Ba-Bam! Here's An Update.

Alright, so I am beginning to think that I probably should not include a qualifier at the beginning of my posts anymore. If they're late, they're late, and I'm just taking up space explaining why. To put it simply, I've been busy and plain forgot about my blog for a couple weeks.

Ok, so here is a (very) consolidated review of the last two months. I believe I left off with the bike ride. It was awesome. We spent two days in the Blue Ridge Parkway, which was coincidentally the most difficult and enjoyable part of the trip, in my opinion. The views were incredible and we hit some amazing downhill stretches too. The remaining three days were spent on mostly secondary backroads, in counties that you probably have not heard about, like Iredell, Alexander, and Davie. The weather was favorable, and it was very refreshing to "get away from it all." I should add, however, that I was ready to be back by the end of the trip. It was tough work at times, but overall quite fun and a great time spent with everyone.

That weekend, I returned to Chapel Hill to see Ashley, who had recently returned from Europe, and the rest of my buddies who had moved in since I went up there the week prior. It was a fantastic time, and I enjoyed my last "weekend of freedom" before starting my job that Wednesday. That's right, my job. I know, it is a little strange to think that I am employed in a Monday through Friday, nine to five job, but I am. Over the past two months, I have learned quite a bit - about effective communication as well as financial advising and general investing information. In the beginning, it was quite tedious. I have a wonderful employer, but my job responsibilities were frustrating and boring.

I am essentially a telemarketer, calling prospective clients and inviting them to our office for a second review of their portfolios. Making phone calls for over six hours a day definitely requires a break-in period, but things were complicated due to our list of numbers. The man who sent them did not do a very good job in screening the probable income level of respondents, and so I wound up calling folks who were largely not qualified. One girl even asked me, "what are investments?" It makes for a funny story looking back, but at the time, it was pretty discouraging.

Things perked up some, though, when I asked my employer, Mr. Tom, if I could try a few alternative marketing approaches. He was very open to my ideas, and so I spent several days contacting local attorneys and accountants, asking if they would be willing to place our literature in their offices. Fifteen said, "yes," which I thought was a good number. Also, I contacted multiple retirement homes in our community to inquire about arranging informational seminars on investing for their residents. In fact, we delivered our first seminar yesterday, and have a second scheduled for next week. Seven residents attended, and we received some good feedback and interest. Finally, I am now working with a new call list. I told Mr. Tom that I was fairly sure we could create a better list than the one we were currently working with, and so I spent a couple of days on Google Maps identifying streets in affluent neighborhoods in our surrounding area. Afterwards, I went to the library and accessed a reverse telephone directory, which listed numbers by street address. I have been using this new list for about a week now, and can definitely tell our respondents are generally more qualified.

Some highlights of the past several weeks include: going on a weekend retreat to Caroline's house on Lake Norman, celebrating six months of dating Ashley, Dad's birthday weekend in Hickory, trips to the state fair, a visit with Ashley's family, and repeated, sometimes spontaneous, trips up to Chapel Hill (let's face it, I've been going up there as much as I can).

Oh, and some more details about the situation with Sam. The past six months have been very difficult for him and our family. Legal stuff, anger, frustration, and bewilderment threatened to dominate the atmosphere at times. This past Monday brought a sense of closure, but things are still difficult. As with many things in life, you can read all you want about certain troubles, but until they actually occur in your life, you simply can't understand what it's like. God has certainly used all of this for good, but things are still difficult. Fortunately, I know that He is always there, and I am so thankful for all of the incredible experiences I have been able to have over the last two months. I'm pumped up for what's going to happen next!

My Return To America, And Following Events

Ok, so keeping the blog updated is proving to be slightly tricky, but I am determined to persevere. Between working, searching for a more permanent job, dealing with a difficult family situation (more to come on that later) and hanging out with my friends, family, and Ashley, I have kept myself busy these past few weeks. Through it all, I must say that life continues to be incredible. Don’t get me wrong, I have had some tough days, but overall, my days are filled with happiness. God is good. Alright, enough of the preliminary stuff…

Wow, I must say that it is a rather weird feeling to write a post about something not related to my Europe travels. Two months is a long time to be away from home, but fortunately the transition went very smoothly. Mom, Dad, and Ben met me at the RDU airport around four in the afternoon on Tuesday, and I was so glad to see them. Dad gave me a choice of restaurants to eat at and so I immediately said, “Bojangles.” Those Cajun fillet biscuits were much anticipated, let me tell you.

The rest of the day was spent unpacking and trying to find a way to catch up on all of the events that had occurred in the past two months. I had been ready to return home, and it sure was good to be reminded of all the things that I had not been able to take advantage of while in Europe (e.g. free bathrooms, Walmart, being able to drive my car, etc.).

[Picture: Airport rocking chairs - only in the South)

The next day, I drove downtown to meet Mr. Tom Velevis for lunch. He is a family friend and a Carolina grad, and I had asked him if he had any business-related work for me. He said that he could use some help with marketing for his business, a financial advising firm. I thought this sounded like a fantastic opportunity for me to gain some experience and so I said “yes.”

My birthday was on Friday, and I really did have a special day. Oftentimes birthdays are hyped up so much that the actual event turns out to be a little disappointing, but not this time. I was able to see my friends. Mom cooked me an excellent dinner of grilled sirloin and mashed potatoes and they were delicious. Also, I was also able to see my friends Ryan and Jake from high school on Thursday. It was great to relax and spend time with everyone. Capping the day off was a suspenseful email that had been tantalizing me for several days. The subject line was a repeating message that said, “Do not open until August 12!,” and I was a little tempted to open it, but I knew that would just ruin the fun of waiting. It was from Ashley, and when I finally opened it on the appointed day I read one of the most special emails anyone had ever sent me. She said that she wished she could be there to celebrate with me (she was still in Europe with her family) but she hoped I had a wonderful birthday and that she loved me. I am so indescribably blessed.

That weekend I headed to Chapel Hill and had a great time seeing so many of the guys after being gone for so long. We headed out to a couple bars for my birthday, and I may or may not have invented a few new dance moves. Classic good times were had by all – I love hanging out with my friends. I drove back home Sunday to finish (or rather, start) getting ready for a five-day bike trip across North Carolina. My next post will pick up there.

Looking Back: The Final Days of An Amazing Trip

(Before I go any further I want to make special mention of Madison Underwood, Ashley's sister. It has come to my attention that I unintentionally left her out of my blog postings, and I want to apologize. Maddie, I thought about posting a picture here to compensate, but the only one I had taken of you was one where you were making a weird face and I thought you probably would not want that one uploaded. I will try to make it up to you.)

 Between my Ryanair flight and my incredibly long layover in the Dublin airport, I had more than enough time to jot down some thoughts about the previous two months. My last few blog posts have been written retroactively, but the events of Monday and Tuesday I recorded as they were unfolding. I am not sure they will provide super compelling reading, but hopefully you will find them interesting.

"Monday

Was awakened by the person on the bed below me, who left at 4:30am. I stayed in bed until 5 and left by quarter past. Uneventful tube to Victoria station and similarly uneventful train to gatwick. I arrived early, which I didn't mind as I would much rather be early than late. While I'm on that subject, the ryainair flight was late taking off by about 1 hour. Apparently control tower computers had crashed. Arrived safely and had the entire day ahead of me. Feeling emotionally drained and still have a hard time believing that I ACTUALLY did so many things. I am trying to appreciate the day and not wish it was over with, but then again I am. I'm looking forward to talking with mom tonight but mainly just being back home. Things haven't felt quite right without family and friends for much of my travels, and I look forward to a return to old times.

Tuesday
After what seemed liked an interminably long day and night at the airport, I find myself above the Atlantic, being whisked along to my final destination, North Carolina. Between the anticipation of coming home and sheer boredom of tedious time-killing, yesterday dragged on in a most unbearably slow manner at times.

It was all worth it, though, for it truly makes me that much more appreciative.

And so, after 64 days of jetsetting across foreign lands, I am on an airplane pointed towards America. It is slightly more than I can comprehend at the moment - thinking about all I my experiences is difficult. My brain seems to have trouble acknowledging that I did so many things because they seem so far away. I packed a lifetime of sightseeing, adventure-seeking, cultural exposure and travel into two months; it is little wonder that I have a hard time summarizing all this into words.

And yet, I feel I must, for my experiences have been too precious for me to not make some attempt at documenting emotions and events. I do not know all the ways that God will use this trip in my life, but I can already see some of the good that has come of it. I have had the unusual opportunity to know what being truly alone feels like. In a strange country, with a foreign language, unfamiliar people and not a single friend, family member or colleague to talk to - I have felt how crushingly sad it can be to realize that you are lonely. Without God to encourage me I wouldn't have been able to make it.

I don't wish to replicate this feeling anytime soon, but I am thankful for it because it has provided me with a small taste of what so many people go through. There are thousands suffering from depression, having no family, facing incarceration or otherwise who must certainly feel alone. I don't think we pause and think of these folks enough. I know sure don't. For if I did, I know that I would be much more appreciative as i remember how good my life is. It sounds preachy, but it is true: you don't know what you've got till it's gone. And, without a doubt, I've got a lot."

London (Yes, There is More)

In writing these posts I have come to realize just how many things I did/saw in London. It was one of the few cities I visited that I spent a significant amount of time in, yet was not able to see everything.

On Friday I slept in again and upon waking up, went to the Tower of London for a yeoman (more popularly known as a beefeater) guided tour of the Tower complex. Before the tour started though, I sat in on a mock swordfighting contest, complete with costumed lords, knights, pages, and the Queen herself. I have to admit, this was a pretty neat introduction to the Tower. The tour was even better; my guide had a wonderfully dry sense of humor and was a walking encyclopedia of information on all things pertaining to the Tower. Walking through the various buildings, past portcullises and up towers made Britain come alive in a totally new way.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the crown jewels. In true British form, I queued for a good 45 minutes, but it was well worth the wait. The collection of scepters, crowns, necklaces, and jewels was staggering: it was amazing to pause and marvel at the unbelievable wealth that the royals possessed.

After several hours inside the Tower, I walked back to the tube station along the south wall of the Tower, beside the Thames, and managed to incorporate a little people-watching too. To be sure, this was one of the highlights of the London experience for me.

On Saturday, I decided to do some massive journal and blog updates and then walked five minutes up the street to the Victoria and Albert Museum. This was a really neat museum (London has so many of these I found) that was devoted to art and design. Everything from Samurai suits to cast-iron railings were featured, and I must say that at times the V&A seemed to almost function as an overflow for all of Britain's other museums! I spent the greater part of the afternoon there. Afterwards, I went back to my hostel where I read until bedtime (which was an arbitrary and totally changing time of course).

The following day I woke up early and traveled to the Holy Trinity Brompton church for Sunday services. The previous time I had gone with the Underwoods and missed a little bit of the worship; this time, I was able to enjoy the complete service and really enjoyed it. The style and format reminded me of my church back in Southern Pines, but instead of worshiping in a modern, auditorium style facility, they were located in a several hundred year-old church building - so cool! The folks there were very nice too; I met a nice couple named Jeffrey and Hannah and they made me feel at home, which I have found is unfortunately rather rare in many churches these days.

After church, I went to Tesco for a chocolate dreamcake doughnut, which was maybe even a little better than the first one I tried, and then went to the Museum of Natural History. On a slight side note, my hostel was within easy walking distance of church, the history museum, and the V&A museum, which was certainly very convenient. I stayed in the museum for about three hours; it was fairly kid-oriented though and I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would have.

Here are a few thoughts that I jotted down in my iPad that evening, and I think they provide a cool glimpse into what I was thinking:
  

Thought about going to the science museum but am rather "museumed out" and just want to be back home. Ever since Ashley left I have realized how fast the days and weeks have passed, and I am so close to seeing everyone once again! I am very much looking forward to it, though hopefully with a patient attitude.
Tomorrow will be a long, boring day I think but I will try to make the most of it and look forward to Tuesday evening!
Bought a baguette at tescos
Emailed and read

My Final Days In London

On Wednesday I met Ashley at her hotel and we took the tube to the City, or the Square Mile district. This is an area of London located near the Tower Bridge and the Thames, and is almost exclusively known for business and banking. Along the way, we walked past the Bank of England and Lloyd's. We grabbed lunch at at Leadenhall Market, which is essentially a bustling food court with stalls and restaurants. Most of the people eating there worked at the surrounding banks, and were dressed up in suits and ties.

We found a Mexican place similar to Chipotle and it was a nice change from paninis and pasta. After eating we walked a short distance to the 1666 monument. This is a massive ionic column dedicated in remembrance of the Great Fire of London  and you could walk up inside it.

From there we walked to the Tower of London; we didn't go inside but sat by the Thames and got a good view of the London Bridge. I had ridden several of London's double decker buses already but they were all of the newer variety and so we boarded old bus no. 15 towards Oxford Street. This was one of the few routes that are still serviced by the old-style buses and it was definitely a cool experience.

We went stopped in at a department store called House of Frazier and then visited a massive toy superstore called Hamley's. They were 5 floors containing every single type of toy imaginable, with model trains, legos, remote controlled helicopters, Lord of the Rings memorabilia and much more. It was much nicer than Toys R Us, that's for sure.

We spent the rest of the afternoon back at Regent's park, though in a different part of Queen Anne's Gardens. This area was even prettier than the part I first visited and I felt like it was a perfect end to a great day.


Ashley and her family left the next day for Germany, and I spent the greater part of the morning catching up on journaling and updating my blog. I then took the tube to Victoria Station in order to purchase an advance train ticket to Gatwick Airport. From there, I went back to the Imperial War Museum. Ashley and I had spent several hours there when we visited before, but even so there were a great many exhibits that I was not able to walk through and so I spent several more hours looking at the espionage and Holocaust Memorial sections (which in my mind it was even better the the Holocaust museum in D.C.)


Around 3 o'clock, I took the tube to a McDonald's by the Tottenham Court Road stop, where I spent a good while catching up on a mountain of emails.


From there I walked a short distance to the British Museum. Yes, I had already visited this museum once before too, but there were so many awesome displays it was impossible to see everything in one visit. Upon reflection, I think that this museum may have been one of my favorites. It reminded me a little bit of the movie, Night At The Museum, and the artifacts contained there were some of the coolest I have ever seen (the Rosetta stone, ancient jade buddhas, Egyptian mummies - you get the idea).


That night I finished Robinson Crusoe and started Little Women.

London (A Slightly Late Update, I Know)

Well, I have promised myself that I would complete my blog entries before I arrived in the States. I will begin more than a week ago, and shall hopefully encapsulate everything that has happened since then without dragging on too much.

I believe I left you with an account of Sunday's adventures. The next day, Monday, I woke up and went with Ashley and Mr. Underwood to Leicester Square. This is an area in the heart of London which has a great many retailers of discount theater tickets. London, home to one of the most well known theater scenes in the world, has a huge number of musicals and dramas. Half of their family chose to see "We Will Rock You" and the other half "Dreamboats and Petticoats." Now, you can imagine which one I immediately crossed off my list (you can't judge a book by its cover, but I choose to judge this play by its name). Unfortunately, seats for both the Queen musical and the other play i wanted to see, Les Miserables, were more than I wanted to pay, so decided not to go.

From Leicester Square Ashley and I took to the tube to the Imperial War Museum, which I found fascinating. They had exhibits as well as retired implements of war - tanks, missiles, airplanes, etc. - and we wound up staying for almost three hours without realizing it. We ate a late lunch at Panzer's again, and I also tried a Chocolate Dreamcake doughnut, which Krispy Kreme only offers in the UK.

For dinner we went to Ping Pong, a Chinese restaurant serving dim sum. These are little samplers of fried dumplings and spring rolls. I had never tried them before but really liked them. That evening they went to see their respective plays and I returned to the hostel and tried to catch up on some journaling.

On Tuesday we went to Covent Square Garden and browsed through the shops and stalls. It was much smaller than Portobello Road, though, and Madison and I quickly abandoned the market in favor of watching a street performer; it was Madison's ardent wish that she see a "good street performer" while in London, and this one wasn't bad. He was a performer with a showman's air about him, and did things like driving a nail into his nose, followed by balancing on the top rung of a ladder for at least ten minutes while telling jokes and catching bowling pins that were thrown to him.

This was followed with a walk to the British Museum, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It reminded me of the Night At The Museum film, and was maybe the most interesting museum of them all. It had the Rosetta Stone. It had three thousand year-old Egyptian mummies. It had a stone head from Easter Island. We only stayed for an hour and I had already decided to see it again by the time we left.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at several department stores, including Selfridge's again, this time for a less frenetic visit. We rejoined the Underwoods, who were very kind in allowing me to tag along with them for part of their vacation, at the Haagen Dazs restaurant near Piccadilly Circus for dinner. Yep, it was a sit-down restaurant that only serves ice cream. I chose a tray with scoops of Belgium chocolate, strawberry cheesecake, caramel and praline, and creme brulee. It was delicious, obviously.

Before heading home we stopped in M&M World, which was a big store on Oxford Street devoted exclusively to, you guessed it, M&M's. London has everything it seems. 

Omaha beach and tour eiffel

Hello again,

Yesterday I had one of the coolest experiences ever - I too the train to normandy for a day trip to the d- day beaches. Before I even got there, though, I had a two hour stop in the town of bayeux, which was the first French town to be liberated by the Americans. I walked to the town cathedral, which dAted from the 12 th century and had a combined Norman and gothic architectural style. The village was very small and quaint, but the church was easily my favorite part. Incredibly elaborate arches, buttresses, recessed statues all around, etc. And that was just a side trip.

For the main venue, I took a busverts bus from bayeux to colleville - sur- mer, the location of the American military cemetery. The whole site was incredibly well taken care of, with immaculate lawns, beds of flowers, and the like. At one end of the complex was a wall with a stAtue representing liberty as well as some battle diagrams. By far the most striking scene, however, was the rows and rows, and more rows, of white crosses. When I stood on the center they stretched almost as far as I could see. It was a little difficult to comprehend the enormity of it all. I have been to Arlington cemetery, but this was different. This was just one invasion.

After a while I decided to walk down to the beach. It was low tide, and the sands easily covered 600 feet from the cliffs to the water's edge. I immediAtely thought how difficult it must have been to charge across such a wide expense while under attack from the Germans above. Omaha beach was divided into Ten sectors; I walked from easy red to easy fox. Up the bluffs of easy fox I climbed, only to discover the ruins of a Nazi bunker, buried in the hillside. I continued up the bluff, only to find a dozen or more similar artifacts: trenches, pillboxes, gun case mounts, and more. It was a little boy's (and a twenty year old boy's too) dream to wander across the cliff, climbing inside the few intact bunkers and imagining myself there on that fateful day, almost 67 years ago exactly.

Today was less sobering but no less eventful. I started off with a metro ride to the Eiffel tower. Which was really a neat sight. It is huge, and dominates the skyline. It wasn't my favorite though, especially with the hordes of tourists and the annoying people trying to sell Eiffel tower keychains.

A visit to the church of st sulpice was more relaxing, but I was a little surprised to see such a Italian- style church deep within Paris. I then walked to the pantheon, where Voltaire, curie, Hugo, etc. Are buried. My favorite parts of the day were tied between the cathedral de notre dame and...the jardin du Luxembourg. So much has been written about notre dame thAt I won't try to improve on it. I think the only way to truly experience its grandeur is to visit in person, for it really is an awesome spectacle. No less beautiful were the Luxembourg gardens. It was a wonderful park in the heart of Paris, incredibly peaceful and filled with children playing and parents reading. The focal point was the broad lawn in front of the Luxembourg palace. Statues and a ring of flowers surrounded the grass, and I wish I could have spent more time there.

I am planning on visiting the louvre tomorrow, and hope to update y'all soon.