Food & Discussion: Eating, chatting and chatting more

South-African Bobotie with Yellow Rice as main and Milk Tart for pudding was enjoyed by 40 odd guests this Wednesday 28th September, followed by food for thought with the interesting topic ‘Science (Art) and God’. The BISC team had been slavishly working all afternoon to get the food for the discussion forum ready. Don’t forget on the same day 12.00pm 2.00 pm the BISC kitchen and lounge was set up for the weekly soup lunch. I am always struck arriving on Wednesday morning about 10.00 a.m. of the wonderful savoury aroma that hits your nostrils as soon as you open the front door and walk in! I digress. The food prepared was yummy! Slightly more international students arrived than we expected, yet there was more than enough for all to enjoy!

After dinner Dr Charl Faul, a Christian and a noted chemist and lecturer at the University of Bristol, gave a well prepared presentation. The presentation was neutral and did not argue for one side or another. Guest were invited to form their own opinions and encouraged to seek facts within different ‘schools of thought’ before forming these opinions. One ‘school of thought’ was that faith and science do not necessarily have to apose one another, and where there might be contention between the two it need not end up in a sort of academic slanging match, damaging the credibility of both sides! Perhaps there is a lesson to learn from this.

The Blogmaster when reading for a Master’ degree at Leicester University in 1918 compiled a dissertation on Science, Religion and Education in Victorian Britain. It is interesting to note that part of the problem why other nations overtook Britain in industrial supremacy was because the politics of education in the 19th century was inundated with internal religious in-fighting. Not something we are proud of, but certainly something we were able to learn from.

Well back to the discussion: some very interesting questions from the audience followed Dr Faul’s presentation. The questions came from a number of disciplines, including psychology, biology and the humanities. The discussion was lively and stimulating, but the respect shown by all for differences in opinion, struck me as truly remarkable. It was an absolute pleasure participating in a Forum like this where every individual is entitled to their own beliefs and opinions.

As the Blogmaster, I am being slightly naughty in taking the liberty of sharing a personal story with you. Two years ago I experienced healing (which I believe to be at the hand of God) from a life threatening condition. This and working as a BISC volunteer, which in itself was a miracle and not by my own design, gives me total peace and happiness – ask me sometime and I will tell you what happened to me. In no way would I like to diminish the important role that science played in my healing process, but throughout my healing process, I know that I had a big encounter with a very big God of love!

If you would like to investigate Christianity in a non-threatening and relaxed atmosphere, please do sign up for the Alpha course commencing next Wednesday 4th November. Come and enjoy another two course meal and then stay for the course itself. As in the case of the Food and Discussion Forum, the course is not intended to convert you to Christianity. It is a simple two way approach leading to enriched discussion whilst respecting the opinions and beliefs of all involved. As with all other BISC events, international students of all faith backgrounds and those with no faith are most welcome.

Well that’s all for now folks. The Blogmaster

The International Reception: Celebrating our multi-cultural world

The International Reception: Celebrating our multi-cultural world

Saturday 24 October 2009 was United Nations Day, and Bristol had its own United Nations celebration at the International Reception held in Woodlands Church, commonly called Woodies!

About 450 guests attended and 53 nations were represented. The food was varied to suit all tastes and customs, and the entertainment superb. There was also this grey haired gentleman walking around in a white jacket and a red bow-tie. Was he selling ice cream or was he the head waiter?!

The jazz band was out of this world and they kept up a stream of traditional and modern jazz throughout the evening. The evening ended with ‘Amazing Grace’, a truly remarkable end to and amazing evening. I have never heard a jazz band play Amazing Grace before. I have heard it played on bagpipes though, but somehow the jazz version created gentleness deeply complimentary to this beautiful song.

Mingling around the reception and talking to a number of nationalities I was struck by the privilege of the BISC Team and other volunteers able to befriend international students at large. The love and friendliness of 50 odd nations represented at the International Reception was wonderful. The entertainment too was excellent, particularly the Chinese Lion Dancers and the Capoeira Dance Routine. The Chinese Lion was spectacular; I have never been so close to one before. It must have taken a lot of energy to be inside the Lion dancing away! Equally the energy and skill shown by the Capoeira Dance Routine was breathtaking. Perhaps if you wish to get fit and lose weight, join me and sign up for the Bristol University Chinese Lion Dance Society or the Capoeira Beribazu Bristol.

The BISC Team performed well, particularly in the animal game! I never heard so many animal accents before. The picture of the sheep was misleading. It could also be interpreted as a cow (moo) wearing a wig! I did notice that the BISC member behind the mask made a sound like bah humbug! It was more like Ebenezer Scrooge (read the blog for ‘A Taste of the UK’)! We must all thank the BISC team and other volunteers for their efforts and time organising the event with the minimum of disruption. In particular Jacqueline, Charl, Ruth, Ann, Phoebe, Dave and Xiaomei must take the most credit for the wonderful success of the evening.

Towards the end, that man in a white coat was with Ann saying good night in a number of languages, to the departing guests. Indeed John was complimented on his Spanish (adios amigo). However this is the only Spanish he knows! When the band was playing the last number, Ann, who had forgotten to take her pills, began dancing with a number of guests, particularly H from China. Yes it was all good fun, but the evening had a message as was evident from the Alpha video and Rob Scott-Cooke’s message (read more about this elsewhere on our website).

And the message from the BISC Team is this: Welcome to the whole world! Join us in all that we do. Make BISC your home away from home. Investigate new things, make new friends, share your own culture, learn about other cultures, practice your English, teach us your own language. There is so much to life in Bristol.

May we also take this opportunity to thank our two excellent photographers who captured the evening in all its brilliance! Thank you to professional photographer Dan Blueman and BISC photographer Daniel Benson. You have captured our memories of this evening in a truly superb way.

This is the Blogmaster now signing off and may you all have a rock and rolling time this week.

‘Knit One, Purl One’ – A knitting afternoon to remember

On Wednesday 21st October fifteen brave souls arrived at BISC to share in the age old art of ‘knit one, purl one’. As with all other BISC events there was off course enough refreshments in the form of cake, tea, coffee and hot chocolate to give everyone the energy boost they needed.

BISC volunteer Pat Bennett, CU members Keith Upton and Emily Weston, and Anna Guyatt and Andy Bell as member of the Knitting Society (University of Bristol) took the lead in organising and teaching the rest of us.

Pat, Anna and Andy started the afternoon inspiring us with beautiful examples of both simpler versions of the knitting art and also slightly more challenging pieces. And then it was down to business as we seriously tried to get the hang of knitting in the modern age. Some tried ‘plain stitch’, some tried ‘pearl stitch’ and others were brave enough to try a combination. Plenty of mistakes were made, but this did not deter us in the slightest. We laughed, ate, chatted and kept on trying with much more success by the end of the afternoon.

In fact, we were so inspired that most of us signed up to become members of the Knitting Society – highly recommended!
Please see http://www.ubu.org.uk/societies/knitting and find out how to join.

And as you can see from the photographs, this is not only an art form to be enjoyed by the ladies. The gentlemen were quite excellent and figured out the mechanics of knitting in no time.

Until our next ‘knit one, purl one’ afternoon, I wish you farewell. The Blogmaster.

A Taste of the UK – English Culture at its best

I trust you all enjoyed your evening out on Saturday to taste English culture and food at Ebenezer Church. The transport was brilliant, with so many volunteers from various churches driving us to Ebenezer and back again. Thank you for that, you were marvellous.

The cultural events were wide, ranging from a 1950’s film about the Royal Family, the World Cup of 1966 and the life and death of princess Diana 12 years ago. Mind you England has not achieved a World Cup final since 1966. In 1966 the Blogmaster was just 19 years young and in Germany!

Tony with his guitar and mouth organ was brilliant as usual. His first folk song about a street entertainer called Seth with his dancing dolls, who performed on the streets of Liverpool just over a hundred years ago, always makes me a little sad. During the same period, Bristol would have had its street entertainers in what is now the Centre and Park Street.

What about the food? Did you enjoy your sausage and mash, better known as ‘baggers and mash’, with peas and carrots and onion sauce? What does this menu say about the English? I enjoyed mine especially as I had three sausages! The apple pie and ice cream was also delicious. The post dinner entertainment was brilliant. The song ‘Amazing Grace’ was written by an Englishman called John Newton. He began life as a seafarer and became a captain of a slave ship plying between Bristol, the West Coast of Africa and the Caribbean. God intervened in his life and he saw that the slave trade was evil and abhorrent and gave up his sea life. He became a priest with the Church of England and was part of a pressure group led by William Wilberforce that eventually influenced the government to ban the slave trade.

I don’t know much about Ebenezer except that he was the main character in Charles Dickens novel, ‘A Christmas Carol’. Ebenezer Scrooge was a grumpy bad tempered man of business in mid Victorian England. His life’s aim was to make a worldly profit at the expense of others. Yet on Christmas Eve one year he had a visitation of the supernatural, which changed his life and he became happy and benevolent. In some ways both Newton (who was real) and Ebenezer Scrooge (who was not) reflected a change of life experience. We should ask Ebenezer Church whether their name relates to this powerful tale of a life changing experience.

How did you fare with the quizzes? I checked around a few tables and assisted where possible. No it wasn’t Worcester and cream! It was Worcestershire sauce. Worcestershire and cream is a complete contrast. Worcestershire sauce is hot and savoury and with cream that is sweet and cool the blend would taste horrible. Cream goes with apple pie. The contrast of hot and savoury with cream in some ways reflect the lives of John Newton and Ebenezer Scrooge, where in life changing experiences, they threw off their image of hot and savoury and took on the characteristics that represent cream especially when poured on to apple pie, the apple pie representing the world.

Well, there you have it the taste of English culture blog. What were your experiences? Please respond, as I would like your views. Signing off until next week

Have a good week. See you at BISC or the Octagon at UWE and especially at the International Reception. Remember entry is free and you don’t have to book. Bring your friends and enjoy a spectacular multi-cultural evening with food and entertainment from across the world.

Yours, as ever, the Blogmaster.

Fancy that of London – Our BISC Trip on 10 October 2009

What a time to get out of bed, 6ish in order to be at BISC for 7.20 at the latest, for our coach ride to London. Early in the morning the weather seemed ok as we boarded our coaches and proceeded to the various pick up points thence to the motorway. The M4 motorway took us towards a very enjoyable day in London. And what a day it turned out to be! September, being one of the warmest in decades extended itself into October and we had a lovely sunny day to enjoy with temperatures around 18 degrees in the early afternoon. The crowds on the streets of London seemed to join in our excitement.

The guided tour gave us an overview of the main attractions in London. Starting with the Victoria & Albert Museum we then cruised through the affluent Sloane Street. This is where the posh live, or so I’ve heard. They are commonly referred to as the Sloane Rangers by those who are not so posh, including me the Blogmaster.

We passed by Buckingham Palace and saw the crowds gathering there as well as the Queen’s guards. Did you note the red jackets and tall hats called bearskins? One day, if you wish, I will tell you the history of the Guards. Nearby we passed Hyde Park and Wellington Square. The Duke of Wellington was a famous British general, although he was born and brought up in Ireland. Wellington fought the Napoleonic French armies in Portugal and Spain between 1809 and 1814. This period in British history is known as the Peninsular War. One year later in 1815 Wellington defeated the Napoleonic French Army at Waterloo near Brussels in Belgium. The British guards as mentioned above took on napoleon’s Imperial Guards who were the best in Europe. The British Guards thereafter wore bearskins similar to those worn by the Imperial Guard.

Wellington later became Prime Minister, and believe it or not his policies were very civilized. For example, he gave British Catholics the vote. The London railways terminus of Waterloo is named after the battle. Some people think the battle was fought at Waterloo Station. Well it is fought over on weekdays with thousands of commuter travelling to and from work!

Our guided tour also included Tower Bridge that is just over 100 years old. I think it was completed in 1900. Then we bussed around Trafalgar Square known, amongst others, for the impressive National Gallery and Nelson’s Column. On top of the tall colonnade is the stature of Admiral Lord Nelson a contemporary of the Duke of Wellington. The name of Trafalgar is a small peninsular in Spain where nearby the battle, which was called Trafalgar, took place in October 1805. Nelson defeated the Spanish and French fleets but was himself killed in the battle. The British sailors stuffed his body in a barrel of rum to preserve in order that he could be buried at St Paul’s Cathedral. I wonder if the sailors drank the rum afterwards?!!

St Paul’s Cathedral was itself a sight to behold. We were given the opportunity to get off the coach and view this magnificent architectural art piece from all sides. Our guides were informative and very entertaining with an excellent sense of humour.

Other sights that could be viewed up close or from a distance was: The Royal Courts of Justice, The Theatre Royal, London City, London Bridge, Big Ben, the London Eye, and much more.

If you would like to respond to this blog and say what you did in your free time please feel free to contribute. Some BISC member enjoyed an excellent lunch in an authentic restaurant in ‘China Town’. Others strolled through St. James Park, visited Piccadilly Circus or shopped until they dropped at Harrods and Oxford Street.

Well that’s all for this blog folks. Tune in next week for the blog on ‘A taste of the UK’. Regards Blog master.