First You Cut the Head Off...

It would be hard to compress the past few days into one or two words. Oxford is both breathtaking yet quietly casual; technologically advanced yet ancient and medieval; peaceful yet bustling with traffic. 'Collision' would be an appropriate term for Oxford; old customs and architecture slamming into neon lights and eco-friendly cars. It's a place unlike any I've ever seen. Growing up I heard (and tried myself) all the feaux-british accents Americans attempt, I heard about pub-life, I read British literature and saw pictures of grayed men walking with cane, newspaper, and pipe in hand. But here I am! Right in the middle of it all. Funny enough, most of these images are true. The accents are fun to listen to, and even more fun to impersonate, though admittedly quiet enough so as not to be heard. Pub life is awesome and the food is delicious, despite all the rumors saying how bland the food is. And the architecture... Simply stunning. Nothing in America that I have seen compares to the pain-staking detail that sculpt the stone buildings here. Oxford is like a very old tree in that it belongs in these modern times, but also has a vast history to tell to anyone who will listen.

My experience has been wonderful for the most part so far. Granted, I did get my butt kicked by the exchange rate, but that was to be expected. Still, $320 for 200 Pounds is outrageous, and makes me wish that I was a British student studying in America.I survived the plane ride, which was a blessing from God. If you don't know, I'm not a huge fan of flying. 9 hours in a plane put my fears to the limits, but other than a few bumps here and there, it was a relatively smooth flight.



The house that we're staying at is pretty nice. It's over a hundred years old, and one can feel the memories that are held here. I'm sharing a room with Hutton on the third floor. We have a kitchen up here! I have even done a little bit of cooking myself. Walking is a part of everyday life here. I probably walk 5-10 miles a day easily. It's definitely slower than what I'm used to, and sometimes I wish I could fire my truck up and drive to my destination. This persists until I realize that I would have to drive on the left side of the road, and all of the sudden I'm quite content with walking. Plus it's a great way to get exercise, and it's built in to everyday life so you don't have to make extra time for it.

Pubs are my favorite. The atmosphere is a very social and happy one. I learned a quick lesson in the Jericho Tavern during my first pub outing. You see, here in America, we are used to waiters and waitresses always taking our orders at sit-down restaurants. This system doesn't fly in the UK. My posse and I sat down for probably five minutes before one of us had the bright idea of maybe going up to the bar and ordering ourselves. First time trying to not look like a stupid American = Fail. But it all worked out. I got a beef ruddings & Ale pie, which was stupendous. It's actually like a pie! Who would have guessed. Since Dr. Kehl instructed us to not partake in any alcohol consumption, the ACU rule books states that any alcohol consumption on a school sponsored event is strictly prohibited, and since I'm a model student and citizen who would never break any rules, I can tell you that I most certainly did NOT get a pint of Worthington White Shield, so I can't vouch that it was AMAZING or express how legit it was to be able to order a beer in a pub in Oxford. Interpret that how you will.

I haven't seen too many sites yet. I did go into the natural history museum which was pretty cool. There were dinosaurs and do-do birds and my personal favorite: shrunken heads. I find shrunken heads extremely intriguing. I guess it's a little creepy, but I would love to have one. If you have a fresh corpse, let me know, I looked up the instructions on how to shrink a head.





More blogs will follow soon! I'll try to get some more sweet footage.

Cheers.

"I Think I'm Quite Ready For Another Adventure."

I leave Abilene in 20 hours. It hasn't set in yet. I decided to go on this trip in January of my Senior year of high school two years ago. It's always seemed so far off, like a dream; so real and yet so unbelievable. For those who don't know, I have quite an experience ahead of me. I'll start off in Oxford, England where I'll take part in the study abroad program. This ends early May, but that's only the beginning of my adventure. After Oxford, I will have three whole weeks of freedom in Europe where I'm going to be practically on my own. After that I'm going to do a month long Summer session in Leipzig, Germany, finally returning early July. Six months. Six whole months away from Abilene, Texas, my home for the past twelve and a half years. Apart from a couple of cruises, this will be my first time to leave the states. Needless to say, I am extremely excited. While Abilene is my favorite place in the world (seriously), I'm banking on Europe to change my life. Not in a cheesy way; I don't plan on becoming a different person or growing up or anything silly like that, but more in a... growing my wings kind of way. I'm in a kind of stagnant place in my life right now. I don't really feel like I'm going anywhere right now with my spiritual life, future career, and even my relationship seems to be foggy. I feel like I have an egg inside me. Not the kind of fallopian tube egg, but an egg that is incubating my potential; a potential that is struggling to crack its shell. Maybe some of you can relate to this feeling. For a while I've been wondering why this is, and I have to admit that it's been lurking in the back of my mind. This is a unique feeling for me. One of my personal 'catch phrases,' if you will, is: Stress is overrated. I rarely feel stress. I don't believe in it. Besides the occasional lightning bolt that passes through me at four in the morning as I'm typing with a flurry to finish a paper that I put off till the last moment, I just don't feel stressed. But this murky water that I've been treading in has definitely created a phase of weirdness for me. You probably haven't noticed; I'm still as happy-go-lucky as I've always been, and honestly I understand that I'm okay. However I hope that these few months of fresh air will help me better grasp who God is, what the hell love is, and the man that I need to become in a few years--concepts that I've severely underestimated.

But enough of this melodramatic crap. You came here to be entertained!

So for today's blog, I wanted to focus on *drum roll* ADVENTURE! I'm going on an adventure! Ahoy! I'm going to effing Europe, the land of Universities I'm not smart enough to attend, the land of hairy women, the land of painted and sculpted genitalia, the land of genocide. This is going to be better than Christmikah with the Cohen family. I'm excited about Oxford and Leipzig, BUT what I'm really looking forward to is my three weeks on my own. With a four country, ten days in two months rail pass, I'm just gonna' go. I'll hop a plain to Paris and take a train to Leipzig where I'm going to drop off my luggage. Then I'm going to pack a few changes of clothes, necessary toiletries, my lappy, and a couple of books, and then I'm gonna' go! I'm mainly going to tour France. My first stop will be Noirt where I'll be staying at Laza's bro's place. After a few days there I'm gonna head down to Marseille for a week. I'm pumped to see Marseille. First off, it's on the southern coast of France which translates into beaches and probably some nude tanning. For those of you who haven't read or seen the Count of Monte Christo (shame on you), Marseille is the home of Edmund Dantes. I'm hoping to board up with a Church of Christ that I found online there in order to cut down on hostel prices. Next up is Nice, where Laza shows his value again by contacting a friend of his who lives there who has graciously offered his home to me for a few nights. I'll then take a long-A train to Naples, Italy, where I'm pretty sure pizza was invented. On the way back to Leipzig I'm going to make a pit stop in Interlaken, Switzerland for a couple of days before I finally set out for Germany. Take a moment to catch your breath. I find myself giggling at this journey, not for hilarity, but at the fact that a million things can and probably will go wrong. Missed trains, shady hostels, foreign languages... there's no way on earth this plan won't have several hitches in it. But you know, to me that's what makes this so exciting. I could end up lost in some alley in Italy, robbed blind. Or I may end up in the Chateau D'if (seriously, get up and go buy the Count of Monte Christo), where I'll have to tunnel out of my cell! I'm not even taking a cell phone. Forget safety. I've had enough of the safeness of my quiet home town. I'm welcoming a little danger in my life. Which takes us back to our mysterious pal Adventure. We don't have enough adventure in our lives. At least I don't. I can't help but wonder if we are missing an important aspect that God weaved into our being. This is why we enjoy, or maybe even crave, epic swashbuckling fantastic stories. All of our favorite tales share a common denominator: adventure. Maximus, Frodo, Robin Hood, Edmund Dantes, V, Captain Jack Sparrow, Woody, and even our favorite heroes of the Bible lived adventure. All of these people started off similar to you and me too, living in their Shire. But we all have a little Took running through our veins. Living in a modern society is great and we are all blessed beyond our knowledge, but at the same time these blessings have come with a crippling price: complacency. I wonder why it's so hard for me to understand what it means to follow Jesus, and I can't help but reason that it's because I don't have to fight for Him. Christianity was spoon-fed to me choo-choo train style since I was a baby. I don't feel that motivated to find my career because all I have to do is make As and Bs in college, and then most likely a nice comfortable job will land itself in my lap. If your skeptical, ponder the fact that we don't even have to make our own food! Sure you can hunt your own meet, but you don't have too. Perini's can grill me up a fat juicy New York strip anytime I want it. Can't you see the dilemma here? Life's easy for us scholars. For me, a little too easy. I can't wait to have my own adventure; to sail the seven seas and defend the walls of Troy; to rely on God and my God-given abilities in order to break through my eggshell.

But my dear friends and family, how I will miss you. I'm playing Ocarina of Time with my dad and sister, an Ashlock tradition, and I'm going to sorely miss saving the princess with yall. Britain's food just isn't going to match up to Moma's home cookin'. To The Crew, yall are awesome. Who I am today has been shaped by our insanely goofy times together. Trav, I expect Drew to be locked in a sarcophagus when yall go to Egypt. Fleet, I fully expect you to have some brand new rude material for me when I get back. Keith, may your boots be forever sticky. KY, you better have a smokin' hot Brazilian wife when I come home, or so help me. Chad, you've become one of my best buds, and I sincerely hope you have an awesome semester. Jake Jake, Nik, Bart, Landon, I'm counting on yall to make sure 2D stays fly in my absence. And Link, you have some serious shoes to fill. Shoulder this responsibility with pride! Austin loves waking up to 'Love Like Woe' every morning. Korey and Mike, go easy on the ladies. Seth, I expect you to become fluent in Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. And to the girls, I'm going to miss yall as well! I can't believe I'm gonna' miss Brynn's career igniting roll this Spring! And I'm excited that Ebibb and Clair and maybe Beth are going to join me in Leipzig.

But weep not! I'll be back. I'm going to keep yall up to date while I'm away. 'I Thought About a Burning Fire' is going to enter into the world of video blogging. If that doesn't cause you to faint with anticipation, then you'll faint when it happens.

Farewell!

Goin' To the Chapel and I'm, Gonna' Burn It Down...

If one more person gets engaged I swear I'm gonna' go nucks. Not really. But seriously, you have to admit that it's crazy how many people are getting engaged/married. I'm not a destroyer of love or anything. I guess honestly it blows my mind. I don't understand why someone my age would want to get married right now. Personally, I have several experiences ahead of me that I am psyched about of which I cannot begin to imagine giving up for a life of imprisonment (ok fine, marriage isn't prison). Umm hello! Next year is Junior year which means that ACU is gonna let me grow up a little bit and own my very own piece of real estate. Not only that, but I get to share it with four of my favorite people in the world. If you know me and my group of friends, then you should know that good times will go down every day at this house. There's only one time in your entire life that you get to live with four of your best friends in a house with no authority, except your landlord, to govern you by. Maybe I'm nuts, but getting married over that seems whack-O. And who on Earth wants to shoulder all that responsibility? Don't get me wrong, I wish to shoulder said responsibility someday, but definitely not now. I am looking forward to another year or two of jack-nobbing around without a care in the world.

I really think people take college for granted. For one, compared to the entire world, us college scholars are pretty rare. Most people don't have the option, and instead have to enter the work force immediately after highschool (an again most people don't even have access to formal education). And then I see people rushing off and gettin' hitched or taking 20 hours a semester to finish early (hmm now who could this be? :)) and I'm left scratching my head. College is a unique time. Not only does college give one an unparalleled advantage in the real world, but more importantly, in my opinion, it is the special opportunity when one can enjoy the benefits of being an adult, while still being able to be a kid. Sure there's a lot of responsibility with grades and finances, but you can't deny that there's a lot of room for silly behavior. But once you get married or start you career, a lot of those freedoms are gone forever. Many other benefits are gained, but to me those benefits can wait a couple years. I mean, they'll still be there. My life's ambition isn't going to vanish if I wait a couple of years longer, but the college life is gone forever when it's done.

I'm really not bitter, and I'm not bashing all the happily married/engaged couples, several of whom are my good friends. I'm happy for them and wish them the best, it's just that, several events that have hit rather close to home have kind of jolted me a little when it comes to love. In the past two years I've seen two ministers, and another man who I highly respected leave their families for other women. I guess the scariest thing is that these were all God-fearing men like myself. It's all to easy to judge men who cheat on their families, but in reality all three of these men are probably a lot like you and me. The point is, nobody is immune to the sins of the world, especially us men, and when one doesn't guard against these dangers, shit like the sexy secretary happens. Sorry for the language mom. I feel like I'm justified in my fears. With more and more people choosing cohabitation over marriage, and half of those who do marry getting divorced, and with society's skewed projection of love, I think I have a valid point. I know it's like the "in" thing to do at ACU, but I think I'm gonna enjoy my current life for a little bit longer, 'cause hey, when it's gone...

It's gone.