I love the woods

Yesterday we walked through the woods on the way to Deep Cove. We sat in Honies Cafe with a coffee and a fresh, fat, doughy on the inside and crispy, crunchy, honey outside doughnut. I drew, Josh read.

Our first falling snow

Ok, so I used some very mediocre manipulation, but that's only because it was such a light snowfall that no one would believe me otherwise. I promise you it was real and that's why I was jumping for joy.

We have also seen some snow (on the ground mind you) on a bigger scale when we went snow boarding, but this snow was special because it chose to fall on us on "our" first day of College. I say our because they specifically invited family to attend the orientation but it is really for the course that Joshua is about to undertake.

Warning: long paragraphs coming up. Summary at the bottom of the page if you're feeling lazy and want to scroll down.

It was so encouraging hearing from the president and various other faculty about the beginning of the college 40 years ago, about their mission and philosophy and other interesting bits and pieces. Out of everyone I'm pretty sure I took the most notes and asked questions and I'm not even studying. That was the torture of it really. It made me want to study, and I never thought I'd go back there again. Anyhow, I will get my man through the next few years, and we'll see what I can squeeze in as well - they run some night subjects and summer courses too.

Prior to leaving Australia a number of people asked us "Why do you have to go to Canada for it?" and "What is so special about Regent?" I wasn't totally sure how to answer these questions but Josh and I were both really excited to come to Regent - it seemed right. Now I know the answer. And I'm sure it's the right place for Josh to study (and possibly even me - they have such amazing arts programs)!

In my own words some notes on Regent and why it's amazing:

First a little on the Brethren. To be honest if I'd heard anything about these guys in the past, (please, no offence intented at all) then all I imagined were old-fashioned Christian people whose men drove horse buggies with long beards and women wore long dresses and scarves. I don't know if there is some truth in that or if I am confusing them with the Amish but that was all I 'knew' or perhaps didn't know. What I learnt this week however was that the Brethren church movement began in the 1820's in Ireland with a group of believers who felt that ministry should apply to all believers, not just the ordained person standing at the front of the church. So they started the brethren church - a group of believers who were all brothers I suppose and respected the role each person had (in whatever sphere of life) as 'ordained' by God. That's my take anyhow. And I like that idea a lot.

In the 1960's a guy belonging to the Brethren church here in Vancouver recognized within the church a general emphasis on spirituality, piety (prayerful, worshipful, generally devoted to God kind of actions), but at the same time an anti-intellectualism. I guess some of this exists even today - people feel academia is a threat to 'faith' which is more abstract. But they go together brilliantly. Josh shared along these lined in his last sermon at Cornerstone before we left (which was another thing which made me think this is all coming together so well)- it's important to have an informed faith - to know what we believe and why we believe it.

Anyway, back to this 1960's guy who may or may not have had a beard, he thought to himself "Hmmmm, could we start a theological institution that took both piety and intellect seriously?" Turns out this guy met up with a bunch of other like minded thinkers and they started Regent College in the late 60's. Unlike many theological colleges which train people to be ministers of specific churches, Regent prepare people for 'ministry' (what does that even mean - I'm going to assume it means living out your Christian faith - striving to be more like Jesus and to worship God with practical intention and action) in ALL of life. Oh and they're transdenomination so you don't have to be a bearded Brethren :)

Yikes, anyone still reading. Anyhow I enjoyed learning all about this.

Summary: The Brethren have some cool ideas. Regent is an amazing college and if Josh wasn't brilliant enough already he is going to be super brainy and super good-looking and a super kind guy when he's done. Maybe that is enough words in one stretch for the moment. I'm usually the picture girl not the word girl.

Love Sharolyn

Penguin Plunge

On this first day of the new year we thought it would be good to join local history books by participating in the annual Penguin Plunge at Deep Cove.

To set the scene: Let me remind southern hemisphere readers it is Winter here. The last few days have been sunny, but averaging about -1 degrees celcius. Today you could have been excused for thinking there was snow on the ground.

This photo is not particularly pertiment to the story except that I wanted to point out how much I like secret tunnels leading towards light like this. We did walk through here this morning.

The fountain was frozen.

Everything was covered in a thin layer of ice.

There was even ice on the top of the water we swam in. One of Seth's crazy (I've got a mix of admiration and something else I can't find the word for...) 15 year old female friends not only plunged but swam out to a nearby plontoon. She came back with bleeding hands having had to crack through sheets of ice in order to reach her destination. Thank goodness for a large communal bonfire.

A band to play some merry jigs. There was a great old fashioned village feel to it all.

A picturesque setting.

At 1.30 there was a costume parade: here are 2 penguins, baby penguin can't be seen.

A green dinosaur man...

One of a pair of guys dressed up as presents. Yes he has those flouncy things on his nipples. And yes they wore this in the water.

How cute is the little kid in the fluffy costume?
A photographer doing his thing.

Lining up by the water at 2. It was packed.

After a count down people galloped into the water enthusiastically, and did not last long before racing out again with a sense of urgency into a crowd of yet-to-plunge participants and dry onlookers. People pushing in all directions. Lips turning purple. Steam rising from a pack of wiggling sardines. Mayhem.

The thing that hurt the most were my toes. I had thongs (of the footwear kind, I think they might be called flip-flops here) but my toes felt like stiff, frozen, fish fingers and I couldn't bend them to get my shoes on. Some dry clothes and we warmed up quickly. Seth was seriously shivering and I was worried he might have hypothermia. He was one of the first in the water and I think he had trouble getting back out through semi-hysteric crowds. I kept thinking about Bear Grylls stripping off (seems to happen every episode) after one of his routine swims in much too cold water but there were a few too many people around to convince Seth that was a good idea. Thankfully, we all made it back with 5 toes on each foot. Thankyou Deep Cove people for a great adventure and a badge to prove it.