Driving on the Left
Well, I have now been at Ripon College Cuddesdon for six months, which seems a good time to think about the journey here and what has happened since. As well, as the year winds down, it's also nice to think about the past few months.
2006 has been a year of massive change for me. Beginning on 21 February, the day I interviewed for, and was offered, this job, everything took dramatically different directions. From the return to East Aurora, and then the four months following, almost every ounce of energy was turned to preparing to move. It involved selling a car, seeing friends for the last time in who knows how long, and putting my hands on literally every object I owned in the effort to decide if it was a 'take', 'store' or 'ditch'. It also involved a lot of learning, preliminary reading about the work I would be undertaking and the people with whom I would be spending the next chunk of my life.
The next phase, when I arrived on 13 June, brought me to the single most rural place I've ever lived--and that includes a year in southern Kansas. I am living literally where I work (the main room of my flat has also been serving as my office), which is nice because Cuddesdon is not well-served by buses, and commuting would be difficult. However, relying on public transportation does make you more intentional about each journey and getting the most out of it. There is also something charming about waking up to cows and hearing owls at night. It gets darker here than anyplace else I've lived--very little street lighting and almost nothing visible from homes (except for the Bat and Ball pub, there aren't really any 'businesses' in Cuddesdon). So, the moon and stars are particularly vibrant on a clear night.
But apart from the physical setting, the first thing I became aware of is the general good feeling of the place. I spent two years in an Episcopal seminary, and at no time was the mutual regard between students and staff nearly as noticeable as it is here. In particular, the Principal here at the College seems to have a really good relationship with most of the students, and most of them seem to regard him well; it isn't just formal respect, but genuine liking.
My whole mode of theological work has changed. Up until now, I've considered myself a systematic and historical theologian, and my main place of learning was in the library stacks. Now I am doing a version of ethnographic research into the changes of clerical roles and identities in a particular diocese (for more, you can look here: http://grapevine.derby.anglican.org/sectshow.php?57). This involves observing and interviewing individuals and groups. I never thought I'd do this kind of work, but here I am doing it, and I think succeeding, at least in the early stages.
And I have driven on the left a few times. . . and there has been no damage to people, property or livestock.
It's been a year of major change for me. Everything is different--it all sounds, looks, smells different, things are called by other names. But it is all good, all happy.
Best wishes for Christmas and the new year!
2006 has been a year of massive change for me. Beginning on 21 February, the day I interviewed for, and was offered, this job, everything took dramatically different directions. From the return to East Aurora, and then the four months following, almost every ounce of energy was turned to preparing to move. It involved selling a car, seeing friends for the last time in who knows how long, and putting my hands on literally every object I owned in the effort to decide if it was a 'take', 'store' or 'ditch'. It also involved a lot of learning, preliminary reading about the work I would be undertaking and the people with whom I would be spending the next chunk of my life.
The next phase, when I arrived on 13 June, brought me to the single most rural place I've ever lived--and that includes a year in southern Kansas. I am living literally where I work (the main room of my flat has also been serving as my office), which is nice because Cuddesdon is not well-served by buses, and commuting would be difficult. However, relying on public transportation does make you more intentional about each journey and getting the most out of it. There is also something charming about waking up to cows and hearing owls at night. It gets darker here than anyplace else I've lived--very little street lighting and almost nothing visible from homes (except for the Bat and Ball pub, there aren't really any 'businesses' in Cuddesdon). So, the moon and stars are particularly vibrant on a clear night.
But apart from the physical setting, the first thing I became aware of is the general good feeling of the place. I spent two years in an Episcopal seminary, and at no time was the mutual regard between students and staff nearly as noticeable as it is here. In particular, the Principal here at the College seems to have a really good relationship with most of the students, and most of them seem to regard him well; it isn't just formal respect, but genuine liking.
My whole mode of theological work has changed. Up until now, I've considered myself a systematic and historical theologian, and my main place of learning was in the library stacks. Now I am doing a version of ethnographic research into the changes of clerical roles and identities in a particular diocese (for more, you can look here: http://grapevine.derby.anglican.org/sectshow.php?57). This involves observing and interviewing individuals and groups. I never thought I'd do this kind of work, but here I am doing it, and I think succeeding, at least in the early stages.
And I have driven on the left a few times. . . and there has been no damage to people, property or livestock.
It's been a year of major change for me. Everything is different--it all sounds, looks, smells different, things are called by other names. But it is all good, all happy.
Best wishes for Christmas and the new year!
posted by Wendy Dackson at 8:33 AM
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