The 80s?

Why does this give me the feeling that I'm reliving the 80s?

The Dollar Is Falling.

I don't want to sound like Chicken Little, especially because this time its true. The Euro peaked in its value against the dollar this summer while I was in Germany - I was paying about $1.60 to get 1 Euro. Then over the past few months the Euro began to slowly, but surely, fall in value. Up to a week ago... then over the past few days it spiked up again. Although its not as high as it used to be, it does skew my support estimates (which were based off of the value of the Euro about a month ago - somewhere in the $1.28 range). Hopefully the market will stabilize somewhat so that I'm not bartering off various articles of Americana to pay my rent next year :-).

Seriously though - Its crazy how much even a 10 cent shift in currency value can make. Last summer I was talking to some missionaries who were explaining how people in America couldn't understand how they had effectively lost about a third of their pay because of the way the market fluctuated. As support is coming in form America (In USD) by the time it is converted into European local currency (which for most countries is now the Euro, or EUR), it takes a few hits in value - between the bank taking an exchange fee, and being converted into the local currency. So a family over in Germany who started off when the Euro was about equal with the Dollar saw their support, without having done anything wrong, continually loose its value over a six year (or so) span to the point where every dollar that they had raised was worth only about $.66. And the buying power of the Euro is no better than the dollar.

This all goes to say though - there is a God who is in control over the world's financial markets, but we don't always know why He allows the markets to fluctuate... or his plan for what we ought to do with our finances.  I'll be honest, I'm hoping and praying that the market will stabilize (if not go down) for pretty self serving reasons (I don't want to have to raise more money than I already do... and I don't want to get to Europe and have my support collapse...), and at the same time those its the same money that goes to allow me to serve the Lord in Germany - so its kind of a strange, very human, mix of emotions that I feel while watching the money market. Its actually quite humbling - it is completely out of my control, and yet it will dictate a lot of what I can/will do in the next year...

Technorati Tags: Euro,Dollar,Currency conversion,Missions,Missionary,Germany,Money,God's soverignty

Theres never enough...

... Time. We're moving from early to mid December, and Christmas is right around the corner. This time of year always feels rushed to me. One minute its thanksgiving and before you know it you're heralding the new year. And then everything slows down and sleeps until spring. Its crazy though - this year January may actually be as frantic as December usually is. Right now I'm still raising funds to go to Germany, and I kind of expect to keep doing that right up until the deadline -- Worried isn't the right word to use for whether or not I'll be able to raise the support, concerned probably is. If God does want me in Germany, and I diligently do my part to try and raise funds, I am confident that I will get there in His time. So even though I'm not worried, I am concerned as I watch the days tick away, and mid January is coming ever-closer.

Almost There

I think I'm almost done with the letters. And that's good news.

Letters, Letters Everywhere....

Alright... bonus points if anybody knows what poem I just ripped off with my title... (Sorry its the recovering English major in me). But the title does say it all - I spent a good couple of hours yesterday addressing and collating support letters to go out early next week. I've got some more work to do on that today, but I'm pretty optimistic that I'll have everything done on time to meet that deadline. I'm just hoping that I'll be able to get my full support in on time... I'm optimistic though (and you can ask my family how often that happens).

Put in Cribbs!

Alright, I realize that this isn't a sports blog. And I'm not planning on delving into sports all that often, but this was too good to pass up.

I just got the Cleveland Browns Newsletter (email) and the first headline I came across was "Anderson Ready for Sunday." I felt letting loose an Arnold Schwarzenegger-esq guttural scream (the kind that usually follows a hail of gunfire, a few explosions, a helicopter crash and a cheesy one-liner). Oscillating between terrified curiosity, and the desire to finally disown my football team after years of bitter disappointment I debated whether or not to read the rest of the article. The compulsion to know won out.

I followed the "Click Here for More" link in the email and arrived at the story's page on the Browns' web site. After reading the article I can now empathize with a prisoner at a parole hearing going horribly wrong. So here's the skinny - Quinn is out of the rest of the season, because the finger he broke apparently was not healing. (The Arnold scream finally escaped sometime around here).

At this point I started wondering if this was another one of the Brownies' quasi-shady Soviet style personnel moves - You know like the whole "Charlie Fry is our starter"... followed by pulling him in the second half of last season's opener, and trading him the following day. Or saying that Kellen Winslow didn't want the reason for his hospitalization disclosed in order to try and hush-hush their way out of the spotlight for yet another personnel staph infection (let me just say here that I don't necessarily agree with the way Winslow handled the situation either, and I'm not sticking up for him... I just find the Browns' motives slightly suspect). The cynic in me couldn't help but wonder if this was just a way for Premier Savage and Comrade Crenell to bench Quinn with dignity for the rest of the season - to clear up any and all quarterback controversy until they could come up with some kind of decision over the off-season, and present as unified a front as possible.

And Then I reached the final paragraph:

"In the meantime, Joshua Cribbs will be the emergency quarterback behind starter Derek Anderson and back up Ken Dorsey."

Yes! There it was, like a beacon of hope, a shimmering light offered to the city of Cleveland! Josh Cribbs is now listed as the third string Quarterback! Why would listing one of the NFL's best kick returners, who happened to play quarterback in college excite me? Simple: every time Cribbs is in he plays hard with an evident passion for the game, whether that is returning or covering a kick/punt, playing an offensive role, or as part of a trick play. In a season that has been filled with more debacles than a middle school talent show, Cribbs as well as a few other players have been the real reason I've kept watching the Brownies this year (#92 Shaun Rogers is another) - and I'll keep watching them. So when Anderson starts choking on Sunday, what will the crowd be chanting? "Cribs, Cribs, Cribs, Cribs..."

- Look, all joking aside. Do I really think we should jump to Cribbs as quarterback? No, of course not. The other two guys in front of him are paid to know that position, fill that position, and run the Browns offense. I may not be a big DA fan, but I don't think him playing is the kiss of death, and I do think that he can be successful somewhere if the right system for him is in place. Do I really think that there is a conspiracy type plot to bench Quinn? There's probably not one of those either, and if the injury is as bad as the article made it sound I'd be the first person to say that the priority should be getting medical treatment and not playing football (Although something about the whole situation smells like media spin). Seriously though, it is the right thing to do if it is a matter of injury... you don't want to be accused of treating your players like pieces of meat... they are human beings after all. In the end we Clevelanders may be a city of fans starving for a good season from our football team, we seriously need to remember that its just a game.

Technorati Tags: Joshua Cribbs,Derek Anderson,Brady Quinn,Cleveland Browns,Quarterback,Quarterback Controversy,Football,NFL,Sports,Cleveland,Browns

The Process and the Human Touch

I'm constantly amazed at how in-depth the process of "raising support" can be. I think one of the common misconceptions, especially from people who have done a couple of short term trips, is that all you do is send out a bunch of letters and pray that God provides the funds. Of course sending out letters is one part of it, but as I'm looking through my list of people to send letters to and contact, the amount of "personal interaction" that I plan on doing is increasing. And that's not a bad thing, not at all. For instance, I've been going through a list of close friends contacting them about prayer support, and how they can be praying for me through this process, and that has been incredibly encouraging. For example, when I called my friend John a couple of days ago about prayer support, his immediate response was incredible enthusiasm! And that is infectious.

A Step in the Right Direction

Well... I "kicked off" fundraising yesterday by getting a letter out to everybody at church. I'm incredibly grateful for everything my church family has already done for me, helping me go to Germany three times to do missions work already. I also know that this trip really is a "Game changer" in a lot of ways - I'll be gone longer, I'll need more funds, and in a lot of ways the work I'm helping with has greater gravity than what I was doing in the past. So, I'm trying to stay optimistic and going to really try to raise support as well as I am able!

The Journey Begins

So this is the first post I've written in a month... again. I promise that will change now that things are pretty much officially underway. I'm officially beginning the support raising process with the hope that I will be in Germany in about 2 months. If all goes well in mid January. Thats exciting. However between now and then there is one huge hill to climb (the support process), as well as lots of "packing up" to do. The truth is that I'm not so much worried, at this point, about packing up my belongings. That is the easy part. I'm more concerned about leaving on a good foot, and being able to say goodbye to people on the right terms.

That being said. I need to get back to work on some other things - so this post will be relatively short. But best wishes to anyone who may be reading this blog already (or still). And I hope to be able to share this exciting journey with all of you as it unfolds through this blog.

The next best thing

So, I haven't written on this blog since English camp. I can't believe that was already two months ago. The time has flown by. In some ways I'm moving on with life as it was, in other ways I'm moving forward. Right now I'm still working part-time at the grocery store that I did before I left, and I'm incredibly grateful that they gave me my job back, especially given the current economic state of the country. However, I'm also in the process of trying to make it back to Germany next year to help out with the English camp efforts for, hopefully, about 9 months. Within the next few weeks I'm hoping to get a new blog started up, or to give this one a massive face-lift, and to define/redefine the mission I'd like the major objectives for the blog.

So... with that said. For those of you listening, thanks a ton for all of the support this past summer. I really can't begin to describe how much it means to me. And second, (and more importantly), I'll be sharing new information about next year as it becomes available to me!

Lost & Found

So I've neglected the old blog for the past ten days. And for that I sincerely apologize. Camp is kind like triage - you have to rank your priorities, and realize that somethings (with the workload) are lost battles and are only going to wear you out more. Last camp was brutal insofar as I couldn't just sit around and listen for kids being loud - I had to bust down doors and tell them to be quiet... until at least 11:30. Then wake up at 7 the next morning and repeat the whole process. I'm not saying that to whine. I totally enjoy "the whole process" the downside of it is, if I'm honest, there are other things that for my own sanity's sake had to fall by the wayside. The blog was one of them.

Camps been over now for a week. I've been trying to get stuff put back in order with Janz Team, and I think I'm done with that. I've also had some meeting about possibly coming back for a more extended time next year - which would be fantastic. I really love working with the people I worked with this summer, and I really love the work. Its been a great experience, even if I don't get a chance to come back, this summer is something I wouldn't change for anything.

Camp has been over for a week, and I think I'm starting to get a good piece of my energy back. I'm enjoying the area I'm in... Its beautiful, and to be able to be out on some hiking trails after a five minute's walk is awesome. I spent a day exploring a park with some rock-formations, and it was an awesome escape from the constant hustle of camp. (Even though, if I'm honest, I really do miss the hustle). But the area here is great. Its still Baden, and that means great food, great people, beautiful vineyards, beautiful scenery... etc.

More Bacon Than the Pan Can Handle

Thats right. I'm having tons of fun right now... Camp has actually really been going well the past couple of days. Despite some pretty serious hitches in our road, camp has been going really well (I think). For me Saturday was a pretty tough day, it was long, and there was a bunch of stuff going on... so at the end of the day I felt pretty drained. And things, I think, have been getting better since then, slowly but surely. So now... I really do think things are going alright. We've still got a tough (But good) couple of days in front of us, and we need to make the most of our time with the campers. But I'm looking forward to the challenge.

That being said... I guess I'm giving the Bible message on Friday... so I'm gonna go back to work on that :-).

Tech Disasters can't Stop Me.

So yesterday was allright despite some bad tech dissasters... Some of which were my fault. We are combining chapel for two of the camps, since we are sans one chapel speaker - not in and of itself a problem. However, everyone involved in chapel wants to use more equipment than we actually have... therin lies the problem. So in trying to switch out sound equipment in between stuff, and setting up three different computers... yeah. So we had some technical difficulties. Bummer. But I think I have a working solution for tonight... I hope it works.

A new beginning

Sorry I haven't updated in so long - the end of last camp got kind of crazy, especially with only one computer with internet access avaliable. Hopefully this camp will go better with that. The first camp is over, sadly, but the second one began yesterday. So after a few days of rest, we're back in the saddle again. And it feels good. Yesterday night I policed the halls until about 12:30, busting kids for talking past lights out. Its a strange kind of power-trip ;-) .

But seriously. I have a good feeling about this camp. Getting to know the kids, so far, has been great. Its a totally different game when you don't know most of them from the onset - so much more of this camp will be forging new relationships with kids, rather than building relationships further. There are a few kids that I know here from three years ago, and its been really nice to seem them again, especially since they've grown up in the meantime.

Alright. I have to get going, but I'll hopefully post more later. Oh... and the slide show should now be pictures from last camp!

Two Posts in One... Saturday & Sunday update

I think this is probably going to start being a trend. Once again I'm policing the “lights out” policy and typing the day's blog post. So, although your information is going to be about a day behind, you'll probably get more frequent updates than if I were looking for a time to type for fifteen or twenty minutes on a computer here with internet access.

I'm kind of disappointed – the stud athlete on my team busted up his knee playing “running bases” today. So, our run towards camp glory may, once again, be cut short due to the injury of a key player. Rats. Actually, seriously, I feel bad for the kid. I guess up until about 6 weeks ago he was on crutches with another injury, and now he's probably going to be out of commission again for a while. At least he's putting a pretty good face on it.

Otherwise, life really is pretty good. I finally got about an hour of the waking day to just crash, alone, and relax. It was, at this point, well needed, and very gratefully received! I'm loving my time with the campers, and I wish I had more time with them than I do. I can't believe that they leave next weekend already.

____________________________________________________________________

This is going to be two posts. I didn't really have time to upload my post from yesterday so my post from Saturday night is the one above, and what follows is the Sunday update.

Sunday was actually a really good day, despite my not really having any free time so to speak of. Camp Sundays consist of busing the kids down to church – BFCF the English speaking church thats attached to the Black Forest Academy, and then the kids having lots of free time, and usually watching a movie. So, the kids get a chance to unwind on Sunday, which leaves less free time for the staff (For example... I'm “off” when the kids are in English class for a couple of hours during the day... which means I try, as best as I can, to fulfill the role of “team leader” in that margin as well as other times during the day). I also, usually like to try to take at least a few minutes of “Steve” time sometime during the day (Preferably during my free time) where I can just unwind for a bit, get a few minutes of peace and quite, and read for a while. But getting to spend extra time with the campers, just hanging out, was really awesome. And despite not having any “free time” for myself on the Sunday docket, it turns into one of my favorite days of camp.

Oh... the kid who smacked his knee the other day is doing well. He's walking around without crutches, so we're all very happy that the injury wasn't as bad as we first thought it might be. Which is a huge answer to prayer for a lot of people.

I had an interesting room time with my guys yesterday night. We had watched the new “Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” movie yesterday evening as a camp, and talked a little bit about how the movie can be interpreted in light of the story of Christ. I thought it was really interesting that my guys pretty much uniformly had seen, and liked Mel Gibson's “The Passion of the Christ” better than the disney film... partly because they felt Disney had stronger ulterior motives for making the film (Making a lot of money off of it), whereas Gibson's movie didn't. The other half of their preference was because they felt the Narnia film was a bit too “fantastical” to be a good portrayal of the Christian story. I'm not saying I agree with them %100, and I'm not trying to push their view... but I am proud of them for coming up with an opinion on how their beliefs are treated in the media and for sticking too it (the guys who were talking about it are Christians... and for those of you who know me I didn't “seed” that opinion in them, and I wasn't trying in any way to take the conversation towards critiquing the film, or the film industry at all. It came up completely spontaneously and I barely commented on the whole matter). So that being said, I'm incredibly proud of my boys for having an opinion on something like this, sharing it, and then sticking to their guns on it and giving adequate, logical evidence to support their views. (and I think they both know they're not trying to delineate between good and bad, but better and best... which is also exciting).

The door is open and I'm listening to campers that I'm going to have to bust in the next few minutes for being too loud again. One full day of camp is over. Despite a few road-bumps, it still feels great to be here.

Its always a pretty honest answer to tell campers that their camp is not better or worse than the last one, only different. Unfortunately I think if I tell the next group that, it may be a lie. I know I posted yesterday that I knew over half the kids at this camp. The truth of the matter is that if I made a list of all of the previous campers who I'd worked with, who would still be eligible to come to camp, this camp would have the vast majority of them all in one place. I'm constantly being blessed by the kids and the other staff, despite my shortcomings.

Campers Arrived

I'm going to try something new – I'm writing this blog post at night while policing my hall. The kids are, for the most part, quite and there's only a few kids that I'll have to move down the hall and bust. Unfortunately I don't have internet access in my room and have to go downstairs to get any. So by the time this is posted it will most likely be “the next morning” over here, and sometime in the middle of the night in The States.

The campers came today. It was a trickle, almost the whole day, rather than a rush all at once. The first group showed up around 2:00, and a small group would make it to the campsite every hour and a half or so, until the last group of five, which didn't arrive until 11:30 at night.

Its great to have them here, and its even better to have so many familiar faces around. I know probably about half of the campers from previous camps personally, and there are others that I know through reputation. I realize that I'm a staff member and they're campers, but for some of them I can't escape the feeling that I'm catching up with old friends, rather than policing a force of unruly teenagers. And the truth is that I think this is the most comfortable I've felt at the start of a camp yet – we'll see how long that lasts (even the best of kids can do some pretty crazy things at times).

I have a good feeling about this camp. The group of kids is great, I'm actually already sad that they'll be leaving next weekend – I wish we just had more time with them. Some of these kids, it'll probably be the last chance I get to see. They'll be too old to come to camp next year, and who knows what I'll be doing a summer from now. Some of them have kind of grown up through the camps with me. A couple of them I met at my very first camp, and I couldn't be happier that I get a chance to be with them again.

Its Been Awhile

Since I've gone and written a blog post. Sorry about that. The past few days have been crazy getting staff members situated, and getting the locations ready for camp to start. Its been really fun getting to know the teams and interacting with them, in person, for the first time. I'm constantly amazed that I'm over here.

Today is the day when campers show up. We've got a morning of relative peace, and quiet, and then an afternoon of crazy frantic energy. So between now and next weekend life goes, "crazy-go-nuts." Hopefully I'll be able to carve out a few minutes of the day in order to keep blogging.

Yesterday we had a chance to go to Strassbourg, a city on the French side of the Rhine, in Alsace, take a boat tour on the canals there, and then walk around the city for a couple of hours. I'm constantly amazed at the beauty of Baden and Alsace, and how great the people (overall) are here. Strassbourg is a really neat city - the cathedral is absolutely gorgeous, as is the other older architecture. The cafe's were overpriced (welcome to a touristy city in France...), but the atmostphere was nice. It was nice to be able to watch Le Tour de France on a flatscreen TV while sipping a drink and chatting.

So... I've got to get off. Its time to finish prepping for the kids to get here.

Engines sputter ghosts over gasoline fumes

I had a strange experience today. It was raining when I left work at the Janz Team offices, and as I walked down towards the appartment for the last time before camps start the rain started to pick up. As I picked my way through the Fussgangerzone (pedestrian zones), watching water water drip off the tops of roofs and walls, I could tell the rain was coming down harder, and the lightning and thunder were getting closer. When I finally got back onto the main streets about one hundred meters away from the apartment the rain started hurling itself down in gales, and I grasped what it meant for the rain to fall on the righteous and the wicked. And despite being drenched, for the rest of the walk I knew genuine joy.

Grocery Shopping

A couple hours and about 2000 Euro later most of the food for camp session is bought and stocked at the dorms. It took us the better part of the day to load and deliver the food for three camp sessions, but I can't say that it was a particularly bad experience. Actually, on the contrary, it was kind of fun. And the anticipation of camp starting next week is starting to really get me excited. On one hand there's a lot of stress involved in making sure that everything is ready for people to start showing up. On the other hand this is what we've been working toward since before I arrived in Germany.

There's only a couple days left, and a couple of days worth of last minute preperation to do before the greater Kandern area gets flooded with a lot of teenage energy!

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Alright... before I get going on this post, I'd like to start with a quick anecdote that has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of what I'm gong to write this evening. I went into the bakery across the street this morning to buy my bakery for the day. I ended up having to wait a minute or two for someone to be available to take my order, and when someone finally was it was one of the bakers who had come out of the kitchen to lend a hand in serving people. We ended up talking for a minute or two, aside from my ordering, and almost immediately he asked if I were French... If this were an isolated incident I probably would have laughed it off and not have thought about it again, but this is at least the second time somebody thought I was French. On the Air France flight from Newark to Paris the flight attendant thought I was too - he started coming down the isle speaking English to everyone, until he got to me when he proceeded to start speaking to me in French... (to which I responded with a slightly confused, "I'll take the beef tips, merci). So in the end I ended up chatting with the baker about where I was from, where/how I learned my German, etc. But what I still can't wrap my mind around is why people would think I'm French! I'm not wafer thin, I don't wear tight pants, I don't walk around in black sweaters smoking a pipe and spouting existential philosophy (well the philosophy part maybe). But seriously - What part of chubby kid wearing an American T-Shirt, American-cut jeans, Puma tennis shoes, and speaking German screams "French?" Not to bash the baker, actually he's a super nice guy, and I can't say enough good things about the bakery/konditorei. (I've actually gotten a couple ideas for bread/rolls that I could make when I get back).

Now, on to what I've been thinking about for the past few days. I pulled the title for this post from the Daft Punk song "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger." The song is an electro-pop song where the band slowly builds up their only verse from individual scattered words to an entire verse - "Work it harder, make it better/ Do it faster, makes us stronger/ More than ever, hour after/ Hour work is never over." It struck me the other day how good of a piece of "pop" art this really is, and how it subtly shows what they feel to be a problem in modern society.

I have no idea who's reading this, but let me make a suggestion - this next part will make a lot more sense if you do this first, and you'll probably have a slightly better appreciation for whats being done if you try this first yourself. Find a copy of the song - \its one of the songs I have playing on the blog "playlist" you can get to it directly by using clicking the button to make it a pop out player. Following the directions to make that work, and then selecting the song from the list (its relatively near the top)... oh yeah, and be sure to hit the stop button on the blog player... just so you don't have two things playing at once. Take the time and listen to Harder, Better, Faster Stronger, a few times and try to decide what it means ---> I promise there's a meaning there, it may be a bit tough to coax it out of the song, and you'll have to think about everything going on in the song to really get it, and then read on. (and I'm going to say before hand too, that this isn't entirely original criticism of the song... In other words, I'm not the first person to say most of this stuff, and I'm not claiming to be... If I knew the first person to flush this out I would give him/her their just due).


If you just read the single verse that I pasted in, what I just said probably doesn't make much sense, but I'll try to explain. The song starts with a filtered melodic beat that acts as the rhythmic engine that moves the song along. After about 50 seconds of looped beat, an electronically filtered voice starts saying words that will make up the completed verse. It woudl read roughly "Work it, make it, do it, makes us harder, better, faster, stronger. More than hour, hour, never ever after work is over." What's interesting here is that, although the voice is filtered and is speaking in relatively broken sentence, the work being done ends. Also the work makes the workers "harder, better, faster, stronger."

Now, as the song goes on, more words are added into the mix in a very mechanical way. As words get added, the beat changes, as does the filtering on the voice. As the voice progresses towards building the verse, and begins singing it over and over it becomes more and more distorted, until it begins to fragment and become dehumanized (for lack of a better word), and in the end only a few of the words are understandable --> most notably "(h)our work is never over."

So, I said this has do to with pointing out a problem in society. At this point the fairly obvious answer is that as we work more and more we go crazier, and crazier. This is definitely a message in the song... but its a partial one, and you've really missed the heart of whats going on if you just leave it at that. Here's where it seperates itself from petty drivel, and puts itself into the realm of legitimate (or semi-legitimate) pop art.

If you follow the progression of the song you start with the work being done enriching the workers - it is something that makes them Harder, better, faster, and stronger. However as the very mechanical way that it builds continues forewards, the work is never over, and the product and the process rather than the worker becomes "harder, better, faster, stronger." Thats the main inversion that this song works on, work defining and enhancing the life of a person, which as the song becomes "industrialized" the speaker is caught up in a whole process that ends up dehumanizing everything, and the work becomes our main goal rather than living our lives. Finally, in the end the only thing left in a splintered, and fragmented existence is the work that's never over.

The question that we then have to ask is whether this is an accuratate picture of what goes on in society, and then, if it is, what should we do about it. Although it may not be true all of the time, and for all people living in the developed world, a lot of times our way of life is based on people doing work that can do this to them. So the question then becomes what should we do, and therein lies the rub.

There's no easy answer to the quesiton. What do we do when our quest for profit becomes damaging to others, when there is a clear looser in our "competition" for market dominance, when we pay monetarily little for our products but the toll in human misery can be great. Obviously starting a Marxist society has been proven to not work... (yes, I realize that may be the understatement of the year), but at the same time if we have an ounce of Christ's compassion we can't turn a blind eye to the suffering of those who have gotten the short end of the capitalistic stick. My hope, really, is that this would become one of the jobs the church takes on in the 21st century, that we would be willing to look at these kinds of problems, not with the eyes of American, or western socio-economic interest, but with the eyes of Christ and in doing so come up with inventive ways to help people where they are doing what they're doing.

That being said, Daft Punk, (So far as I know) are in no way christian, or any other religion for that matter. And I'm not holding them up, on the whole, as being a bastian of great art. I honestly don't know their other stuff well enough to say much of anything about them. And I'm not trying to hold this up as one of the best examples of contemporary art... but this song is one that does do a good job of showing, rather than blatantly telling, and showing us something that we'd rather forget about what it can sometimes cost to live the way that we do, and that is why it is worthwhile to listen to/pay attention to.

Victory

Germany won the baseball game against France today 11:1. All is right in the universe. Actually, in all honesty, it felt like watching a high school game back home. The only thing keeping the fans from the players was a line of chain-link fencing, and the dugout walls, there was nothing to keep foul balls from screaming over our heads, and neither team looked all that good, which I guess is understandable due to Baseball's dearth of popularity over here. (Although Germany looked considerably better than France).
In other news. Today was also the big push to get all of the dinner rolls and pies done. When I left Palmgarten this afternoon the pies were done, and there was only about a double batch of dinner rolls left to flash freeze. (Not bad considering I made 7 double batches of our dough recipe this morning). It was actually a really good time. We ended up getting some help from a work team thats here from Canada, and some BFA kids who live in town.
I'm constantly amazed at how awesome the BFA kids are - I've had a chance to work with a solid handful now between different times I've been to English camp, and I always, always come away amazed at how great they are to work with.

I'm going to watch the German National team

So... with all I've been saying here about soccer this might come as a bit of a shock to anyone reading this. Tomorrow the German national team is playing in a town about half an hour from here and I get to go watch. The catch? Its the German national baseball team. Thats right, I've come all the way across the big pond, only to find myself going to watch an American past time. So tomorrow evening (alright... mid-day for you guys) I get to go watch the German national team face off against the French. I hope we smear 'em.

Apples Apples Everywhere

SO I went on a bit of an adventure yesterday. One of the plans that we made for English camps was to bake Apple Pies for everyone as part of the North American experience. (Right... what could be more American than baseball and apple pie, right)? The plan: make about 40 apple pies, freeze them until needed, and then bake them in the oven. Pretty simple, right? err... not so much. Big problem number one was faced down yesterday: finding all of the apples we would need.
We, (Lisa Rothacker, a Cedarville Student, who like me, is here to help out for the summer, and myself) set out at about 11:00 am on the great E-Camp apple hunting expedition. We returned 45 kilometers, 7 grocery stores, and 30 dozen apples later at around 2:30. Apples, in and of themselves, are not hard to find over here but when you need about 360 Granny Smiths the gravity of the situation begins to set in. We had the back of a Passat station wagon pretty full with tart green appely goodness.


The looks we got from the cashiers were pretty priceless. As we were walking out of one store with a mere 3 dozen Granny Smiths (all they had in stock) we got a raised eyebrow and a, "so, are you throwing an 'apple party?'" More impressive was the relatively straight face we got while purchasing a whopping 15 dozen at another store. After explaining what was going on in most of the stores we generally got the response "oh... thats pretty cool," or "that sounds like fun," so in the end most of the awkwardness of buying out a store's stock of Granny Smiths was averted.

I Think...

Its about time for a new laptop... (mine's having serious issues)

The agony of defeat...

So we lost the Euro 2008 championship last night. Disappointing to say the least, but not all that surprising. Spain played the better game yesterday, and with as many opportunities on goal as they had its a minor blessing the score was only 1:0. The feeling around the office this morning is one of disappointment, but hope... World Cup 2010 is only two years away, and the team is on the upswing from its poor start of the century. We've gone from being eliminated in the group stages of the Euro-Cup to, once again, being runners up, and a solid football (soccer) team.

Otherwise, life is good. I played some soccer yesterday evening with people from BFA. I'm a bit sore from that, but I ended up doing a pretty alright job for an American... I made a few quality saves, from shots that should have gone in. On the other hand... the altitude here is definitely higher than at home... (and I'm out of shape, but my official excuse is the altitude). Truth be told, it was a ton of fun to play. Soccer, I still think, is one of the funnest games to play pick-up with a group of friends.

The Real Breakfast of Champions

Wheaties stink. Really, honestly, they kind of taste like nothing and if you're anything like me you end up getting caught loading them up with sugar when you do eat them so that you don't feel like you're re-hydrating dried out wheat pulp in your mouth.

NOW, Germany has great breakfast food, something you can really build your day on! A pretty typical, traditional German breakfast involves bread, butter, and some lunch meat. YES, thats right, cold-cuts for breakfast. For the first couple weeks I'll be within easy walking distance of a local bakery (which is good) so my breakfast ritual literally involves me making my daily walk to the bakery, deciding on which hard rolls to buy, and then making a couple open faced sandwiches for myself out of my prize.

To the average American... this may sound slightly revolting and less healthy than just grabbing a box of Cheerios from the cabinet and sloshing them around in a bowl of milk. But really when you think of it, its really not that bad for you. The roll is a pretty decent source of complex carbs & fiber (especially if you get a true Vollkorn, or whole-grain roll, delicious... and good for you). So long as you have the European norm of a piece or two of lunch meat on your sandwich you're not doing too badly on fat, and getting some decent protein to boot. Throw in a glass of juice or milk and you're set.

As for taste. Any kind of objection you'd have to it is honestly mental block. There is nothing so good as a Broetchen in the morning. And honestly, my breakfast ritual leaves me feeling full, really after not eating that much (one Broetchen and a few cold cuts... and maybe a piece of cheese)... and it lasts me through when I eat lunch.

And for the record. German cereal is pretty good too, if you just can't bring yourself to eat lunch meat for breakfast. Check out Musli if you can find it, or something like it in the states. (Its kind of like the Kashi cereals).

Alright. I'm out. I need to get some other work done today. I think I get to tally up sport equipment today!

GOALLL

Round trip tickets to Europe $1500
Bratwurst & Broetchen $ 2.50
Drink $ 2.50
Watching Philip Lahm put in a last minute goal to advance Germany to the Euro 2008 Finals in a church auditorium packed with screaming German fans? PRICELESS. (There are some things in life that money can buy, for everything else... there are short term missions trips... yeah. thats a shameless plug)

Safe Arrival

bottom: 0in;"> This is a post from Tuesday June 24^th, even though it is going to show that I am posting later than that. I arrived in Kandern today, a little bit behind schedule due to a couple of flight postponements, in pretty good condition for just having made the transatlantic flight. The town hasn't changed that much in the past two years since I've been here last, a few changes to the layout of local supermarkets, a little bit of construction has gone on, but the black forest still feels like the black forest.

I found out where exactly I'll be working the first couple of weeks that I'll be here. I'll be based out of the Janz Team offices here in town. I'll be working out of the “guest office” which is a converted closet, the back wall of which is covered in different books of German theology, and the other space pretty much dedicated to a desk and computer. Its small, but just big enough to be cozy and not claustrophobic. There's a skylight in the sloping ceiling that lets natural light in, so the room seems to breathe a little bit, rather than be a dungeon like converted walk in closet.

I start working, proper, tomorrow morning. I need to show up between 9 and 10 in the morning and will, hopefully, after the morning have a much better idea of how my time will be split up over the next three weeks or so. I'm assuming that the closer to camp we get, the more frantic the workload will be... but I'm up for the challenge, and actually relishing the opportunity to do work with eternal significance.

Otherwise, my evening was pretty free. I had a chance to the very first round of grocery shopping for myself. I picked up a couple of Broetchen (little hard rolls) and some lunch meat from the store, along with some iced tea to drink. So I have enough to eat, at least until I get a chance to do a little bit more shopping. And I felt like I ate like a king, even though my dinner was a hard roll and meat – its one of those things that I've been craving since I found out I'd be coming again. And it lived up to expectations. Otherwise, I walked through town for a while, and got most of the way reacquainted with where things are in relation to each other.

I also had a chance to take a walk on some of the roads right outside of town that go up the side of the hills/mountains. I always forget how beautiful it is in the Black Forest until I come back. Flying in, looking at the hilly landscape flying by underneath the plane, on the way from Paris to Basel I was struck by how gorgeous it was. My walk didn't disappoint either. I took some pictures of Kandern from the top of a nearby hill looking down, and they turned out gorgeously.

Otherwise, life is good. I've got no complaints. I'm still humbled and honored to be able to help out here for the next couple of months. I know there will be many of challenges coming my way over the next few weeks, and then an explosion of frantic activity as camps start and kids arrive. But hopefully, Lord willing, I'll be able to meet those challenges head on and overcome them.

Alright. I'm off. I need to get to bed, so that I have good energy to work tomorrow, and so that I can start beating the jet-lag. I have no idea how much time I'll have to post tomorrow evening. As plans stand right now I'm probably going to go watch the Germany-Turkey Euro Cup semi-final tomorrow evening at a church in the area. Here's hoping that all goes well!

Its time

This will be my last post States-side. Tomorrow I fly off to Europe. I won't be back for about two months. I'm a bit nervous. I have a feeling I won't sleep too well tonight. Even though I know almost everything has been taken care of at this point, I still feel like I'm missing something, or haven't gone over something, or forgot to pack something, or I'll run out of time tomorrow to get one last check through my baggage in.

I won't have a chance to post tomorrow - I fly out of Cleveland at about three in the afternoon. I'll land, first, in Newark, have about a two hour layover, and then make the long night flight to Paris. From Paris I hop a one hour flight to Basel where I'll be picked up.

Its not the flights that are stressful. Its the finality of it. If there is a big point of no return, tomorrow is it. Once I get on that plane and fly off, I'm on my own until I get to Basel. There's no turning back home to pick up something I forgot, no changing plans, and no coming back for two months.

On one hand, I realize that the plans I have are pretty solid, and not too much can go wrong. Even if I forget something, if its necessary I should be able to pick it up in Germany... But I think that anytime you step into the unknown its a bit unsettling until you've begun to adapt.

SO. I'm off in the morning. I hope all is as well as I think it is. I hope I make all my connections. I hope my flights go smoothly. And I hope that I'm in decent enough shape when I land.

See you in Europe.

Euro 2008 Update

Germany beat Portugal 3:2 today... which means Germany is going on to the semi-finals. Which means.... I get to watch them somewhere in town when I get there Wednesday. Now thats worth beating Jet-Lag for.

Another Milestone

Today was my last day of work before leaving. It feels kind of weird to know that I won't be back for another two months. There's an air of finality and immediacy thats beginning to set in as I'm getting ready. The deadline is no longer a couple of weeks away, or even a week away. Five days from now I'm flying out of Cleveland, headed for the Black forest. Its both nerve wracking to try and get everything together and exhilarating.

Tickets Came

The receipt for the tickets came in the mail today. I'm itching to start on my way. On the downside though, I found out that the local pool instituted a speedo only rule for guys... which means I guess I'm going shopping. I wonder if this is what Paul was talking about when he said that he had become all men to all people....

T-Minus One Week and Counting

Alright... I broke my streak of daily updating, which is my goal in Germany (probably unattainable, but its better to shoot high and fail, than not try at all, right?)

Today my finances were wired over to TEAM. My flight leaves a week from today, and I won't be back until mid August. I'm really looking forward to getting over to Germany and starting to work. But I also know I've got a few minor hurdles to jump over yet before taking off: finishing off work, packing, and most importantly making sure that I have everything that I need before its too late to go out shopping (I guess Super WalMart near parmatown is 24hrs... But do I really want to make a shopping trip at 3 am. on Sunday... Not really).

Its either really dumb of me, or a really good thing that what I'm most worried about is a short layover in Paris. I'm just having memories of trying to get through Charles De Gaul international airport as quickly as possible... and remembering how incredibly fun it was (sarcasm intended). I've got one hour to get from my incoming flight to my outgoing flight... and it takes forever to get across the airport... and I don't speak French...

Otherwise life is really good. I can't complain. Germany is playing in a must win Euro Cup game this afternoon against Austria... a team which we should beat. America beat up on Barbados in their first World Cup Qualifier (for the 1010 cup). I should have a chance to hang out with some friends before I leave, and say goodbye to people for the next couple of months, which is always nice to do Psychologically speaking. So, I'm a little nervous, about the last little details, but I'm definitely looking forward to getting over there and getting my hands dirty!

One Step Closer

I didn't really get a chance to update yesterday, so I'm writing a quick post before I go to work today. I actually had a chance to go to a German IV reunion, with the people from my German IV class from High School. We get together about every six months, and its really been a nice way to keep in contact with some people. Bizzarely enough the group dynamics haven't really changed in the past five years since we graduated. Its kind of scary really :-). But it really was nice to see everyone again.

Otherwise, plans are still moving forward to go to Germany. My day of departure is Monday June 23rd, and I'll be returning August 20th... So I'll be out of the country almost two full months!

One more day down

Another day closer to getting to Germany. The closer I get, the more I'm looking forward to going. Its been two years since I've been to Germany, and my German has gotten more than a little bit rusty. At least I've had a chance to speak quite a bit the past few weeks, so I've had a chance to get back in the swing of thinking in German again.

Relief and Stress

The good news is... a lot of the details to actually head off to Germany are more firmly in place. The bad news is that I need to have all of my support in a week before I take off. The good news is that I leave a week from Monday. The bad news is that all of the support has to be in, in a little under a week. Overall... good news wins out. I'm going to Germany, and my plans are looking a lot firmer. So today was a good day.

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow should be a big day. I've got the day off of work, and my goal is to try and nail down some of the last details before I go to Germany. Hopefully after tomorrow I'll know whats going on with my plane ticket, and have a better idea whats going on with my support, and hopefully... hopefully have a day of departure set pretty much in stone, instead of a more vague... I'm leaving in about **** weeks type of statement. SO, hopefully things get nailed down tomorrow. Otherwise, life is good. Right, now I'm just hopping that things work out and I get a much better picture of whats going on in the morning.

Joga Bonito... Play Beautiful

If you want to go somewhere and converse with the people, you could learn their language. OR, you could just pick up football (soccer as we know it). Seriously, just about anywhere you go in the world outside of the US you can usually find a couple of makeshift goals, a ball, and a mass of kids with shins of steel trying to show off their moves on the pitch (soccer field).

Seriously though, international soccer is great. If its on, I tend to watch it... way too much of it.There's so much national pride behind the teams its hard for it not to be infectious. The rivalries are some of the best in all of sports (check Brazil v. Argentina... or Germany vs. the Netherlands... or the USA vs. Mexico). For most of the world the World Cup rivals, if not overtakes, the Olympics in regards to national sporting events. You look forward to it for years... especially if your team qualifies. Its like having the top all star teams in the world compete against each other for a month. Today Germany beat Poland 2:0 in round 1 of EuroCup2008, and the USA held the number 1 rated Argentina to a 0:0 tie in an international "friendly." Today was a good day; my two teams did well (America, much better than was expected) so I'm happy.

I've embedded a video that was part of a soccer ad-campaign Nike put on a couple of years ago... so you can get just a little taste of the flavor of international soccer. The slogan was Joga Bonito, Portuguese for "Play Beautiful" (Andrew can correct me if I've translated incorrectly). Most of the commercials were pretty good... and some were even pretty funny. I think you still should be able to find most of them on YouTube if you look.

I've seen it all...

I just turned the T.V. on to see Orel Hershiser competing in a Poker tournament. Wow. I'm really not sure what else I can say.

I'm still going back and forth trying to get things in line to head off to Germany, and I'm really starting to feel the "last minuteness" of the trip. On one hand, I'm sure I'll be fine actually traveling off to Germany. Its the communications and getting everything set up with the different people and organizations involved that has me a bit worried. I'm sure everything will be fine in the end.

Otherwise, today was a good day. I had the day off of work. I got some paperwork done, and a few envelopes addressed. I also got to spend some time with my grandparents and my Great Aunt and Uncle who are in from Germany. It was a lot of fun running through the mall in the evening looking for the right kind of shoes that some of my relatives in Germany wanted them to bring back ... even if it was a bit aggravating when none of the stores had them.

Alright. I'm going to sign off for the night, and try to get some sleep before going to work in the A.M.

Another Day, Another Post

It was actually a strange day today. I guess its one of the major milestones getting closer to going to Germany. I have only one week of work left before heading out, and a whole lot of other tings left to do. So it was both a good, and stressful realization. I've got a few more paper-work things to send off to TEAM before I go, I've got a lot of support left to come in, and not to mention I have to book my flights.... SO a lot has to happen in the next week or so. I'm still hoping to head out in about a week and a half.

Otherwise, life is good. Just about everything has been taken over by trying to get ready for Germany. A lot of my free time has been switched over into either looking into different things that need to be done or getting ready to go physically and spiritually.

A Quick Update and Some Satire

Alright... This post is going to have almost absolutely nothing to do with going to Germany. Right now I'm watching Modern Marvels on the History Channel, and they just featured a TA that I stopped at more than a few times on the way to school or back. It was just a bizarre feeling to see somewhere I've been a bunch of times on the TV. I guess it just goes to show the way we compartmentalize the difference between "TV" and "real life" and how at times it can all bleed together (and it only becomes strange when we actually realize that its bleeding together). I'm not sure that that'll even make sense to anybody, but it was just a weird observation that I made.

Otherwise. I wanted to use this post to try embedding a video into the body of a post. So I tracked down a video on Youtube of a "mock presidential debate" that was preformed one Friday during a chapel service while I was at Cedarville. My friends Drew and John were two of the masterminds behind it. SO, not only do I get to tinker around with Blogger's ability to put video into posts, but I get to give us all a four year flashback!

A Post to Get In the Habit

Alright, I'll be honest. This is going to be a post more so to get in the habit of posting than anything else. The way I'm looking at it is that the more often I make time to update things while I'm still in the states, the easier it will be for me to carve out the time to do it while I'm in Germany. In other words, I'm trying to make this more of a habit so that its not something that I'll forget too easily when all the excitement starts - rather it becomes part of the excitement as it happens.

Otherwise, not too much in regards to going to Germany today. I'm still waiting for a lot of information to come through, as well as trying to get financial things squared away, which are things I have a feeling will be ongoing for the next... while, at least. SO if anybody is reading this at the early stages, please keep that in prayer.

I'm trying to stay patient, realizing that God will work things out the way He wants to in His time. I'm just not necessarily all that good at it, call it human nature.

So. This is my first entry. How should I start? I guess the first thing that I really want to do here is to thank you all ahead of time for keeping up as well as you can, and for your support. This blog is planned in order to keep a record of what goes on while I'm in Germany this summer. My hope is that I'll be able to keep people posted as I go through the whole process- building support, getting to Europe, preparing for camp, and then going through the camp process as it happens. Hopefully I'll have a chance to share some stories, concerns, pictures, and maybe even a few videos through this site.

As I get things underway on this site, I guess there's a few things that I'd like to say.

First: there should be some changes as I actually move over to Europe. For example of the peripherals, like the picture slideshows will be updated with more recent pictures as they become available, and the look and feel will change somewhat as things progress.

Second: The updates to this site will probably come in many different shapes and sizes. Sometimes there will just be short entries: a couple sentences with a short story, or fact, or thought that I had. Other times there will probably be longer more meditative thoughts and ponderings about what is going on. And other times there might be more ***GHASP*** literary posts where I try to express the feel something has to it. (Sorry I'm a recovering English major... please humor me). So hopefully, if everything goes right, this site will be a pretty good way to get different kinds of updates out that wouldn't be possible with just update emails.

I guess thats more than enough for now. I've got to be getting some other stuff done in preperation. Expect more later!

Steve