I’ve been spending this week in Orlando, Florida as a delegate for the Nazarene Youth International conference. The conference occurs every 4 years and is a part of the wider Nazarene General Assembly and Conferences. I’m a part of the representation from Western Canada and together with about 700 other delegates from all over the world, have been voting on slight amendments to the church’s documents that apply to youth, and voting to choose representation at the regional and global levels.
It’s been my first time involved in anything like this and has been a good experience thus far. I’ll likely have a bit more to share later, but as for now, I’ll just point you over to a few photographs of things we’ve been able to explore so far. After all, you wouldn’t expect us to come this far and only see the inside of a conference center and hotel rooms, would you?
One of the highlights of our trip to England was a visit to the Museum of Natural History in Oxford. Unknown previously to me, it was on our loose itinerary thanks to Chris and Rachel, our guides for most of the day we spent in Oxford. (They didn’t have any special insights into Oxford that warranted their role as guides, except that they had an extra evening in Oxford, and as we explored the masters level literature programs available at Roehampton University, they were able to pour over maps and information guides, excellently planning our wonderful day seeing all we could.)
There were a number of things that appealed to me. First, I appreciated the style of the architecture. I wish I could say what that style was exactly, but you can see from this photograph below that it had a wonderful ceiling and fairly ornate columns. As well, all around the outsides of the museum, on both levels, there were pillars made from marble collected from various parts of Great Britain. Each was labeled with its name and origin.
Second, the museum wasn’t that large, so in an hour or two you were able to browse the full collection and spend some time reading up on the various pieces. You didn’t have to rush through, but also didn’t feel that you missed anything. (My bad shoulder also appreciates museums that don’t let me linger for too many hours. It’s usually screaming at me after an hour supporting a bag with a camera and umbrella and not getting a chance to stretch, move and get a bit of exercise.)
Third, and most importantly, it was very accessible for all ages. It helps that it doesn’t cost anything to go in, but it also helps that the exhibits are a good mix of skeletons, stuffed animals (some of which are able to be gently touched and felt) and other creepy, crawly things in jars. This is just the kind of stuff that gets a child’s imagination running wild, and you could tell by the number of children in for field trips with babysitters and teachers that it accommodates very well for kids. They’re fascinated by it all and get visibly and audibly excited. Since the museum is really just one large open space, the sounds of the visitors speaking and sharing stories and exclamations, bounce off the ceiling and walls. This means the museum is not a hushed and solemn place, but also due to acoustic reasons beyond me, it’s not loud or full of echoes. It has just the right amount of ambient noise that you feel comfortable talking with your friends about all you’re seeing. (Maybe it’s all the concrete and stone around the outside and the high ceiling that absorbs some of the sound.)
Don’t believe me? Turn up the sound and hit play below for a sample.
When having tea at The Art of Tea, a great tea shop and bookstore in Didsbury, Manchester, UK, the song Everything Trying by Damien Jurado, off his latest album, Caught in the Trees, played over the stereo. It was a poignant moment and made our day. Have a listen and go there with us…
Just a reminder that we arrived back in Calgary late on Sunday night and between being back at work, trying to find room on my hard drive for all the new photographs, and arranging to meet with friends and family to share stories, it’s been busy so far. Keep tuned for a few stories and photographs soon!
Leanne and I are flying to Manchester, UK tonight to spend 2 weeks visiting our friends, Chris and Rachel, who are attending school at Nazarene Theological College. We’ll also get a chance to visit Mike and Rachel in Bristol and perhaps others.
It’s been a few years since I’ve been away from work for this long at one time so I’m looking forward to the break. Not that my job is that stressful on most days, but it’s still suppose to be good to get away.
Keep an eye here for updates and photos from the road.
On the same day that my little brother was testing for a job as a security screener at the airport, I downloaded a game on my iPhone called JetSet.
The idea is that the airport tells you which items need to be confiscated from the travellers passing through the security checkpoint. The tricky part is that the list of banned items is always changing, so you have to both keep a close eye what is currently being banned and move fast enough that the line doesn’t backup.
One of the really cool things about this game is that it uses the location in your phone to determine if you’re near one of the airports loaded in the game and getting a high score will award you prizes unique to that airport as well as putting you on the high score list for that specific airport. Sweet!
We use the term roadmap to describe a document describing plans for a product or companies forward goals. It’s not a guarantee of the direction you would go, but does show what the road would look like if you chose to go down one path or another.
In my personal life, I should make a roadmap. It could have all the possible paths and divergent roads that I may take or want to take, complete with the actual path that was taken. It’s an atlas, a map of my life and life decisions. It has significant markers and monuments in my life. It’s a timeline. It’s my story.
The last couple days I’ve been trying to map out my vacations, travels and roadtrips from the last few years. It’s been a stretch to remember all the significant points and their place in time. It’s like that road atlas that stays under the seat of my car. It’s seen a lot of travel and shows with bent corners, torn pages, stains and a few cities circled and annotated. You can guess at the places it’s been because of the notes and the way it automatically falls open to Illinois and Oregon, but you don’t get the stories and dates. That’s what it’s like sometimes in my head.
I’m spending next week in St. Louis with some teens from my church. We’re there for a big conference and will be staying downtown across from the convention center. I’ll come back with stories and photos from the city. It’s always fun to visit a new city.
