Lundi 11eme juillet

WOW what a weekend!

Friday evening I spoke to my mum and found out that my little brother had been in London on a school field trip when the bombs went off on Thursday. All the kids were fine (and a good way from any trouble) but they had to walk a good bit of the way home! It was weird because even though I knew he was safe, knowing that he had been much closer than I had thought really shook me up. As I mentioned in an earlier entry Friday is when the church youth meet. I'd told them that I was gonna go so at 7:30 I dutifully traipsed out towards the church. Even though I really didn't feel in the mood to go and talk french (it takes quite alot of effort).

It was the best thing I could have done. It was quite hard to start with as the first song they sang was "Shine Jesus Shine" (but in french). Looking down the "credits" bit where they tell you about who wrote it I saw CROYDON. Graeham Kendrick who wrote the song lives in Croydon (where I live) and I went to school with his kids at St Andrews, and that is where my little brother still goes. So I had all these reminders of everything back home and I had to try incredibly hard not to burst into tears. However the evening got much better much quicker. Everyone was so friendly and really welcoming. It was quite funny because they all wanted to show that they knew some english, so conversations were dotted with odd phrases that were obviously meant to be english (I found that if you smile an nod even if you don't have a clue what they said, it keeps them happy). It was the first time since arriving that I have been able to laugh at jokes that I understood (in french), and just generally have a good time. They were all very willing to speak nice and slowly for me and make sure I understood them. There was one american guy there. I think he is from the Caribbean. Well the main point is that he was fluent in both english and french. I was chatting to him for ages and as people came and went the conversation slipped between english and french.

Saturday was my moving day. I moved all of my stuff from roon 220 into room 209. It was obvious that this new room was one that had already been painted (I was moving so that they could paint my old room) as the smell was almost overwelming. However I still don't think that the painted room looked much different from the un-painted one. The major difference with this room is that it is backwards!!! Those of you who have seen the houses in Stag Hill (at uni) will know how bizare it is to go into a house that is identical to the one that you know but just the opposite way round. You just don't quite know what to do because it is similar enough that your brain still uses you old routine- and you turn the wrong way to put things away and silly things like that.

For any who are wondering my address is exactly the same as it was- just now it is Chambre 209 (NOT 220)

On Saturday evening there was a gospel concert in a local town. I managed to get a lift with some of the youth I had met on Friday. We drove down to Houlgat and then spent the 3/4 hour before the concert, wandering along the beach!!! I managed to resist the urge to sing "Oh I do like to be beside the sea side" Though no doubt I would have ended up teaching it to my companions. I have decided that the french have a rather different sense of humor to the british (they find the oddest things funny!) but even so it was a really nice stole along the sand.

Come 8 o'clock it was time for the concert. We went a joined a big group from Caen church in the seating around the Houlgat bandstand. The choir was the "New Gospel Family" a Parisian choir, and they were really good. I love gospel concerts, they are so much fun. It's not the kind of music I would normally listen to but at live events gospel has an incredible energy. They are also great for audience participation. They had us singing and dancing along with them. It's also great to see people really enjoying worshiping God. Most of the songs were in english, which was great for me, but they also had some french songs. After the concert I was absolutely knackered!!

Sunday was church once more and this time I wasn't sitting by myself, and I had people to talk to after the service. Another bonus was that I understood a good part of the sermon this week!

So all in all this has easily been the best weekend yet.