As mentioned before, I had to stay an extra day in London (what a sacrifice!!!)

Due to a volcanic eruption in Iceland, European air travel came to a complete halt for almost a week… and I was stranded. This would not have been a real issue (did I mention that I was stranded in London???), however, I had to be in Germany to start classes at university.

So, after some internal debating, I bought a train ticket to go from London to Nuremberg.

I remember my sister doing this once about two and a half decades ago. It was an overnight train trip and everybody was quite exhausted at the end of it.

Well, things have changed, and thanks to the channel-tunnel, the trip is now a mere 11 hours. And it is quite lovely – except for overcrowded trains due to stranded air-travellers like myself.

I boarded the Eurostar at London’s St. Pancras’ station and –whoop– ended on the continent. It is a bit disconcerting to cross the Channel underneath all this water, but you really don’t have much time to think about it. The journey is over before you know it. And so I finally got “home” on Tuesday night, a day late, but a number of experiences richer.

The next day was my first day of classes. It was a full day, and I think university will teach me a thing or two. Here are the classes, in which I am enrolled:

• - Youth-ministry
• - Introduction to Buddhism (from a Christian perspective)
• - Orthodoxy today
• - The churches of the Middle East

And I get to take the train to Erlangen for classes! What an added bonus. As time progresses, I will post more on content. For now, I am excited about studying.