Final blog?

Time to go home...

Pray for safe travels...

Thanks for all your support - we hope to be at LAX with an on-time arrival - we will contact you most likely when we land in Philadelphia and cell service is restored... If there are any delays or whatever - we will contact you then... Pray for no delays. It's been an amazing trip. Foggy today, but we glimpsed the cliffs of Moher - awe-inspiring! Wow.

Thanks.

-Mr. Schaap

For the record...

For the record, I'm trying to get others to write for this blog... I'm not intentionally trying to be the only voice here, but I'll keep this one short... Thank you Evan and Nate for writing already...

From my perspective, I visited the most beautiful place on earth today - Kylemore Abbey/castle - just google this and see some of the amazing images - it may be the most beautiful place on earth - the Irish countryside has fully enchanted me as well - my words won't do the scenery here justice - absolutely beautiful - pastoral - no billboards - sheep - stone bridges - stony creeks - green - sheep - single-lane highways - sheep - Yeats - more Yeats - sheep - Celtic history - mist - stunning views - mountains - immaculate homes and farms - sheep - green - sheep - fresh air...

We also went to Coole Park - it was, well, cool... another hangout of George Bernard Shaw, Lady Gregory, William Butler Yeats, others...

Also, if any of you have seen "The Quiet Man" - great movie with John Wayne - people love that movie here - saw the place it was filmed - kind of a national treasure here as well...

Anyways, I'm signing out, hopefully I can talk one of the students into signing in later... it would be good to hear their perspective as well...

-Mr. Schaap

p.s. last day tomorrow - main stop: Cliffs of Moher!

A land filled with Milk and Guiness

I've always had a deep love of England, Scotland, and the lot. The culture is just so rich with history that they get to see every single day. You're walking down the street and there's just a castle sitting there...no biggie. I love the US but we don't get this kind of thing in our daily lives. I mean for goodness sake, we get amazed when a building has been standing there since the 1920s and the average house in London is a couple hundred years old. our bus driver lived in a 600 year old barn in Wales. Amidst all the dramatic and beautiful sights, however, there is a darkness that I think many of us feel while we are here. Not to be preaching or making things overly spiritually, but you can totally tell that the church is dead out here. Marriage seems to be a fun activity that people might engage in, homosexuality is very prevalent, Churches are going bankrupt and being turned into everything from bars to tattoo parlors to strip clubs. the old cathedrals are still standing, but to me there seems like there is a spiritual emptiness to them. There is definitely something missing from them. I fear that that is the direction that we as a country are headed. We all just had a conversation about this. However, on a less morbid note, it has definitely been a fun experience seeing the differences in culture. Even the subtle differences in the food. you can tell that stuff isnt as processed as it is back home. Also, I don't think I've ever had so much tea in my life. It's so good and I haven't been able to stop drinking it.
Another thing that I have especially enjoyed is the countryside. It is so beautiful. There are all kinds of dramatic landscapes and the lakes are fantastic. I can see why they call Ireland especially the Emerald Isle.
This has been a fantastic experience for me and it appears that it won't be ending quite as soon for me as my two lovely parents are flying out to meet me in London and we will be spending the next two weeks in Scotland. FREEEDOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
...Anyhow, I look forward to the new experiences that God has planned out for us all. To all at home, I love you and miss you, and to those still here...well...we're still here. Let's make the most of it.

Sligo and The Emerald Isle

Well, we all enjoyed Dublin... it definitely grew on us the second day, but the first day we were tired from travel, our hotel was average at best, and we had no WiFi (the horror). A little about the trip to Dublin - we took a ferry from Holy Head in Wales (Wales is beautiful country - mountainous). The ferry was the biggest in the world - it was appropriately named The Ulysses. If you lined up all the trucks and cars that travelled on the lower 4 decks, it would stretch over 3 miles long! The passenger floors were like a cruise ship complete with a movie theater and shops and lounges. Just before we boarded the ferry in Holy Head, we visited Conwy Castle - much exploring and climbing towers and walls and dungeons - one of the groups' favorite experiences! Ask for pics from the kids, since I still can't upload them appropriately here...

It took us 3 hours to get to Dublin; and at first take, we were not overly impressed the night we arrived. However, we had a big day yesterday exploring the culture and museums and cathedrals. We learned a lot about James Joyce, William Butler Yeats, Jonathan Swift, and Oscar Wilde (all Irish poets). We also visited an archaelogical museum (incredible - too much there almost) and a zoology museum as well. Dublin is a little more subdued than London.

We left the city this morning and fell in love with the Irish countryside. Everything is green. 40 shades of green. (It's way better than 50 shades of gray). We visited the burial site of Yeats - he is definitely a national treasure here.

We visited a beautiful waterfall on the side of a mountain next to a lake shrouded in mist. It rained all day today - approximately 65 degrees. I hope the A/C is working back home... :) I rained and misted all day. It was glorious. This place is like Northwest Washington state on steroids.

We took a boat tour and saw the Isle of Inisfree (sp?) - beautiful country. You can see why this lush, verdant, misty, fern-gully-ish-like landscape has inspired so much superstition, folklore, and fantastical imaginings. We bathed in Irish soundtracks and lyrics from Yeats as we wistfully viewed the landscape from our boat.

To top off the day, we rolled up to our hotel tonight and saw another seeming castle with an abbey/chapel next door. The Clarion hotel used to be an insane asylum! This place is "nuts"!!! By far the best place we have stayed all trip! This is the nicest hotel I have ever been to! My hotel accomodation includes 3 huge rooms complete with a kitchen, walk-in closet and dining area - they know how to treat chaperones here I guess... :) The students and I are hanging out in the middle kitchen room as I write this... Wonderful accomodations here and service - makes up for Dublin... Sligo is beautiful. The abbey next door has been transformed into a banquet hall for wedding receptions. This hotel is complete with a full gym on the ground floor, a full lap pool, and mini-golf! Some of the girls are a little freaked out about falling asleep in a former insane asylum, but we'll let their imaginations run for now and do nothing at all to provoke any further fears at all tonight... :)

The reality that our trip is fastly coming to a close is starting to sink in...

We head to Shannon tomorrow...

It's interesting to immerse ourselves in the cultures in which we travel to - we touch on their political struggles, religious beliefs and practices, and more as we move to and fro...

Pray that God shows us and others his Truth and that we remain faithful in our identity in Christ as we move about the country and people interact with us and we ask questions about this life, view history, and interact with the culture.

Until next time... Keep calm and carry on... and keep reading our blogs!

-Mr. Schaap

It keeps getting better...

I know it sounds hard to believe, but things keep getting better and better...

We witnessed Stonehenge this morning and drove through the English countryside... This is BEAUTIFUL country - I was not expecting this - I'm going to miss London, but it was wonderful to get out of the bustle of the city for a while and slow down. There are no billboards out here! The towns meld into the countryside. The air is clean. Too clean. We dine like kings every night. And morning. And lunch. And don't forget the tea.

We spent most of the time in Bath today - this is a 2000 year old town! Absolutely beautiful. We also learned a lot on the context of Jane Austen's life there as well.

We just pulled into Stratford Upon Avon (Shakespeare's home) and will be spending the next 2 days here - can't wait! Evan and I went for a run tonight as well after supper. It may be the most beautiful run I have ever been on, and I have been on some really pretty ones... We ran right along the river Avon and saw where David Tenet went to school.

No pics yet - sorry... check Facebook for now... We have great internet for the next couple days - try FaceTime as well...

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Keep calm and carry on.

-Mr. Schaap

Friends, countrymen, (parents) lend me your ears... We apologize that some of the pics have not been downloading correctly - we are having some technical difficulties... We will continue to work on this. End of disclaimer.

We started bright and early this morning (12a.m.) for a midnight showing of "The Taming of the Shrew" at the one and only Globe Theater or Theatre (as they spell it across the crick here) - smashing performance! (I'm trying to adopt some of the British vernacular while I'm here...) It was brilliant! All female cast - 7 actresses total - each played at least 2 roles each, had to memorize double lines and characters not to mention I think learned an instrument for the first time to sing and dance at certain points. Some of our crew stood for half the performance to get the authentic "groundling" feel - it was an open air theater/theatre with no mics - it truly gave us a taste of Shakespeare. We took taxis back and made it home about 3 a.m. this morning for a few hours of rest. You all should know that our crew is becoming quite comfortable with taking the subway or "The Tube" as they refer to it here - we take it everywhere! There are so many people! This city is incredible, a hub of the world. The old and new buildings dot the landscape - there is so much construction and so much going on. We are eating too well. Fish n' Chips, Bangers and Mash amongst others cross our palate... and our plates.

At 8a.m. this morning we boarded the bullet train and made the 50 mile pilgrimage from London to Canterbury in just under an hour - we were topping speeds of 140mph! Love the trains here. It was drizzling all day - it was good to get out of the city and see the countryside - Canterbury has been my favorite day - beautiful little town and shops and the cathedral is spectacular!!! I marvel at the people who built this, along with Westminster Abbey yesterday and the countless other structures and landmarks in this historic city, with no names more so than any of the royalty or celebs buried there - it is truly an engineering marvel! But that's just me. The buildings by themselves have been worth the trip. Chaucer's "Whan that April" was chanted by our merry band of 14 pilgrims... The day ended back in London at the British Writer's Library with words, words, words... One more word about this place - wow! The rest is silence until tomorrow... Thank you for reading and your prayers and support. I'm signing off for some much needed sleep. Please continue to pray for us! We are truly marveling at God's creation this week. But all these places and people desperately need Christ and the Truth and nurture that only he can give (just as we do). Pray that we can be a light to those around us. We prepare for Stonehenge tomorrow!
Cheers.
-Mr. Schaap

A couple more pics...

A few more picture...

Is it time for bed yet!?

Well good evening all from warm, busy London! It's 8:30 PM Thursday here, you guys back home are eating lunch and we are SOOOO ready for bed :).  Let's just say not a lot of sleep got accomplished on the second flight from Charlotte for anyone.  So we walked into our hotel lobby this morning at about 8 AM and were asked by our guide Sev (a super sweet lady)  to "freshen up a bit", and off touring we went. It was a wonderful day of touring London, and two highlights were seeing the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, as well as a really cool tour of the London Tower complex.  Some laughs occurred numerous times today watching some of our group literally fall asleep at lunch, or standing against a museum wall :) haha...but all in all a great 1st day. (a couple pics to come).

Tomorrow we hit London hard with a visit to Westminster Abbey, the Globe theater tour, a visit to the Dickens Museum, and cap it all off with a midnight showing of "The Taming of the Shrew" at the Globe. Should be great.  You might not here from anyone else tonight, as everyone might be sleeping, but well make sure everyone gets a chance to say hi.

The afternoon before...

Well it's the afternoon before the big trip, and I am in full packing mode.  What to bring, what not to bring? Will it rain on me every day, or only once or twice?  How many days will I be able to wear my Rainbows? :).  I wanted to quickly write this initial post as we get ready to "hop the pond" tomorrow, and included in the post will be our trip itinerary, which I think you who are following will really enjoy.  We are nervous and excited to go, but also at peace knowing God is directing our paths along the way, and is right there with us! As a group we do covet your prayers for protection and a great time.  Check out the itinerary, and thanks in advance for following along with us.  Look for pictures, entries, and thoughts from most if not all of the group!

Nathan Kok <><

(Working on getting the itinerary up)...