Old Spitalfields Market

Went on a market outing today! Us Thoresby kids made our way to Old Spitalfields Market to do some genuine London shopping around 12:00PM. There was so much stuff to see, though like most markets I've been to the stuff started repeating after a while. Regardless, was able to buy a cute sweater and a dress.  I also had my first experience of haggling!  I didn't even end up getting the dress, but he totally lowered the price by two pounds for me.  SCORE.

I ate at Wagamama for lunch around 1:30PM, inhaling a tasty bowl of wagamama ramen.  I need to start eating breakfast, or at least an earlier lunch.  Said goodbye to my friends and then headed over to the tube to meet up with people at a Starbucks in front of St. Paul's.  St. Paul's is giant and gorgeous, and I along with many other tourists stood and listened to the bells chime from within.  A couple of minutes later, I met up with some girls from ChristChurch London, a church I have decided to check out for my duration in London.  It was nice getting to know them and hear what they thought about Texas (mostly cowboys and open land).  We headed over to the building service is in and it totally reminded me of the church I go to back in Austin.  Everyone was familiar with one another, hugs and smiles encompassing the room. I really enjoyed the service. I was reminded once again of what it feels like to be a newcomer to a church, how strange and scary it can be to walk into a room where you don't know anyone. I hope I can remember this feeling back in Austin whenever someone new comes.  It definitely can be an overwhelming experience.  Points from the sermon:

1) Faith always has an object. You can't have faith in nothing. Are you putting your faith in the right thing?

2) It's not about how much faith you have, but who your faith is in.    

3) Healing people through prayer was discussed today. It's not about the words, but about the faith.  When you pray for someone, remember that illness does not get scared by eloquent words or decibels of loudness.  People do.  Be genuine.  And when you pray, start off with thanks.  It is a way of reminding yourself of what God has done and His faithfulness.

Relaxing at home right now and preparing myself for work tomorrow!  Got my Oyster card today (with the Queen's face on it too) and am ready to go.  I think.  Still need to figure out how to get to work.

Oh, and:

1) People say "bless me" here when they sneeze.

2) Another word for exhausted is "shattered."  This probably isn't just a British thing, but I hadn't heard it before.

3) Television is the "telly."

4) SXSW is pretty well known in the UK, or at least with the people I've talked to about it. Woo woo, Austin!  You go.

5) University is called "uni."