Well, my apartment still has not been cleaned. Laundry has been done, plants look wonderful (thanks to my very benevolent neighbor Danielle) and watered, and now, finally, the Travel Blog has been completed. I was back at work early on the 10th, and someone had written "We Really Missed You!" on my white board. I honestly love my job. It's not backpacking across the UK, but I do get to play in the wonderful rivers and streams of Colorado and I get paid for doing so. How cool is that? And being back in the groove at church has got to [View Full Entry]

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So I woke up early this morning and took one last run down by Glasgow U and Kelvingrove Park before packing up and taking the long walk to Buchanan bus station. All my flights (GLA-EWR-ORD-DEN) were on-time, which really surprised me, especially considering what had happened on the way over. The culture shock is always worse coming back home. This has always been my experience. Being back in the States just messes with your mind in strange ways. Everyone and everything is louder, it seems, and everyone is most definitely about their business and in a hurry to wherever. Probably one [View Full Entry]

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So, the last day of the trip I just wanted to relax in Glasgow, one of my favourite places ever. I guess in some ways I'm ready to head back home, though in others I can definitely feel how good it has been for me to be gone for an extended period of time. And I loved meeting lots of new people on this trip! I love interacting with locals, particularly from Glasgow, because their sense of humour is at once self-deprecating, sarcastic, affectionate, and hilarious. I spent the morning taking the audio tour provided by Chris Hess (excellent), then spent [View Full Entry]

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Picked up the little rental car this morning. Quick side note: never rent from Enterprise UK. Total scam, from what I saw. They wouldn't accept anyone's insurance and made everyone who showed up buy their additional insurance. Both when I picked up and dropped off the car, there were irate customers at the counter. You have been advised. Took the nice, slow drive up to Glen Coe, threw on the rain gear, and headed up another trail. This time, the goal was the peak of a Munro. The weather was fine at the start, some misty clouds now and again. But [View Full Entry]

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This morning I woke up and did one last run down from Headington into Oxford, then began the arduous task of packing, throwing stuff out, blah blah. Caught the bus (the "Oxford Tube" - how fun is that?) into the heart of the beast...or, London. I'm now realizing that I'm really spoiled, I walked the length of London too many times, and I've kind of "been there, done that". The Oxford Tube did make a little detour through the far-flung suburb of Slough, which of course some will recognize from the BBC Office series. From the small part that I saw, [View Full Entry]

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First off, I'm really glad that I brought some dress clothes on this trip! And that there were additional dress clothes left behind in the Flat so I didn't have to drop extra money on more dress shirts! Because then I would have had to iron them, and who wants to do that? But everyone is *so* stylish here! You walk through town, and no one is slumming it. Had it not been for the conference, I would have felt really out of place in my cords and hoodie. It's really amazing how much Oxford reminds me of Fort Collins! Okay, [View Full Entry]

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Briefly caught up with a couple of the housemates before walking back into town. Dr. Ron Cole-Turner spoke on Potential Persons and Other Oddities, it was such an amazing talk! He was describing the details of "stem cell research" and how that term actually means different things depending on where the debate is being held. He went into the possible implications for morality, human dignity, really did a good job at outlining the debate and contributing to some constructive dialogue. Then, Dr. Nancey Murphy spoke on Nonreductive Physicalism, Divine Action, and Striving to Know [View Full Entry]

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I did my "long run" (12 miles) this morning, back up to do the trails at the park then down into the town. After my run I walked into the town centre (about 45 minutes), and I got thinking about the other night when I asked Mac if he had a favourite football team. He had replied, "No, I prefer to stay alive". How true. I'm not sure if I'm just noticing it more or if it's really worse, but all the sectarian attitudes hovering around football up in Scotland just seem so much more pronounced lately. Oh, and I actually [View Full Entry]

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Went for a run this morning up to the park outside of town - a nice, hilly course! When I got back, Rouan and I headed into town to check internet (my 1st time since being overseas!). Later, Lara, Jacob, and all the rest of us headed to St Aldates for church. This actually reminded me a lot of Timberline Old Town and FoCo. So far, I really like Oxford. Definitely a huge student population, and a very active, vibrant place! [View Full Entry]

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Got up early this AM to take some pictures and stroll around the Old Town, then we headed south, stopping first at Roslyn Chapel. I believe this was featured prominently in the DaVinci Code, though I have never read said. The drive from Edinburgh to Oxford is around 350 miles, which is just a little longer distance than my drive from OH to Evansville was during college. The difference, of course, is that back then I was only going one state over to get to school - today we drove most of the length of a country. We got to Oxford [View Full Entry]

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