Reflections on two weeks, three weekends in the UK

We just spent two weeks, three weekends in the UK visiting our supporting churches, Alan attended the Bala Ministers' Conference, we both were there for our old church's 50th anniversary and some other festive occasions. Here's some reflections :

The overnight ferry Portsmouth to Caen was great! We slept OK in our couchettes plus - a sort of dormitory of bunk beds - we were alone in a cellule of four beds and many of the cellules were empty. From Caen to Portsmouth we caught the early morning boat and stayed in a cheap hotel at Ouistreham. Checking in and out of the ferry ports was easy. 

UK roads are really bad. The surfaces of town roads and streets are worn, pot-holed and very rough indeed. UK motorways are very crowded, but this means everyone drives slower. this resulted in us getting over 70 mpg in Ella, our Honda Jazz! French motorways are much smoother and less crowded but we pay tolls and you can get bullied by heavy lorries, as you can in the UK.

It was wonderful to see familiar faces and to make new friends. The missing faces of those who have died leave an ache. The churches seem encouraged and there's interesting changes in patterns happening - youth getting together on Sunday evenings, for example, and churches reaching different kinds of people.

The schedule that I had planned was nuts. It left NO TIME AT ALL to rest or to visit anywhere at all. We managed to squeeze in some shopping for tea bags and chutneys, but apart from that, nada. No visit to Chester or Llandudno. No quiet coffee in coffee shops. We saw my sisters because we stayed there overnight between Swansea and Newport. It was busy, busy, busy.

We did visit one coffee shop in Bath when we met up with a member of UFM mission council. We also met up with two members of a church mission council separately the same day. It was a great day, but again, not a schedule someone half sensible would plan.

But we got home safe and not having contracted any dreadful disease or infirmity. We're a tiny bit fatigued, but functioning OK, and it was good to be back on our bikes yesterday, weaving our way round the new obstacles on the quays to the cafe. Today is a day off. I have to catch up on my Italian. Ho tutto dimenticato.

Reunion with Thea yesterday was all kinds of wonderful, except that it was pretty obvious that she'd forgotten who we were. In July we're away for three weeks. We're considering cancelling!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Three weeks in Blighty

  We just spent three weeks in the UK. The first week was spent at our mission, UFM's, Summer Conference. We've always enjoyed these times - the conference centres are always clean and comfortable and you get catered for - our children used to think they were hotels. In addition you get some preaching and teaching - this time from an old acquaintance from Northern Ireland - and reports from people who serve in amazing places. We always feel like weaklings alongside the folk who paddle their way up the Amazon, or who work in remote parts of Central Asia. We had to do a seminar on preparing for retirement, which was well-received. Ella took us quietly and smoothly up to Caen for the ferry and we stayed overnight near the terminal before taking the early morning crossing. To get to the conference centre we had to use the M25, and it lived up to its promise. The second week was spent with my sisters and a nephew in a holiday cottage in Tenby. This was a straightforward trip down t...
Read more

A bit about music exams in UK and France

They're really different. I think I have already mentioned that while in the UK people generally find a private teacher for their instrument, or do it through a school scheme, here there are municipal music school, conservatoires and so on. The situation is a little more complex than I had first understood, because the schools vary in the rigidity of their organisation: the most, the conservatoires, next the municipals, then the associations. Our music school is an association, but it tends to apply the standards of the municipal schools with its programme of cycles, etc. Britain - grade 1 to 8, grade 8 being roughly equivalent to A-level, pre university/conservatoire. France - 3 cycles, each taking about 4 years, with 3ème cycle being roughly equivalent to grade 8. Theory of music - UK to take grade 8 you need theory grade 5. In France you study theory alongside your instrumental studies, very slowly. Catrin's flute music is MUCH more difficult than the stuff she does in theor...
Read more

Good news from my sermon buddy

Yesterday we went over my script from August 13. There really wasn't much she had taken exception to. Once or twice she wondered quite what I was getting at (they had the same problem at Deeside, I think...) and I do have difficulties with the word " de ", but then she said "Who doesn't?" So I felt very encouraged. I also took the opportunity to ask her about one or two things: 1) Direct preaching. Like I used to in Britain, I preach saying you - using "vous" when I am talking to the whole wide world and "tu" when I want it to feel as if I am addressing each person individually. French preachers tend to say rather "What will we do, what will one do". So I asked her if she felt my way was too direct, too brutal for the French ear. She said "I think you can get away with it with your English accent". In fact several people have commented on how much they appreciated being spoken to directly in preaching. 2) Liaisons Last...
Read more