Pictures from my new city

The top two pictures are of the St. George's Tron Church Halls.  It was originally the meeting place for the Free Masons in the City, complete with secret hallways!  But now, while the main church building is being refurbished (after 200 years), we are meeting here for all of our services.

The main church building is located on this street, Buchanan Street.  It is supposed to be the busiest and most profitable street in Europe (who'd have thought?).  You can see what it's like on a normal Saturday.  I can't imagine what it's going to be like for Christmas!  The church is the second building on the right. 

This painting is in the City Chambers.  It is the story of the patron saint and city seal of Glasgow.  Let me see if I can re-tell the story... The Queen of Strathaven was having an affair.  Her lover had given her a golden ring; but she had lost it and knew that if her husband, the king, found it she would be in a pretty sticky situation (from what I understand, Kings back then didn't take too kindly to being cheated on...).  So she sought help from Saint Mungo, who had a fisherman capture a fish, in whose mouth was found the lost ring.  The story goes that the birds in the trees sang and St. Mungo rang his bell, and all was better.  Now, whether the king ever found out, I don't know.  But St. Mungo made it onto the city seal, along with the fish, the ring, the tree, bird, and bell.  Great story, eh?  Just the kind of guy you want as your patron saint!  

No Recourse to Public Funds

Saturday morning, bright and early in the morning, we were awakened by the door bell.  No one but the mail man comes around, especially at that time in the morning.  So after the initial confusion (one always gets confused when one is woken out of complete slumber), finally Rupert hopped downstairs to open the door.  Standing at the door, the mail man handed him a stack of mail and a package.  This has been the common occurrence for the past 2 months.  The mail man comes, the mail man goes, and we are left with a stack of bills and an occasional letter or package.  After waiting each day for two months for the mail to come, I had taught myself to stop hoping.  So when Rupert nonchalantly came back upstairs with the mail, I didn't think anything of it till he handed me the package.  And there, inside, was the long awaited end to the last two months.  To finally have my visa in my hands was such a relief, such a sigh of release, like I had been holding my breath since I had sent it off in the mail.  To read the details of the visa, however, were a bit anticlimactic: "No recourse to public funds".   But why should I let that get me down?  I AM A LEGAL ALIEN! 

Sorry so long!

It's been a bit of a crazy mess with the internet company lately, hence the reason I have not written in a while.  Thankfully, that side of life is figured out and I don't have to make a special trip in town just to go to an internet cafe.  Here's some updates since the last time I wrote.  

1. Soccer here is a boy's sport.  They are always getting together, but the girls are left on the sideline.  A friend here, Karen, who grew up in Japan, and I have started a girls soccer team on Tuesday nights.  And we are having a blast!  

2. Rupert and I are hoping to start helping with the Thursday nights Bible study called, "Release the Word."  We might be leading a table of either young careers or college age.  We are excited that this will help us learn to be in ministry together.  

3. Walking down the streets of Glasgow one day, I passed Dr Corde from ER.  You know, the English doctor who married Dr. Green and had his baby?  But I was not stalkerish, so no pictures.  When I told my sister, Kate's response was, "Yeah, I got to tell Queen Latifa that I like her bag in the Chicago airport."  Gotta love our fascination with TV stars.

4. Today, Rupert started his new job in a mixed practice in Paisley.  It is such a blessing to have a steady job that has allowed us to stay in Glasgow.

Well, that's pretty much it.  Will update again later.  Hopefully will take some pictures too!