Questions

Hello again,

I am literally the worst blogger of all time, so if you're still reading at this point, you have gained my utmost respect. I promise (take that for what you want) that I will try to keep this site more frequently updated as we head down the home-stretch with my time over here.

Last Thursday I left little 'ole Grantham (Yes, Downton fans, the same "Grantham") and headed to Paris. I literally could rave about all the cool stuff I got to see for days. Getting the chance to see the Louvre, Arch of Triumph, Eiffel Tower, Versailles Palace, Notre Dame, and a lot of other things that are in a lot of movies but never seem real, is a once-in-a-lucky-lifetime oppurtunity. I am blessed over and over again with the ability to see these incredible places weekend after weekend. I've gotten to see some very cool things, but I've also learned a lot.

Maybe "learned a lot" is a bad way to put it. More accurately stated, "I've asked a lot of questions". Sure, I've gotten the answers to a few, but in actuality I've gotten exponentially more confused in my time here, and this is a good thing.

I realize I'm probably already losing you, let me clarify.

I came over here thinking I had a pretty good grasp on a lot of things. Other cultures, history, why some sites are popular, other people, politics; I had it all figured out.

And then I showed up here and all hell broke loose in my head.

By being exposed to other cultures, types of people, thought processes, ideas, traditions, I've realized how little I actually know.

Above all, in my time here I've come to the realization that a lot of things are a lot bigger than I had initially thought. History, the world, culture groups, interconnected economies, different types of personalities, stereotypes, God himself, heck, even the Eiffel Tower are all a lot larger and complex than I could have ever thought while living in the States.

So I've reached this cool point where the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know. (if that makes any sense at all)

I might now know more dates, facts, English kings, Roman architecture styles, Victorian political shifts, and other not-so-interesting stuff like that after my time here, but what I will cherish most is how my eyes have been opened to how much bigger God, this world, and the things inside of it actually are.

I know this is incredibly confusing and poorly-written, and if you skip right over it, I won't blame you, but it's something I've learned and wish to verbalize (which is ironic b/c I'm not speaking).

To help remedy for my confusing exchange, here's a word search of the things that I think typify England most appropriately.

E R O Z D Q J Q N D Y C W X I 
L A H M I U Q M V L A V R P W 
B I Q K S T U O B A D N U O R 
I N C K F U R A M M L U Y K F 
D A U Y U N A G Q W K R W I G 
E Y V D N M C C T T O S S W A 
R U J R C Q S E C T H H C G A 
C D V G T M A I S E A L G G U 
N W C U I P Q I L N N L X Y O 
I T X J O J H S D A G T T E P 
T Y O S N B K C J E R J W F Y 
G U A D A B H M V K G E W W X 
E J Y B L I P O T A T O B V C 
X C I C P O I F C U A D L I U 
M W B S P F N B C K X F A V L

ACCENT
DISFUNCTIONAL
FISHANDCHIPS
HISTORY
INCREDIBLE
LIBERALISM
POTATO
RAIN
ROUNDABOUT
TEA

If you do it, best of luck, if you don't do it, then don't blame me when everybody else is having fun and you're "too cool"...

Thanks again for reading!

Kyle