Saturday...

Its a beautiful fall Saturday, and I'm in the office... Well, it's actually not as bad as it sounds. I'm in the office at about noon since I don't have internet at home. I end up coming into the office for at least a little bit every day to check email, read the news, catch up with a few people, etc. (Obviously in this case update the blog).

So you may be wondering what the average Saturday looks like for me? Well... I spent the morning doing... well nothing of earth shattering importance at home. I slept in until about 8:30, had breakfast, cafinated myself (French Coffe Press = a little bit of wonderfulness) cleaned a little bit, played the piano for about 45 minutes, packed some stuff up to drop off at one of the recycling depots around town, and then headed off to the office (doing some errands along the way). So its not like I'm completely wasting my time now.

I'll be in the office for a little bit yet, but eventually I'll leave to go shopping... I don't have a car, so I'll end up hitting up the three different grociery stores on smaller shopping trips (Easier to carry everything that way... plus I like one store's produce better than the others, one store's brands of drinks better than the others, and one store's dry and frozen goods better than the others... If I can't carry it all at one time anyways why not make 3 smaller trips... plus its great exercise). This afternoon will be spent cooking --- odd as that sounds. I'm having people over on Monday for pizza night, so I'll be home making italian sausage and pasta sauce (looking forward to that... one of the fringe benefits of pizza night is that it gives me an excuse to make a huge batch of pasta sauce... which is in the end a lot cheaper than buying it premade... and I like the end result better anyways).

Then I also need to do some cleaning around the appartment. I did tne first half of it already this week, but its time to clean out my bathroom and bedroom again. No big deal, just needs to be done before it gets bad. I'm also doing "Fall cleaning" which means rather than shaking out or vaccuming all the rugs, I'm in the process of washing them all... which takes a little bit longer than I would like (I have no dryer so they have to air dry, and I don't really have enough space to dry them all at once... plus for some reason things are taking FOREVER to dry in my appartment... clothes takes about 2 days. Not sure why).

Then tonight... Tonight I'll probably curl up on the couch with a nice cup of tea (either Roibus, fruit, or herbal tea... not looking for any extra caffeene) Read a book or watch a movie... or maybe do both.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is... Yeah... Its a normal life over here. Oddly enough as broken into it as I feel right now its kind of wierd to be contemplating going home in a couple of months. I can't believe its only 2 months and some change away. It feels like just yesterday that I got here. I'm really not looking forward to reverse culture shock. Although it will be nice to see everybody again.


**** Update****
Boy genius just realized that today is a holiday... ooops. Should've done my shopping yesterday. No groceries until Monday now. I've actually got plenty of food to last the weekend (not worried about that in the least) Just uh... pasta sauce and meatballs on Monday are going to be a little interesting... whooops. Oh well if after 6 years in food service I can't swing it... Seriously this is where the hobby pays off... :-)

New Post

After a totally uninspired post title and, well, way too long without updating here's a bit of what's going on with me. Life's been a little weird lately. I haven't had internet connection at home in a couple of weeks, so updating from the comfort of my own couch is, unfortunately, impossible right now. And actually, that shouldn't be that much of an excuse as I'm encouraged to use some work time to keep up with supporters (whether prayer supporters or financial) back home.

So what's new: I'm older... yeah, the big 25 was about a week and a half ago, and its kind of a weird feeling. although I don't necessarily feel over the hill yet. I was getting laughed at last weekend when Stephan, the guy doing his year of social service with Janz Team, was laughing at me for being older than a lot of the current soccer stars... Oh well... good thing I never really wanted to be a professional athlete. And I keep telling myself that I've still got half a decade to be in my 20s.

Other than that. I'm working on putting together a new staff brochure for English camp next year, as well as some other projects that need to be done for the camps. I now understand why this is considered the "down time" for English camps. I've still got some serious work to do before I leave, but it all looks... well... managable from here, and its nice not having a ton of time sensitive projects to be working on... just a few.

And in other news, I'm working on a possible new project. Exciting stuff. Unfortunately until a little bit more falls into place I can't say too much more on the blog... aside to say that I'm cautiously very optimistic about the project and am hoping an praying things keep moving forward. Hopefully sometime next week I'll be able to share a little bit more.

Birthday....

So Its my birthday today. I'm not sure which is stranger, turning 25, or being away from home on my birthday. Even in college I ended up making it home on one of the weekends around my birthday to see everyone. That's not really possible here and now though. Its not really "homesickness" just kind of a weird feeling. Almost like the feeling thats starting to sink in that I'll be home in a few months. Really, my term here is almost over and its really time to be making decisions about the "future" (Nebulous, I know).

SO... That all being said, I'm doing well. I'm going to go home this evening, go to some friends' for dinner... watch a movie and go to bed. (I guess if that's my birthday itinerary then I'm getting older).

Baseball = Cultural Experience

I invited the guy who just started his year of civil service with us over for dinner and a baseball game last night --- It was a great cultural experience. We at calzones (homemade) and watched the Indians loose (horribly). But it was still a lot of fun. Its amazing how many little rules or concepts we take for granted in a game like baseball though: tagging up, leading off, infield fly rule... Seriously at the beginning I was explaining everything from Balls vs. Strikes, and how a Pitcher has to go about trying to get batters "out." But yeah... Loved doing it. It was a lot of fun (I told him that if there's any way to get a football game in over here he's got to come over for that... Good news with football games is that with the time change they'd be on Sunday evenings over here... which means... it'd be a nice way to relax for a little while after Sunday evening soccer (I'm a weekly regular there... my skillz are still terrible, but I'm getting better Scored twice last week).

Right

So today my friend Stephan is starting his year of civil service. I'm actually pretty excited about it as he's doing it with Janz Team... which means I get to harass him for the next couple of months!!! Seriously though, I'm really happy that he's here. He was one of "my boys" the first time I came over to English camp in 2005 (I can't believe its been that long). He and his brother are both reasons why I've kept coming back... and I'm just thrilled to get a chance to work with him together on a couple of projects this fall. I'm just kind of dissappointed that I won't be able to be here the whole time he's doing his civil service (I go home to the states in December).

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Ok... So this is not the famed English Camp update article. That's coming. I promise. This is a little bit more mundane than that. I've had this song stuck in my head for about two weeks now. The band came up on my internet radio station, I liked the song I heard, so... like we all do in the age of iTunes, and online music services... I went and checked out some of their other music. Long story short I've had their CD on constant rotation for the past two weeks... and it hasn't let up. So I'm sharing the love, and embedding their official music video from YouTube on my blog. The band's name is Metric ... They're an indietronic group based out of Toronto (Yeah Great Lakes region... even if its on the other side of the border... gotta represent). The song is called "Gimme Sympathy." And to answer their question in the chorus... The Beatles, hands down (2 words on that "White Album")

Ok...

So its been WAYYYYY too long since I've updated it. For good cause --- I think. Things got kind of crazy towards the end of English Camp and are just now, this week, really starting to slow down. There's actually a lot of cool stuff happening that I feel really fortunate to be able to be part of, and things I/We are looking into doing. More information on that coming in a later post.

I really feel its kind of necessary to write a brief post now summing up what happened at English Camp this year, and then later this week writing a longer one (With lots of pictures of course) with more information about the specifics of what happened at camp.

In a word camp was AWESOME. I'm always amazed at how God uses these times for so many different purposes. I would guess that on average about 75% would already consider themselves as Christians. We move a total of about 200 kids through our regional camp program each summer. That means at a conservative estimate about 50 of those kids are not... Our conservative estimates (understand that these numbers are in no way OFFICIAL but come from talking to different directors etc.) have the number of first time decisions for Jesus at about 15... that means about 1/3 of the kids who came not professing to already have accepted Jesus found him this summer. Now I realize that not all these decisions will stick (yes I've read the parable of the sower... yes I'm definitely a realist, and yes I also realize that not all of the kids claiming to already be Christians really are). BUT IF THAT DOESN'T GET YOU FIRED UP TO GO TO WORK... seriously I don't know what would.

Oh... and that doesn't in any way shape or form reflect recommittments, rededications, or any other kids of decision... JUST a first time decisions to accept Christ as Savior. More to come later... (stories... specific stories).

Hopefully in the next few days I'll give a more full picture of what happened at the two camps I was at... Show some pictures, and share some stories.

Sunday

Sunday is secretly my favorite day of camp. Actually I don't think its that much of a secret. Basically, outside of church, meals, and then chapel, the day is "free time" for the campers, which means that we (the staff) get a chance to mingle and just spend time with the kids without constantly worrying about the schedule or or respective jobs. Yesterday was an awesome day for that. We watched a movie as a camp, we hung out, we played Ping Pong... I'm just sad that there's no real chance like that again at camp... and that it comes pretty close to the beginning of camp rather than later on when we all know each other better.

A New Day, Another Adventure

Goooood Morning CAMPERS!!!!

Ok --- I love how each camp is totally different than the camp that came before it. Each staff brings its own culture, and each mix of kids is different. Its part of what I love so much about our camp program --- Its unpredictable, and there are always new challenges.

Camp 2 started a couple of days ago. So far its been interesting. I feel like I've spent less time working with the campers than ever before (which is definitely true). But its been rewarding in its own way. Its been great getting to know the team I'm working as part of - Most of them are from California, and their energy is kind of infectious :-).

There have been challenges as well --- Yesterday we lost a camper. Its not that we did anything wrong. A girl came down with a terrible headache the first day of camp that didn't let up. By yesterday afternoon she was lying in her bed, writhing in pain, hyperventilating. We called an ambulance and took her to the hospital in Loerrach, about twenty minutes away. My friend Anne, one of the translators at camp, and I drove behind her. After a couple of hours of waiting, she was transferred to a different hospital in Freiburg where they could do more tests... Her parents are picking her up today. Needless to say as a camp we're concerned about her. So if you could keep this girl in prayer that would be greatly appreciated.

Also if you could keep the combined English Camp Staff in prayer. I know that each staff member at each individual camp would greatly appreciate the prayers!

Football Was Made for the Rain

(Written on Saturday Night)


But we didn’t actually play football outside today – which was a pity because it was our “Superbowl” theme day. It’s cold for summer, the temperature has been hanging around 60 degrees for a high the past couple of days, you know it’s cold in July when you step outside at three in the afternoon and can see your breath. And it’s been raining – so during activities time, a torrential downpour that started sometime yesterday (Friday) night and had been pretty much going on all last night.
SO --- we didn’t “grunt” and drag a camp full of kids outside to play in the mud (German kids don’t quite like getting dirty like American ones do). So there I was in the middle of a room of German teens teaching them how to play paper football… Its amazing. I haven’t shared any of the academic lessons from high school (I take it back, I helped one camper with math homework once) but the game we used to kill time with during study hall came in handy in a pinch. So we had a massive round robin paper football tournament.
And the verdict --- They LOVED it.

And its days like these that I realize how much I love my job.

Post for 2 Days

(This part was written on Thursday night, at around midnight... internet was down over here on Friday).

So the first day of camp was today, actually by the time this is posted it will be “yesterday.” This is round 8. In some ways the start of camp feels very familiar by now – the awkward first greetings, trying to get through the first round of chapel and room times, trying to forge the start of relationships. However, this is the first time I’m “Directing.”
The truth is: I’m nervous. On the other hand though, God has brought together an amazing staff from all over Europe and North America. And I can say, and be totally honest, that each one of them is deeply appreciated. I’m constantly amazed at how different personalities can work together to complete a whole.
I can’t claim to be any kind of “great leader.” I know my strengths, I know I do have some, and I know my weaknesses as well – in a lot of ways I’m so very glad this staff is around to pick me up when I fall (because I know eventually I will). Directing, at least so far, has also made me keenly aware of just how much each person on a team is needed, from job they do to the personality that they bring to the table.
I feel like I’m writing a really sappy post without an edge, so let me just clear up – I’m absolutely positive that in a couple of days we’ll have some serious issues, not necessarily because of any particular person, or group, but because any group of people who work hours as long as we do, in an already stressful situation is bound to have them. I’m just praying that God gives us all the wisdom to make it through those situations with as much grace as possible, and that the campers can see him through that.



__________________________________________________________________________________________

Ok --- I'm writing this next part on Saturday - so the first full day of camp is over already. We've survived the first wave, and now the grind out till the end of camp 1 is on. That's kind of a negative way to put it. In some ways it always feels like that - conserving energy to try and stay as even keel as possible. But the scary thing is we only have 1 week left with the campers. A week isn't a lot of time.

It hits me harder every year. You start one of these camps and then blink and its over. Its amazing what God does during such a short time. And I'm already dreading saying goodbye to everyone. The community that we work so hard to build in the 2 weeks together as a staff, and then for 9 or 10 days with the campers is over... and you'll never get that same group of people together again. Its gone, relegated to memory, and pictures, dreams and prayers.

If you're reading this. Please pray that our staff could continue to get good sleep, that we'd have wisdom in our interactions with the campers and that we'd continue to serve God in our actions, words, and attitudes.


Steve

And in the red corner we have...

So I've had the theme song from Rocky stuck in my head for the past few days... The best reason that I can think of why is that I feel like I'm stuck in the middle of a colossal boxing match, and we've just finished the opening rounds...

What that means is baisically.... ENGLISH CAMP STAFF GETS HERE TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ok, thats a lot of exclamation points, but I think you get the picture. Its been kind of a brutal, long work week, and I realize my days are going to stay busy, stressful, and long. But the payoff starts tomorrow when we start getting our staff in. I'm all sorts of fired up and ready to go. I'm celebrating my last night in my appartment with some frozen food and a movie... Trying to take my last couple hours of relative peace and quiet and milk them for all that they're worth... cause I won't get much more until August.

That being said, I'm hoping to keep my blog relatively updated while at camp. I won't be able to do much, however I should be able to ge ta few pictures up, as well as a few stories and prayer requests as we go - so keep reading!

In leaving you I'm posting the short version of a video that will rear its ugly head at camp this year --- Yes that's me with a 500g hamburger... no I don't normally eat like that... yest I know I'm feeding into the American sterotype posting this, no I'm not trying to prove it right ;-) (You just gotta trust me on that one)

So there I Was...

In the middle of the English camp office, only one printer cartridge left in my gun... the enemy all around peering out at us through the jungle underbrush ready to strike... Ok so yeah, my life may not be that dramatic right now, however the stress is definitely mounting "office wide" (at least in our department) So if you could be in prayer that we would be able to finish the next couple weeks, and our preparations in them strong that would be awesome.

The blustery, blustery day turned into a blustery, blustery night

Actually, that's not entirely true --- we have had some rain in the past few days (a couple of big thunderstorms at that) but I'm talking more about work. We've basically got about one week to get our ducks in a row and then the majority of the planning is over. After next week we've got a week of setting things up and then staff get here.

So it seems like for most of us working on English camp right now, we show up for work in the morning, work at the office until six or seven at night... go home, and then possibly work more. (ok often work more is more like it). So it actually makes sense that I can't wait for English camp to start, not because I don't like what I'm doing now, but because I really want to see the pay off of it.

Its also strange because some of the projects I'm working on (ie our Adventure Day, which, since some campers somewhat regularly frequent this site I'm going to abstain from talking about more) are both at a place where I really feel they are "coming together" but still kind of shaky for a few reasons that are at least partially out of controll (IE finding people to run the game stations... still a little short there... yes campers thats the only clue you're getting as to what Adventure Day will be like this year :-) If I can wait two weeks to show y'all, you can wait two weeks to see it ;-) ).

Ok - I've got to get going, its a beautiful, if slightly overcast, Saturday. I've got things I need to do. possibly some work, definitely some more house cleaning --- probably scrubbing the rest of the bathroom out today... looking forward to that. But before I do I want to leave you guys with some pictures from a video we made yesterday involving a massive hamburger (Slightly over 1 lb of meat) - you can see a short clip of it on Facebook right now, the rest will be posted after camp.

So the first picture is of our English Camp intern Jenny and I as we prepare to dive into our "lunch" She's eating apples and yogurt... I've got the behemouth.
And there it is - a work of beauty a 500g hamburger. T'was a beast. I'll be honest I couldn't eat the whole thing (nor did I really want to for the record). But it was actually a nice change of pace to have a burger for lunch.

Update

I feel bad -as if I'm blogging because I don't want to work, which in part is true. Don't get me wrong I've got more than enough to do in the next few weeks before camps starts, but its nice to be able to take a minute during the day to do something almost unrelated to camp. It gets my mind out of the shifting rosters, and moving plans that are part of the day to day and hour to hour preparations that we're doing now.

Camp starts three weeks from tomorrow - its kind of a startling thought. Regardless of where our preparations are zero hour is right around the corner. I'm ready for it actually --- that doesn't mean my preparations are done, but I'm mentally ready to be at camp, to be done with prep work, and to watch the pieces that were put in place start moving. Its exciting. That being said its also exciting to see the way the work we've been doing for the past months is starting to gel into a whole.

That being said, the marathon is still on, and I've gotta get back to running.

Projects projects everywhere and not a stop to think

Projects, projects everywhere
And oh my braid did shrink...

And to the best of my knowledge I didn't kill an albatross to get into this situation (If you don't get the joke go read the poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge).

Its actually just the time of year. Its exciting because camp starts in about 3 weeks. Its kind of freaky because all of the projects that I've been juggling for the past couple of months and working on are due. It actually kind of reminds me of the end of a school year - similar work load, similar shuffling of projects... And the bar has been raised - Its actually nice that I can see the effects of the projects I'm working on and know how they fit into camp's master plan.

I just finished off a project that was hanging over my head yesterday, so I am getting things done. However there are a few that are still concerning me (ie making sure everything is in place for Adventure Day... Need to make a huge shopping trip this week for that). So the physical/mental endurance race is on. I'm trying NOT to work today (at all) just so I can keep at least one day of the week work free --- which should help keep me saner longer :-) .

Otherwise life is good - Really work is crazy, but I generally enjoy what I do... And its realy not any more work intensive than the end of a semester of college - and I know that it ends in a couple of weeks. SO I'm looking forward to the craziness of camp!

Pompeii

Ok --- so we've officially moved into the "crazy" part of the year at work. I'm feeling pretty good about it, and relishing the challenges of the month. At this point no news is good news in that I haven't hit any kind of serious hurdle that can't be overcome. There are challenges that I know about (finishing Adventure Day strong is one of them... actually its the biggest one of them) but I'm feeling alright about where I am in my work right now.

SO... I'm going to post something I've been thinking about for the past two weeks. While on the cruise I actually got a chance to walk around the ruins of Pompeii... which is something that I've wanted to do for a long time now. You don't get a feel for how big the town really was, or a feeling for the utter destruction until you've walked around in its ruins and gotten a feel for it. You kind of expect to go in and see a couple of streets of "houses" and whatnot... but when you start walking around you realize just how BIG everything was. How much time and money had to be spent building the temples, and baths, and houses. How many people were living out their daily lives, year after year. And it was wiped out in an instant one morning when Vesuvius exploded... gone. Literally thousands of people wiped off the face of the planet in an instant, buried for thousands of years until "rediscovered."

Back in town

Ok. I feel kind of bad because I haven't had a chance to update in the past two weeks - but there is a good reason for it. Last week I had a chance to take a week off from work and go on a western Mediterranean cruise with some friends of mine. I'm so greatful to have had this opportunity as it basically forced me to take some time, rest, and mentally prepare myself for the onslaught that is the month before English camp. The upside of all of that is that after getting over being tired from travelling, I feel really refreshed, and pretty un-stressed despite the crazy time of year.

The cruise was awesome. We started and ended in Barcelona (go if you ever get the chance... beautiful, beautiful city), then went to Malta (I really want to go back to Malta as well... the prices on everything were pretty afordable, and it was drop dead gorgeous on the island, and very laid back), then three cities in Italy (Naples, Rome, and Livorno/Pisa) where I got to fulfill two of my life's dreams (to see the ruins of Pompeii and Rome), and finally Cannes in the French Riviera.

I'll probably write some of my thoughts on the different cities on the blog in the next week or so and add some pictures as well to get it down. (its a great break from doing work in the evenings), as well as give some updates on what's happening with English Camp prep.

Its hot

If today is a warning of weather to come... its going to be a hot summer. Its in the low 90s, and humid. I'm sitting at my desk, with a fan pointing straight at my face as I'm working... It actually kind of feels like a convection oven. The funny thing is that the heat kind of came out of nowhere yesterday, and its supposed to be back in the 70s tomorrow.

Information travels faster in the modern age

So I'm more and more intrigued by the myriad of different uses for your "Status" on Facebook - Despite the whining every time it changes the constantly updated Facebook is actually 10 times more powerful than it used to be. With the changes they've made it feels more like microblogging "Twitter" style than its more stalker-site early iterations. The move to a more communal feel, strategically, makes sense. In the dog eat dog world of flash in the pan internet fads, you've got to keep up with the new competition.

That being said - living away from home (with an ocean in between me and most of the family) I've actually gotten more feedback on Facebook than I have with the blog... Which in a way isn't all that surprising. Its kind of nice to keep up the bater

Oh... and something interestin for the record... The Analytics package for my blog is now telling me that I'm getting as many hits from Germany as the US right now - so campers who are reading this good job (I guess ;-) )... folks back home... whats the deal here?!?! I start a blog to keep you all in the loop of whats going on with my trans-atlantic existence, and you bail on me? I'm feeling existential angst (or maybe not). Seriously though if you're checking this and you know me feel free to leave comments! (nice to know if when you're reading :-) ).

Its Sad...

I think I'm starting to turn into my parents. Today was a national holiday in Germany - do you know what I ended up doing... Cleaning. (Although I did sleep in). So yeah... I spent a solid couple of hours washing the floors in my apartment, doing laundry, running the dishwasher... and other household things.

That being said, I did find some time to devote to cooking --- I've been on a pizza kick lately (which Jim Budlong inadvertently started me on when we went out for Pizza the other week). Its been every couple of days that I'll try something else. Usually, since they're so cheap, I'll go and grab some plain cheese pizzas frozen pizzas from the store down the road (its like 2.50 for 3 of them... and they're better quality than the cheap American ones you'll find in the grocery store). Its a great thing to have around to "throw" in the oven if I don't have time in the evening to cook. And I usually use whatever I've got around as toppings. So since I had a little bit more time today I decided to go all-out and make Pizza, pretty much, from scratch (I cheated and used already purred tomatoes as the base for my sauce). And I do have to say that I'm getting better at it...

Lost in Translation

Ok... I'll be honest - I'm writing this to get away from doing "work" for a little bit. I know it sounds bad, but let me explain. I'm in the middle of translating this year's camp devotional book from German into English so that the staff members coming from North America will have a chance to read what the kids are reading during their morning devotional time. Truth be told I need a rest - and I'm planning on putting in a couple hours after the end of the work day anyways. I just need some time to pull my mind out of the Danglisch-soup that it has been swimming in the for the past few hours.

Its actually been a really great exercise for me. Its been a while since I actually had to sit down and work through translation, and its stretching my German skills... and I'm man enough to admit that I need the stretching right now. And I'm glad that we'll have the translation this year - I think it will help some of the staff who are coming immensely in aiding campers in their spiritual growth.

My desk is, at this point, covered with pens, papers, highlighters, notebooks, my bible, bottles of mineral water, the odd box of assorted chocolates, headphones - it looks like I'm digging in for siege warfare at the office. Umm... sadly thats probably exactly what the next few months are gonna be like... BRING IT ON!

The Textures of Town

I'm currently working on a project for work that I wanted/needed to go out and get some pictures from around town to use as background textures for some signs I'm doing. Should be interesting. And its kind of a nice break from the "norm" to be able to leave the office for a little bit to walk around town with a camera. And the things I've worked on for this "project" are already turning out well...

One Voice Europe

The gospel choir, One Voice, from Cedarville University came through town yesterday to do a concert for BFA, and I had the pleasure of being their "man on the ground" for the day. It was great to get a shot in the arm of energy from a group of college kids! I'm really thankful for the chance to hang out with them, get to know a few people from the team, as well as talk to them a little bit about doing missions work here in Europe.

'

I took the team up to Hochblauen, the local mountain top, where you can look into France & Switzerland while standing in Germany. Its always great to see peoples' reaction to being up there - Its a breathtaking view... and the genuine reactions of "Praise Jesus" and "God's creation is amazing" made me smile as they spontaneously erupted from peoples lips as we snaked our way through the forest, slowly climbing the mountain catching glimpses of the ground below through breaks in the trees.

On The Road

I just finished Jack Kerouac's novel On The Road this past weekend. It was kind of a trip. I'm really not sure how I "missed" this classic mid-century American novel until now. But I loved it. I do feel I need to add that its probably not for everyone. One of surprising offshoots of it was a surprising feeling of homesickness for the wide open American road. I don't want to make it sound like I'm dying of "homesickness" but something in the novel made me want to throw my bags in the back of a car and start driving. Everything is so close together over here - you can hop between major cities quickly, quickly enough that you're never all that far from anything. I never thought I'd say this - but I miss the cornfields, and being able to take a walk through the woods without seeing other people.

Inventory Day

Well... I did inventory of most of our sports equipment today to try and gauge what we could use... You know its not a good sign when the intern who is helping you says that "if you threw away all the broken stuff you'd have like two balls left."

Earthquake...

So an earthquake tore through this area at about 3:40 in the morning. Woke me up... actually I woke up screaming in a cold sweat (no joke - true story). It was bizarre. So far as I know no damage was done to anything. It was about a 3.5 on the Richter scale... and its epicenter wasn't very far from town. After the quake the birds were going nuts - the downside of that was it was like having an alarm clock going outside my window at 4 am... Needless to say I didn't get much sleep the rest of the night.

Now... today is also my 2 month anniversary of getting here. Kind of exciting I guess. Doenner Kebab tonight to celebrate. I haven't had one since the day I got here, and I've been looking for an excuse to go get one for a while :-). 

Doughnut Days

Alright... so every Thursday is a special day in the office. Why, you might ask? Well there are Doughnuts for sale. And I'll be honest I bought two of them today, and they were good. (Yes... I have a soft spot in my heart for greasy goodness).

On top of that I've got about ten windows up that I'm juggling trying to get further into one of my massive adventure day projects. I'm currently at a kind of stand still as I wait for my computer to finish converting my raw video footage into a file type that I can work with. On one hand its kind of frustrating having to wait (I was almost done when my computer crashed on me, and I had to start the process over again). On the other hand I'm really glad I knew what I was looking for when I bought a computer or else this process could take literally hours.

The good news is that I've got high hopes for this particular video project and want to thank all the BFA students who took part in the filming. Awesome job guys! The downside is I'm sure I'll be spending way too much time in front of my computer with a cup of coffee and snack foods (I'm too cheap to get the stereotypical Chineese food) making this work.

More to come on these projects as camp gets closer --- I can't spill the beans quite yet :-).

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Or at least in this case made Steve finally break down and buy the pre-made "hamburgers" from the local grocery store. Why? Truth be told, I like burgers - and its always interesting to experience first hand what different people consider "American" so... I finally broke down and decided to try them (Partly because I figured there'd be an interesting blog post in all of this).

So that was lunch today. I'll be honest: as I made sure I had a clear path to the microwave down the hall, so I wouldn't have to answer any questions, or get harassed (in good nature of course) for having hamburgers for lunch. And I was sweating bullets as the microwave started turning and hoping it tasted moderately better than the gray-colored patty looked.

The verdict: It reminded me a little bit of an oversized White Castle slider. So it wasn't horrible (if you're a White Castle fan... and I am). I don't know if I'd eat it every day... and it definitely didn't scream all beef patty (I read the label and its ground pork... explains the lighter color). But I can't complain too much :-).

Wow... I kind of want to try this.

Lessons

So I think God is trying to teach me something - I know sounds very romantic right? Its funny --- there have been a bunch of things lining up in my life... little things that I've had almost no power over, or couldn't know what I was getting into when I did... that all seem to be working together. I just can't wrap my mind around what that is right now.

Most of you know me well enough to know that I really don't consider myself "flaky." Like - I don't start seeing pictures of Jesus in tree branches and start talking about what it means to me. But when pieces of my life start independently lining up towards something... including the music I'm listening to, the books I'm reading, the movies I'm watching, the scripture I'm reading, & random people & events in my life... Steve has to start listening... no? Its less hearing a gentle whisper, more hearing a voice screaming in my ear in a Language that I can't quite understand but can pick up a few words here and there.

Easter Camp

Hi Everyone! I'm back in the office after kids camp. And I'm really beginning to recover. If I can be honest the kids camp, for me was kind of stressful. In fact it was more stressful than most camps. But the truth is, I can honestly say that while I may have been at my weakest God's work was amazing to watch.

It seems like most kids at the camp were touched by God over the week in one way or another. I remember one of the boys sitting quietly on the last night of camp after the chapel service had ended. When I walked over to him he asked whether or not I could pray for him: that he would be able to practice what he learned in camp, and that he would be braver and more open about sharing Jesus in his school.

I actually had a chance to be an English Teacher at this camp. Which was a first for me - normally I'm counseling, or doing something else along those lines. So it was an exciting opportunity to be able to work in a different part of the ministry we do. It was also an experience that stretched me. Having never really taught English before, it was definitely a learning experience to try and teach English as a second language (translation... I was pretty darn green as an English teacher, and realize how much more there is to learn about it).

It was also a great chance for me to work with a mostly German staff at camp. Normally over the summer we try to fill the staff primarily with people from North America. But I can honestly say that it was a great chance for me to get a different perspective on camp & work with people I would, under normal circumstances, never have the chance to.

"We're lighten this guy up!"

So here goes my second totally random post for the day - I did end up buying the MLB radio package so I could listen to Indians games in my spare time... or while I'm doing things that don't require a ton of thought. I signed on to listen to the season opener against the rangers... And something was wrong with the radio feed from Cleveland... so I listened to the Texas station. And who comes on the radio at the bottom of the 2nd? George W. So he's chatting with the announcers, and whatnot (he sounds much more relaxed than a couple of months ago btw.) when Texas starts a rally... as they scored the 4th run of the inning he said (and I quote) "We're lighten this guy up... I can say that in radio right?" "This guy" just happened to be our ace Cliff Lee... Ouch... thanks Mr. President.

Joan Osborne?

So I'm sitting at my desk - about 10 yards away from the coffee machine/microwave with the door open, when all of a sudden I hear someone whisteling & singing the song "One of Us" by Joan Osborne... (or "What if God Was One of Us")... only one word to describe my reaction... WOW....

Pizza Night

So last night I held a little pizza night get together in my apartment. A couple of friends from the North American missionary community came over and brought their favorite toppings, and I made dough, sauce, & Italian Sausage from scratch. And the truth is, I think we got somewhere close to the American styles we were trying to make (2 Chicago style pizzas  & 2 New York style pizzas).

It was a good time, not just for the food... but its really enjoyable to hang out with peers. Its also kind of a bizarre feeling to celebrate our American culture while in Germany. It was something I noticed last 4th of July while I was here --- having to explain the holiday to a lot of the people around me. But its something, I think, will definitely have to be done again.

Happy Hump Day

Yes sports fans... Its Wednesday. And the week's "Hump Day" (Ie... once you're done you're over the hump). Before delving into my essay of the day I want to thank all of you who have been reading this, or checking in fairly regularly. I really appreciate your thoughts and prayers, and can't thank you enough. Its been kind of a rough couple of weeks at the office... for a few different reasons, none of which are either blog worthy, or even really blogable. But, as my analytics package is telling me, there are people reading, and I want to thank you. (ESP. those of you from Cedarville... wow...).

So baseball season starts next week. Its kind of funny... in the states I'm usually not that excited about it. Don't get me wrong, I love a good game of ball... but there's usually other stuff (like the Cavs dominating... although I guess that's true this year) that kind of take precedence. I just found out, though, that MLB.com has got a sweet deal on listening to baseball games over the Internet ($14.99 for a subscription to every ball game this year), and to the best of my knowledge its "On Demand" which means that I can listen to a night game the next day... And the truth is... I love having a ball game on in the background while I work on things. And I love the fact that that's one part of Americana that I don't have to loose touch with. That being said GO TRIBE! (ahh... every sports season in Cleveland starts with Faux-Optimism).

But baseball isn't the only thing on my mind. More importantly the Kids Easter Camp starts next week. Next Thursday is more and more of a deadline, and I'm getting a bit more apprehensive about teaching, especially teaching Middle School kids. I know I can do it, but am, frankly, a bit concerned about how I'll do... That's probably a good thing though, as its a very tangible reminder as to why preparing for something well is important. I'm looking forward to working with the kids though; its a reminder as to why we do what we do in in the English Camp offices. I'm also more and more greatful to the awesome teachers I had at that age, who I can use as an example. As my German teacher's throughout the years for modeling how to teach a second language (Thanks Frau Pariano & Dr. Shaver!). So if you guys would be willing to keep me in prayer as I prep. and then teach that would be greatly appreciated!

Kids Camp & Food

Preparations for the Easter "Kids Camp" are officially underway. I guess they probably have been for a little while already, but I've just gotten involved as of the end of last week. I will officially be teaching English for the camp...  which is a first for me. So I'm a little bit apprehensive about that, but overall very excited. I've heard good things about Easter camp, and am really looking forward to being able to take part in one of them.

That also means that come next Thursday I very possibly will have no Internet connection for about a week and a half.  That means that unless I pre-program a few short posts for my blog there'll be about a week and a half of dead-space, followed by a full write up/report on Easter camp.

In other news... I'm loving the availability of cheap food here. Last night after coming home from playing soccer at BFA I raided my refrigerator and had an awesome snack/dinner. German Bread, a little bit of lunch meat, french cheese & something to drink. Total price... my guess is about  $.75  ... in America the price would have been at least doubled. (The cheese I was eating would have been the real killer. 250g, which is just over half a pound here runs about $2.50 I would be shocked if a half pound in the states was under $7).

And the truth is... my eating habits have turned more... European in the past couple of weeks. I'm eating significantly less meat - which isn't a bad thing. I'm actually probably right around the FDA's recommendations (or at least what they were when I had my last health class... yeah PACL). My serving sizes are actually smaller, although I tend to eat a bit more often throughout the day. I'm drinking quite a bit of mineral water. &  Bread... wow... love the bread here, although I always have... its one of the things I always look forward to coming back to.

An old fashioned whippin'

I had a chance to go watch the BFA boys soccer team play against the local German team last night... wow. Congratulations BFA boys on your victory :-).

A New Week

As odd as it sounds I've been in Germany for a little while now. I'm starting my third full week of work (The here & there that I was in the office the first week was pretty minimal - there were a ton of other things that needed taking care of).

The good news is that after a couple of weeks I feel pretty settled in. Not totally at home yet, but that comes in time (I'm sure). I'm still figuring a few things out, but I seem to have a handle on the  most important things.

So overall - life is pretty good. I had a touch of something yesterday, but as of this morning I feel absolutely fine :-) Which is good considering there is work to be done!

I've also feel like I need to apologize - at this point I was hoping to have some pictures to show on the blog. However I've been having some problems with my wonderful camera, but hopefully I can have some pictures up soon!

Cold is a relative word...

So this morning I was walking to work when a German lady on a bike complete with a wool cap, and light winter jacket passed me by and shouted "Can't you feel anything?"  I was wearing a polo shirt and a pair of jeans... And I promise you it wasn't that cold: upper forties at the time, and its supposed to peak near 60.

Update

Hallo everyone & greetings from Germany,

I apologize that its been a while since I've updated. A lot has happened in the past week or so, but a lot of it isn't stuff that is prime blog-fodder. That being said: I'll try to bring anyone reading this up to speed.

1) I am in Germany. I have been for almost two weeks now (wow... still kind of amazes me). I'm settling in well so far - and have been enjoying my time here as well as the work.

2) Plans for English Camp have been progressing. I can't wait for the summer. Although its always a ton of work, and a ton of stress, looking forward to the camps being in session is something that excites all of us in the English Camp Planning team (I think I can safely say that without putting words into anyone's mouth :-) ).

3) My camera died last weekend. I'm not sure what happened. One day it was working fine... the next a black screen with lines through it is all I got when I tried to use it. The menus still work, but I think there is something wrong with the sensor... which isn't really a good sign.

3) I'm involved with a couple of projects now that have exciting implications for camp... without divulging "classified" information here is what I can share... :-)  I'm really looking forward to the theme days and adventure day... Yeah... that's right --- in the "off chance" that campers may be reading this you're not getting more information than that... yet... that's the fun of waiting until camp:-).

 

Ok... I'm going to get back to work on a few things here in the office. But I wanted to post an official update, let everyone know what is going on, let everyone know I'm alive and well, and say a very warm hello to all of you!  

Meetings

Today was a day full of meetings. we kicked the work day off with the weekly English Camp planning meeting. Without divulging too much information, I can honestly say I'm encouraged at what's going on already - and it makes me more anxious for summer to come! I can't wait for the teens to get here. But one step at a time.

We also had an office "Welcome Steve" gathering today, so I could be introduced to the people I didn't know yet, as well as tell the story of how I got here. 

We also had a "camp staff planning meeting" (*disclaimer this is not a direct translation of the German word used), which was conducted entirely in German. I can honestly say I've never been more tired after an hour and fifteen minute long meeting. It all just goes to show my German isn't entirely back yet, (I really don't expect it to be for the next couple of weeks) but it feels good to be working :-), and in a kind of strange way it feels great to be speaking German again.

So - it was kind of a psychologically hard day of meetings: planning, meeting people, having my German tested... But it was a good day nonetheless.

Back to Work

Honestly, it feels great to be back at work. I'm spending a couple of minutes today updating my blog. My work responsibilities don't get a little bit crazier until sometime next week, so I've got some time to spend updating the blog.

I got to Germany yesterday ( running on about 5 hours of sleep for the past 48 hours - so I was dead tired. I unpacked, and then was asleep by 9:30 in the evening. I slept until 9 this morning (My alarm clock said it was 7:00... it was wrong). But the truth is I really needed it. I still made it to the office on time for my orientation meeting as well - so no harm done. But I'll definitely need to make sure the clock is working from now on out (I think its loosing time - because by the time I had left for work it had lost a couple of minutes already).

It snowed last night as well - its still going now. I woke up to find that there was a couple of inches of "the white stuff" on the ground. Kandern is beautiful in the winter.

***Note: this post was written on Friday the 6th of March. I did not have internet in my apartment until this morning (Saturday. So the time stamp for it is wrong... and I'm too lazy to change it (subtext: Its an absolutely gorgeous Saturday, and I've got better things to do this afternoon than sort through blog settings).

"Every new beginnings come from some other beginnings end"

The first leg of my flight starts boarding in just over half an hour. So I'm sitting in an airport restaurant across the hall from my terminal, surfing the web, and trying to get one update in before I leave. Today starts the "Great Adventure" - actually that's not entirely true: in a lot of ways the journey started a long time ago... its just coming to fruition this afternoon. I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm a little bit nervous - but overall I'm excited.

I just wanted to get a quick update out as a first step on the journey, and thank everyone once again for all of the love and support over the past few months! Thank you all!

Update

Ok... so its been a while since I've posted anything, and a lot of things have changed since then. Truthfully up until about a week and a half ago there really wasn't much to "report on" and since then I've been going kind of crazy. That being said I'll let the cat out of the bag: I crossed into the %90 range about two weeks ago... upon checking, double checking, and then triple checking my math, I found out I was indeed between %90 and %100. That means that I now have a plane ticket... That in turn means that I board a plane next Wednesday afternoon, and fly to Germany for the next ten months.

Alright... that's life in a nutshell right now - More updates coming soon. I'm hoping to get a kind of "mission statement" out for this blog, as well as do a little bit of a facelift on it. I'm also planning on keeping everyone updated from here on out on my status!

Best wishes to all, and many thanks for the prayers!

Its still snowing

This is honestly the longest I can remember snow staying on the ground here - I realize that other places in the world its normal for the ground to be covered in snow from the beginning of Winter until Spring. Here, near Cleveland, the ground gets covered, and then the snow melts at least a couple of times each year. This year its been different: we had one huge snowstorm in early January, and I haven't seen the grass since. Last night we got dumped on again by a massive front.

In Germany news - I'm inching closer and closer to my support goal, and am hoping to leave the States sometime in later February... The whole process of support raising, in a lot of ways, is nerve wracking - there is so much of it that I have little or no control over. I can work at it, but in the end, really, there is no guarantee that any kind of time line will be met. Don't take this as complaining though, its really not meant as it. The other side of the coin is that the support raising process has been a way in which I've been able to see the goodness of God, as well as the generosity of His people - both are things that are deeply humbling.

We interrupt this broadcast...

Its been way too long since I've posted anything here, so I'll try to get the most pertinent information out first. Germany update: I want to thank all of you who are supporting me either through giving or through prayer. I appreciate both, and both are vitally necessary to the success of any ministry. Based on my wonderful number crunching skills (cough... former English major) I'm around %55 total support - I need to be at %90 before leaving. I, personally, would love to see the total closer to %100 simply by virtue of there not being too much "wiggle room" in the budget, especially if the Euro has a substantial jump against the Dollar. That being said it is a blessing to see my total increasing with every update that I get. And for that I thank the Lord, and all of you.

I've been reading from Deuteronomy lately - it may seem like an odd book to be looking at, but I find it fascinating. We, as Christians, often focus on the historical parts of the Pentateuch: The Creation Story, Noah's Ark, The Exodus, The Giving of the Ten Commandments, The Children of Israel wandering in the desert for forty years, Moses going to Mt. Nebo to look into the promised land before he died. And the stories are useful, but I find it odd we skim over the actual meat of the law. Sure, some of it is kind of obscure (rules and regulations for clean & unclean animals, laws for ceremonial cleanliness, etc.). Overall though I'm struck  by several things, so I'll leave you with a couple of thoughts, and observations that are striking me as I read:

1) the demand of God for his people to holy unto the Lord. Some of the commandments are given with the simple reasoning that God called the Israelites to Himself, and that they should be different from the other people in the land. 2) The demands the Law makes to force the Israelites to rely on God, rather than conventional Human power structures. The way the "nation" of Israel was set up in Deuteronomy. 3) The inherent tragedy of the circumstances. Not only is Moses writing these things fully knowing he will not be able to enter the promised Land... It is only a matter of a few years after their initial conquest of the Land, that the Lord begins to raise "judges" up to rescue them, and the spiral further and further downwards. Judges may be one of the most tragic books of the Bible, as with every revolution of the Judge cycle Israel moves further and further away from God.

The Blizzard of '09

So the wintry weather hit Ohio in force this past week. I had been down at Cedarville for the annual missions conference last week, and ended up leaving sooner than I had planned when I got a call from my Dad telling me there was a huge storm on the way. It took about 5 minutes to check the weather map online and realize that the first fingers of what looked like a nasty snow storm were already twenty miles away. So I packed my bags, and was on my way home within 20 minutes of talking to Dad.

The storm caught up to me by the time I got home, and it didn't really stop snowing until sometime on Saturday. Its snowing again - and its really cold. And the truth is, aside from being relieved I didn't have to drive home through it, I'm loving it. It feels like winter!