Welcome to "The Paddington Files"

Hello there!

To briefly reiterate the description, this blog will follow my daily life and adventures as I spend five weeks in London serving the London ICOC's Campus Ministry. Five weeks in London! I don't think I can wait another minute. I'll be departing California on June 26th for my grand British internship, but I'd rather call it a grand British adventure. Adventure is out there, and I believe living life to the full is the way to go. Otherwise, you'll look back with regret. So an internship in London – why not?

But before I hop on the fast-moving train of explaining how I came about this internship, I would like to give a little background of myself. And I will explain why I chose the name of my blog, of course!

My name is Hannah Middlekauff. I spent most of my childhood in California, which was only briefly interrupted when I lived in Virginia during my second- and third-grade years. Although, I wouldn't necessarily call it an interruption since I have an affinity for the East Coast – it was more of a blissful two years in Virginia. I now attend New York University – I recently finished my first year! Let me just say: New York City is everything I had imagined and more. I thoroughly enjoyed my first year, and I cannot wait for the next three years. I secretly wish that the school days wouldn't go by so quickly, because NYC has stolen every bit of my heart. I could not have picked a better university to attend or a better city to live in. The people of New York are, interestingly, my favorite part. I have found friends for life, and they have all stolen my heart just the same.

And this is where the internship comes in. Earlier in the spring semester, I was discussing with one of my friends the idea of studying abroad. Of course, I would love to study abroad, but it is surprisingly quite difficult to figure out. You have to make sure the foreign site offers the courses you need. And if it doesn't, then you have to account for potentially losing a semester of credits you could've been taking at your regular campus. Since I am a Pre-medicine student, this turns out to be even more difficult to figure out – I have to plan my semesters accordingly for MCATs, as well as Medical School applications. Well, I wanted to study abroad in London. As I was talking about these frustrating difficulties, my friend mentioned that there was an internship for the London ICOC's Campus Ministry. Of course, I jumped at it immediately – a chance to serve God and spend decent time in London. It couldn't have been more perfect.

After sending in my application, there was nothing left for me to do but pray. The whole process had been so sporadic and so on a whim that I didn't know if I would actually get the internship. So I prayed for God to make His plan to me obvious – if I wasn't meant to go to London, then I wouldn't get the internship. No matter how much I wanted to go to London, I knew God's plan would always be better than mine. The weeks passed, and I didn't hear much about the internship. I became discouraged (especially since I had been rejected from about two other internships in the weeks after I submitted my application to the London ICOC) and started to give up on the idea of the internship. Nonetheless, I decided to trust God, because who am I to tell Him that He's wrong about His plans for my life? Unbeknownst to me, God absolutely had a plan. And His plan was for me to spend five weeks in London building up His (United) Kingdom. (Did you like my play on words there!?)

I'm so excited to serve God this summer, as well as learn from the Campus Ministry leaders in London! I'll be learning Biblical leadership skills, and I'll be learning how to study the Bible with fellow campus students. I'll be sharing my faith on campuses in London, and I'll be serving at Campus devotionals as well as church services.

Now on to the name of my blog! Not only is Paddington a district within the City of Westminster (in central London), but Paddington also happens to be the name of my well-loved teddy bear (I call him Paddy for short). Of course, I'm sure many other children have Paddington Bears since he is a well-known bear (check out his website: http://www.paddington.com/home.html), but my Paddy is very special to me. Paddy has practically been with me since birth – he is, quite surprisingly, still with me today. He is well worn and greatly loved, and he still holds in one piece (thank goodness). Lucky for him, Paddy comes with me almost everywhere. He was with me all throughout my childhood. He came with me to college, and will continue to come with me to college. He has been on every family vacation. And now, he will be accompanying me for five weeks in London. Paddy is a well-traveled bear!

Since Paddy will be with me in London of course, I decided to name this blog "The Paddington Files." A reference to London, as well as a reference to the dear bear that has kept me company my entire life.

With that, I conclude my first post. I wish you all the best, and I can't wait for you to share in my British adventures! And for these next fourteen days, Paddy anxiously awaits our departure: