So it's only one week until we do our marathon walk for Bridge of Hope!
Last night we had our fundraising quiz, which went really well. We had 7 teams, an interesting collection of people who are, I think it's safe to say, never going to be in the same room again: three teams from church, one team from my work, one team of my brothers and a couple from their home group, one team of my mum and dad's neighbours, one team of some people I knew from badminton and their friends!
It's been quite overwhelming the amount of support that I've had. I found fundraising for the Oxfam trailwalker walk quite hard, and made a little over $600 which was the bare minimum. I was expecting people to be less generous this time because most of them wouldn't have heard of Gospel for Asia or Bridge of Hope - and I was fully expecting some people not to support me because it's a Christian orgnaisation. But so far the two of us have raised over $3000 with a pretty even split, which is awesome for the cause (and humbling at the same time)!
Now that the quiz is over, which I was thinking to make the culmination of my fundraising efforts, I can relax a bit - and concentrate on walking a marathon next Saturday!
(Speaking of which, I'm not sure how this is supposed to work, but there is a 'walker tracking' page which will be available on the day, so you can track our progress through each of the pit stops.
http://www.thebridge.net.au/eventw/tb_event.html )
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Busy
So I think it's suffice to say I've been busy lately... with my marathon walk for Gospel for Asia coming up in only two-and-a-half weeks, the fundraising is pretty full-on at the moment. I am selling home baking 3 times a week at work, and have raised about $400 so far. On top of that we are organising a quiz night for next Friday, 27 July. And the same day I am giving three lectures as part of an X-ray diffraction workshop at Vic.
Today I am in Melbourne for a proposal advisory committee meeting. It's a flying visit - so not having any luggage apart from my backpack feels a little weird, but it's not the first time I've done it. I stay overnight and then fly back to Wellington tomorrow. And am then helping some people with some small angle X-ray scattering measurements at Vic the following day.
Like I said, I've been busy!
(Oh and if you'd like to sponsor me for my walk, just click here, select my name from the list of walkers, and remember the amount is in AUD!)
Today I am in Melbourne for a proposal advisory committee meeting. It's a flying visit - so not having any luggage apart from my backpack feels a little weird, but it's not the first time I've done it. I stay overnight and then fly back to Wellington tomorrow. And am then helping some people with some small angle X-ray scattering measurements at Vic the following day.
Like I said, I've been busy!
(Oh and if you'd like to sponsor me for my walk, just click here, select my name from the list of walkers, and remember the amount is in AUD!)
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Feeling the heat
So I've recovered from the spleen vent yesterday.
Today it's HOT... and I have photographic evidence to share with you. (Edit: I should say where I am! - Argonne National Lab, near Chicago.)
And some arithmetic:
99 F -> 99 - 32 = 67 * 5/9 = 37.2 C
Today it's HOT... and I have photographic evidence to share with you. (Edit: I should say where I am! - Argonne National Lab, near Chicago.)
And some arithmetic:
99 F -> 99 - 32 = 67 * 5/9 = 37.2 C
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The U. S. of Arrrgh
So I've been in the US for less than 3 days, and lots of things about it are already really getting on my nerves. I can hardly believe that I lived here for 15 months... and I've never felt like such a foreigner in a place where I thought I was supposed to be able to speak the language.
Maybe that's the problem - Americans use the same words as us, but they mean different things. Take the word 'solicitor' for example. In New Zealand it means a lawyer. In the US it means someone who solicits, be they someone offering you a taxi ride at the airport or a homeless person on the street asking for a few coins. So, not a lawyer.
So here are a few of the frustrating things that happened to me in the last couple of days...
1) I went to a shop and was waiting in a line at the checkout to buy something. As soon as the person in front walked away, a family of four pushed in front of me, saying that I wasn't in the line because the line was over there. I looked and there was no line, no sign, nothing to say that's how it worked. Maybe I didn't see the invisible sign, 'foreigners not welcome here'.
2) I had to fill up the car before taking it back to the airport this morning, so I pulled into a petrol station (well 'gas station', except I was getting fuel in a liquid form not a gas, yeah ok I understand it's an abbreviation of gasoline but don't you think calling a liquid 'gas' is a bit strange?). Now I know from past experience that you have to go to the counter first and pre-pay some money, or hand over a credit card, before they'll activate the pump. But the guy asked 'is it a rental', to which I said yes, then he said I had to hand over the keys. I wasn't quite sure if that's what I'd heard, so I just stood there holding out my credit card. Then he insisted, 'the keys', so I gave them to him and he drawled something I didn't get, so I asked him, 'sorry, what did you say?' Then he replied r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w-l-y l-i-k-e I w-a-s a-n i-d-i-o-t 'You have to push the button for which fuel you want.'
3a) Checking in at the self-help kiosk. First I couldn't find the 'confirmation code' on my ticket. I have a booking reference (which is for the travel agent), a ticket number, but nothing saying 'confirmation code'. So I asked one of the staff what I should do, so he looks over the ticket and says, 'Oh it's this one here - the PNR.' I have no idea what PNR stands for. Nor how I was supposed to know that PNR and confirmation code are the same thing.
3b) Then when I entered the PNR it came up with a message saying it couldn't process an inter-airline ticket. I presume that means Virgin America doesn't like Air New Zealand? Even though I have a PNR?
3c) So I head for the line saying 'Full service check-in' as that's what the screen told me to. And I have to stand there, waiting, while three airline staff members are tied up having their photos taken with a handbag-dog wearing a little red jumper for some sort of promotional thing. And I have to try not to get frustrated at other people in the line oohing and ahhing over how cute the dog is - which it wasn't. It was wearing a flipping jumper. Stop laughing, it's not funny.
3d) Finally I manage to make it to a counter to check in. 'So you have one bag to check today?' Yes. 'That'll be $25.' No, it's supposed to be included in the price. 'Oh, ok then.'
4a) Airport security. Another misunderstanding in pronunciation... I was waiting in the line to have my boarding pass and ID (passport) checked. There was one counter, and one person behind it checking. Then another person came along, stood next to her, and started calling, 'Max, Max.' He was looking in my direction, so I looked around thinking he was calling to a co-worker. But no, he was calling 'Next' and I was holding up the works by standing there looking like an idiot.
4b) Then we have to pick a line to have all our stuff X-rayed. I watched a girl aged probably about 11 or 12 struggle to pick up her suitcase (which would have been larger than the bag I checked in) to put it on the counter. I looked around and counted how many pieces of luggage people seemed to have on average. Bearing in mind that you're supposedly only allowed one, plus 'a personal item, like a small handbag or laptop bag', I'm sure the average was over two. But then if airlines are charging $25 to check a bag, it's not surprising really. I wonder if Americans travelling by air in other countries realise how much less stressful things are, because people don't have excessive amounts of carry-on luggage? (In my world, the rule would be, if you can't carry it on, then it's not carry-on.)
4c) Also there was a woman travelling with her son. She pulled a zip-lock bag out of her luggage and offered it to him: 'Do you want some ice? Take what you want then throw the rest away.' Ice? You packed ice??
4d) Today I had my first experience of the nudie scanner - oops, I mean the terahertz scanner. Thankfully it sounds like the TSA has done something about everyone's privacy concerns because they had a sign up saying that the image is analysed by a computer and projected onto a generic person figure for the officer to check. I was wearing my pants that have zips partway down the leg so they can be converted to shorts. And the female officer wanted to check the zips because they showed up on the scanner. Um...? Guess they don't get many German tourists through SFO.
5a) Finally I arrived at the gate, having bought an overpriced sandwich (but which was large enough for two meals, so I ate half on the plane and had the other half once I arrived at the lab accommodation in Chicago). There I encounter another sign, which I can read ok, but doesn't mean much to me: "Wanna PREBOARD?? Just let us gate check your bag... :D" (yes, complete with capitals and emoticon). I'm perturbed as to what 'gate check your bag' means. Check that my bag is not a gate? Check at the gate that I have a bag? Check that it's my bag? Check my bag in at the gate? In which case, what was the point in lugging it through the terminal, for those who did? And perhaps most importantly, do you still get charged the $25?
5b) The only positive thing about the airport: after boarding their first class passengers, families with children under 5, those requiring extra assistance, and super-duper frequent flyers, they made an announcement that anyone who didn't need to put a bag in the overhead bins could board before everyone else. Since I was sitting in 4A (i.e. a window) I figured I may as well get on at that point. I'm not sure if they did this because (i) it wouldn't apply to most people, (ii) putting bags overhead is what takes the most time, (iii) they're being nice to people who checked a bag earlier. But anyway I thought it was a good idea, and more US airlines should consider it.
5c) One last thing - and this is not so much that I didn't understand it as it was something that didn't make a lot of sense: as we were getting on the plane they had a bin with headphones available to purchase for (says the sign) "$2 bucks". Now I get that Virgin is trying to be edgy, so I know what they mean by "two bucks", but then surely you don't need the dollar sign? Because isn't that then "two dollars bucks"?
One final thing in general that has disappointed me - actually two, the food has been noticeably bad. I opened a pottle of yogurt the other day which was shiny. Yogurt's not supposed to be shiny. And then I read the label a bit closer, and it seemed proud of the fact it had aspartame instead of sugar. Not that aspartame would have made it shiny - but it was obviously so over-processed that it couldn't have been good. So I threw it out.
Anyway, the final thing: is how wasteful American society is. The packaging on everything. And while Californians think they're so green by recycling and using 'compostable materials' (which I think is what we call 'biodegradeable'?), the simple fact remains that they wouldn't need to recycle all their plastic and cardboard if things weren't packaged in so much plastic and cardboard. At the rental car place at SFO, after you park the car, you take a lift or 4 escalators down to ground level, then take another lift or escalator up to the AirTrain. Instead of going up and over one level. I guess the woman with the boy and the ice fits the bill here. And the smog as we climbed away from San Fran. Too many people, who all have too much money and too much stuff. I'm so glad I moved back to New Zealand. I'm not saying it's perfect, but there are a lot of things it seems to do much more efficiently than the US does.
Maybe that's the problem - Americans use the same words as us, but they mean different things. Take the word 'solicitor' for example. In New Zealand it means a lawyer. In the US it means someone who solicits, be they someone offering you a taxi ride at the airport or a homeless person on the street asking for a few coins. So, not a lawyer.
So here are a few of the frustrating things that happened to me in the last couple of days...
1) I went to a shop and was waiting in a line at the checkout to buy something. As soon as the person in front walked away, a family of four pushed in front of me, saying that I wasn't in the line because the line was over there. I looked and there was no line, no sign, nothing to say that's how it worked. Maybe I didn't see the invisible sign, 'foreigners not welcome here'.
2) I had to fill up the car before taking it back to the airport this morning, so I pulled into a petrol station (well 'gas station', except I was getting fuel in a liquid form not a gas, yeah ok I understand it's an abbreviation of gasoline but don't you think calling a liquid 'gas' is a bit strange?). Now I know from past experience that you have to go to the counter first and pre-pay some money, or hand over a credit card, before they'll activate the pump. But the guy asked 'is it a rental', to which I said yes, then he said I had to hand over the keys. I wasn't quite sure if that's what I'd heard, so I just stood there holding out my credit card. Then he insisted, 'the keys', so I gave them to him and he drawled something I didn't get, so I asked him, 'sorry, what did you say?' Then he replied r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w-l-y l-i-k-e I w-a-s a-n i-d-i-o-t 'You have to push the button for which fuel you want.'
3a) Checking in at the self-help kiosk. First I couldn't find the 'confirmation code' on my ticket. I have a booking reference (which is for the travel agent), a ticket number, but nothing saying 'confirmation code'. So I asked one of the staff what I should do, so he looks over the ticket and says, 'Oh it's this one here - the PNR.' I have no idea what PNR stands for. Nor how I was supposed to know that PNR and confirmation code are the same thing.
3b) Then when I entered the PNR it came up with a message saying it couldn't process an inter-airline ticket. I presume that means Virgin America doesn't like Air New Zealand? Even though I have a PNR?
3c) So I head for the line saying 'Full service check-in' as that's what the screen told me to. And I have to stand there, waiting, while three airline staff members are tied up having their photos taken with a handbag-dog wearing a little red jumper for some sort of promotional thing. And I have to try not to get frustrated at other people in the line oohing and ahhing over how cute the dog is - which it wasn't. It was wearing a flipping jumper. Stop laughing, it's not funny.
3d) Finally I manage to make it to a counter to check in. 'So you have one bag to check today?' Yes. 'That'll be $25.' No, it's supposed to be included in the price. 'Oh, ok then.'
4a) Airport security. Another misunderstanding in pronunciation... I was waiting in the line to have my boarding pass and ID (passport) checked. There was one counter, and one person behind it checking. Then another person came along, stood next to her, and started calling, 'Max, Max.' He was looking in my direction, so I looked around thinking he was calling to a co-worker. But no, he was calling 'Next' and I was holding up the works by standing there looking like an idiot.
4b) Then we have to pick a line to have all our stuff X-rayed. I watched a girl aged probably about 11 or 12 struggle to pick up her suitcase (which would have been larger than the bag I checked in) to put it on the counter. I looked around and counted how many pieces of luggage people seemed to have on average. Bearing in mind that you're supposedly only allowed one, plus 'a personal item, like a small handbag or laptop bag', I'm sure the average was over two. But then if airlines are charging $25 to check a bag, it's not surprising really. I wonder if Americans travelling by air in other countries realise how much less stressful things are, because people don't have excessive amounts of carry-on luggage? (In my world, the rule would be, if you can't carry it on, then it's not carry-on.)
4c) Also there was a woman travelling with her son. She pulled a zip-lock bag out of her luggage and offered it to him: 'Do you want some ice? Take what you want then throw the rest away.' Ice? You packed ice??
4d) Today I had my first experience of the nudie scanner - oops, I mean the terahertz scanner. Thankfully it sounds like the TSA has done something about everyone's privacy concerns because they had a sign up saying that the image is analysed by a computer and projected onto a generic person figure for the officer to check. I was wearing my pants that have zips partway down the leg so they can be converted to shorts. And the female officer wanted to check the zips because they showed up on the scanner. Um...? Guess they don't get many German tourists through SFO.
5a) Finally I arrived at the gate, having bought an overpriced sandwich (but which was large enough for two meals, so I ate half on the plane and had the other half once I arrived at the lab accommodation in Chicago). There I encounter another sign, which I can read ok, but doesn't mean much to me: "Wanna PREBOARD?? Just let us gate check your bag... :D" (yes, complete with capitals and emoticon). I'm perturbed as to what 'gate check your bag' means. Check that my bag is not a gate? Check at the gate that I have a bag? Check that it's my bag? Check my bag in at the gate? In which case, what was the point in lugging it through the terminal, for those who did? And perhaps most importantly, do you still get charged the $25?
5b) The only positive thing about the airport: after boarding their first class passengers, families with children under 5, those requiring extra assistance, and super-duper frequent flyers, they made an announcement that anyone who didn't need to put a bag in the overhead bins could board before everyone else. Since I was sitting in 4A (i.e. a window) I figured I may as well get on at that point. I'm not sure if they did this because (i) it wouldn't apply to most people, (ii) putting bags overhead is what takes the most time, (iii) they're being nice to people who checked a bag earlier. But anyway I thought it was a good idea, and more US airlines should consider it.
5c) One last thing - and this is not so much that I didn't understand it as it was something that didn't make a lot of sense: as we were getting on the plane they had a bin with headphones available to purchase for (says the sign) "$2 bucks". Now I get that Virgin is trying to be edgy, so I know what they mean by "two bucks", but then surely you don't need the dollar sign? Because isn't that then "two dollars bucks"?
One final thing in general that has disappointed me - actually two, the food has been noticeably bad. I opened a pottle of yogurt the other day which was shiny. Yogurt's not supposed to be shiny. And then I read the label a bit closer, and it seemed proud of the fact it had aspartame instead of sugar. Not that aspartame would have made it shiny - but it was obviously so over-processed that it couldn't have been good. So I threw it out.
Anyway, the final thing: is how wasteful American society is. The packaging on everything. And while Californians think they're so green by recycling and using 'compostable materials' (which I think is what we call 'biodegradeable'?), the simple fact remains that they wouldn't need to recycle all their plastic and cardboard if things weren't packaged in so much plastic and cardboard. At the rental car place at SFO, after you park the car, you take a lift or 4 escalators down to ground level, then take another lift or escalator up to the AirTrain. Instead of going up and over one level. I guess the woman with the boy and the ice fits the bill here. And the smog as we climbed away from San Fran. Too many people, who all have too much money and too much stuff. I'm so glad I moved back to New Zealand. I'm not saying it's perfect, but there are a lot of things it seems to do much more efficiently than the US does.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Next trip
I bet you can hardly believe this as much as me... I'm off again on yet another trip away.
It's less than three weeks since Mum and I got back from Europe, then I was in Melbourne for a week, and now I'm off to the U. S. of A.
I'm heading to Chicago to do some experiments at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Lab. It's the largest synchrotron facility in North America, and home to one of the few (i.e. 2) beamline instruments in the world which offers high resolution X-ray diffraction at temperatures down to 10 K (that's -263 deg Celsius). I'm looking at some high temperature superconductor materials: one that has oxygen-16 and one with oxygen-18. If these experiments work, it should help shed some light on the isotope effect, which is one of the puzzles surrounding the theory of high temperature superconductivity. (I tried to find a wikipedia, or similar, entry on the 'isotope effect' but no luck - you can try googling it if you like, but chances are you'll end up with some journal article from Physical Review that even I don't fully understand!)
The good news is... after this, I only have one more trip planned before our trip to Brisbane in August for the Gospel for Asia marathon walk...
It's less than three weeks since Mum and I got back from Europe, then I was in Melbourne for a week, and now I'm off to the U. S. of A.
I'm heading to Chicago to do some experiments at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Lab. It's the largest synchrotron facility in North America, and home to one of the few (i.e. 2) beamline instruments in the world which offers high resolution X-ray diffraction at temperatures down to 10 K (that's -263 deg Celsius). I'm looking at some high temperature superconductor materials: one that has oxygen-16 and one with oxygen-18. If these experiments work, it should help shed some light on the isotope effect, which is one of the puzzles surrounding the theory of high temperature superconductivity. (I tried to find a wikipedia, or similar, entry on the 'isotope effect' but no luck - you can try googling it if you like, but chances are you'll end up with some journal article from Physical Review that even I don't fully understand!)
The good news is... after this, I only have one more trip planned before our trip to Brisbane in August for the Gospel for Asia marathon walk...
Friday, June 8, 2012
Howzat for X-ray performance!
This clip is a couple of years old now, but still classic... Former Australian cricketer Damien Fleming promoting the Australian Synchrotron.
Melbourne!
So exactly a week after arriving back in New Zealand after my holiday, I found myself back at the airport to take a flight to Melbourne.
Via Christchurch.
Which didn't happen...
Initially we were shifted onto a Wellington-Auckland flight and then Auckland-Melbourne, with 35 minutes to get from one plane to the other. Then the Wellington-Auckland flight was delayed by 10 minutes so that plan went out the window.
The next available option was a direct flight leaving Wellington at 6 am the following morning.
Thankfully from that point on everything has been smooth sailing - although it did make for quite a long first day of beamtime, since we were meant to be starting the same day and had been awake since before 2 am local time...
Anyway I am here measuring X-ray diffraction of a bunch of zinc oxide transparent conductive oxide films. Transparent conducting oxides are extremely useful in devices such as solar cells and 'smart windows'. We are aiming to gain information on how the direction the zinc oxide crystallites grows affects the electrical conductivity of the film.
In other news, a friend from church and I are each walking 42 km for Gospel for Asia, in Brisbane, in early August. Over the weekend - being a holiday on Monday for Queen's Birthday - we went for a few training walks, which added up to a total of about 50 km over the three days. So I'm fairly confident we will be able to finish! If you would like to sponsor us (in AUD) please click here. Every little bit counts! Thanks in advance :)
Via Christchurch.
Which didn't happen...
Initially we were shifted onto a Wellington-Auckland flight and then Auckland-Melbourne, with 35 minutes to get from one plane to the other. Then the Wellington-Auckland flight was delayed by 10 minutes so that plan went out the window.
The next available option was a direct flight leaving Wellington at 6 am the following morning.
Thankfully from that point on everything has been smooth sailing - although it did make for quite a long first day of beamtime, since we were meant to be starting the same day and had been awake since before 2 am local time...
Anyway I am here measuring X-ray diffraction of a bunch of zinc oxide transparent conductive oxide films. Transparent conducting oxides are extremely useful in devices such as solar cells and 'smart windows'. We are aiming to gain information on how the direction the zinc oxide crystallites grows affects the electrical conductivity of the film.
In other news, a friend from church and I are each walking 42 km for Gospel for Asia, in Brisbane, in early August. Over the weekend - being a holiday on Monday for Queen's Birthday - we went for a few training walks, which added up to a total of about 50 km over the three days. So I'm fairly confident we will be able to finish! If you would like to sponsor us (in AUD) please click here. Every little bit counts! Thanks in advance :)
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
29-30 May: Home again
Our flight from Heathrow to Singapore was my first on an A380. It ‘felt’ heavy during takeoff (which isn’t surprising), and it was significantly quieter than the other jet aircraft we’ve been on.
The plane from Singapore to Christchurch was virtually empty – everyone had a row of three seats to themselves, if they wanted it.
As a final treat, when we arrived at the Koru lounge to wait for our flight to Wellington, we were able to catch a glimpse of a new Boeing 787 Dreamliner coming in to land – the first one to arrive in NZ.
So that’s basically it for the holiday... so, time for some summing up.
The place I wish we could have spent a little more time: Strangely enough, Prague. Not so much more time in Prague, but the visitor centre had information about some places that would have made pretty neat day trips.
The place I reckon I could live if I had to: Vienna. The parks, the language, the way the society works, would probably be the easiest to fit into.
Weirdest place: Oslo. Without a doubt. Full of weirdos. Say no more!
Most interesting place: Venice. No cars, vans, taxis, even bikes – only canal and foot traffic. A completely different way of life.
Finally I just want to say thank you to everyone who’s stopped by to read what we’ve been up to. I hope you enjoyed the journey with us!
The plane from Singapore to Christchurch was virtually empty – everyone had a row of three seats to themselves, if they wanted it.
As a final treat, when we arrived at the Koru lounge to wait for our flight to Wellington, we were able to catch a glimpse of a new Boeing 787 Dreamliner coming in to land – the first one to arrive in NZ.
So that’s basically it for the holiday... so, time for some summing up.
The place I wish we could have spent a little more time: Strangely enough, Prague. Not so much more time in Prague, but the visitor centre had information about some places that would have made pretty neat day trips.
The place I reckon I could live if I had to: Vienna. The parks, the language, the way the society works, would probably be the easiest to fit into.
Weirdest place: Oslo. Without a doubt. Full of weirdos. Say no more!
Most interesting place: Venice. No cars, vans, taxis, even bikes – only canal and foot traffic. A completely different way of life.
Finally I just want to say thank you to everyone who’s stopped by to read what we’ve been up to. I hope you enjoyed the journey with us!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
28 May: London
Today Mum went for a museum crawl around South Kensington while I visited a colleague (my former post-doc supervisor) at Imperial College. It was a really productive day – we had a bit of a chat about a new project we are thinking of doing regarding corrosion processes on stainless steel, also I talked with her kiwi post-doc about some of her work which is related to some of the things I’m doing. She is keen to come back to New Zealand at some point, so I’ll have to keep my ear out for any opportunities coming up at IRL (or its new improved version, whenever that happens).
But perhaps the most fun thing was to see a kind of sideshow project they are both working on, which is concerning the restoration of a German Dornier bomber that is presently lying in the sea off the south coast of England. Apparently it is the last one in existence, and there are critical questions regarding how the aluminium skin is going to corrode once they take it out. They were given a small piece of it that was lying separately from the main wreckage – and by ‘small’ it’s about 80 cm in length – to do some lab testing. It’s been sitting in a tank full of tap water, and today they emptied the tank and refilled it with a pH-controlled citric acid solution. So that was very cool to see. No pictures unfortunately!
But perhaps the most fun thing was to see a kind of sideshow project they are both working on, which is concerning the restoration of a German Dornier bomber that is presently lying in the sea off the south coast of England. Apparently it is the last one in existence, and there are critical questions regarding how the aluminium skin is going to corrode once they take it out. They were given a small piece of it that was lying separately from the main wreckage – and by ‘small’ it’s about 80 cm in length – to do some lab testing. It’s been sitting in a tank full of tap water, and today they emptied the tank and refilled it with a pH-controlled citric acid solution. So that was very cool to see. No pictures unfortunately!
Monday, May 28, 2012
27 May: London
Today we started off with a family visit – at Calvary Chapel Westminster. I was quite surprised at how many people recognised me (even if they had forgotten my name... which doesn’t bother me too much, because I’d forgotten all of their names!). It’s always such a joy to visit there, because the church is a real mish-mash of people of all different races and walks of life – just like the body of Christ is all over the world. And yet despite these apparent differences, they are united in their love for Jesus.
After this we headed over to the Victoria coach station to wait for the 1:30 pm bus to Windsor. Which was scheduled according to the info at the stop to arrive at 1:45 pm. And didn’t actually arrive until nearly 2:00... by which time we decided that we wouldn’t have enough time to see much.
So instead we went to the British Museum. I’d been there once before, back in 2005 when I first moved to London. We wandered around the Assyrian artefacts section, the Rosetta stone and the Egyptian mummies. There was also a more recent display: the gold medals that will be awarded at the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics.
After this we headed over to the Victoria coach station to wait for the 1:30 pm bus to Windsor. Which was scheduled according to the info at the stop to arrive at 1:45 pm. And didn’t actually arrive until nearly 2:00... by which time we decided that we wouldn’t have enough time to see much.
So instead we went to the British Museum. I’d been there once before, back in 2005 when I first moved to London. We wandered around the Assyrian artefacts section, the Rosetta stone and the Egyptian mummies. There was also a more recent display: the gold medals that will be awarded at the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics.
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