Once again it's Christmas, and I am in a different country, different
customs and ways of celebrating Christ's birth. People keep asking me
if I am sad to be away from home during this time but I have to say no.
Yes, I love the family traditions, the memories I have but times change
and it won't always be what we remember as children it to be.
Actually, being in another country is amazing because it gives you a
totally different perspective - kind a renewed excitement in it. Here
in Holland it starts with Sinter Klaas who comes over on the boat from
Spain late November and then on December 5th everyone puts their shoes
out in front of the fireplace for him to fill. I was raised in an
environment that never acknowledged Santa, which I am thankful for, but
it was pretty cool to see how other cultures brought him in as a figure
and where we as North Americans got the commercial idea of Santa
anyways. I decided to join in and be as "Dutch" as possible so I went
with a friend to welcome Sinterklaas in from Spain and see all the
highly disputed Black Peters. As always it was watching the reaction
of the children which made it worthwhile, their little faces glowing as
they sang and danced in their black Peter costumes (which resemble
Medieval minstrel outfits).
The managers here have done an
amazing job of trying to make sure that all of us volunteers are so busy
enjoying all of the festivities that we will not miss our homes too
much during this time. We had Staff day at the end of November to go
iceskating, Thanksgiving was a huge production, which I got to cook for
most of - made me feel almost like I was back in my community, running
around like a crazy woman trying to get everything finished. For
Sinterklaas night, which was December 5th they had people come in
through the window to deliver treats and pass out the presents and poems
we had written for eachother and tonight we have an a fancy Christmas
dinner that they are putting on for us and we are all supposed to dress
up for. (I am really excited actually ;)) We are celebrating Christmas
early for the staff because the 24th and 25th are going to be more
centered around making it special for the guests here in the hostel.
Surprisingly we are fully booked over the holidays...it really makes you
wonder why people would choose to be away from home during that time
and I plan on having many opportunities for great conversations.
I want to touch back a little on Thanksgiving before I move on as this
year was very different for me. It started off from questions from
non-native Americans who had never celebrated it before and didn't
understand exactly what we were celebrating. It appears to them as
though we are celebrating a freedom that we got by enslaving and taking
from other people, and honestly, I never really did come up with a good
answer for that. But I will say that beside them trying to understand
the origins of Thanksgiving they really did love how we celebrate it;
inviting anyone and everyone to share a meal and fellowship with us.
Over half of the 40 people we (the Americans) made dinner for were
celebrating Thanksgiving for the first time and it was such an amazing
experience to see it for the first time again, through their eyes. But
besides the element of really thinking about why I/we celebrated
Thanksgiving I also had to struggle with finding out very early on the
morning of Thanksgiving that a very dear person to me had died - it was
hard to be excited and joyful when I knew that so many of my friends
were grieving as I was. Again I was reminded of life, of how I had
taken his for granted - never considering that I would not have another
chance to express to him my appreciation for who he was and how much he
meant to me, I realized again that nothing is worth leaving someone on a
bad word or unsettled feelings with because you really don't know if
you will ever see them again. I am so grateful that I did not have any
regrets in this area with my friend but it definitely made me consider
my other relationships and how I had left them. There is really
something the writer of Ephesians 4:26 got spot on when he told us, "do
not let the sun go down on your anger".
So besides all of the
hustle and bustle of Christmas here and just trying to soak in the
beauty of spending the holidays in another place I am once again struck
at how I am not sure that I truly grasp the beauty of what happened at
Christmas - yesterday at MTP, Jeroen asked us what joy did the
celebration of Christmas do for us and mean to us? I realized that I
often just celebrate it - I have read the story so many times that I am
afraid that I have become almost numb to the greatness of the story -
and I really don't like that...so how do I make it fresh in my heart?
Yes, getting to spend a Christmas in Germany and Holland is amazing,
getting to see all the decorations and Christmas markets in Spain and
Belgium are wonderful but it means nothing really...I want it to be real
in my heart, to fill me with such joy and excitement that I can spill
that over to all of the fortunate travelers who get to stay in our
hostel. So for those of you who are my prayer warriors...please pray
that I would have a new revelation of what the birth of Christ means for
me, you and each person who walks through these doors.
I am truly
sorry that I have been so negligent in getting a blog out and I have
already started on on my trip to Spain so stay tuned!!!
Love each and every one of you and May your Christmas time be more than amazing!
Wednesday 29 January 2014
Encounters of another kind
Our hostel ministry has two focuses – that of
ministering to the guests who stay from one night up to a week usually
and then we have ppl who come to us who have no where to go and so in
exchange for room and board they clean the hostel. With these people we
have much more of an opportunity to build relationships with to share
Christ with.
One of these cleaners was a women, Zeta who came from Greece and had worked in the Shelter Jordan and then moved to the Shelter City, where I work. When I met Zeta I was impressed that she was someone who had come through so much – a very strong, independent woman who needed no one to take care of her. She had a very abrupt personality, she didn’t beat around the bush with what she wanted or expected of people. At first I was not exactly sure how to relate with her and mostly our interaction would be hellos, smiles, and me making her sandwiches but one day we had a little run in about something, but it turned out to be a good thing because we worked out our difference of opinions and left the conversation knowing and understanding each other better. One of the issues dealt with in the conversation was the whole, “if you’re a Christian then you should do this…” and I was trying to explain that just because people have a label of Christian does not mean that we always do everything right and it also does not mean that we have to do or give everyone whatever they want. Through this conversation I definitely saw that she was very cynical about Christianity as a whole.
After this encounter though our relationship started to grow – nothing huge, just small jokes, teasing her about getting dressed up to go out, hanging out with her once or twice outside of the hostel…I believe that it is so important to build relationships with people; like building a bridge into their lives. I was touched when one day she came up to me with a stone cross and asked me to write something on it so that she would always have it with her. But even then I wondered why she had chosen a cross.
Shortly after this Zeta left the Shelter so that she could be free to be a part of the Gay Pride week. I did not know that she was leaving and so was not able to say goodbye to her, which made me sad but I hoped that I would bump into her again. About a week later I was in the hostel and I walked past one of the rooms and as I passed by the open door I spotted her unmistakable silver colored, crew cut hair, T-shirt, and sweat pants. “Zeta!” I exclaimed with surprise. She came over and I instantly knew something was so different about her; her face had a softer, more relaxed look and she had such a big smile on her face. I asked her why she was back (because normally we only let ppl clean for a month and then they have to continue on), “It’s, a miracle!” she said, and with more enthusiasm then I had ever seen her express she started to tell me how when she had left the hostel she thought she had all these friends and contacts in the city that she could count on but a few day into being on her own she realized that no one was keeping their promises of giving her a place to stay or having jobs for her. She had ended up with no place stay and had slept one night on the street and the next day was sitting all alone, crying and crying because she had no one to go to for help. She prayed to God, telling Him that she needed help, desperately. So about 2am she came to the hostel hoping that we would have an open bed that she could stay in, which we did, and because she had almost no money she really needed to work for her bedroom. It just so happens that one of our cleaners left early so a cleaning position opened up and she could work the next week as a cleaner for us. “Kara”, she said, “I have always known there is a God and I believe that He made me, and He made me strong so if I need something then I am enough to get it for myself but today, I saw a different side of God; I know that today He saw me crying and answered my prayers – there was no way this was luck.”
I don’t think I can do justice to what it felt like, standing there seeing hope and joy in someone who for the first time, really had experienced the personal love and friendship of our amazing Lord but I had goosebumps while I talked with her. It’s moments like that I am so encouraged in what we are doing here. It can often seem very futile trying to show Jesus to people who are only with you one or two days and even those who stay longer often times have walls built up against Christianity so you can sometimes wonder if you are making a difference but in that moment, I knew for her, it had made a huge difference.
So for those of you who are prayer warriors out there – please continue to pray for Zeta - she has her own apartment now and a job so we don’t really see her but my prayers for her is that God puts people in her path who will continue to encourage and love her into Jesus and that she would come to know Him as her best friend – not just a God who created her and now has no interest but a God who is intimately interested in every detail of her life.
One of these cleaners was a women, Zeta who came from Greece and had worked in the Shelter Jordan and then moved to the Shelter City, where I work. When I met Zeta I was impressed that she was someone who had come through so much – a very strong, independent woman who needed no one to take care of her. She had a very abrupt personality, she didn’t beat around the bush with what she wanted or expected of people. At first I was not exactly sure how to relate with her and mostly our interaction would be hellos, smiles, and me making her sandwiches but one day we had a little run in about something, but it turned out to be a good thing because we worked out our difference of opinions and left the conversation knowing and understanding each other better. One of the issues dealt with in the conversation was the whole, “if you’re a Christian then you should do this…” and I was trying to explain that just because people have a label of Christian does not mean that we always do everything right and it also does not mean that we have to do or give everyone whatever they want. Through this conversation I definitely saw that she was very cynical about Christianity as a whole.
After this encounter though our relationship started to grow – nothing huge, just small jokes, teasing her about getting dressed up to go out, hanging out with her once or twice outside of the hostel…I believe that it is so important to build relationships with people; like building a bridge into their lives. I was touched when one day she came up to me with a stone cross and asked me to write something on it so that she would always have it with her. But even then I wondered why she had chosen a cross.
Shortly after this Zeta left the Shelter so that she could be free to be a part of the Gay Pride week. I did not know that she was leaving and so was not able to say goodbye to her, which made me sad but I hoped that I would bump into her again. About a week later I was in the hostel and I walked past one of the rooms and as I passed by the open door I spotted her unmistakable silver colored, crew cut hair, T-shirt, and sweat pants. “Zeta!” I exclaimed with surprise. She came over and I instantly knew something was so different about her; her face had a softer, more relaxed look and she had such a big smile on her face. I asked her why she was back (because normally we only let ppl clean for a month and then they have to continue on), “It’s, a miracle!” she said, and with more enthusiasm then I had ever seen her express she started to tell me how when she had left the hostel she thought she had all these friends and contacts in the city that she could count on but a few day into being on her own she realized that no one was keeping their promises of giving her a place to stay or having jobs for her. She had ended up with no place stay and had slept one night on the street and the next day was sitting all alone, crying and crying because she had no one to go to for help. She prayed to God, telling Him that she needed help, desperately. So about 2am she came to the hostel hoping that we would have an open bed that she could stay in, which we did, and because she had almost no money she really needed to work for her bedroom. It just so happens that one of our cleaners left early so a cleaning position opened up and she could work the next week as a cleaner for us. “Kara”, she said, “I have always known there is a God and I believe that He made me, and He made me strong so if I need something then I am enough to get it for myself but today, I saw a different side of God; I know that today He saw me crying and answered my prayers – there was no way this was luck.”
I don’t think I can do justice to what it felt like, standing there seeing hope and joy in someone who for the first time, really had experienced the personal love and friendship of our amazing Lord but I had goosebumps while I talked with her. It’s moments like that I am so encouraged in what we are doing here. It can often seem very futile trying to show Jesus to people who are only with you one or two days and even those who stay longer often times have walls built up against Christianity so you can sometimes wonder if you are making a difference but in that moment, I knew for her, it had made a huge difference.
So for those of you who are prayer warriors out there – please continue to pray for Zeta - she has her own apartment now and a job so we don’t really see her but my prayers for her is that God puts people in her path who will continue to encourage and love her into Jesus and that she would come to know Him as her best friend – not just a God who created her and now has no interest but a God who is intimately interested in every detail of her life.
A typical day in the Shelter
People have asked me what do my days look
like...wellll, I will try to give a little picture of My Typical Day -
Well, really no day is typical here in the Shelter but I will try. :)
*Don't forget to play the song that I attached while you read because
that song got me through a lot of the hard and frustrating times*
I try to wake up around 6:30 – 7:30 depending on whether I had evening shift the night before or not. I try to dress as quietly as possible without waking up my roommate who thinks that I am crazy for liking the mornings; then I head out to have some “me” time. With about 30 people in our house I have come to covet being alone. So I have found a few spots that I go to get away. One is called Bickers Wharf; there I can sit on some steps that go right up to the water and watch the boats go by as I listen to the waves lap against the stairs. Conveniently there is a cute café right there in case I want to get a coffee AND I have found that they are some of the cheapest coffee drinks that I have found here so that makes me very happy :D
The other spot that I have kept a secret from everyone else is triangle shaped piece of land that juts out into the water where I when I sit there I can feel totally alone. There is grass and often people come to walk their dogs so I get to get doggie fixes too J I love that spot so much as I can really get away and feel alone – something I have found vitally important to my sanity. It’s not that I don’t love being with people but when you are constantly meeting new people in the hostel and then you come home and everywhere you turn there are people you find yourself having no patience for anyone. It’s kind of funny to me actually how annoyed I have found myself getting at little tiny things. I am not exactly the neatest person but I have found that I am a lot cleaner of a person than I thought when living in a house with people who have not grown up the way I did and think that it’s perfectly acceptable to leave their dishes exactly where they finished eating, not clean the dishes they used to make said meal, start their laundry but don’t realize that putting it away is also part of the process (honestly, sometimes I wonder how some people have any clothes to wear), or just don’t stop to consider that if they do not put the furniture back after working out or watching a movie, who is going to do it? I know that most of these things are small but when you have a lot of people it really magnifies the problem. And honestly I found myself really, really struggling with this area because even though I would wash other peoples dishes, or straighten the living room a thousand times a day or wipe the table I was extremely upset while doing it. I would grumble and complain to myself and other people about how irresponsible some people are and though I should have felt good about being a servant I never did. But last week I had a really great conversation with a girl who I met salsa dancing and she had a similar experience with a roommate until one day she had the epiphany that she was the only one hurting in this situation because the person/people causing the mess are not bothered by it and simply don’t see it but here we are getting all worked up about it and for what? She said that she realized that either she just needed to clean up after her friend happily or let it go and not touch the mess. And I realized that I very much needed to do the same. Because no matter how “right” my actions where with a bad attitude I was losing all of the blessings of serving other people. So I have really tried implementing that and already I have been a happier person. No, it’s not always easy to walk through and ignore a heap of dirty dishes but at least I am determined to not get upset by it.
So after having time alone I usually come home and try to work out or make breakfast and go to work. We have several different shifts that we rotate so here is a list of those:
Morning café – starts at 7:15am and ends at 1:30pm
Afternoon café – 1:30 to 6:30pm
Evening café – 6:30 – midnight
Morning reception 7:45am to 1:30pm
Morning/Afternoon reception 9am-3pm
Afternoon/evening reception 3pm-9pm
Evening reception 6:30 – midnight
Cook shift 2pm-8pm
Sleeper shift 10pm to 7am
Hahaha, you all may be yawning by now but some people have asked me for details so HERE you go!
My favorite is Morning café even though it is early because I get to ride through the city when it is all quiet and the sun is shining bright, I get to see almost everybody in the hostel cause they all want breakfast, and the once the shift is over at 1:30pm I have the rest of the day to do whatever. I actually have to say that café is my favorite shift no matter what time – I thought that I would like reception but it’s actually really stressful sometimes and if you do it several days in a row you start to really get impatient with people. You meet so many people in one day and most of them come at busy times so you are just trying to get them checked in, checked out, charge their phone, switch their beds, explain where the windmills are, and that NO, they DO NOT get a student discount while there are 10 other people waiting behind them. I like making connections with people but since I really struggle with multi tasking I have to cut out the small talk to avoid mistakes which make it a pain when you are trying to balance the register and computer at the end of the shift. The other day I was really stressed because I had a very manipulative fellow trying to get me to give him free stuff and a young, wisp of a boy came up to check out. His attitude had been rude from the first moments when I accidentally assumed he was from Northern Ireland, when in fact he was from Scotland. But this particular moment he was feeling extra cheeky and was giving me issues about turning in his voucher (the pass for our hostel) - I had had enough of his attitude and leaned over the counter, looking him square in the eyes, and told him that a little manners went a long way and he really needed to change his attitude. The quiet that fell in the reception area was impressive and my colleague looked at me with surprise and a hint of admiration. After he had been properly checked out and I had finished the line of people behind him, who were definitely on their best behavior, Jenny (my co receptionist) told me that I could take a break and “take as long as you like”. Honestly, though, I don’t feel that telling him off was wrong. But I have come to realize that cultures are SO different and people are raised SO differently so for me to get offended by the actions of someone is silly because I may be taking it totally wrong. For example the Dutch and German people are notoriously honest and blunt and for Americans it can be quite shocking and disconcerting at first but once you get used to it, it becomes somewhat comforting because you don’t really have to guess what they are thinking or wanting because, by golly, if they think it, they’re going to say it J
So after (or before) shift I usually try to workout, which consists of doing Insanity right now. I am so grateful that one of the girls here is a basketball player and trains like a beast so she motivates me so much. You would think that with all of the biking that we do here we would have no problem keeping in shape but one of the things that I was super surprised with when I settled in to living here was that the level of health-consciousness is extremely minimal. Chocolate spread and chocolate sprinkles on top of already buttered bread is the preferred breakfast or snack and aspartame is in almost every drink as well as other products. My ability to buy food is limited so I have really struggled with maintaining my nutritional goals and have been really struggling lately with trying to get back on track; you know everyday setting your goals and then walking out of your room and realizing that keeping those goals is going to be sooo much harder than you thought when you were sitting on your bed planning your day.
The rest of the day could be filled with our MTP (Ministry Training Program) - usually on Monday, Wednesday, and/or Friday and consists of practical and spiritual training. We have “small group” on Tuesday mornings, which consists of eating breakfast together and sharing about our week, doing a project around the house, or doing something fun together. Dinner is everyday at 5:30pm and thankfully is not mandatory, as many days I just need to take that time and be alone. Dinner for the staff is held at the hostel that you work at and is followed by a devotional that the managers prepare. We take turns cooking so dinner always has a different flare depending on who cooked it, where they came from, and how much cooking experience they have.
Any extra time during the day is sure to be filled even if you had no plans starting out that morning because there are always people wanting to go to markets, parks, out to grab coffee, swimming, museums, watch a movie, or play music together. I find that when I am in my room it is very hard for me not to here the people go by and wonder if I am missing out on something exciting that’s about to happen.
Anyways, once again there is so much more that I could say about my day but I am late (again) at getting this out so I will post this one and start right away on my next one that will be talking more about some specific stories regarding the work that we do here because lately I have had some really cool encounters.
I try to wake up around 6:30 – 7:30 depending on whether I had evening shift the night before or not. I try to dress as quietly as possible without waking up my roommate who thinks that I am crazy for liking the mornings; then I head out to have some “me” time. With about 30 people in our house I have come to covet being alone. So I have found a few spots that I go to get away. One is called Bickers Wharf; there I can sit on some steps that go right up to the water and watch the boats go by as I listen to the waves lap against the stairs. Conveniently there is a cute café right there in case I want to get a coffee AND I have found that they are some of the cheapest coffee drinks that I have found here so that makes me very happy :D
The other spot that I have kept a secret from everyone else is triangle shaped piece of land that juts out into the water where I when I sit there I can feel totally alone. There is grass and often people come to walk their dogs so I get to get doggie fixes too J I love that spot so much as I can really get away and feel alone – something I have found vitally important to my sanity. It’s not that I don’t love being with people but when you are constantly meeting new people in the hostel and then you come home and everywhere you turn there are people you find yourself having no patience for anyone. It’s kind of funny to me actually how annoyed I have found myself getting at little tiny things. I am not exactly the neatest person but I have found that I am a lot cleaner of a person than I thought when living in a house with people who have not grown up the way I did and think that it’s perfectly acceptable to leave their dishes exactly where they finished eating, not clean the dishes they used to make said meal, start their laundry but don’t realize that putting it away is also part of the process (honestly, sometimes I wonder how some people have any clothes to wear), or just don’t stop to consider that if they do not put the furniture back after working out or watching a movie, who is going to do it? I know that most of these things are small but when you have a lot of people it really magnifies the problem. And honestly I found myself really, really struggling with this area because even though I would wash other peoples dishes, or straighten the living room a thousand times a day or wipe the table I was extremely upset while doing it. I would grumble and complain to myself and other people about how irresponsible some people are and though I should have felt good about being a servant I never did. But last week I had a really great conversation with a girl who I met salsa dancing and she had a similar experience with a roommate until one day she had the epiphany that she was the only one hurting in this situation because the person/people causing the mess are not bothered by it and simply don’t see it but here we are getting all worked up about it and for what? She said that she realized that either she just needed to clean up after her friend happily or let it go and not touch the mess. And I realized that I very much needed to do the same. Because no matter how “right” my actions where with a bad attitude I was losing all of the blessings of serving other people. So I have really tried implementing that and already I have been a happier person. No, it’s not always easy to walk through and ignore a heap of dirty dishes but at least I am determined to not get upset by it.
So after having time alone I usually come home and try to work out or make breakfast and go to work. We have several different shifts that we rotate so here is a list of those:
Morning café – starts at 7:15am and ends at 1:30pm
Afternoon café – 1:30 to 6:30pm
Evening café – 6:30 – midnight
Morning reception 7:45am to 1:30pm
Morning/Afternoon reception 9am-3pm
Afternoon/evening reception 3pm-9pm
Evening reception 6:30 – midnight
Cook shift 2pm-8pm
Sleeper shift 10pm to 7am
Hahaha, you all may be yawning by now but some people have asked me for details so HERE you go!
My favorite is Morning café even though it is early because I get to ride through the city when it is all quiet and the sun is shining bright, I get to see almost everybody in the hostel cause they all want breakfast, and the once the shift is over at 1:30pm I have the rest of the day to do whatever. I actually have to say that café is my favorite shift no matter what time – I thought that I would like reception but it’s actually really stressful sometimes and if you do it several days in a row you start to really get impatient with people. You meet so many people in one day and most of them come at busy times so you are just trying to get them checked in, checked out, charge their phone, switch their beds, explain where the windmills are, and that NO, they DO NOT get a student discount while there are 10 other people waiting behind them. I like making connections with people but since I really struggle with multi tasking I have to cut out the small talk to avoid mistakes which make it a pain when you are trying to balance the register and computer at the end of the shift. The other day I was really stressed because I had a very manipulative fellow trying to get me to give him free stuff and a young, wisp of a boy came up to check out. His attitude had been rude from the first moments when I accidentally assumed he was from Northern Ireland, when in fact he was from Scotland. But this particular moment he was feeling extra cheeky and was giving me issues about turning in his voucher (the pass for our hostel) - I had had enough of his attitude and leaned over the counter, looking him square in the eyes, and told him that a little manners went a long way and he really needed to change his attitude. The quiet that fell in the reception area was impressive and my colleague looked at me with surprise and a hint of admiration. After he had been properly checked out and I had finished the line of people behind him, who were definitely on their best behavior, Jenny (my co receptionist) told me that I could take a break and “take as long as you like”. Honestly, though, I don’t feel that telling him off was wrong. But I have come to realize that cultures are SO different and people are raised SO differently so for me to get offended by the actions of someone is silly because I may be taking it totally wrong. For example the Dutch and German people are notoriously honest and blunt and for Americans it can be quite shocking and disconcerting at first but once you get used to it, it becomes somewhat comforting because you don’t really have to guess what they are thinking or wanting because, by golly, if they think it, they’re going to say it J
So after (or before) shift I usually try to workout, which consists of doing Insanity right now. I am so grateful that one of the girls here is a basketball player and trains like a beast so she motivates me so much. You would think that with all of the biking that we do here we would have no problem keeping in shape but one of the things that I was super surprised with when I settled in to living here was that the level of health-consciousness is extremely minimal. Chocolate spread and chocolate sprinkles on top of already buttered bread is the preferred breakfast or snack and aspartame is in almost every drink as well as other products. My ability to buy food is limited so I have really struggled with maintaining my nutritional goals and have been really struggling lately with trying to get back on track; you know everyday setting your goals and then walking out of your room and realizing that keeping those goals is going to be sooo much harder than you thought when you were sitting on your bed planning your day.
The rest of the day could be filled with our MTP (Ministry Training Program) - usually on Monday, Wednesday, and/or Friday and consists of practical and spiritual training. We have “small group” on Tuesday mornings, which consists of eating breakfast together and sharing about our week, doing a project around the house, or doing something fun together. Dinner is everyday at 5:30pm and thankfully is not mandatory, as many days I just need to take that time and be alone. Dinner for the staff is held at the hostel that you work at and is followed by a devotional that the managers prepare. We take turns cooking so dinner always has a different flare depending on who cooked it, where they came from, and how much cooking experience they have.
Any extra time during the day is sure to be filled even if you had no plans starting out that morning because there are always people wanting to go to markets, parks, out to grab coffee, swimming, museums, watch a movie, or play music together. I find that when I am in my room it is very hard for me not to here the people go by and wonder if I am missing out on something exciting that’s about to happen.
Anyways, once again there is so much more that I could say about my day but I am late (again) at getting this out so I will post this one and start right away on my next one that will be talking more about some specific stories regarding the work that we do here because lately I have had some really cool encounters.
The world of the Shelter
The Cafe in the hostel that I work. Remember, this is right on the edge of the Red light District,
Words to describe the past two weeks?
Wonderful, crazy, fun, intense, inspiring, convicting, mind blowing,
exciting, challenging, and exhausting to name a few.
After arriving at the volunteer’s house in Jordan, Amsterdam Tuesday , July 2nd around 2pm I quickly dropped my backpack off in my (temporary room) and hurried to the MTP (Ministry Training Program) I was already late for. Overwhelming would be the word I would use for the first few hours that I was in Amsterdam; besides all the new sites that I had taken in while walking from Centraal Station to the “House” I now had about 30 new ppl whose names I had to remember – that’s not easy under normal circumstances but it’s even harder when they have names like Marijn, Marije, Joroen, Nadina, Aart-Jan etc… My mind was spinning as I sat down to class with about 15 other new volunteers for orientation.
Hennie (an amazing women who seems to be the “mother” of the hostel) welcomed us all so warmly and began our training; one of the first instructions given and one that was reiterated over and over was, “Get enough sleep – take time for yourself to be with God, processing what you encounter daily.” I recognized it as wisdom then but even more so now. Life as a volunteer here in the Shelter is amazing but extremely busy; there are always people to hang out with, exciting things to do, and work to be done so though I have only been here a week I see how valuable that advice was. The things that we as volunteers encounter every day are so different from what most of us are used to and it can leave you mentally and emotionally drained without even realizing it. I have already had to say no to a fun afternoon out with some of the other “Shelterites” (as we are fondly known around Amsterdam’s Christian circles) to just sit out along one of the canals and be alone with God, to journal and think about conversations that I have had with guests in the hostels and subjects that have been discussed in our training classes. Speaking of training classes – I LOVE them! I wasn’t sure what to expect as I have never done evangelism training before and so was a tiny bit nervous but the first class that I went to was on “How can God allow violence?” And though it was/is a very, very difficult subject to discuss I was so blessed and impressed by the speakers wisdom in the subject. We also had a class Homosexuality and the Amsterdam Gay scene as the Gay pride is coming up – that one was super challenging and actually left my mind spinning in circles. But One of my favorite talks was on how to relate to an individual’s culture because if you can relate to who they are then you can find common ground to discuss life and perhaps deeper issues with. For me personally this class was absolutely amazing because I really love music and want to pursue that more but don’t feel that as a Christian I have to just be limited to the “Christian genre”. I long to use music to express myself, bridge cultural gaps, and give a common ground to relate to people. So when our instructor was talking to us about how to relate to someone you have to find common ground, know where they are coming from, why they are traveling, etc. I was on the edge of my seat to learn everything I could especially when he brought out how we could use music to find common ground with people.
I would have to say that one of the most surprising things for me here in the shelter is the amount of Americans that are here; I think that at least 60% of the volunteers are American. On July 4th it was pretty funny because I came walking down the stairs to 4th of July Decorations everywhere in the house (something which the other nationalities represented were not too fond of ;) ). We celebrated our Independence Day by having a bbq out in the park and playing, soccer, Frisbee, and volleyball all at once…
I could regale countless stories to you of harrowing bike rides, funny, serious, sad, and inspiring conversations, breathtaking views, and getting lost but I only have an hour to finish this before I head to afternoon/evening reception training so I am going to finish this and get it posted if it’s the last thing that I do! I have literally been working on it for the past two weeks but it seems that my moments alone are so few and far between that I usually only get a paragraph or so done before I am interrupted by an invitation to go somewhere, workout, or even if I am sitting by myself in a coffee shop (oops! CAFÉ!) I invariably end up chatting to the person next to me. So Today is THE day to finish it!! J
So I have been mostly trained on evening café which entails starting with dinner and prayer at 5:30pm and starting work at 6:30pm in the café – cleaning, cooking, serving coffee, talking to people, and sometime even getting to have a jam session with other musicians. In other words…I LOVE it!!! The evening café also means that you lead a short Bible reading and prayer time at 11:30pm, which has proven already to be quite intense. I have already led times where we had people who were drunk and high there and have realized that I am going to have to learn quickly to recognize those symptoms BEfore I let them start talking…people under the influence can be incredibly longwinded! After evening prayer we prefab breakfast for the next morning and lock the café up. So usually I don’t get home until about 12:30 am. For those of you who know me…I am not a night person so this has been a challenge but it’s been a good one. Today I am being trained in reception , which I hear can be quite exciting with all of the characters that we can have coming through and it’s great because you get to meet everyone in the hostel instead of just the people who come to the café.
So there are a couple of really cool things that have happened to me since starting here two weeks ago which related to some of my goals of being here in the Shelter. One of those is that I really hope to make a decision about the direction of my future. I know that the two areas that really interest me and I hope to pursue are not related at all so am struggling with how to choose between the two to focus on one. I was also worried that I would have to give those things up for the time I was here at the Shelter. I really prayed about this before I came; that God would show me how I could progress/grow in both these areas. In the past two weeks that I have been here I have realized that my passion for music and healthy living will actually be cultivated, NOT neglected here. There are pianos and guitars both at the house that I live at as well as in the hostel I work at and there are so many opportunities to play and sing with people. It’s awesome! I have also had a lot of people encouraging me to continue and pursue a musical career, Even had like 4 ppl tell me that I should go on x factor ;) – not sure exactly how this will play out but it’s an answer to prayer for me, just that doing what I love DOES touch people...this makes me so happy. In the nutrition area it’s been awesome because though I am not perfect at all and struggle every day to make the right choices when there are so many yummy, unhealthy looking things around to eat, I have gained a reputation for being healthy. And some of the managers of the hostel talked to me about helping to come up with practical ways to improve the diet of the hostel volunteers as well as the quality of food that we were serving at the hostel. WOW! It’s soooo cool! Every day I get into conversations with people about health which challenges me to continue growing myself in it.
Ok, so though I have sooo much more that I want to share, I really want to get this blog out for you so I will just close but I hope that you all enjoy it and please let me know if there are anyquestion that you have specifically for me! And I promise to be posting more :)
After arriving at the volunteer’s house in Jordan, Amsterdam Tuesday , July 2nd around 2pm I quickly dropped my backpack off in my (temporary room) and hurried to the MTP (Ministry Training Program) I was already late for. Overwhelming would be the word I would use for the first few hours that I was in Amsterdam; besides all the new sites that I had taken in while walking from Centraal Station to the “House” I now had about 30 new ppl whose names I had to remember – that’s not easy under normal circumstances but it’s even harder when they have names like Marijn, Marije, Joroen, Nadina, Aart-Jan etc… My mind was spinning as I sat down to class with about 15 other new volunteers for orientation.
Hennie (an amazing women who seems to be the “mother” of the hostel) welcomed us all so warmly and began our training; one of the first instructions given and one that was reiterated over and over was, “Get enough sleep – take time for yourself to be with God, processing what you encounter daily.” I recognized it as wisdom then but even more so now. Life as a volunteer here in the Shelter is amazing but extremely busy; there are always people to hang out with, exciting things to do, and work to be done so though I have only been here a week I see how valuable that advice was. The things that we as volunteers encounter every day are so different from what most of us are used to and it can leave you mentally and emotionally drained without even realizing it. I have already had to say no to a fun afternoon out with some of the other “Shelterites” (as we are fondly known around Amsterdam’s Christian circles) to just sit out along one of the canals and be alone with God, to journal and think about conversations that I have had with guests in the hostels and subjects that have been discussed in our training classes. Speaking of training classes – I LOVE them! I wasn’t sure what to expect as I have never done evangelism training before and so was a tiny bit nervous but the first class that I went to was on “How can God allow violence?” And though it was/is a very, very difficult subject to discuss I was so blessed and impressed by the speakers wisdom in the subject. We also had a class Homosexuality and the Amsterdam Gay scene as the Gay pride is coming up – that one was super challenging and actually left my mind spinning in circles. But One of my favorite talks was on how to relate to an individual’s culture because if you can relate to who they are then you can find common ground to discuss life and perhaps deeper issues with. For me personally this class was absolutely amazing because I really love music and want to pursue that more but don’t feel that as a Christian I have to just be limited to the “Christian genre”. I long to use music to express myself, bridge cultural gaps, and give a common ground to relate to people. So when our instructor was talking to us about how to relate to someone you have to find common ground, know where they are coming from, why they are traveling, etc. I was on the edge of my seat to learn everything I could especially when he brought out how we could use music to find common ground with people.
I would have to say that one of the most surprising things for me here in the shelter is the amount of Americans that are here; I think that at least 60% of the volunteers are American. On July 4th it was pretty funny because I came walking down the stairs to 4th of July Decorations everywhere in the house (something which the other nationalities represented were not too fond of ;) ). We celebrated our Independence Day by having a bbq out in the park and playing, soccer, Frisbee, and volleyball all at once…
I could regale countless stories to you of harrowing bike rides, funny, serious, sad, and inspiring conversations, breathtaking views, and getting lost but I only have an hour to finish this before I head to afternoon/evening reception training so I am going to finish this and get it posted if it’s the last thing that I do! I have literally been working on it for the past two weeks but it seems that my moments alone are so few and far between that I usually only get a paragraph or so done before I am interrupted by an invitation to go somewhere, workout, or even if I am sitting by myself in a coffee shop (oops! CAFÉ!) I invariably end up chatting to the person next to me. So Today is THE day to finish it!! J
So I have been mostly trained on evening café which entails starting with dinner and prayer at 5:30pm and starting work at 6:30pm in the café – cleaning, cooking, serving coffee, talking to people, and sometime even getting to have a jam session with other musicians. In other words…I LOVE it!!! The evening café also means that you lead a short Bible reading and prayer time at 11:30pm, which has proven already to be quite intense. I have already led times where we had people who were drunk and high there and have realized that I am going to have to learn quickly to recognize those symptoms BEfore I let them start talking…people under the influence can be incredibly longwinded! After evening prayer we prefab breakfast for the next morning and lock the café up. So usually I don’t get home until about 12:30 am. For those of you who know me…I am not a night person so this has been a challenge but it’s been a good one. Today I am being trained in reception , which I hear can be quite exciting with all of the characters that we can have coming through and it’s great because you get to meet everyone in the hostel instead of just the people who come to the café.
So there are a couple of really cool things that have happened to me since starting here two weeks ago which related to some of my goals of being here in the Shelter. One of those is that I really hope to make a decision about the direction of my future. I know that the two areas that really interest me and I hope to pursue are not related at all so am struggling with how to choose between the two to focus on one. I was also worried that I would have to give those things up for the time I was here at the Shelter. I really prayed about this before I came; that God would show me how I could progress/grow in both these areas. In the past two weeks that I have been here I have realized that my passion for music and healthy living will actually be cultivated, NOT neglected here. There are pianos and guitars both at the house that I live at as well as in the hostel I work at and there are so many opportunities to play and sing with people. It’s awesome! I have also had a lot of people encouraging me to continue and pursue a musical career, Even had like 4 ppl tell me that I should go on x factor ;) – not sure exactly how this will play out but it’s an answer to prayer for me, just that doing what I love DOES touch people...this makes me so happy. In the nutrition area it’s been awesome because though I am not perfect at all and struggle every day to make the right choices when there are so many yummy, unhealthy looking things around to eat, I have gained a reputation for being healthy. And some of the managers of the hostel talked to me about helping to come up with practical ways to improve the diet of the hostel volunteers as well as the quality of food that we were serving at the hostel. WOW! It’s soooo cool! Every day I get into conversations with people about health which challenges me to continue growing myself in it.
Ok, so though I have sooo much more that I want to share, I really want to get this blog out for you so I will just close but I hope that you all enjoy it and please let me know if there are anyquestion that you have specifically for me! And I promise to be posting more :)
Highlights of Germany
Well, two weeks have passed since my last blog post
and I am now sitting in (yet another) train on my way to Amsterdam! I
was really afraid that I would not make the connection in Hannover as I
only had 4 minutes to change platforms and recently my track record for
understanding public transport has not been the best. Last Saturday
night/Sunday morning I found myself completely lost at 2:00 am and it
was a little bit scary. See what happened was that I had been at a
friend’s house for a goodbye party but was supposed to stay my last
night in Munich with another friend who had not been able to make it to
the party so I had my (huge) backpack with me to take to her house after
the festivities. I left with a group of friends from the party about
1am but since certain of the underground rails stop running after
midnight I had to get a bus to U3 ; racing to catch the bus it totally
flew my mind to ask someone which stop I needed to get off at and as
the door was starting to close I shouted to them, “wait, where am I
going?” Too late, I couldn’t understand what they said but I thought,
‘”I’ve got this, I can figure it out”. Well, the short version of the
story is that I did NOT have it – after getting off the bus and
realizing I had not a clue as to where I was, waiting 20 minutes for the
wrong Ubahn (underground) and getting off at a station where the train
had come for the last time that night (they only run until 2am, I stood
forlornly on the corner of the street having no clue what to do until I
saw a cab drive up, - I think that it must have looked like I was
directing a small aircraft from how wildly I waved at him; I was just
taking NO chances, I wanted to be in that taxi so badly. So the story
ends happily with me snuggled in bed at my friend’s house at around
2:45am. I am sure once my mom reads this I will be forbidden from any
future trips alone but I am going to take my chances J
So backing up a little – I spent the last two weeks in Munich, Germany – an absolutely wonderful city. I stayed with 4 different friends during that time and was able to visit with many more. Most of my days were spent by myself as all my friends have jobs and could only hang out in the evenings. The first week was awesome as it was hot and sunny and in Munich there are so many lakes, canals, parks and gardens to visit so I never lacked for anything to do. The second week was sold and kind of dreary – yet I still found plenty to keep my days filled. I will just try to touch on the highlights as two weeks is way too long to record in one blog.
For me it was just so mind blowing that I was back; in some ways my time there seems like years ago and in some ways it feels like no time at all has passed. Going back to church there was a surreal experience, hearing the language all around me (which, I totally regretted not having disciplined myself to learn it while I was home). Every night I had an amazing time hanging out with different friends; from fellowship around dinner, to beir gartens, going to zumba class, and hanging out after church at the Mariandl everything was a highlight because it was always done with friends and for me it’s not so much about the activity that is taking place as it is the company in which it is shared. I would have to say that going to Kennedy’s for Kareoke was definitely a favorite! See, when I was here before it had become quite common for someone to get a group together for some karaoke at Kennedy’s (a very popular Irish pub in Munich) and so the tradition had to be continued… we even had a group of Americans join us because the day before I had been sitting in Starbucks (one of the only free wifi locations) and needed to plug my laptop in but the outlet was next to the girl sitting by me so I asked her to plug it in and of course my luck , I had forgotten my adapter, but she kindly offered to let me borrow her cord as we both had macs. She ended up being from St Louis, had gone to Mizzou (the college in my city), had come here for an exchange program, met a german guy….the rest is history J I invited her to come to Kennedy’s the next night, which she did and brought about 7 other American friends which just added a fun random encounter to my slew of fun memories at Kennedy’s.
A big highlight also was having some friends take me to Salzburg Austria on Saturday – AND they asked me if I wanted to drive their car on the autobahn…their car being a stick shift made me nervous but I was totally not going to let that chance pass me by especially since it was BMW – you just can’t get more cool than that so Lukas managed the shifting of the gears for me and I did just fine – I didn’t actually go much more than 100 mph because of construction going on that kept slowing things down but it was still Awesome! These friends, Sarina and Lukas were actually how I got connected with the ministry that I am joining – Lukas worked for a year there and so being with them before I began my time there was such a blessing and encouragement. I was just so amazed by the hospitality that was showered on me…everywhere I stayed I was told to feel completely at home, given a key so that I could come and go as I pleased. Oh, I have to mention a traditional Bavarian breakfast that Lukas battled torrential rains to go get the ingredients for one Sunday morning. So it’s Weiswurst, (a squishy white sausage) served with a sweet mustard, pretzels (not the American kind) ANNNDDD….BEER! HA, first time I have ever had beer for breakfast…not my favorite but it was still a great thing to do at least once J Supposedly it’s totally acceptable to bring beer to work because in Munich beer is not considered alcohol – legally it’s just like bread, drunk for nutrition. BUT the kicker is that it’s only acceptable in the workplace if you bring enough for everyone J hahah I love it!
So after spending two weeks in Munich I took a train to Wurburg, Germany where my “German Family” live. It was so good to be back in their big, beautiful farmhouse, to see all of them again, to cook together in their kitchen, to sit on the patio catching up with John Pabst while sipping coffee. But my favorite activity was the worship night that we had last night. A group of young people came over and after blind sampling a healthy, gluten free, sugar free, chocolate cake that I had made – which most of them loved and could not believe the ingredients once I told them, Benny Pabst led us in worship…it was so awesome because not only were they musically talented but they were totally abandoned in their worship…ahhh, there were moments when I wished I could have recorded it – voices in perfect harmony pouring out - it was such an absolutely wonderful time together – for me it ended much too soon though were at least 1 ½ hours. After that we went for a walk through the village together, truly a perfect evening of fellowship in worship and fun. I was so sad to leave the Pabst’s home after such a short stay but I know that I will be back soon so it’s not as hard as when I had to come back to the USA.
Well, I just entered the Netherlands! WOW soooo weird that I am in a totally new country now and in about a ½ hour I am going to meet Hector at starbucks who is going to take me to start this new and amazing chapter of my life. I can hardly stay in my seat I am so excited for this. It was scary – the unknown, the uncertainty of what lay ahead of me but the last month I feel like I have experienced God in such another level, fallen more in love, that the future only looks exciting because I believe that He has a plan for me and in the words of Jesus Culture “It’s going to be wild, it’s going to be fun, and it’s going to be full of HIM”.
Just refound a quote by a woman whose home I will actually get to see – a home that is legendary for protecting Jews during the Holocaust.
“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” Corrie ten Boom
So backing up a little – I spent the last two weeks in Munich, Germany – an absolutely wonderful city. I stayed with 4 different friends during that time and was able to visit with many more. Most of my days were spent by myself as all my friends have jobs and could only hang out in the evenings. The first week was awesome as it was hot and sunny and in Munich there are so many lakes, canals, parks and gardens to visit so I never lacked for anything to do. The second week was sold and kind of dreary – yet I still found plenty to keep my days filled. I will just try to touch on the highlights as two weeks is way too long to record in one blog.
For me it was just so mind blowing that I was back; in some ways my time there seems like years ago and in some ways it feels like no time at all has passed. Going back to church there was a surreal experience, hearing the language all around me (which, I totally regretted not having disciplined myself to learn it while I was home). Every night I had an amazing time hanging out with different friends; from fellowship around dinner, to beir gartens, going to zumba class, and hanging out after church at the Mariandl everything was a highlight because it was always done with friends and for me it’s not so much about the activity that is taking place as it is the company in which it is shared. I would have to say that going to Kennedy’s for Kareoke was definitely a favorite! See, when I was here before it had become quite common for someone to get a group together for some karaoke at Kennedy’s (a very popular Irish pub in Munich) and so the tradition had to be continued… we even had a group of Americans join us because the day before I had been sitting in Starbucks (one of the only free wifi locations) and needed to plug my laptop in but the outlet was next to the girl sitting by me so I asked her to plug it in and of course my luck , I had forgotten my adapter, but she kindly offered to let me borrow her cord as we both had macs. She ended up being from St Louis, had gone to Mizzou (the college in my city), had come here for an exchange program, met a german guy….the rest is history J I invited her to come to Kennedy’s the next night, which she did and brought about 7 other American friends which just added a fun random encounter to my slew of fun memories at Kennedy’s.
A big highlight also was having some friends take me to Salzburg Austria on Saturday – AND they asked me if I wanted to drive their car on the autobahn…their car being a stick shift made me nervous but I was totally not going to let that chance pass me by especially since it was BMW – you just can’t get more cool than that so Lukas managed the shifting of the gears for me and I did just fine – I didn’t actually go much more than 100 mph because of construction going on that kept slowing things down but it was still Awesome! These friends, Sarina and Lukas were actually how I got connected with the ministry that I am joining – Lukas worked for a year there and so being with them before I began my time there was such a blessing and encouragement. I was just so amazed by the hospitality that was showered on me…everywhere I stayed I was told to feel completely at home, given a key so that I could come and go as I pleased. Oh, I have to mention a traditional Bavarian breakfast that Lukas battled torrential rains to go get the ingredients for one Sunday morning. So it’s Weiswurst, (a squishy white sausage) served with a sweet mustard, pretzels (not the American kind) ANNNDDD….BEER! HA, first time I have ever had beer for breakfast…not my favorite but it was still a great thing to do at least once J Supposedly it’s totally acceptable to bring beer to work because in Munich beer is not considered alcohol – legally it’s just like bread, drunk for nutrition. BUT the kicker is that it’s only acceptable in the workplace if you bring enough for everyone J hahah I love it!
So after spending two weeks in Munich I took a train to Wurburg, Germany where my “German Family” live. It was so good to be back in their big, beautiful farmhouse, to see all of them again, to cook together in their kitchen, to sit on the patio catching up with John Pabst while sipping coffee. But my favorite activity was the worship night that we had last night. A group of young people came over and after blind sampling a healthy, gluten free, sugar free, chocolate cake that I had made – which most of them loved and could not believe the ingredients once I told them, Benny Pabst led us in worship…it was so awesome because not only were they musically talented but they were totally abandoned in their worship…ahhh, there were moments when I wished I could have recorded it – voices in perfect harmony pouring out - it was such an absolutely wonderful time together – for me it ended much too soon though were at least 1 ½ hours. After that we went for a walk through the village together, truly a perfect evening of fellowship in worship and fun. I was so sad to leave the Pabst’s home after such a short stay but I know that I will be back soon so it’s not as hard as when I had to come back to the USA.
Well, I just entered the Netherlands! WOW soooo weird that I am in a totally new country now and in about a ½ hour I am going to meet Hector at starbucks who is going to take me to start this new and amazing chapter of my life. I can hardly stay in my seat I am so excited for this. It was scary – the unknown, the uncertainty of what lay ahead of me but the last month I feel like I have experienced God in such another level, fallen more in love, that the future only looks exciting because I believe that He has a plan for me and in the words of Jesus Culture “It’s going to be wild, it’s going to be fun, and it’s going to be full of HIM”.
Just refound a quote by a woman whose home I will actually get to see – a home that is legendary for protecting Jews during the Holocaust.
“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” Corrie ten Boom
Tea, baths, and guns
Just another gorgeous wee cottage
"Of course you don't like baths, you're
American" my friend said to me as I prepared to take a shower...I am not
sure that that really is an American thing but she seemed to to think
that as a general rule we are not as inclined to take a bath as the rest
of the world's population would be. I say this because it is just
another instance of the cultural differences that we have. Another one
is Guns and weapons - at least in the midwest it is so much of our
culture to at least own a gun if not have your conceal and carry. And if
your are anything like me then your brothers would be able to arm a
small army between them...and this is normal :) But here, the mention of
guns will send you into a great debate and I found that patriotism and
pride that I did not know existed came bubbling forth. They had quite
good arguments as to why our way of thinking about guns was completely
ridiculous and yet my (and the other native Americans) arguments seemed
just as valid, but more to my point was that I saw in myself a
defensiveness towards what was being said even though I don't own a gun
and hardly ever go shooting. Side note - I tried to explain to the about
frog gigging and oh boy! you should have seen their faces :D I truly
felt redneck then!
Another Cultural difference that I love is "Tea and Biscuits". No matter where you are or what you are doing it seems that everyone stops to enjoy a cuppa and a treat both mid morning and mid afternoon. Yesterday I helped some of the young ppl do a landscaping job on the outskirts of Dublin for a little Irish lady, Mrs. Doyle. At half 11 (the Irish and English way of saying 11:30) she invited us into her kitchen where mugs were set out, tea was steeping in a kettle, milk in a little jug, and a plate of biscuits (the term for anything sweet and cookie-like) in the middle. And again in the afternoon we were invited in for tea or orange juice, we chose the oj because we were already so hot but for me the wonderful part of it is that everyone stops, everyone enjoys a moment together and tea becomes more than just a drink - it becomes an action and a wonderful one at that. I will also say that tea in the States does not tast anything like the tea over here. When I got back to the States the last time I thought that it must have just been a mental thing for me, that I only like tea because I was in Ireland so of course the tea was better. I tried drinking it in the States but just did not like it the same way at all so I reverted back to coffee but now that I am back again I am quite convinced that their tea really is better here because my very first cup was quite delicious and I actually have been preferring that over a cup of coffee...which is CRAZY!
Anyhow, Yesterday I managed to enjoy both an Irish cider AND an Irish coffee at Tulfarris, a golf course and hotel...still need to have a guiness before I leave but I am headed to Dublin on Friday so I think I will then.
Oh yes! This morning I went for a run and it was SO gorgeous! Passed by a field full of sheep and was quite surprised to see that at least 1/8 of them were black ( I have never actually seen a black sheep). One of the things that I love about running outside is the ability to see so many different landscapes.
Another Cultural difference that I love is "Tea and Biscuits". No matter where you are or what you are doing it seems that everyone stops to enjoy a cuppa and a treat both mid morning and mid afternoon. Yesterday I helped some of the young ppl do a landscaping job on the outskirts of Dublin for a little Irish lady, Mrs. Doyle. At half 11 (the Irish and English way of saying 11:30) she invited us into her kitchen where mugs were set out, tea was steeping in a kettle, milk in a little jug, and a plate of biscuits (the term for anything sweet and cookie-like) in the middle. And again in the afternoon we were invited in for tea or orange juice, we chose the oj because we were already so hot but for me the wonderful part of it is that everyone stops, everyone enjoys a moment together and tea becomes more than just a drink - it becomes an action and a wonderful one at that. I will also say that tea in the States does not tast anything like the tea over here. When I got back to the States the last time I thought that it must have just been a mental thing for me, that I only like tea because I was in Ireland so of course the tea was better. I tried drinking it in the States but just did not like it the same way at all so I reverted back to coffee but now that I am back again I am quite convinced that their tea really is better here because my very first cup was quite delicious and I actually have been preferring that over a cup of coffee...which is CRAZY!
Anyhow, Yesterday I managed to enjoy both an Irish cider AND an Irish coffee at Tulfarris, a golf course and hotel...still need to have a guiness before I leave but I am headed to Dublin on Friday so I think I will then.
Oh yes! This morning I went for a run and it was SO gorgeous! Passed by a field full of sheep and was quite surprised to see that at least 1/8 of them were black ( I have never actually seen a black sheep). One of the things that I love about running outside is the ability to see so many different landscapes.
7 months & 1 backpack
If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.
GERMANY | Tuesday, 18 June 2013 | Views [246]
I am trying something new by including a
music selection for you to listen to while you read the
blog...sometimes I have songs that totally come into my head when I am
doing something - this song was chosen because I wondered if I had made
a right decision and just feel like at every turn I am experiencing a
deeper side of God's love for me.
Yet another train station and yet another cup of coffee while I muse over what to write here. This time I am sitting in the Hauptbanhof station in Munich Germany trying desperately to keep my eyes open as I only had about two hours of sleep last night. I am waiting for my friend to come pick my up but her train is not getting in for another hour so hopefully I will finish this before she gets here.
Today's musing is going to be on humanity's kindness; something that has overwhelmed me whenever I travel. Many times when you are traveling you have to rely on the help of complete strangers for directions to somewhere, explain a map, give insight on the best place to go, give you change for a bus that you don't quite have enough for, or even for a place to stay. I loved having reasons to connect with people on my last trip and it's awesome that this trip I actually have been able to develop some of those relationships. This one in particular was a guy that I met on a plane from Dublin to Germany last Christmas; he was reading a book about extreme sports and since I wanted so badly to ski I started asking him questions. Turned out he was a ski instructor in Austria and was headed there for their busy season - we chatted about a lot of things throughout the flight and ended up exchanging facebook names as a way to keep in touch as he offered to teach me how to ski if I could make it to the resort while he was there. *Side note, I have some real issues with facebook but one of the greatest things about it is the ability to stay in contact with people that you randomly meet.* I never ended up making it to the resort that he was working at while he was there though I did get to ski for a week (which was awesome!) but throughout the last year and a half we have kept in touch via Facebook. When he saw that I was coming in to Dublin (he is from munich but is a professor in Dublin) he offered me a place to stay and to show me around. Now, it can (and started to) seem rather foolish for a single young woman to stay with a man that she hardly knows and I have to confess that I started to get nervous. After all, all we ever hear about in the media is the terrible things that happen to young women or travelers. I want to tell the flip side of that, there is a HUGE group of people out there who honestly want to share their homes with other people for free - no bad motives, no desire or expectations of payback, just the knowledge that they are passing a little bit of kindness out to others people.
I stood nervously in front of the Trinity College Gates waiting for him to meet me there, wondering at whether I was being completely stupid for trusting that this guy would be honorable and I hear a warm voice, KARA! As soon as I looked up and saw his friendly, kind smile and that he was genuinely glad to see my my fears dissolved. I actually felt rather silly for all of my worries and felt even sillier as the night wore on and he literally bent over backwards to make sure that I had a wonderful time, including walking me to the bus at 5am in the morning because my "Irish mom" requested it and paying for my bus fare because the only accepted exact change and I only had a big bill...and all he said was that someday, somewhere, I could pay him back...and I totally intend to.
I am not saying that we should trust any random person who invites us to sleep on their couch but I really think it so unfortunate that our culture is so influenced by a media that exploits the bad and pays no attention to the good. Yes, I took a little risk but I was enormously blessed from the experience - not just the pubs that we visited, the walk along the grand canal, the awesome stories that he had to tell of his travels, or the local insight that he gave me on the history of Dublin, but I was blessed by seeing a beautiful side of humanity. There is a whole community of people like this and they call themselves, couchsurfers - you can be a surfer, a host, or both. People open up their spare rooms or couch for people to stay for free and most often if they can will show the surfers around the city. Everyone comes out on top because generally hosts are people who have been travelers and had to settle down so this is their way of meeting new people and keeping life exciting and of course the surfers get a place to stary for free, often a free tour guide, and both parties make new friends. Matthias and I actually visited a Couch surfing meeting last night and though we were too late to actually here the discussions that they had we were not too late to experience the friendly atmosphere that was in the room of people mingling, meeting, and trading stories. I love the whole concept and think that is the best use of social networking that has ever been. The website does take precautions against people who would seek to abuse it but I do know that it does get people who seek to use it for other things so I am definitely saying that you should use precautions and I personally would not stay with a guy that I had not already met in another context but as there are plenty of women who host my options are not limited by that.
Whew, since I had to stop writing that because my friend had come to pick me up it is now Monday and I have been in Munich almost two days now and am MORE than happy to be here. It's so funny how someplace so far from home feels like home to me. It makes me wonder if I am supposed to be here, I have just never experienced this feeling of "ahh, I am home" in another city. But I do think that part of that feeling is the friends that I have here already - going to the Mariandl after church for a drink and then being offered a ride home by a new friend while we discussed the service that I could only understand snatches of.
I am back again! wheew, after a day of refreshing myself with German public transportation I feel like it's all coming back to me :) I wandered around Munich visiting my some of my favorite spots again...it is really such a beautiful city!
Anyways, I am going to end this for now so that I can get it posted :)
Yet another train station and yet another cup of coffee while I muse over what to write here. This time I am sitting in the Hauptbanhof station in Munich Germany trying desperately to keep my eyes open as I only had about two hours of sleep last night. I am waiting for my friend to come pick my up but her train is not getting in for another hour so hopefully I will finish this before she gets here.
Today's musing is going to be on humanity's kindness; something that has overwhelmed me whenever I travel. Many times when you are traveling you have to rely on the help of complete strangers for directions to somewhere, explain a map, give insight on the best place to go, give you change for a bus that you don't quite have enough for, or even for a place to stay. I loved having reasons to connect with people on my last trip and it's awesome that this trip I actually have been able to develop some of those relationships. This one in particular was a guy that I met on a plane from Dublin to Germany last Christmas; he was reading a book about extreme sports and since I wanted so badly to ski I started asking him questions. Turned out he was a ski instructor in Austria and was headed there for their busy season - we chatted about a lot of things throughout the flight and ended up exchanging facebook names as a way to keep in touch as he offered to teach me how to ski if I could make it to the resort while he was there. *Side note, I have some real issues with facebook but one of the greatest things about it is the ability to stay in contact with people that you randomly meet.* I never ended up making it to the resort that he was working at while he was there though I did get to ski for a week (which was awesome!) but throughout the last year and a half we have kept in touch via Facebook. When he saw that I was coming in to Dublin (he is from munich but is a professor in Dublin) he offered me a place to stay and to show me around. Now, it can (and started to) seem rather foolish for a single young woman to stay with a man that she hardly knows and I have to confess that I started to get nervous. After all, all we ever hear about in the media is the terrible things that happen to young women or travelers. I want to tell the flip side of that, there is a HUGE group of people out there who honestly want to share their homes with other people for free - no bad motives, no desire or expectations of payback, just the knowledge that they are passing a little bit of kindness out to others people.
I stood nervously in front of the Trinity College Gates waiting for him to meet me there, wondering at whether I was being completely stupid for trusting that this guy would be honorable and I hear a warm voice, KARA! As soon as I looked up and saw his friendly, kind smile and that he was genuinely glad to see my my fears dissolved. I actually felt rather silly for all of my worries and felt even sillier as the night wore on and he literally bent over backwards to make sure that I had a wonderful time, including walking me to the bus at 5am in the morning because my "Irish mom" requested it and paying for my bus fare because the only accepted exact change and I only had a big bill...and all he said was that someday, somewhere, I could pay him back...and I totally intend to.
I am not saying that we should trust any random person who invites us to sleep on their couch but I really think it so unfortunate that our culture is so influenced by a media that exploits the bad and pays no attention to the good. Yes, I took a little risk but I was enormously blessed from the experience - not just the pubs that we visited, the walk along the grand canal, the awesome stories that he had to tell of his travels, or the local insight that he gave me on the history of Dublin, but I was blessed by seeing a beautiful side of humanity. There is a whole community of people like this and they call themselves, couchsurfers - you can be a surfer, a host, or both. People open up their spare rooms or couch for people to stay for free and most often if they can will show the surfers around the city. Everyone comes out on top because generally hosts are people who have been travelers and had to settle down so this is their way of meeting new people and keeping life exciting and of course the surfers get a place to stary for free, often a free tour guide, and both parties make new friends. Matthias and I actually visited a Couch surfing meeting last night and though we were too late to actually here the discussions that they had we were not too late to experience the friendly atmosphere that was in the room of people mingling, meeting, and trading stories. I love the whole concept and think that is the best use of social networking that has ever been. The website does take precautions against people who would seek to abuse it but I do know that it does get people who seek to use it for other things so I am definitely saying that you should use precautions and I personally would not stay with a guy that I had not already met in another context but as there are plenty of women who host my options are not limited by that.
Whew, since I had to stop writing that because my friend had come to pick me up it is now Monday and I have been in Munich almost two days now and am MORE than happy to be here. It's so funny how someplace so far from home feels like home to me. It makes me wonder if I am supposed to be here, I have just never experienced this feeling of "ahh, I am home" in another city. But I do think that part of that feeling is the friends that I have here already - going to the Mariandl after church for a drink and then being offered a ride home by a new friend while we discussed the service that I could only understand snatches of.
I am back again! wheew, after a day of refreshing myself with German public transportation I feel like it's all coming back to me :) I wandered around Munich visiting my some of my favorite spots again...it is really such a beautiful city!
Anyways, I am going to end this for now so that I can get it posted :)
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