Last weekend, the 14th through the 16th of January, Arcadia (the coordinators of my London program) set up a homestay for us to partake in. I have to say, I was not overly joyed about this part of the trip. I wanted to hang out with my newly found friends and go do touristy things with them. But, I put on a smile and decided to make the most of it.
Friday, we left King’s Cross station (I didn’t see Platform 9 ¾, we were on the other side of the station) on the wrong train, without seven of the 25 people that were supposed to be on the journey with us. What a start! This made me laugh, quite a lot actually. How could we have been trusted, as a bunch of 20 year olds who don’t care at all about anybody but ourselves, be trusted to make sure everyone got on the train? So the seven we left behind had to buy their own tickets and they arrived an hour after us, in Peterborough, an hour train ride north of London. We were dropped off at the platform and we were literally in the middle of nowhere. I was so used to the hustle and bustle of London, I’d forgotten what it was like to not have people pushing at you every second.
I met my family, the Bingum’s, Kam was my “mother” for the weekend and she was a sweetheart. She insisted on stuffing our faces with as much food as humanly possible, which I liked because she was a chef and actually knew how to cook. She made us fish the first night, which I am normally not a fan of, but it was pretty good and I ate quite a bit. After dinner, there is a lot of talking and “retiring” to the living room for tea. The other two girls assigned to this family and I got into a political conversation with them after dinner. This was a little awkward for me at first, considering the majority of the country is liberal and I consider myself conservative, but I didn’t say too much and listened instead. They are very upset by the university tuition increases and made some really good points about how the government spends their money on ridiculous things. It was interesting how many of the problems in England were so similar to the problems we have in America. They explained to us how much they loved the free health care system, which I wanted to know about since our country may be going through something similar. I don’t know how convinced I am fiscally, but there are some good aspects to it.
The next day we went to the 12th century Norman Cathedral. It was gorgeous and gigantic. It was probably the most beautiful thing I have ever stepped foot in. (You have to check out my pictures on Facebook!) These were built strictly to bring people in because of curiosity and they stayed because of what the cathedrals could provide. These were the center of the community for hundreds of years. They provided a water source, food source, religion, everything. This is how they were able to convert people and make them feel like they were dependent on God; it appeared that God was providing them with survival needs. Kam, our host mother, made a point that most sermons were very somber, making the attendant feel guilty for things they had done, she was not a fan.
The next stop was Cambridge, where we never actually saw the University of Cambridge. There are 31 universities in Cambridge, which none of us knew, so we walked around downtown and were able to see King’s College and a St. Catherin’s. It was a very pretty place and reminded me a lot of Bloomington, with the college town feel and the students taking over the city for eight of the 12 months. On our walk, we spoke briefly about the royal family and how the new generation does not respect the family the way they should. Kam believes the royal family was put on the earth by God and should be respected for that reason. People my age laugh at the thought and don’t have a lot of faith in them. I found this interesting because we are so intrigued by the royal family in America and always assumed it was the same over here, but the family is not brought up very often and is virtually invisible within the culture.
That night, we had some pasta, again delicious, and “retired” to the living room for tea. We talked about church, which we had planned to partake in the next morning. She had already discussed her discomfort in gaudy productions and made a very interesting comment about religion, “Faith is good, religion is not.” Wow, that’s powerful. She didn’t appreciate the power religion forces onto you, but she did have a lot of faith in God. I was suddenly interested in what was awaiting us the next day.
It was a mega church. Hmmm, how can I get back to London before we enter this place? Ugh, ok, I can’t. I stood there while seemingly crazy people spoke in tongue and danced around while the Christian “rock band” played “uplifting” music. I have to be honest, I was scared. I wasn’t expecting this at all, how was this not a production? This was just as much of a gimmick to get people to come to church as the cathedral was. Interesting how she didn’t see it that way. However, I am glad I was able to witness this; it gave me a new perspective and definitely something to remember.
After church we had a huge lunch/supper with potatoes, chicken, green beans, carrots, and chocolate cake! Yum! Kam, her husband, and their sons were all very nice and took care of us. We are so appreciative and now have a better understanding of the British.
Next post involves the greatest shopping trip of my life and a British bar crawl!
Love from London,
B
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