itself that chooses the rector but as a matter of formality it is the Queen that appoints him. A bit like how the Queen appoints the Governor General of Australia I guess. They also have a very large Catholic looking painting of Jesus (3m x 4m) behind the pulpit which people either love or hate but they are not allowed to take it down because it was presented to the church by King George IV!
Two weeks after that I went to the 'Gateway' group which is the small group system. You go to Gateway first and then you get assigned a permanent small group based on your age and location. Being such a large church they are very committed to helping people get to know other people and study the Bible in smaller groups. It was a good evening with a good mix of nationalities but the majority were Australians and Malaysians! There was this great Scottish guy Duncan, he says 'Yes' as 'Aye, aye'. I could so picture him saying, 'Aye, McLeod, of the clan McLeod!' (cf. Highlander! hahaha)
Today at All Souls I met an American girl from California and since I didn't spot anyone else I knew previously we went and had lunch afterwards. Oh, All Souls has a full time cook!! A lot of their ministries involve food beforehand which is a good idea because it is a city church and people would go for activities straight from work. After trying out the church food we went down Regent Street and had a coffee afterwards. She's a surgeon doing an academic year in London who runs marathons and is an accomplished skier! Unfortunately I gave her the wrong Tube directions to get home but was able to apologise for it when I saw her in the evening! (For church stuff alright, for church stuff.)
Been getting to know more people through friends of friends as well at things like Yum Cha. There were about 9 of us one time (half of them I did not know) and we had 51 basket things!! Truly gluttonous! Didn't end up having dinner that night not surprisingly...
Went to Brick Lane with another bunch of Melbourne friends and had curry. Brick Lane is renowned for Indian food and there are touts out the front and you can actually bargain with them! We got a free round of drinks for 8 people and 15% off the bill! The food was excellent and the Vindaloo was a real scorcher!
I also caught up with Sophie who was in my start group at Accenture. A 'start group' is the group of people that you started work with when you are taken in as part of the graduate recruiting program. There were 9 of us in the April 1998 start group and of that only one person is still with Accenture but we try and catch up every now and then. One of the guys sent around an email for a catchup and through that I found out that Sophie was still in London. I thought she might have been as that was the last I knew of her whereabouts but that was five years ago. Anyway, we had a great time talking and much to say about our respective last 5 years.
There are still a number of people that I know in London that I would like to catch up with and I'm sure it will happen in due course.
All this week there have been fireworks going off every night. This is the lead up to November 5th which is known as Guy Fawkes day. Guy Fawkes was a Catholic who tried to blow up King James I and the ruling elite by planting barrels of gun powder in the basement of the house of parliament in 1605! This is known as the Gun Powder Plot and he almost succeeded in doing so but was caught, some say, just as he was about to light it (could be just dramatic storytelling). One of the TV documentaries recreated the building and the gun powder and it definitely would have killed everybody and been Britain's worst terrorist act. Guy Fawkes was hoping to kill King James and install a Catholic king to the throne. Because it is called Guy Fawkes day I wasn't sure if it was a celebration of the man himself and what he tried to do or not. Apparently it is celebrating that he did not succeed as traditionally children would make scarecrow 'guys' that were at some point in the night thrown onto a bonfire! (The real Guy was tortured and then hung and quartered! Yikes!)
Nowadays, in the Houses of Parliament in London, the "vaults" are searched ceremoniously once a year by an officer and ten men of the Yeoman of the Guard wearing their traditional uniforms, and carrying a lantern.
Sat 5th Nov was the big night and there were fireworks going off everywhere! It was pretty amazing!! We counted 10 different fireworks displays just from the 180 degree view from my window and these weren't just 10 minutes displays, they went on all night!! There was one at Ravenscourt Park which is two blocks from my place so I invited some friends around and we were able to watch a spectacular and loud display from my window! Saved £5 entry fee to the park and watched it in the warm comfort of indoors! :) The fireworks both big and small continued through the entire night as they are legal for people to buy and set off during this time of year.
So all is good. I guess I only write about good stuff but God has been good. I did have problems with the incompetence of the people who run my Limited Company here; they were paying me the wrong amount and not doing things I had asked them to do which caused me some frustration but got that sorted out now. They've even offered me a week free of fees because of all that's happened. I've had a lot of issues with them since day one and in hindsight would not have used this company (and definitely won't recommend them to anyone) but I'll give them a chance to redeem themselves.
Talk later,
Bob
My housemate is the general manager for operations for a rather large private members club (two 18 hole golf courses, 27 tennis courts, swimming pool, restaurants, etc) South of the River Thames so he tends to work quite a lot of hours. He also has other responsibilities on boards, lectures and studies as well! So he has quite a bit on his plate! What this means for me personally is that even though I am sharing a place it feels like I am not as he is hardly ever around!
A couple of weeks back I went to church (All Souls) on Sunday, the BSF mens class at Hammersmith and the All Souls newcomers evening on Tuesday so it was starting to feel like the busy schedule of God related events that I had back home!
During my time in between contracts I decided to see where exactly the BSF men's class was being held and found that it was in Hammersmith which isn't that far from Chelsea where I was staying at the time. So I went down on a Monday night to see what it was like and ascertain if it was much different to BSF back in Melbourne. Well being a men's class there were only men obviously but it was quite a bit smaller than I had expected; only 35 registered people. They meet in a Chinese church that used to be a synagogue. I think I was quite lucky to catch them as if I had gone the following week they would not have been there because it was 'mid-term' (some strange British one week off for students). The Teaching Leader was an American, Bill, who would be in his sixties I'd say and was a great preacher! BSF here is doing the Genesis study and I got to stay around to listen to the lecture on Genesis chapter 4. I was only able to register myself for the waiting list as there were not enough discussion leaders to allow new people to join.
The house that I am living at now is in Hammersmith so hopefully I will be able to go soon and make the most out of being in the same suburb as the class.
At the All Souls newcomers evening there were about 20 people mainly in their 20's and very multicultural. Met a Brisbane guy, German girl, Singaporean girl, Scottish girl and an English guy. It was a good chance to meet other people new to the church and some of the church staff. The rector (pastor) is actually appointed by the Queen because it is a Church of England church! Of course, it is really the church itself that chooses the rector but as a matter of formality it is the Queen that appoints him. A bit like how the Queen appoints the Governor General of Australia I guess. They also have a very large Catholic looking painting of Jesus (3m x 4m) behind the pulpit which people either love or hate but they are not allowed to take it down because it was presented to the church by King George IV!
Two weeks after that I went to the 'Gateway' group which is the small group system. You go to Gateway first and then you get assigned a permanent small group based on your age and location. Being such a large church they are very committed to helping people get to know other people and study the Bible in smaller groups. It was a good evening with a good mix of nationalities but the majority were Australians and Malaysians! There was this great Scottish guy Duncan, he says 'Yes' as 'Aye, aye'. I could so picture him saying, 'Aye, McLeod, of the clan McLeod!' (cf. Highlander! hahaha)
Today at All Souls I met an American girl from California and since I didn't spot anyone else I knew previously we went and had lunch afterwards. Oh, All Souls has a full time cook!! A lot of their ministries involve food beforehand which is a good idea because it is a city church and people would go for activities straight from work. After trying out the church food we went down Regent Street and had a coffee afterwards. She's a surgeon doing an academic year in London who runs marathons and is an accomplished skier! Unfortunately I gave her the wrong Tube directions to get home but was able to apologise for it when I saw her in the evening! (For church stuff alright, for church stuff.)
Been getting to know more people through friends of friends as well at things like Yum Cha. There were about 9 of us one time (half of them I did not know) and we had 51 basket things!! Truly gluttonous! Didn't end up having dinner that night not surprisingly...
Went to Brick Lane with another bunch of Melbourne friends and had curry. Brick Lane is renowned for Indian food and there are touts out the front and you can actually bargain with them! We got a free round of drinks for 8 people and 15% off the bill! The food was excellent and the Vindaloo was a real scorcher!
I also caught up with Sophie who was in my start group at Accenture. A 'start group' is the group of people that you started work with when you are taken in as part of the graduate recruiting program. There were 9 of us in the April 1998 start group and of that only one person is still with Accenture but we try and catch up every now and then. One of the guys sent around an email for a catchup and through that I found out that Sophie was still in London. I thought she might have been as that was the last I knew of her whereabouts but that was five years ago. Anyway, we had a great time talking and much to say about our respective last 5 years.
There are still a number of people that I know in London that I would like to catch up with and I'm sure it will happen in due course.
All this week there have been fireworks going off every night. This is the lead up to November 5th which is known as Guy Fawkes day. Guy Fawkes was a Catholic who tried to blow up King James I and the ruling elite by planting barrels of gun powder in the basement of the house of parliament in 1605! This is known as the Gun Powder Plot and he almost succeeded in doing so but was caught, some say, just as he was about to light it (could be just dramatic storytelling). One of the TV documentaries recreated the building and the gun powder and it definitely would have killed everybody and been Britain's worst terrorist act. Guy Fawkes was hoping to kill King James and install a Catholic king to the throne. Because it is called Guy Fawkes day I wasn't sure if it was a celebration of the man himself and what he tried to do or not. Apparently it is celebrating that he did not succeed as traditionally children would make scarecrow 'guys' that were at some point in the night thrown onto a bonfire! (The real Guy was tortured and then hung and quartered! Yikes!)
Nowadays, in the Houses of Parliament in London, the "vaults" are searched ceremoniously once a year by an officer and ten men of the Yeoman of the Guard wearing their traditional uniforms, and carrying a lantern.
Sat 5th Nov was the big night and there were fireworks going off everywhere! It was pretty amazing!! We counted 10 different fireworks displays just from the 180 degree view from my window and these weren't just 10 minutes displays, they went on all night!! There was one at Ravenscourt Park which is two blocks from my place so I invited some friends around and we were able to watch a spectacular and loud display from my window! Saved £5 entry fee to the park and watched it in the warm comfort of indoors! :) The fireworks both big and small continued through the entire night as they are legal for people to buy and set off during this time of year.
So all is good. I guess I only write about good stuff but God has been good. I did have problems with the incompetence of the people who run my Limited Company here; they were paying me the wrong amount and not doing things I had asked them to do which caused me some frustration but got that sorted out now. They've even offered me a week free of fees because of all that's happened. I've had a lot of issues with them since day one and in hindsight would not have used this company (and definitely won't recommend them to anyone) but I'll give them a chance to redeem themselves.
Talk later,
Bob
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10:09 AM
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