Happy Sundae

Last Monday we had a lecture by our British Life and Culture instructor, the infamous Bob Craig. He is number one on everyone's list of 60 year old, sexy Englishmen. We all hang on his every word for each lecture and tour he provides for us. This lecture was especially intriguing because it was about London at war. Most of my lecture notes are lists of dates and events which are quite boring to go over and review although I am glad to have learned them. The bits of my notes that draw my attention are where I wrote down some of the stories Bob told us of how people such as his own parents lived during WWII. Bob himself was a young boy when they were still using ration books in London after the war. He told us about how his sister would use his ration books for extra candy.

We learned about "Doodlebugs" which were the German V1 flying bombs that targeted London in 1944. 2300 of them fell in London and killed over 6000 people. These bombs were terrifying to Londoners because they could hear if a Doodlebug was coming, and they would pray it would keep flying passed them. Bob Craig told us that according to his mother, if you could hear the motor cut out you had about ten seconds to say goodbye to life because the bomb was on its way down. She also said, however, that during the Blitz (Sep. 1940-May1941) she lived every day on adrenaline and life was more exciting. Certainly the colors were brighter because every moment was lived as if it could be the last.

Dr. Hubbard gave us a miniature scavenger hunt for the Imperial War Museum to be completed by Friday morning. I knew that I wanted to spend a lot of time at the museum to soak things in but the week wasn't going to provide me with that kind of freedom. I went with Mindy to the museum for about an hour on Thursday afternoon just to get the thing done which got me excited to go back for a more intimate exploration. Gillian and I went together on Sunday and discovered a lot of wonderful things. One area of the museum was dedicated to the children of war. I had some emotional thoughts here because I am so passionate about children and their need for security.It was heart-wrenching for me to hear about the evacuation of children during the war. I pictured them having to leave London and be shipped out to some unknown destination. They didn't know if they would ever see their parents again. I work with children and I have family members with young children so it broke my heart to imagine any of them having to experience that. There was also a life-sized model of a WWI trench that we walked through. The only light in the "trench" came from some lanterns that were hung along the trench walls. The ceiling of the room was painted black and it made the experience seem like being in a trench at night. There were wax soldiers around talking war strategies with each other. I could really place myself there and feel the anxiety. We also walked through a model house made to represent a WWII era house in Europe. Near this model was an example of an Anderson Shelter which was commonly set up in the back gardens of these houses. (see picture above) Bob had told us in the lecture that these shelters were strong enough to protect someone inside from anything but a direct hit. Gill and I walked toward the shelter behind a mother and her two children and I heard the woman say, "we used to have one of these in our backyard." Her comment caused me to rewind and update my perspective on everything. This museum documents the history of her own life and family. The very ground they have walked on their whole lives was once in complete ruin. Their parents and grandparents lived daily in fear and surely she grew up hearing of their first-hand experiences with war.

I would love to be able to describe for you my intimate walk through the Holocaust museum, but I can't. I could make it my challenge to walk through that exhibit for a third time and try to figure out how I can express to all of you how it makes me feel, but I wont. I will tell you one thing I learned about Hitler that rocked my world. Hitler formulated WWII to be a distraction from his ultimate plan. He had the world so focused on the stage that no one thought to check out what was going on behind the curtain.

I spent my evening in solitude, even while enjoying the company of my friends at O'Neills. Generally Sundays are the days of the week when I feel refreshed, recharged, and ready to take on the week ahead. The Holocaust museum exhausted me. Thank God for the late night O'Neills ice cream Sundae that turned my attitude around and reminded me that life goes on.