Golfing the Links

I know that some of you are actively uninterested in golf; most are probably just ambivalent; and the rest - the golfers - are absolutely seething with envy at my situation right now.

This post is for the latter category. I hope we can still be friends.

I've managed to get out to golf twice now (I attempted a third time, but that was at about 10:30 am on a beautifully sunny and relatively wind-less Saturday morning - needless to say the course was packed), and that means I have now more than paid for my restricted student links ticket. I paid £105 for the year, and if I'd been paying regular price my two rounds would have cost me £140. I paid off my ticket after the front nine this morning. Everything else from that point until the end of next August is basically free. Don't hate!

So, what is golf in St Andrews like?

WINDY.Oh. my. I've never played in such wind. I have been laying in the fairway 115 yards out and hit a solid 6 iron and barely made the fringe. On the other hand, I smoked my 5 wood off the tee almost 280 yards this morning. I was grouped with three Scotsmen who have been playing the links for almost 40 years together, and you should have seen their drives. Not a single one went higher than oh, maybe 50 feet off the ground. They were putting from 30 yards out! It's a different mindset, that's for sure.

Deceptive. Where are all the trees? Why does this hole look so easy? What's that? You hit it three inches off the fairway into that rough? Oh. Well. Good luck. The wind and the rough are the toughest aspects, for sure. I tried to hit a full 5 iron out of about 6 inches of grass today and it dribbled forward maybe 8 feet. Apparently it's especially thick right now because of the terribly wet summer most of the UK had.

You wanna play rough? OK, we'll play rough!

Bunker-y. Those pot bunkers we've all seen in the Open Championships are no joke in real life. I actually had to hit backward out of one during my first round, because I had rolled right up to the front! I got the full experience. But the sand in them is wonderful, which is great. Not like that ground-up concrete we have at some courses back home.

Bunker in front of number 2 on the Jubilee Course

Beautiful. One of my favourite parts of golf is being outside and enjoying the walk. Obviously, we have beautiful courses back home (it's BC, duh!), but it is a different sort of beauty here. Wind-swept, rolling hills of grass and gorse bush, the ocean on one side, golden yellow fields on the other, with a medieval town on the horizon. The sun sits lower in the sky, so the light is always sweeping dramatically across your view.

All in all, I am very thankful for the chance to live and play here for a few years. What a blessing. If anyone wants to come join me for a round, I'm only a 9-hour* plane ride away!

*If you could convince the pilot to let you sky dive as you're crossing over Scotland. Hmm...

Coincidences / Small World Occurences

1. During my first round of golf in St Andrews, I was approached by a gentleman on the 16th tee box, who asked if he could join up with me. We began to chat, and it turned out that he was from West Vancouver. What are the chances? Clearly this guy had some coin, since he was a member of the R&A and in town on his annual two-week trip to St Andrews to golf. Blimey.

OK, maybe that one wasn't all that impressive, but try this one on for size...

2. Last week I received the keys to my office in the Roundel. This particular office has four desks, all placed together in the centre of the room. Upon entering, the first thing to catch my eye is, on the desk next to mine, a guampa. With a thermos next to it, covered in classic South American style leather, with "Paraguay" proudly engraved on the side. I couldn't believe it! A mate drinker! Seated next to me!

But just wait. It gets better.

Turns out that this guy not only drinks mate.
He is from Paraguay.
He is a teacher at the MB Seminary in Asuncion.
He is writing his thesis on conceptual theology based on the Anabaptist experience in Paraguay.
He knows Friesland.

Seriously. Kind of unbelievable, especially given the scarcity of Mennonites doing their PhD - even more rare in the UK - and a Paraguayan Menno at that. Wow.


The past two mornings we have had mate together in the office while we work.

The First Week Update

Hello everyone! Well, it's taken us a while but we've managed to set up a blog. I figured it might be good to begin with an email that I sent to a few family members about a week after we arrived. Much has happened since then, but I thought it would make good sense to begin at the beginning, for all who are interested. Happy reading!

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Well we've officially been out of Vancouver now for almost a week so I thought it might be time to send you all an update. I am sorry that we haven't been in more regular contact, but it's a bit tricky at the moment. Steve and Elissa only moved in to their apartment two weeks ago, and it takes about three weeks to get internet service hooked up (don't ask me why), so our online time has been snatched here and there from Starbucks visits and on their pay-as-you-go iPad connection (which for obvious reasons we don't want to over-use). I'm writing to you now from the university library (which, incidentally, Liana can't enter... I have to swipe my student card to enter and exit!).

Anyway, I don't intend for this to be a loooooong and drawn out email so I'll just give you a quick run-down of some aspects of our first week here.

- Our travel here was, for the most part, as smooth as can be. We ended up getting seated in exit rows on both of our flights, completely by chance. It was AWESOME. As much leg room as you could ask for. Only issue was a delay of almost an hour in Frankfurt because of some bad weather, which led to our shuttle driver in Edinburgh not being very impressed with us (as if it were our fault!).

- The biggest blessing of this first week has undoubtedly been the warm welcome given to us by Steve and Elissa. It has been a lot of fun and really easy to stay with them and their little boy Isaac. They have made their home ours. Liana and Elissa share many of the same interests and are coming up with all kinds of ideas revolving around revolutionizing the culinary scene of St Andrews (you can ask her about that). A highlight for me has been the post-dinner clean up in the kitchen of the past few nights (it has involved some pretty killer 90s music on the iPod).

- We have been walking around the town a lot and it is wonderful. Believe it or not, it has been predominantly sunny this week (with clouds blowing through the sky)... but that does not necessarily mean warm. They weren't kidding about the wind. Holy moley. I am looking forward to when this place actually feels like home, 'cause it seems like a great place to live. Pictures will be on facebook as soon as we can get them there.

On The Scores, looking west, with the Castle ruins behind us.

- We have met some pretty great people so far, most of whom are also part of the St Mary's community. Hung out with two other couples (one from Seattle, the other from California) on Saturday evening and a bunch more yesterday afternoon. Quite literally everyone has been very friendly, welcoming, eager to invite us places, make us feel a part of things, etc. It's quite something. Liana went to a tea (or brunch? I'm not sure) on Saturday morning with Elissa that was especially for St Mary's women, and came back almost two hours after it was supposed to have ended with a big smile on her face. That made me glad.

- I met with my supervisor (if you don't know who that is, you can ask me - all graduate students receive strict instructions that we are not to blog about our interactions!) on Friday afternoon and we talked for well over an hour. It was... well... it was both encouraging and a little overwhelming all at once. Encouraging: he's really keen on my project and thinks there's a lot to go on there; he gave me a few good ideas to poke into; he's very friendly and understands my feelings of not really knowing how to start. Overwhelming: there is a LOT for me to do. Good thing I've got three years! On the list for this first month: read, read, read, choose one important aspect of my thesis, look into it in depth, and come back with 5,000 words or so on it in a month. I met a couple of his other students yesterday, one who's been working with him for a full year, and she said that he has been far above and beyond what she expected from her supervisor. Available, helpful, pastoral. That made me very hopeful.

- I stood on the 18th fairway of the Old Course today. NBD. :-) Already purchased my restricted pass, so I am able to play 5 of the 7 courses (and the 6th I can play twice at 10 pounds each time). I cannot wait to play; I think I'm going to do so tomorrow (either the Eden or Jubilee Course).

- First Scotch tried: Johnnie Walker Black Label. A blend. Pretty nice stuff.

- My favourite Scots speech I've heard so far: "Och, dinnae get me wrong, it would take ye a wee while." Yes. Someone actually said that.

- We signed the lease for our place today and will be moving in on Wednesday. Haven't yet seen the interior, so here's hoping that all is well. No nasty surprises please. Our shipment is supposed to arrive in Edinburgh tomorrow, so we plan to rent a car and drive down there on Wednesday to pick up the stuff.


I think I'll draw it to a close there for now. God has been faithful and good to us in the transition thus far. It has not all been wonderful and happy, but I really do think that it has gone about as well as it could have, and he has placed some pretty wonderful people here to welcome us and show us his love. Please pray for us to have faith and trust in the fact that he has indeed called us here for his purpose. We miss and love you all!