Nott What You'd Expected...

May Showers....make America look better every day

Rain. Not the powerful, majestic rainstorms of a Midwestern Summer- instead, the last two days have been drenched by the cold, driving, stifling rain of an English late spring. Not easily romanticised, and thus, pushing the thoughts of America into a more positive light.

Yesterday, before a rain soaked Nottingham drove the flatmates in front of the tv for an LOTR marathon (myself antisocially unincluded... I'm not an LOTR geek, but it helps to be in the right 'mood' to be plunged into an epic battle like that of Middle Earth)... a few of us headed to a famous cathedral in nearby Southwell for some church and soup.
The rain created a very atmospheric (how's that for a euphemism) experience- the cathedral was made of a beautiful golden stone, resembling a sort of Spanish Missionary look on the inside, but all architectural positives were cancelled by a lengthy baptismal sermon involving water as a metaphor for death, and the mention of sharks more than twice...

The younger members (all of us except for MC) were dragging by the end of the service, but our fearless leaders were intent on visiting a 19th century restored poor house in the Southwell countryside. A tour around, two lucid minutes in the car before my ipod shuffle worked its hypnotic magic, and we were back in the flat.

Before leaving magical Southwell, we stopped in the Cathedral Refectory for lunch, a quick soup and roll, but the enticing qualities of dessert quickly got to Carol, who after little cajoling was intent on paying for our sweets. I should say that, having spent almost a year with M/C, it's hard to be surprised or shocked at what comes out of their mouths. Even college professors, weighed down by the endless stream of credentials following their names, can be politically incorrect and inappropriate at times- giving me great hope for the future. While enjoying my Spotted Dick (some kind of bready pudding with raisins and custard), Carol mentioned something about said Dick, a sheepish grin on her face, before very consciously waiting for a dramatic pause, and then pointing to the pudding..."Oh no, I meant your dessert...(giggle giggle)"
My reply about medication for that kind of thing was completely lost in the darting eye contact between the Notters, who could do nothing but laugh, and chalk another one up to Carol's feigned ignorance- a sly way of being hilarious without having to admit it.

I will miss them. simple as that.

Saturday was admittedly pathetic. I woke up at 1 after attempting to watch the sunrise, and spent the day napping and faux-studying for American Lit (to be taken on Tuesday). Brandon's choir sang with an orchestra, so Hil and Mary and I played the roles of Supportive Flat Mates, and took in one of the craziest clarinet performances I have ever seen. To be fair, my experience in Clarinet concerts is limited, but this chick was catatonic- writhing around, bobbing too and fro. It was comical. The choir was amazing, but we left with them as soon as interval hit. A short stop in the Kean's Head for awkward convo (if it can be considered conversation) with some of his choir buddies, and then a stop in Pit and Pendulum (Goth meets English Pub Scene) to sample two of the '7 Deadly Sins' menu before heading back to the flat.
The weekend itself began (if you can follow this kind of flashback blog... I figure, since LOST is officially done with the flashbacks, it's the least I could do...) began with a Friday night invitation from our Newsagent, Jack (ala, he sells our newspapers at a nearby store) to his Hindu temple- just a few blocks from The Lion.

The place was interesting... a temple, haphazardly set up in a rented out old factory space (perfect for those looking for the exposed wood floors, brick walls, beautiful windows, radiators...it's a retro-IKEA generation flat-hungry generation's wet dream) The people were overly friendly, eager to tell how they built every piece of the building from their own hands, and eager to tell us (the official count was close to 15 times) that there was a huge Hindu temple in Chicago...Have We Visited It? No, no we haven't... but we would love to... later...

They gave us food, websites for their sect, and 10 minutes of concentrated theological chatter from the old man who actually started the branch in Nottingham. The amazingly tolerant views of Hinduism was shocking, considering the conflict in India, Pakistan, etc, but he laid a few beautiful metaphors on us that really stuck.... For him, trying to secularize and separate religion was crazy- the Hindus don't work like the missionaries of other faiths- they realize that you have your faith, and they have theirs- the same way that everyone thinks their parents are the best, the Hindus know that they won't convince you to switch from Christianity to Hinduism... it's how you were raised, to believe your God is best... Be a good Christan, and that's good enough for this guy...

Needless to say, we (Mark, Carol, Brandon, Kate, Hil and I) got in a huge theological discussion on the way home... Mark was close to becoming a monk at one point, and actually has a few brothers who are... throw in the fact that Carol's father was a bishop, and their huge background in academics, and you've got some well read people hashing it out.

I won't elaborate, because it's a lot to digest, but I would love the chance to talk to them more about this kind of thing- are people born with a sense of spirituality that is honed by their religious affiliation, or are their concepts of spirituality channeled and tuned by an early exposure to a very specific and detailed religion? Freud has his own opinion- the need for a greater being due to postpartum feelings on behalf of the child, but that's another branch of discussion. Plus, it's hip to hate on Freud these days...
It speaks volumes for M/C that they treat us like intellectual equals, even at times when it's clear they have the upper hand in experience and background knowledge. The same happened in their class- I just hope I can at some point have the same toleration of less informed ideas when I'm teaching... not to knock my own understanding, but with 40 years on me, I figure they know what they're talking about...

my fingers are tired. time to study.

posted by Kevin @ 3:27 PM