Places in My First Week

I apologize that none of these pictures will include people - it usually makes pictures (and stories) more interesting if people are in them. It's something I fully intend to work on, since the people I meet this year are a lot more important then the places I'll be. With that said, here are pictures of where I am this year that will hopefully give you a backdrop for the stories that come out about during the year:

This is the Lanyon building (named after the architect). It is the pride and joy of the university - rightfully so - and the centerpiece of it. It's design was inspired by a building at Oxford. On the far side of this picture, the row of townhouses, is where the majority of the humanities school's are located - including mine. In the right hand corner of Lanyon is the Great Hall - it's very Harry Potter dining hall-esque and where we had the International Reception last night.

Cutting across the grass to the row of townhouses, you'll find "The School of History and Anthropology" at #15 (the blue door on the left in this picture).

Across the street from the Lanyon building is this, the Student Union. Newly built within the last couple of years, it houses a coffee shop, used book store, Oxfam store, restaurants, a pub, a dance club, and a small grocery store. Clements, the coffee shop here, is quickly becoming one of my favorites - and they're spread out throughout the city. Their tagline is "We're Religious About Coffee" and you get a free drink for every ten you have.

Behind the front of the Lanyon. This is the quad area (notice the pristine grass that is roped off - you don't walk or lounge on the grass here - it's mostly ornamental. :-P) Queen's International is located on the right hand side of this picture.


This is the main library, located on the far-side of the Lanyon building in the picture up top, but before the row of townhouses. Interestingly enough, the front building in this picture is where you enter the library. Looks like a church right? Well, it was built as a library, but intentionally built to look like a church - weird, huh? It gets weirder. See the 12 story building behind it? That's where all the books are stored (the two buildings are linked by a glass, sky bridge). Couldn't be more of a stark architectural contrast, huh? Want to know what's even worse? History books are all stored on the top three floors of the building in the back - and wireless access stops three floors below that. Yikes!! Maybe it'll keep me from getting distracted?

This is Fisherwick Presbyterian where I'll go to church on Sunday. They have an 11am regular service (I'm assuming more liturgical) and then a 7pm college service, so I'll check out both. They hosted a free dinner during international week and several of their members helped welcome students. The churches in town have a HUGE ministry to incoming international students and they do a great job with it! (Oh, for those of you who know Seth Wright, this is where he and his wife Julie go)

This is where I live on Mount Charles. These row of townhouses are owned by the school and house anywhere from 6-9 students in individual rooms, with two kitchens, two bathrooms, and two showers. I'll be posting a video of the house in the next couple of days, so if you're curious what it's like, you'll get to see it. It's an interesting mashup of all kinds of students. Alli is an American from D.C. working on her PhD in linguistics here while writing for National Geographic Travel (sweet, huh?). Then Sebastien, Arthur, Miriam, and Tobias are all undergraduates from Germany studying here for a semester under an EU program called Erasmus that pays for their studies - another sweet deal. There are 2 or 3 others that will be living here too, but I haven't met them yet.

So, there you go, that's a little bit of a scenic frame work for life here. It's been a REALLY great first week with a great balance of getting to make new friends and spend time walking around the city with them or talking over a pint at a pub. At the same time, it's been a great week of connecting with some believers in town, getting to encourage them, and find out about ways to get plugged in.

All in all, it's been a great start to a new year in a foreign country. :-)