Germany: Where All My Dreams Come True…

Well, sort of. During a brief visit to the Canary Islands, I had an epiphany. At least, I guess that’s what you call it. You see, I was pondering the turquoise liquid rolling in front of me, and suddenly it hit me:

I’m living my childhood dream!

And I had completely forgotten what it was. The truth is, I’ve always wanted to have adventures, to travel to exotic places (or even another State), to smell and taste new cultures, and to learn from newly made friends. And subconsciously, I’ve been doing that. This last year was filled with challenges that blocked me from seeing the landscape of people, adventures, and scenery unfolding before me.

This year’s beginning slides open a glass door to a world I thought I’d never reach: reality. And what a beautiful place. I’m living now in Germany (again) until May. My mission: to learn German, to start an English-speaking church service, and to date Simon. Of course, I’ll be needing to work somewhere in between all that to fund my physical survival.

But the important thing is that I’m here. And I refuse to be impervious to the excitement around me–tall trees and piles of snow, interesting people, new culture/language. Check out what I’ve learned in just the past week:

• Germans love order–they wash and fold their trash.
• Each person is expected keep their section of sidewalk spotless.
• They will, as one mass, begin shifting back and forth in anxiety if the train is two minutes late.
• They enjoy sayings, especially ones that don’t made any sense when translated literally in English.
• There is stinky German cheese, and I have eaten it.
• Tight pants are “in”.
• So are mullets.
• Most Germans can speak casual English, so avoid commenting on the mullet in front of the person.

There you have it. Life is beautiful. Don’t forget those dreams you had as a kid; take a bit of time to let yourself drift back. Then sip a Hefeweizen and plan out how this year will continue your adventure.

My Love Has Flown

With the absence of my manly fiance comes another life adjustment. Back to “normal”. I mean, life’s never normal is it? There are always moments of interest, silly people doing silly things (like that one guy the other night who was dancing in the street in the middle of on-coming traffic), or just moments of peace and relaxation.

My newest change has been re prioritizing. Without my attention locked on Simon, I must get back into the swing of life. I’ve been cleaning my room, working more, setting goals, exercising, and generally enjoying having all the freedoms provided here in the good ole’ USA.

One big step happened yesterday: I mailed our Fiance VISA Application! For those of you who don’t know, if you want to marry a foreigner, you have to fill out a form and go through a 6-8 month process to import your “Alien Fiance”. Well, at least the process has been started. Although because of the time it might take, we may be delaying the wedding by a month. Please be praying that it’ll all go faster!

Take a moment to step back, observe the complete abnormality of your life, and thank God that He’s made you unique and interesting.

;)

I have a shiny new piece of jewelry. It’s on the third finger of my left hand. HURRAY! Simon, my studly boyfriend, proposed on September 18th on the top of Pike’s Peak. He did an amazing job setting the whole thing up. It was a day-adventure, which you can read about on his blog: SimonMacfarlane.com.

Life continues in a crazy pace. Simon’s here for two more weeks. Morgan (my awesome roommate from college) is getting married this weekend in Texas…which means another ROADTRIP! hahaha–we should get a prize for being professional roadtrippers. Or maybe a patch to put on a leather jacket. Or a balloon.

If anyone has any tips for organizing lives, let me know. Oh, and if you have any clever ideas for fun wedding games, send them my way.

What’s Next?

I’ve finally settled into my new home…drumroll…

A senior citizen apartment complex.

This hot Labor Day morning, I observed that the residents enjoy strolling slowly around and around the complex. I’m living in a two-story apartment with three roommates (in their early 20s). They’re great. But unfortunately, the apartment sustains the putrid residue of tobacco. A strange mix of old cigarette smoke and new paint assalts the nostrils upon entering. However, I finally have my own place to spread out my few possessions. What a relief to no longer live out of a suitcase!  (pictures of the apartment to come)

I’m still in search of a job. Boo. I’ve been working half of part-time (ie. 8 hrs/wk) editing and entering data for a local non-profit health clinic. And, wonderfully, there are the faithful mothers who want me to watch over their little ones on occassion. God’s been faithful to provide just enough to pay each bill as it comes, but it’s definitely a test of faith. Oi.

I’ve finally had time to start processing the last 8 months. I need to write some stories down so I don’t forget the daily adventures of life. I would suggest you do the same! Casual days can contain wonderful anecdotes to share, or even just to laugh about to yourself later.

The future? Who knows? I’m wanting to do more editing–book editing or professional editing for businesses. I’m really good, so if you know anyone who needs an editor…   My incredible boyfriend is coming to visit for a few weeks soon, so naturally, the world is brighter and I skip out my door every day. Oh, and I’ll be making a roadtrip to Colorado for a friend’s wedding and then a trip to Texas for, yes, another wedding. I believe that this is–on the Chinese calendar–the Year of the Ring.

Peace be with you. And if you decide to get married this year…I’d love another roadtrip

July/August–Gone in a Flash!

How do I start? Same place as always, I guess…

The end/beginning:

I left Germany on June 30th. Everything went well–I got all my luggage! Hurray! Met my brother in Chicago and stayed with him for a week in the quaint town of Hobart, Indiana. My welcome home present was a perfect, small-town-America, 4th of July Parade. I took way too many pictures.

Next, being the seasoned traveler that I am, I caught the train (Amtrak) to St. Louis, Missouri. First time I’ve used a train in America. Interesting. Different from Europe: darker, dirtier, slower (?). Spent a week with the parents in the Lou. Rocked out to a Styx/REO Speedwagon concert, along with my studly boyfriend, our friend Adam, and 15,000 eager ’80s fans.

Simon and I then advanced to Tulsa, stayed a few days, and passed on to a crazy roadtrip that culminated in a wedding in Florida. Not ours. On the roadtrip, we drove a beautiful, white, 1988 Cadillac DeVille…which, when driven by Simon (with long hair and a beard) was naturally mistaken by the State Troopers as a drug-trafficking vehicle.  But it only took about 15 minutes of questioning us separately for the officer to realize that we are just odd enough to drive that car from Tulsa, OK, to Nashville, TN, to Jackson, MS, to Ocala, FL, for a wedding.

Along the way, we visted friends, took pictures, and talked about life and the open road. We spent the weekend in Florida, doing wedding things, but snuck in a trip to Satellite Beach to play in the ocean and visit more friends.

Simon stayed in Florida and flew back to Germany last Wednesday, and I drove back to Tulsa with three other girls the Monday before. Unfortunately, the State Trooper didn’t approve the speed of my cruise control at 1AM, and lashed me with a disapproving stare and a vicious ticket. Oi.

Last week, I spent in recovery from all the travels–around the world and back to where I never thought I would be–Tulsa, Oklahoma. Yep. Pickup trucks, grits, and churches of every flavor. So now I’m doing all the small things to reset my life here, while looking for a job…got suggestions?? And right now I’m staying with my sister, but looks like I’ll be moving into an apartment with three other girls the end of August.

God is faithful. Never forget that. I’m looking forward to sharing with you next week on how He’s taking care of me.

Basket…Ball

Saturday morning, Simon and I scarfed some breakfast and caught the public transport to church for a basketball tournament. Simon had been fearing a low turn-out, but thankfully, there were four Senior (high school) and two Junior teams. And the Senior teams had some sweet competition. There were about as many helpers as players, but for a first-time event, I think it went pretty well. And I got to snap some excellent action shots

We collapsed in sleeping heaps back at Simon’s house to give our bodies a bit of a rest before the Big Night…

The culmination of all our sweat and sore feet: The Saturday Night Ball. Simon and I dressed to impress and showed off our moves along with our dancing friends at the church. Some parent and friends showed up to give proper appreciation and to join in the fun and food—yumm…

Sunday was an unfortunate event altogether. First, I had been asked to speak for a couple minutes in Simon’s church for missions Sunday–to talk about my time in Africa. However, as of 10pm Saturday night, I hadn’t prepared what I would say. Plus, Simon was teaching a Sunday School class during the service, and pretty much all of the youth were going to a neighboring town to see a famous German speaker. I decided that it wasn’t that big of a deal if I sent my regrets to our church and went with the youth. The Elder who had asked me to speak DID consider it a big deal…and reprimanded Simon for it. The speaker we went to listen to was good, but of course, I was listening through a translator (thanks Lea). And since it was an all-day event, I couldn’t catch a ride home until 2:30pm. More naps required.

Lesson learned: Keep your word, even when it hurts (from the book of Proverbs…and personal experience).

Monday night, we enjoyed the cooking class–eating far too much of the succulent Romanian dishes. But made up for our gluttony by biking there and back. Today, like the past few days, it is raining. (The similarities between Germany and Washington state are startling.)

We may have a few more adventures planned for these last days….such as visiting the famous Neuschwanstein castle. I’ll try to write once again before I leave Europe.

Hope you’re doing well and enjoying more sunshine than I am!

Dachau and the Red Sea

I couldn’t tell you in the last blog, just in case Simon read it…I planned a birthday party for him two Sundays ago at a friend’s house. I invited the older youth (20-somethings), and we stuffed ourselves on hamburgers and chips, ice-cream and brownies. Oh lovely! Surprisingly, Simon didn’t suspect a thing till we got to the house!

Then we danced off the calories in dance class.

I don’t really remember what happened Monday through Wednesday…But Thursday, Lea and I took the train to Dachau. We spent the morning walking around the concentration camp. It is huge. And we both kept shaking our heads in wonder that any human could do these things to another human. But then I began to ponder…

1. If I could give my life in place of all the people that went through the Holocaust, would I do it? Yes! I’m not afraid of death—I know where I’m going afterward.

2. If I had to go through everything that the prisoners went through AND die to save them, would I do it? Hmmm…That’s a bit harder to swallow.

3. If I had to go through the hell, and the people who were doing those things to me were the prisoners as well as the Nazis, THEN would I do it? Ouch.

BUT: Jesus DID. All of us were stuck in sin and pain and were on our way to death…Jesus volunteered to die in our place. AND to go through all the torture. While WE were the ones who were mocking him, taking his life/death for granted, ignoring him, hating him. And eventually, our sins killed him.

Wow. What a God.

After visiting the camp, Lea and I walked around the city of Dachau. Going up on the tallest hill around, where the castle is perched, we had an incredible panorama spread before us. Trees and houses crowded for space, while in the distance, cold, silver buildings marked the city of Munich. Pale blue mountains spread across the horizon.

Friday, I went over to Anna’s house to bake cookies! (This was the first time Anna had made cookies that weren’t Christmas cookies! Wow) Then we had to eat lots of the dough. We headed off to Youth Group, where I was in a discussion group in German. Have you ever been in a German discussion group? It’s difficult to understand. Mostly because I couldn’t speak the language. However, I did write a nice letter during that time, and it sounded like everyone else had an enjoyable evening.

Simon is organizing a basketball tournament for youth in the area, sponsored by the church. So Saturday, we took the train into the city to a basketball court by the old wall. I figured that I wouldn’t get a chance to play any B-ball, since I’m a girl and the guys who play are super-competitive. But on a different court, a group of lets-just-have-fun people were playing, so I took off my flip-flops and joined them on the turf. About 20 minutes later, a blister the size of my big toe featured promenantly on the bottom of each foot. Ew. Even so, the game was enjoyable, I met a nice lady named Angie (who is studying to get her Ph.D in law), and my feet are doing much better.

Sunday, the weather was beautiful: blue sky, warm air, sun making everything glow. Therefore, we youth naturally loaded up a few cars and headed to the Rothsee (Red Sea–actually a lake). Bodies were strewn everywhere, lounging in the sun, splashing in the water, and leaping at volleyballs. I received the encourgaging remark from my friend Alex that I am “so white!” Thank YOU, Alexandria haha (I get the impression that Germans are pale most of the year because of the lack of sun and heat, but for the two months that these blessings occur, all Germans return to a toasted brown with the rapidity of marshmallows over a fire.)

Cooking class on Monday was delicious, as usual. And Tuesday, I searched the mall with Maria (not my sister) to find a super-cute dress for the “Ball” on Saturday. Now I just need SHOES!

Thank you for again tuning in, and patiently awaiting the story of my life. Let me know how yours is going!

Prague, Parties, and Prolific Thoughts

You never know what tomorrow will bring. It might be a visit to Prague, a birthday party or just some chunks of life to chew on (mentally). My last week included all of these.

Last Friday after Jugend (youth group), a bunch of us supported the local Burger King and provided lively entertainment to the other late-night customers. Since Simon’s birthday was Saturday, we sang lustily at midnight. Our hard-working BK hosts then blessed Simon with a free drink and burger, and we took a picture with him and one of the employees. (pictures to come)

Simon and I decided to leave early Saturday morning (6:30ish) to go with Thomas, Christiana, and Harry to a Christian conference in Stuttgart (a couple hours’ drive south). Running on just a few hours of sleep, we crammed into Harry’s little, red, two-door European experience, and I promptly fell asleep–propped up by Simon and Christiana.

The conference was good, and although it was in German, there was translation available. (Many thanks to all you bilingual people out there.) Late in the afternoon, we again piled on top of each other to make the journey home. Note: Harry’s muffler scrapped when he had to break at stoplights…

Sunday, Simon and I had home-church and watched a LifeChurch broadcast, discussed it, and sang some songs. Good time with Jesus. Then we hopped on the S-bahn (train) into town to watch a soccer match on a big screen in a park between the Nuremberg team and some other team. The weather was beautiful, and we soaked in the sun. Half-way through the game, our team was ahead 2-0, so we headed off to the neighboring town to play some Ultimate Frisbee. Hurray! The teams for Ultimate were fantastic–loads of fun. My team consisted of three girls and two guys, and we still beat the other team of all boys! So great.

An episode of The Cosby Show rounded off a relaxing and entertaining day.

Monday and Tuesday were relatively nondescript days, but included food shopping, a long walk and some sunny skies. Wednesday, I traveled with Hanna and Eva (sisters) to the Czech Republic. Hanna is from here, but currently living in the States while working as a ballet dancer. She’d been wanting to see Prague, so she organized our little jaunt. Three-hours drive brought us to the Prague airport, where we left the car and caught a bus into the city. We met up with a missionary friend there for chatting and Oreos. Mmmm….Then the three of us toured the ancient city.

Since Prague wasn’t bombed during the wars, elaborate building facades and statues festoon the winding streets. We took pictures at the famous Karl’s Bridge, explored a castle, and even accidentally caught a local bike race. Although littered with trash, the city is beautiful–I recommend visiting. And the local artwork is quite impressive. (pictures to come)

It was fun being foreign with a couple of people that I was usually the foreigner with. Ha. We arrived home around 12:45am…exhausted.

Yesterday, I visited Lea at her house in a part of the city that I’ve never been before. Due to a huge concert in the park (basically Nuremberg’s Woodstock), I had an interesting time of it bouncing from bus to underground, to a couple trams—by myself! I’m pretty proud of me. Then Lea and I walked (over an hour) to Jugend, since we had to circumvent the park–already decorated liberally with beer cans and other trash, and packed with tents (although the concerts hadn’t actually started yet).

We have two more dance practices before the “Ball” in a couple weeks. Simon and I missed a couple sessions, so we’ll be moving our feet extra fast to catch up. And I need a dress. Hmmm…

Only a few short weeks until I’ll be flying back to my home country. This time in Germany has been breezing by like pictures in a flip-book. So much to take in, so much to think about: other cultures, other worldviews, different food, different language, different clothes…yet…one thing remains the same–Jesus. He’s still God. He’s still in control. No matter where we are, or what we’re doing.

Oi.

Terribly sorry…I had the good intention to update you on Tuesday with my latest adventures; however, as I recently heard “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Oi.

So, last Thursday, Simon and I boarded a plane at the small airport of Nuremberg and, with a plane change in Switzerland, arrived at the equally small airport of London City. Our luggage arrived when we did, and we had no trouble traveling by train to meet Simon’s brother Danny. I greatly enjoyed being able to read all the signs and understand what everyone around me was saying. Hurray for English!

The funeral was held on Friday. Getting out the door a bit late, Danny performed great feats of driving and managed to deposit us at the quaint brick church shortly after the commencement. We spent some time afterwards with Simon’s family. And his two-year-old niece got to wear her pajamas in the resturant…I was jealous…

Simon and I spent a couple days with this brother Bondi, sister-in-law and two nieces in Ipswich. Lots of BBQing and sun. Excellent. We went to their church on Sunday. My dry soul was soaking in the flowing presence of God. Being able to worship with other believers in my language–indescribable. If you have this privilege, thank God for it.

The next day we enjoyed the entertaining company of Danny at his house in Wimbledon. Late into the night, we explored the town…In the occassional crowds of miniskirts and intoxicated individuals, we didn’t quite fit in. But it was enjoyable nonetheless.

After a few hours rest, the three of us piled into Danny’s Golf at 4:30 a.m and zipped through the early morning rain to the airport. A short flight landed Simon and me in the beautiful city of Zurich, Switzerland. Taking advantage of a three-hour layover, we rode the train into town and walked over ancient bridges, past churches with enormous clocks on the towers, and along a crystal clear river. Simon concluded that the Swiss built the churches just so they could put their elaborate clocks on them. Most likely.

Tuesday and Wednesday were low-key days, spent in recovery from the busy week. And today, Margit and I finished outlining the booklet she’s writing for her students. I now have an editing project to work on in my spare time. Oh wonderful

Sidenote: check what music you’re currently listening to. You will see what kind of mindset you’re in. Very interesting/enlightening. I recommend You Pulled Me Through by Jennifer Hudson.

Have a super weekend.

And Everything

I would like to offer a belated, but hearty HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!

Life continues in its swirling, jumbled way. The dancing lessons continue–the latest being the rumba. Difficult but fun. We’ve all been trying so hard to learn the steps that we’ll practice at random times, such as after church in the foyer.

Wednesday, I went to the Tiergarten (or Zoo) with my friend Maria from church. Good times, but then as soon as I got back, Simon and I left to go to my first and the Nurnburg soccer team’s last game. On the other side of the stadium, a few sections were devoted to hard-core fans who waved enormous flags (including a Confederate flag), chanted, cheered, and jumped the entire game. Simon had wanted to get tickets there, but we bought them too late. However, we were situated adjacent to the rival team’s fans, and got a good view of someone throwing his half-full beer cup at them. Ah, Germany.

Thursday, Simon and I drove to the Munich airport to pick up the Ballet Magnificant team. It was strange hearing so many American accents. And I think the stereotype is true that Americans are rather more excited about everything in life than others…”so great” “awesome” “thank you SO much” “it is SOOO great to meet you!” “wow” “super” “You had breakfast this morning? That’s incredible!” And so on The team performed The Hiding Place on Saturday night at the church. It was very moving, and the team’s passion for God flowed through every step.

Friday was a busy day…I got up early and went to a university class with my friend Anna. Next I met with Margit to work on the English workbook she’s compiling for her students. And finally, I quickly prepared and spoke at the youth group. Unfortunately, I don’t think I spoke very well at the youth group…even with a translator. But I’m looking at it as further experience.

The weather on Sunday was beautiful–hot and sunny. So Simon and I headed across town (past the building where the infamous Nurnberg Trials were held) to play Ultimate Frisbee with an assortment of Germans and Americans that play every Sunday. It. Was. Awesome. I love Ultimate. However, I hadn’t run since, oh, about November, and getting warmed up was a bit painful…and I’m still sore. But my team had a glorious victory of 7-0 one game. And I have bruises to show for it.

This Thursday, Simon and I are flying to England for four days for the funeral of his grandmother. Please pray for the family. She was a believer, but I don’t think the extended family members are. (My next blog will be on Tuesday, as we will be in England until then.)

Lots of love and hugs.