The un-merry olde England

I knew I wasn't imaging things.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1725547-1,00.html

The one where I worked at the BBC

I am in my second week of a four-week holiday from classes right now. In England, most universities have a month long vacation for Easter, which is ironic because this country is very much a post-Christian society, but "celebrating" Easter seems to be a big deal here. I think they just really like the long break from work.

I spent the first week of my break in London doing part of my Fulbright internship with the BBC. I worked in the radio current affairs department and got to learn about radio editing and helped put together the piece for their weekly "Profile" programme. This week, we profiled Simba Makoni, who is challenging Robert Mugabe in the presidential elections in Zimbabwe next weekend. I had to find people who could tell personal stories about him and be interviewed for the radio, so I basically had to google stalk Makoni and call every name I could that came up as a friend, co-worker or relative. Yes, I made calls to South Africa and Zimbabwe and talked to all the politically active Zimbabwean ex-pats in Britain. It's amazing how much information someone will give you when you call them and say you work for the BBC. If you are interested in hearing the program I worked on, it's at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/profile/pip/djghq/. It was neat to get to see how a program comes together, and I had fun learning about radio journalism and made some good contacts.

For those of you who have studied or lived in England, you will appreciate this next part. On my first day of work at the BBC, I met the people I was going to be working with and then was immediately given a health and safety course. I was introduced to the fire wardens for the department, shown where all the fire exits and first aid kits were, where to go during a fire drill, and was instructed to dial "treble six" if I needed to contact an ambulance from inside the building. The British are obsessed with health and safety to the point of it bordering on absurd. There is a joke in England that you can't do anything without it being a health or safety violation. Also, my boss having only met me 5 minutes prior to this was too polite to tell me to dial six-six-six, hence the treble six instructions. The English are nothing if not polite. It was so fun to be in a British office for the week. I wish I could properly convey to you the hilarity of British social rules and culture. Every hour someone would sigh and say something like, "Blimey, I need a cuppa tea," and then go around taking orders for a tea run. These people drank like seven cups of tea every day and yet I never saw any of them leave their desk to use the loo. How do they do it? I had to drink at least two cups so as not to appear rude. I still don't get the appeal of drinking a cup of hot water with very little taste.

In the moment

Can't stop listening to: Imogen Heap and Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocketful of Sunshine"
Can't stop eating: Peanut M&Ms
Can't stop looking: at the calendar
Newfound release: writing in my journal
Place I want to be: sitting on the couch inbetween my mom and dad
Currently reading: Atonement
Trying to understand: what happened in Kosovo and Bosnia
New stress relief: sudoku
Currently anticipating: interning at the BBC next week
Best news someone could give me right now: yeah, we decided to cancel the dissertation requirement for graduation
Latest Google search topic: Project Runway gossip/where are they now
Current fascination: The Clintons

My prayer for you and me:
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have the power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ." Eph. 3:16-19

Read this, it's crazy: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/13/wtoilet113.xml&CMP=ILC-mostviewedbox

Snow and self-realizations

People in England love to talk about the weather. It's one of their cultural quirks. So indulge me for a second because this week has been crazy weather-wise. Last week was beautiful. It felt like spring. Then the torrential winds came. Then there was a 5.2 magnitude earthquake. (Really.) Then came more wind, this time bringing along rain. Now the sun is back out, and it is 40 degrees outside, but it is snowing. How is that even possible? I was out jogging, excited about spring weather, and then it starts snowing. And we talk about weather in Texas being unpredictable.

So, I made it through February! Yay! Now I have officially been here six full months. The rest of the year is downhill from here. I have two weeks left of class, then a month off for Easter break, then three weeks of class, then exams, then my parents visit, and then I write this danged dissertation, travel, and go home. See what I mean? It's all downhill from here. Except that the downhill part is going to be the hardest part school-wise. I have so much to do before break begins. It's incredibily stressful trying to work on my class assignments and my dissertation at the same time, but I have to get the project portion of my dissertation finished before June, and in order to get my project together, I have to get all my background research done. Right now I'm researching for two papers, plus my dissertation, and it's been difficult trying to keep everything seperate and on track. There are time when I just feel defeated by school and wish I could just walk away from it and forget about getting a master's. But then my fighter side kicks in, and I get new energy and refuse to be defeated by school. God has been so faithful to me this year and always meets my needs when I am weak, just like he's promised. If anything, this year I've learned that it's ok to be weak. It's when we are in a state of brokenness that God is able to teach us and use us the most.

Another thing I have learned this year is that I find journalism interesting and enjoy studying it, but I am not passionate about it. If had to pick one thing to do for the rest of my life, it would not have anything to do with writing or reporting. It would have something to do with children or high school or college students. Sometimes my professor brings his son to his office, and I get to play and talk with him. It is always the best part of my day. There's something so energizing about being around a child and seeing how they interpret the world. I want to have a job that will help to ensure that every child and young adult has the resources and abilities to pursue their dreams. I know it's idealistic, but that's ok. I don't know where that desire will take me, whether it's teaching, education administration, non-profit or government work, communications for a NGO, there are so many possibilities. I'm still glad that I am studying communications because I think it's provided me with a broad background and a unique perspective, but I don't think you will be seeing me on CNN one day anymore.

The human cannon ball

I went to the circus last night. Not like Barnum and Bailey's circus at Reunion Arena. This was like a proper acrobatic freak show that took place in a big, white tent in the middle of Leed's park. It was the Moscow State Circus. It was definitely entertaining, but I felt like it had some residue of the Soviet era attached to it. Like these were the people who were assigned the job of "circus performer" by the communist regime in order to cheer people up and show the outside world that the USSR wasn't really a bad place to live. The performer's clothes and equipment were worn and faded and the men didn't smile much. The clowns made jokes about vodka. They did the whole illusionist thing sawing a woman in half. I have to say, even though I know it can't be real, it still confuses me how they can do that. The trapeze artists and the rubber woman were my favorite though. I don't know how you learn to do the things they did without killing yourself in the process. Pretty amazing. Anyways, it was a fun break in the middle of an otherwise school dominated weekend.

Good intentions

I start off my days with such good intentions. Then, somewhere along the way I end up spending two hours on YouTube instead of reading articles for my dissertation. I need discipline. In so many areas of my life ... school, quiet times, working out, healthy eating, cleaning. Realizing you have a problem is the first step, right? So I am going to change this. Really.

My computer crisis turned out not to be as bad as the HP guy told me it was. I got everything fixed, hopefully, and didn't lose anything after all. Yay! I have a month left before my warranty expires, so if something still is wrong, it better happen soon.

Now, to switch topics. Nothing bothers me more than seeing English butchered in the written form. (Actually, that's not true. Lots of things bother me more ... poverty, slavery, racism, abuse, seeing drunk guys peeing on buildings as I do nightly in Leeds ... you get the picture.) Never have I seen it so abused as I have this year. I think it is because text messaging is really popular here so everybody uses shorthand and abbreviations. Also, a lot of my friends speaks English as a second language, so when they try to use slang it can just get confusing. For instance, this week I received an e-mail inviting me to "port-luck" from my Singaporean friend. Take a look at some of the most egregious messages I've received:

Itz a Friday after all so therez no better time 2 start a get2geda than sunset.

Now shez out with anoda piece 4rom da Archives.

No shakes about it. Happi Niu Yia, da Chinese Way.

W8 4 me.

Like nails on a chalkboard.

Fun British phrases of the day:
good fun: Yes, we learned to play cricket. It was good fun.
give it a go: I've always wanted to learn, so I thought I'd give it a go.
I hear these phrases at least five times a day. They make sense, but we don't really use them in America. Wonder why.

The unthinkable has happened ...

My laptop is broken. I realized that besides being robbed, losing a family member, contracting a fatal disease, or having my identity stolen while overseas, this is just about the worst thing that could happen to me. (It always helps to have some perspective). Seriously though, it's a pain. I'm afraid I'm going to lose all my essays and dissertation work, photos, and music. Plus, since I use Skype to talk to my family and friends, I have basically lost my ability to communicate with people back home. I spend more time on my computer than I do in class or interacting with people in the human world, so it literally feels like I'm losing a best friend. My laptop knows me. Hmmm ... on the other hand, maybe this is the best thing that could have happened to me.

Other than that, life is looking up. God is good.