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.