The Much Belated Update

(Top: from a trip downtown a couple of nights ago. The Belfast ferris wheel on the left and the City Hall on the right. Bottom: I took over the upstairs office in need of a place to work and keep my school work and details for coordinating Lakeside events organized - so this is the view. It's gorgeous and I feel so incredibly blessed!)

So here's the promised post about what's been going on with life and what's coming up in the near future.

The Semester's End

Well, it's not really. Weirdly enough over here, classes end just before Christmas, but then the entire month of January comprises students exams and final papers. Several students here I've talked to know about the way we do it in the states and really wish they were done with it all before Christmas break. Another oddity of the system over here is that each of the papers I turn in gets checked by two professors - one at Queen's and one 'external' examiner from another university. I just got back my first grade, from the Queen's professor, on my first real paper and it was really encouraging. Granted, a 75 in the US is nothing to get excited about, but here 70's typically seen as the top grades, so I was really encouraged - those multiple 3am nights back in December paid off I guess. :-)

As I'm sure you know by now, I got to go back to the US for Christmas which was an incredible and wonderful, unexpected surprise. Had a great time seeing friends and family! The weekend before I left, two JBU students and one of their friends - Jordan, Katherine, and Nathan - were here. Had a great time with them. We rented a car and hit up Giant's Causeway, Dundrum, Castlewellan Maze - and watched Friends every night over dinner.

Here Comes the Storm

Not really, but it is busy. The other really encouraging news in December was that I found two professors interested in my PhD topic: David Anderson, who heads up the African Studies Centre at Oxford, and Daniel Branch at the University of Warwick. On top of that, I got a great email from John Lonsdale, probably the preeminent scholar (although retired from Cambridge) on Kenya and East Africa, that also was very encouraging, seeing the need for the research and giving me some direction for what might be the best way to approach it.

So, I'm in the midst of applying to Oxford and Warwick and we'll see where God leads. I can honestly say that I'm excited about all of my possibilities for next year: (1) staying here in Belfast, (2) heading back to Arkansas, or (3) going to Oxford (which would be a dream come true!) or Warwick and starting my PhD - yikes! Next week I head to London for a few days to look at some MI5 at the National Archives in Kew and hope to meet with both Dr. Branch and Professor Anderson, if they're available.

Other than that, I'm working on papers - I've got two due this week - and getting ready for a busy Spring of groups using Lakeside. We've got two church groups coming in the next month and two college groups from the US scheduled for March - plus more in the works. Should be fun!

Friends & Family Headed to Belfast

One of the really cool developments is the number of people that I may get to see over here in Belfast in the next year. My sister and brother-in-law are looking into visiting in March - if they're able to make it work financially (hopefully!). It'd be great to see them, show them around, and I really think they'd have a blast with the adventure! On top of that, a couple that are like my second parents are looking at coming over in April/May and a married couple that might come over in the late summer. If that wasn't exciting enough - two married couples that are friends of mine, the Hammonds and the Beckmans, are both looking into the possibility of comign to Belfast & Queen's for master's level work next year. How cool would that be!!

So we'll see. I don't know if it will work out for anyone to make it over this year, but I can't wait to share Belfast with them if they do!