Pulborough & Phonetics Foundations

Sun 20th- Mon 27th March
At the moment I’m in a sleepy English hamlet called Pulborough (an unlikely place to prepare for Spain) with a phonetics teacher called Joanna Benson. She runs a course called ‘Sound Foundations’ for those who want to get a firm grounding in how to say and hear the sounds that are made in a language which is not their mother tongue.

Sound Foundation Course

Phonetics is the study of sounds. Its importance, in the training of missionaries who will learn a language which is not their native tongue, should not be underestimated. We have all heard the Asian tongue trying to pronounce the /r’s/ in ‘fried rice’. It is often parodied and mocked in a cruel way. All of us find it hard to get our mouths around sounds that are not native. But it can be done. Listen to the SBS news reader Lee Lin Chin who has worked so hard on how she pronounces the sounds of English that it is almost impossible to tell that she is not Australian born Chinese.

For me it is the Spanish language which I’m trying to get my mouth around.
There are many sounds in the Spanish language that we as English speakers, more precisely Australian English speakers, don’t normally make. For example, the vowels /a/; /e/; /i/; /o/; /u/ are all formed in the mouth differently than in English. To say the /a/ sound in Spanish, requires the Australian to make a ‘quack’, by drawing the lips back, exposing the teeth and sounding an /a/ similar to the /a/ in ‘quack’. This is just one of many examples. Try that a few times and you’ll get a feel for what I’m doing. My lips are cracked, my cheeks and tongue are sore.


Another is the Spanish /r/. It is formed by taking the tongue up to the roof of the mouth and sounding an English /d/. When I say a word using this type of /d/ sound the Spanish speaker hears an /r/. The /d/ in Spanish sometimes becomes a /th/ sound, formed by the tongue vibrating in through the teeth. In phonetics this is called a ‘fricative’. I think you’re allowed to say this word in mixed company.

Anyone guess what a bilabial fricative might be?

The importance? One small sound can change the whole meaning of a word and therefore a sentence. Often missionaries are taught by very good native speakers, but with out the phonetics training as a foundation they may build on sounds which mean they never quite get the pronunciation right.


It has been a hard week, trying to learn to speak again. Getting tongue-tied and looking in a mirror to see exactly where the lips, tongue and teeth should be. But already there is an improvement in pronunciation. I am hoping and praying that the Sound Foundations course will put me in good stead when I leave next week for Spain, and further language learning with a native Spanish speaker.

G.K. Chesterton Quote 'Though St. John the Evangelist saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creature so wild as one of his own commentators.' From Orthodoxy.

Farewell Cambridge - Hello Pulborough via London

Tues 14th March – the day that most of my work in Tyndale House finished. First draft of the major essay written and an outrageous 3 months before it needs to be handed in. Most essays are handed in after the first draft, racing for the Post Office in Orange at 4.45 PM to get that essential post mark to confirm that it was in the mail on the due date. If you miss the 5.00 PM close at Orange, the dash to Orange East which closes at 5.30 PM is frantic. With a few days to spare I thought seriously about getting a cheap flight over to Ireland to see St. Patrick’s Day in on Friday the 17th of March. I had to be back in London on the Saturday, so it was all pretty tight. In the end no cheap flights were available, which is probably just as well! St Patrick’s Day in Dublin ... could have been interesting. Settled into the notion of bidding farewell new found friends and those who have helped along the way. Thanks David and Amelia, thanks Barry and Alison, thanks Will, thanks Ian, thanks Eric and Donna... thanks especially to Richard, Helen, Jack and Tom! (pictured above)

Wed 15th March – had lunch at the Hohne’s. David and Amelia helped in getting such excellent accommodation with the Powell’s. Great to have spent some time reacquainting. Thank you. This extra time also gave Richard & Helen and myself time to finish the first series of 24 which I began to watch around at the Morgan’s on Monday nights in 2002. It seems so long ago. Only saw three episodes then so it was good to pick it up a few years later. We’re on the verge of the climactic end. Two episodes to go.
Thur 16th March Shopping in Cambridge. Buying farewell gifts for all and sundry. Picked up a few things for others along the way. Figured I’d been Freddy Free Loader at the Powell’s for nigh on a month, the least I could do was to splash out and buy a few gifts, an Australian – English Dictionary, a bottle of Little Boomey Shiraz, they stock it over in Sainsbury’s one the supermarkets over here, some tea (Helen likes her tea, English Breakfast in the morning, Afternoon to in the arvo and Earl Grey in evening), the boys got chocolate Easter eggs kits, and a few other bits and pieces as token of gratitude and friendship. I really felt at home here. We had a last supper and settled into the last two episodes of 24. Who would have anticipated the turn! Goodbye to the Powell's hello Pulborough via London Town...

Fri 17th March On the train to London and to Hampstead Heath Youth Hostel. My South African friend Karen had spoken about this place where she used to live in London that had ponds that you could swim in. Women Only ponds and Men only ponds (which apparently have been hijacked by ‘those who have jumped the fence’) and a mixed pond. It turns out that the Youth Hostel is right next to the heath where the ponds are. Decided I would go for a run in the morning and investigate, maybe even go for a quick dip. Dropped off my gear in an old boarding school type place which is now the Youth Hostel and set out to explore London. Went to Covenant Garden, the Transport Museum, the British Museum, the Natural History Museum. By this stage I’m over museums but sit in on an interesting lecture at the Natural History Museum by one of Britain’s leading meteorologists, seems like we’re doomed to global warming and wild weather from here on in. He reckons we need to cut down on energy usage, shorter showers etc. I thought the English had the upper hand in this battle, their reputation for not tubbing regularly surely should put them in good stead for this fight. They’ll be taking a bath once a month (even if they don’t need it)! Later on in the arvo caught up with a mate who is working over here in Wimbledon, Ben Shaw. He said the English are so proper. He’ll have people around for dinner and they’ll suit up, tie the whole kit! Then they’ send ‘Thank You’ cards the next week! What happened to Friday night; a pizza, a few beers and Friday night football! Speaking of which, go the Hammers in the FA Cup! Also found out recently that I didn’t get tickets for Australian verses Croatia in the World Cup over in Germany! Sod it! I’m going to see Spain verses Saudi Arabia which will not be quite the same but better than a…

Sat 18th March meeting Amanda Paterson (originally from Orange, Roger and Glenyce’s daughter today for an outing with her fiancé and his mates. Got up early and went for aforementioned ran. Didn’t go for the swim, forgot the towel, which sounds like a feeble excuse but it’s as cold as a witches wardrobe over here, I would have turned all the colours of the English flag, red then blue then white.
Great to see Amanda, she is working MTS style with a church in London, Christ Church Mayfair. She gets married to a fellow called Andy Martin mid year. Andy is at Oakhill College training for the Anglican Ministry and is eventually hoping to return to Africa where he grew up as a missionary kid. Great bloke! We went for a walk in Wendon and then down into the town for a great pub lunch and sitting around reading. Very civilized! Went back to Oakhill and watched Ireland beat England. I couldn’t let on too much but was going for Ireland.

Sun 19th March Went to Mayfair church with Amanda. Great meeting, pretty similar style to what over in Australia. They do preach a lot slower and more formally then we do, but very easy to listen to. Preached from Ephesians 2:1-10 about being ‘with Christ’, his resurrection, his place in heaven and receiving God’s kindness as a result. Felt feed and uplifted. Headed off to Pulborough in the afternoon for the next phase of the adventure.
Found my way to Church Side, an old cottage next to the church on the hill and met Joanna Benson. This will be the place of my abode for a week (see photo’s) where I’ll be doing and intensive foundations course (see article).

Photo Gallery Wales and Cambridge

The River Cam; Kings College Chapel; Snow at Snowdonia Saturday Night; On your Bike; Moi; The Crew: Karen, Colin, Steve and Seva

Wild Woolly Wales - Spiffo What

An absolutely fabulous weekend Mountain Biking in Wales, a simply splendid supper with the Webb’s and John Piper's 'dropping' in tomorrow at Tyndale to write another cracking book on Desiring God - what oh! Nothing like a bit of name dropping to start a blog. Actually I found out I'm lower class - no surprises there.

Apparently there are 7 things to look out for to differentiate the upper class from the lower classes. They're in a book called 'Watching the English: Hidden Rules of English Behaviour'. There is a section called Class Indicators.

Ready to take the test?

1. What do you call your parents?
2. What do you call the meals of the day?
3. What do you call the piece of furniture that you sit on in front of the TV?
4. What do you call the course after the main meal?
5. What do you call the place where you go to relieve yourself?
6. What do you call a wealthy, well to do person?
7. What do you say when you have made a mistake?

Answers: (If you answered this way your acting like an upper class ....)

1. Mummy & Daddy (Mummy & Daddy - what about Mumsy Cor Blimey!)
2. Lunch & Supper - if it is really special - supper becomes dinner (lower classes say dinner for lunch and tea for supper. Tea for the upper class is in the afternoon and you have cups of tea and cucumber sandwiches - what ho!)
3. Sofa (if you say lounge, your out)
4. Sweets (if you say desert your Australian, the lower classes all say puddin')
5. Loo or lavatory (if you say toilet, ...)
6. Smart (if you say posh, guess what your not)
7. Pardon me (if you say sorry, sorry lower class)

Fri 10th - Sun 12th March
Wales was wild. Different country. Not sure of the rock formations around those areas, but a lot of bluestone and slate is used for everything. When you enter into a village it is on the edge, the fine edge of quaint and depressing. The natural beauty is breath taking. We were in Snowdonia National Park down on the south west part of Wales. The place where we rode is called Coen - y - Brenin. That's one of the easier ones to pronounce. Most have your lips and teeth and jaw doing unnatural things. The mountain bike tracks were very good. The write up talked it up, saying the Karrimor trail is the best in Europe. Not having ridden anywhere else it is hard to compare, but don't scorn the tracks around Orange - they're not bad. Karrimor went for 38 kms and climbed to 1110 metres. We had a big dump of snow on Saturday night which brought a different dimension to the riding. And of course your not going hard enough if you don't come off at least once. We had a three doctors with us, and one was a gynaecologist so we were right. The landscape was rugged and covered mainly in pines, so it sort of had a familiar Orange feel to it, though the pines were natural not planted. Single track, forest trail, hard technical sections, not too many jumps and no man-made burms or see saws. Got to ride a very good hire bike, a Specialized FSR XC which is a later, next step up model to the one at home. Hydraulic Disc Brakes are good! Anyway enough of the techo stuff. A snowy white wild and woolly wonderland of fun.

Mon 13th Spent most of the day travelling home, stopping in at a few quaint Welsh towns with unpronounceable names. Spent some time wondering how the church camp went. Great to hear that it went so well. Thanks for all those who emailed, commented etc. Got on the London Underground at Hammersmith and encountered signal failure. The place was in chaos. Eventually got to Kings Cross and a country train to Cambridge. Man! Cambridge is a welcome home away from home. Thanks Richard and Helen. Got in just in time to sit down for two more episodes of 24. Three more sessions to go!

Tues 14th Hooray!!! Finished my first draft of the essay and sent it off to PWB to give critical feedback. Ah! this is rare, finishing on time to send it to be assessed before a final draft needs to be submitted. Usually it is a dash to the post office at quarter to five to get a post mark on it showing the date of final submission, and if your late madly racing to Orange East who shut at 5.30! This one does not have to be in till 16th of June... Something very wrong with having everything done in a month that usually takes 6, but praise the Lord it's almost finished. Off to Spanish Inquisition next, just remember no one expects the Spanish Inquisition.

And dinner with Barry and Alison was really pleasant, a lovely warm couple who are very hospitable. It is sad that the Cambridge leg is coming to an end (maybe I'll find a foot). It has begun to feel like home. Have made good friends, done a lot of work, and had a little bit of time to play.

And John Piper is supposed to be coming. He's sharing the cubicle with my friend David Hohne who will have to be on his best, most joyful behaviour!

Australia vs the Queen's English

Sun 5th of March

Had my first run in with the local constabulary today riding to Church. I’ve been mainly going to St Andrews the Great which is right in the main heart of Cambridge shops. The road in from where I’m staying turns into a one way street, just before the church. I knew it was wrong but on a pushie…wondering how strict on bikes the bobbies would be . Anyway I soon found out. One stepped out from the footpath, stood in my way with his hand held high blowing his whistle. I had to break hard not to knock him over. The first thing he said was ‘I’m glad your brakes worked’. So was I. Although it would have been a bit funny. He then told me it was a one way street. I apologised, best not to argue with the law. Then he told me that the man they had apprehended had just been arrested for the same offence. I think he was pulling my leg. The fellow they had in custody I’d seen around quite a bit and had him pegged already as a drug dealer. Anyway, I walked the rest of the way to church, I’m not sure how repentant I was…this poem came to mind…

This is Just to Say
I have eaten
the plums
that were
in the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

William Carlos Williams

Mon 6th of March Uneventful day really… Therefore I shall take the time to lay out a schedule for the next week or two.

Fri 10th - 13th Mountain Biking in Wales

Tues 14th - 17th Hopefully finishing off most of the work on Herod Antipasta major essay. Should be tasty.

Sat 18th - 20th Heading to London to visit the Queen. No not really, she rang to catch up but I put her off. Visiting Amanda Paterson from Orange instead.

Sun 20th - 26th West Sussex phonetics, Spanish learning starts.

28th Fly out of London for Malaga, Spain. Hopefully meeting Brett and Ruth at the airport and driving to Cabra to settle into life in a southern Spanish village.

Tues 7th March oh just remembered have been watching 24. Didn’t get a chance to see it in 2002 so have been hard at it. Most free nights have watched an episode or two or three. I think we are up to 7.00 PM. A friend of the Powell’s comes over on Tuesday nights to watch West Wing episodes or other such things. I’d never heard of it but apparently it was big.

We had a funny discussion about the differences in language between Australian English and the Queens. Over here they call pants trousers. Pants in England are undies. Anyway Liffie, the friend who comes over was relating a funny interview that an Australian conducted over here with a famous female celloist. She was saying that she found it hard to play the cello in a skirt. To which the Australian male interviewer said, ‘Why don’t you wear pants?’ To which everyone burst out in outrageous fits of laughter and the celloist blushed.

Helen then told of a funny incident with an Australian accountant who had just started at Richard’s work. The boss had them over for supper. The Aussie fellows wife got into a conversation with his boss about the weekends. She said ‘Andrew loves nothing more than to get around on the weekend in a pair of thongs’ to which the boss quickly broke off the conversation excusing himself to get a drink. Over here a thong is a G-String…

Wed 8th March Hit the wall with essay. Have read too much and am procrastinating before I write. This is a bad time in the process for me…

Thur 9th March Have broken through the wall, and am writing. Not sure how far I’ll get would like to get most of it done before the weekend and tidy up all the work next week.

Slow Saturday in Cambridge

4th March. Today is Saturday. I spent the day around Cambridge looking at old Colleges and churches. So many people who have done amazing things; Eramus, Tyndale, Latimer, Rydley as well as poets like Milton, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Elliot, Byron, Kipling, Pepys, AA Milne (for those who enjoy Pooh - which reminds me of a trick question, 'What is his middle name?' - answer latter), and Tennyson and scientists; Babbage, Darwin, Kelvin, Crick, Hawking and Newton and comedians; Cleese, Idle, Oddie and Tim Brooke-Taylor so many people have resided here who have gone on to do so many things. Also many died during the two WW's.

I rode out to the American War Cementry in the early morining. They have a memorial strip of water, about 100 metres or more long and at either end a flag pole and cenotaph. They both reflect in the pool of water. It was a really clear, bright morning so I rode out first thing, looking forward to still waters and clear skies to catch the light and reflection. When I got there the water was frozen and covered in ice! Oh well, No reflection. Still in the cenotaph they had a moving mosiac which read something like this, 'They knew not the hour, the day nor the manner of their passing'. So true for all.

The rest of the day was spent tracing the steps of C.S. Lewis. He spent his last 8 years in Cambridge and died the day I was born! Also JFK and Aldous Huxley passed away on the same day. He left Magdalen College Cambridge, slightly jaded. They were biased against his strong Christian beliefs. And although he was a fine scholar in English Literature, he got knocked back a number of times to fill the chair in the faculity. Eventually he was persuaded by J.R.R. Tolkien, his good friend, to apply for the job at Cambridge. He did and got it. He died here. I sat in the chair that he always sat in for chapel.

Also finished the day over the road at The Pickerel, his watering hole, had a quite pint and reflected on the day and life and God. Sat at the window and watched. The river Cam was just off to the right with punts and people. The rugby boys from Magdelene College started coming in after their match. I thought about people and how wonderfully and fearfully we are made. People are the peak of God's creation, beautiful, and great and yet... God created the best and the worst of things in people.

First Assessment Tasks Sent & Photo's

Top: Ancient Olive Tree in the Garden of Gethsemane more than 2000 years old. Next: The Sermon on the Mount site

Next: Sunrise on the Sea of Galilee

Next: Ancient Toilet at Beth Shean

Last: Wailing Wall

Chesterton and Franti

Mmmmmmm Michael Franti and G.K. Chesterton

World’s apart in many ways but while I was reading Chesterton’s essay called "The Slavery of Free Verse", I read a line that reminded my of a line out of a Michael Franti song called "What I Be".

Chesterton is weighing in heavily on the new poetry that emerged late 19 century, Free Verse, that is uncadence, unrhyming. The call was to free oneself from the strictures of poetry that held to candence and structure. Chesterton didn’t agree. Even though the affect or the content of the poem may be good, or even be impactful, he upheld some eternal principle in the order and the rhyme. He had a way with words and found that trusting in the ‘fag-end rather than the principle’ was abhorant. (Reminded me of a T.S.Eliot line but that's another story...). Rather than being liberated by such free verse, he felt it was enslavement. He said that if humans were truly free, we would talk in ‘rhythm and even in rhyme’.

I wonder what Chesterton would have said of hip hop and Franti’s style of music and poetry. Franti sees himself as a poet and hits the spoken word circuit at times.

So reading Chesterton and the line ‘I have always had the fancy that if man were really free, he would talk in rhythm and even in rhyme’ reminded me of this line out of Franti’s song ‘If I were the words, then everything that everybody said would rhyme’

Here is the rest of the song for anyone whose interested:

What I Be - Michael Franti off Eveyone Deserves Music

If I could be the sun
I'd radiate like Africa and
Smile upon the world
Intergalactic love laughter and
If I were the rains, I'd wash away the whole world's pain and
Bring the gift of cool like ice cream trucks on sunny days and
If I was the earth I'd be like mountains bountiful
And if I were the sky so high, I'd be like wind invincible and
If I could be a seed, I would give birth to redwood trees and
If I were the trees, I'd generate the freshest air to breathe in

(chorus)
What I be, is what I be
What I be, is what I be
well, well, well, movin on!
well, well, well, movin on!
Do you love someone? Do you love somebody?
Love that one!

If I could be the leaves, then like jade I would stay evergreen and
Spread my limbs out wide and pull love so close to me and
If I could the roots, I would dig deep like ancestry and
If were the fruits, you'd make the sweetest cherry pie from me and
If I could be the night, my moon replace all electric lights and
Magic music would transmit from outer space on satellites
If I myself could be the ocean, you would feel emotion all the time and
If I were the words, then everything that everybody said would rhyme

(chorus)

If I could be sex my words would protect
I'd be in the lives of all who connect
What the heck, I'd make it so we all got selected
pores would be dripping pure hot intellect and
The minds of the masses would all stay erect and
Then just for kicks, I'd mail out some checks
Addressed to those who sent their used latex in
Yes, that's what I would if I were sex
If I could be you, you could be me
I could be you, you could be me
I could walk a mile in your shoes.....
And you could walk a mile in my bare feet

Chesterton’s essay is in A Motley Wisdom; The Best of G. K. Chesterton.

Christian Heritage Tour of Cambridge

1st of March Apparently it is the beginning of Lent today, Ash Wednesday. An appropriate day to visit the chapels and colleges in Cambridge and do a Christian Heritage Tours. It was good. It seems Cambridge was at the heart of the English Reformation with the continental reformers writings being shipped up the Cam, and read and discussed by Latimer and Ridley and Tyndale and the like at the White Horse Inn. Went to the place outside of St Mary's the Greater, the University Church, where in the 1521 they burnt Luther's books.

Last night was Shrove Tuesday, you eat pancakes and generally make a pig of yourself getting rid of all the rich food in the pantry so that you can starve for the next 40 days to identify with Christ, before Easter. I ate too many and had Maple Syrup and Chocolate topping, to keep in step with the tradition.

Ash Wednesday, (not Ash's nickname the day) is remembering the old dust to dust, ashes to ashes, funk to funky, (no that's not part of it), anyway you go up for Lord's Supper and the bloke down the front rubs some ash on your forward so every one can see you're being pious.

Which is ironic 'cause latter this arvo I went to St. John’s for Evening Song and they read from Matthew 6 where Jesus specifically says not to make a big deal about it all and just act normal if you're fasting.

It reminds me of the first time I came across this thing. It was in Orange and Martin and I decided we needed to kick in more with the Orange & District Ministers Association. So we put our hands up to host the next meeting at Martin's Shed at the back of his house. We bought all this steak and marinated it the night before. We fired up the Barbie and started cooking the steaks. The first bloke to arrive was one of the Anglican curates. He had this black mark on his head, so not knowing anything about all this stuff asked him if he'd been working on the car or something. He then explained what it was all about and how from here on in you lay of the rich food. So much for the steaks! The only people who were eating that Wednesday were Martin and Me and a couple of the Penties, everyone else was on bread and water!

Anyway I digress. St. John's Evening Song was beautiful. It was recorded by the BBC. Though there wasn't much congregation participation. It was more like a concert. Everything was sung. I started laughing at the end of the performance. Everyone was standing while the joker on the huge organ upstairs was giving it a whirl. Really winding this thing out! And he hit this really deep, sustained note that started reverberating a piece of wood or panelling just behind me. It sounded like someone was breaking wind. Which is one of the things that got me laughing, then I started wondering if the organists had hit the allusive "brown note" and it was having it's affect!

I tried not to laugh too much, just in case something happened!

Will's House & Warwick's Name & the Butchers from Baldock

Fri 24th Feb took half a day off and went to my new chums, the South Africans, at Hitchin, about 40 minutes south, toward London. I was took cook a roast for them. Tom and I went to this amazing butcher in Baldock. It was so good I got a picture. They sold all things South African, Biltong and the like, which is why Tom likes it. Bought the leg of lamb. And off to fire up the Weber.
Tom and Katinka are the couple, very hospitable. Their friend Karen was over and Tom's cousin. He is an officer in the British Army, just about to go to Afghanistan. So he had a far bit to say. He's just become a Christian. How's this for a dilemma. The orders are to take extra rounds, so that if you are caught you don't fall into enemies hands. As a Christian is it right to end your life under these circumstances?

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Anyway they took up a fair old part of the evening. I stayed up the late, I haven't stayed up that late since I lost my youth, I'm hoping one day to find it again. If you happen to see it...
Sat 25th Feb Went with up the north west to Leamington Spa. We stayed with friends of one of the South African people, Jacqui and Richard's friend Karen. Saw a few of the sights around there. Went to Stratford - upon - Avon on Saturday night to see The Crucible. Really good play. You may have seen the film with Winona Ryder. The part must have cost her quite a bit. She got caught shop lifting soon after! Later, after the play we went and visited Will's house, nothing much doing, no one was home. I thought we might be able to get a cup of tea and a few sonnets, but nay...

Sun 26th Feb visited Warwick Castle. A grand affair. They have all these people dressed up in medieval costume, Old Sydney Town style with the whippings and the jousting and the pillaging. They have a full scale catapult they give a whirl in the summer. That's one thing I've noticed, everything seems to happen in the summer. It probably isn't the best time of the year to visit England in the winter, if your planning a trip over here. Napoleon made the same mistake. He seemed to make a lot of mistakes! I think this is the place Warwick was named after.

Could someone confirm that.

Another thing I've noticed is that South African's say Oh is it! not a question but a statement like we might reply to someone's information they just told us Is that right? Funny hey.

Mon 27th Feb Had left my pushy down at Cambridge Station for the weekend. Was surprised to see it still there. They have a huge problem with bikes being stolen. Apparently there is a racket that operates between Oxford and Cambridge. They steal the bikes from one place and sell them in the other. A few years ago Cambridgeshire Council thought they would put a stop to the theft, they brought a truck load of push bikes and just left them all around the city. No need to steal anyone’s. If your coming home on a Friday night with the old wobbly boot on you can just pick up a bike at the designated depot, ride it home. Wake up smelling like Roses on Monday and ride it back into town. Good idea? With in a week they were all gone, the lot had been stolen. AH the heart of darkness of the human kind.

Started on my translation of John 19:16-27. It's only a few verses, but when your Greek is up the creek it takes a while.

Tues 28th Feb finished translating and commenting and flowcharting and listing further research topics which was assignment number 6 gone. Only have the major essay to write. Am vacillating between Herod Antipas and Pontius Pilate.

Any suggestions.

Plan to take an easy day tomorrow and go on the Round Church walk of Cambridge. It is a walking tour that the Round Church, an evangelical church, which they use to evangelise. It is the Scholars and Saints tour of all the colleges and how Cambridge was central to the English Reformation. I hope the weather is fine.

Today it snowed 6 times in between sunny breaks...