A week of settling in...

Hey friends so this past week has been pretty epic (which has been awesome as well).
I guess it is good to start at the beginning of it. So Monday I got myself all registered for courses which is a bit of a crazy and hectic system here. So we started off by going to the international students offices to get our registration forms. Which was totally cool. We then got an updated list of course offerings (Faculty of Humanities). On this list I realized that there was no where near enough courses for theology students (let alone other students in the Humanities), so I was frustrated by the lack of courses. Anyways I picked out 3 of the required 4 courses off of the list of courses that I had. That meant unfortunately that I needed to find one more (but me being a bit stubborn I decided to wait untill I got to SORAT (The school of religion and theology), to decide on a 4th course. That was a very good idea, stressful at first but a very good plan. When I got to my faculty offices (I had known where they were, so I wasn't really stressing out but we went around as a large group of Humanities students to collect signatures). I started chatting with a proffessor about which courses were being offered by SORAT this semester and I showed him the green sheet (with the list of course offerings) and I said I didn't think that this was all of them. Luckily the proffessor brought me into his office and got to chatting with me about what it was that I was interested in doing while I was here (and he found out that I was the student about whom he had recieved an e-mail requesting for me to be between honours and undergrad level courses). He then proceded to invite me to a postgraduate information session that was just a little bit later on in the day. I was ecstatic! So I went to the information session and I met the acting head of SORAT, and some other students (which was helpful in keeping me from feeling to alone or awkard during that time). More importantly I got sold on 3 courses in the honours level program. and adding in a 4th class from the undergraduate level I was super glad to have made decisions about my modules for the semester. So then I had to start the process of gathering a signature for each of those modules from the lecturer who was offering the class. Luckily the Prof who I had met earlier was the lecturer for two of my classes. (Which saved me a lot of running around for those two signatures). Then later on that afternoon I got the last couple of signatures (Which was really good but a bit late in the day). So I currently have as my class schedule: Theologies of Transformation, Issues of Gender and Masculinity, Studies in Industrial Mission, and Biblical Theology (You will hear more about these courses in the coming weeks, and months especially as I get into the lectures).

Unfortunately I couldn't get my student card that afternoon (as I was late in getting signatures) but that was OK. So first thing the next morning I got my student card done. And I was super excited! (Just glad to have it ready to go and be able to use facilities in and around the school.) Other than that my tuesday was pretty chill. I read, I didn't have any classes, I met people in my residence.

Tuesday evening I went to the LAN (the computer room) and I added all of those last blog posts. After that I met a guy who was chatting and hanging out with a bunch of exchange students. John, is an agriculture student from Zimbabwe, and is a pretty cool guy. It also turns out he is a Christian who leads a cell group. (Cell groups for those of you who don't know are groups that meet generally for bible study, or prayer, or just to share their lives together,). And he invited me out to hangout with him and his cell group on Wednesday night. So I met him and a whole bunch of good guy friends as well on Wednesday night for a meeting. We hung out and played pool, and watched band of brothers. A really cool evening. It is also uplifting and makes me feel significantly less lonely when I know a group of christians who are willing to hang out.

Thursday Morning I had my first actual "class" sort of... It is an early starting class (7:45am normally) but this week as the Prof was away we started @ 8am to get a reading and sign into the class. So we met for 15 min. In that time I got to meet several really cool Undergraduate students Alice, Minnie, and Martin. The three of them I will be getting to know hopefully really well in the coming weeks. Basically this coming week is going to be the start of my class experience (Which promises to be a really good time).

Friday Morning, I went with one of the other Exchange students to go and get our laptops set up. Which was a complicated process of talking to the help desk and running between computers to try and figure out how it works. Eventually we got our laptops set up and working (so I should be able to skype tonight (God willing it should work). Then Friday at noon I went to a talk put on by The Bible Talks (TBT) which is a very cool group of people doing student ministry on the campus. Unfortunately one of my classes runs during their weekly meeting, but I think I am going to try to get involved with a bible study on their campus. This week's talk was "What would God say to Donald Trump?" which provided a very interesting look at what Jesus and the bible has to say about money and riches. It was really cool. Then Friday afternoon I went grocery shopping and on the way back to my residence I and Kate (an exchange student) bumped into John, we got to chatting and he invited us out to go and play touch rugby on Friday evening (Which was pretty cool). So we went and watched for about half an hour and then I hopped in on the game. I still am learning it but I had a lot of fun. After the Game I grabbed a bite to eat back at my Residence and got hanging out with one of the guys in my residence. He is very different from me in a lot of ways. but still he is a nice guy and I can get along with him.
That evening Kate and I went with John and a couple of Guys from Cell group (that I had met Wednesday night) to go to his friends house to watch a movie. We ended up watching Flags of Our Fathers, which was a very interesting movie. It was really good to be able to hangout with some locals and get to know them better.

Saturday morning I went (That's today for those of you following at home) with John and again the same guys from last night (not kate) to a mens breakfast at his church. It was really good, we heard some testamonies, and had a good chance to be in fellowship with one another. Totally a good way to spend the morning (If not a bit tiring as I had maybe 5hours of sleep...). It was also good to be encouraged by the testamonies. The basic theme was to remain faithful to Jesus even in the midst of extreme difficulties. Even in suffering we need to cling to the Lord. It was really interesting to hear it preached by both a lawyer and a farmer, but the message was the same. Stay faithful to God above all other things. Which I totally agree with.

I guess this week has basically been about God increasing in me a sense of belonging and fellowship on this campus. Slowly I am getting to meet students, and people from all sorts of different disiplines, and church backgrounds which is very good. And As I am doing that God is meeting me with a community that loves and cares for me. I guess I am truely being blest by God in this experience in ways that I may not quite understand yet.

At least this is only the beginning of the story.
Peace!