Often people ask me, "What's it like to live over there?" or "Man, that must be a neat experience" or "why the #$%& would you want to move so far away?" and other such things. A lot of time my response is something lame, and unthought out like "it's been a really great opportunity" or "I am learning so much" and I leave it at that. Occasionally people ask what I am learning. It's a good question...and i have these experiences and say to myself "well, that is a lesson learned". So in the interest of reminding myself and telling all my adoring fans here is a brief run down of lessons learned...some serious, some funny, some that will apply only to me, some that you may disagree with...but all lessons learned (some have to be learned multiple times unfortunately).
1) I am a big fan of personal space...not getting it makes me really cranky
2) On a related note...it is possible to be touching/to be being touched by at least 6 different people on the bus at one time.
3) The train station in Poprad DOES NOT tell you what track number your train will be on if it is track 1 or 2, so pay attention
4) Letters and packages from home are really special
5) I have really great people in my life
6) Coffee is addictive
7) God is very real
8) The bottom line: Love God, Love Other People. End of story.
9) If the milk smells bad, it probably is
10) I hate cabbage
11) If a student teaches you a new Slovak word, then tells you to go say it to someone else, it's probably crude
12) I am completely self-absorbed
13) Suffering is not a bad thing...you learn more in times of hardship than ever in your life
14) A prayerful life is cultivated when you run out of options, patience is learned from situations that try your patience, and humility is learned through humiliation...be careful what you pray for.
15) If you nod and smile people will think you understand what they are saying.
16) When in doubt you can respond with the words probably or maybe.
17) Plants die if you don't water them
18) Love
19) It is possible to not share DNA with people but to still consider then family
20) Life is really really really short...every moment is an opportunity.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
What to blog
Hello out there faithful blog checkers. So it's Sunday...I am still in my pjamas and it's 2:15. I am seriously considering making another pot of coffee. So far today I have been working/reading/cleaning/catching up on current events. Had a busy week and will cover some of the highlights...think I will make coffee first. And just a warning...I am feeling very stream of consciousness today so in all likelihood this post may be really long and may not make sense.
Highlights of the weeks:
I played squash again (I have my very own raquet now). I am liking this sport. A lot.
There is a girl named Maja that I have been meeting with at the cafe for several months. She doesn't speak much English at all so we always try to communicate and it's sometimes really awkward and frustrating. She is really cute and sweet and I have just been so frustrated that we can't really talk. This week we met at the cafe. And we talked for about an hour and a half...ALL IN STINKING SLOVAK!!!!!!!!! it was huge. I understood a lot (not all) of what she said and I think I was making myself understood too (which is an even bigger struggle for me). I had a long coversation with someone in Slovak! It amazed me and gave me hope for the future and an even bigger desire to learn Slovak well. I have to admit that my side of the conversation sounded like this..."I was really bad, and sad and not nice. I was very depressed and sad but I not know why. My friend talk to me about God. I went to new kind of church. I told God yes. Now my life is better." but hey, it's a start!
My small group started meeting! There are 4 Slovak girls, me, and my roommate Lee Ann in the group. We are working now to figure out what we will study. The Slovak girls are all believers, students at the University in Presov, and involved in ministry in the city. My hope is that this group will encourage them and help them feel like they can lead a small group of their own soon with high school age girls. I am really excited about this group and about pouring into the girls during this time.
Our follow up to KECY summer, called KECY Klub started last night. We will meet monthly to continue conversations, get students thinking and have fun. The party last night was fun and it was really cool to see some of the students I had not seen since camp. We are tying to start a "small group" thing within KECY Klub. I am trying to figure out what that looks like and how to really express how important it is to live life with other people.
These were just a few of the cool things I got to do this week. So many days I am walking through this city thinking "I cannot believe I get to live this life. I am so blessed by God to do what I do." Not that everyday is some cake walk and I could probably write another blog entry about the lowlights of the week as well. But I don't really want to. Some days life is hard here, but it's hard wherever you are too...life is just like that.
My calendar is quickly filling up for this next week too, language lessons, my first day teaching Conversational English in a high school here, meetings with students, etc. Looking forward to whatever comes my way in the coming days!
Highlights of the weeks:
I played squash again (I have my very own raquet now). I am liking this sport. A lot.
There is a girl named Maja that I have been meeting with at the cafe for several months. She doesn't speak much English at all so we always try to communicate and it's sometimes really awkward and frustrating. She is really cute and sweet and I have just been so frustrated that we can't really talk. This week we met at the cafe. And we talked for about an hour and a half...ALL IN STINKING SLOVAK!!!!!!!!! it was huge. I understood a lot (not all) of what she said and I think I was making myself understood too (which is an even bigger struggle for me). I had a long coversation with someone in Slovak! It amazed me and gave me hope for the future and an even bigger desire to learn Slovak well. I have to admit that my side of the conversation sounded like this..."I was really bad, and sad and not nice. I was very depressed and sad but I not know why. My friend talk to me about God. I went to new kind of church. I told God yes. Now my life is better." but hey, it's a start!
My small group started meeting! There are 4 Slovak girls, me, and my roommate Lee Ann in the group. We are working now to figure out what we will study. The Slovak girls are all believers, students at the University in Presov, and involved in ministry in the city. My hope is that this group will encourage them and help them feel like they can lead a small group of their own soon with high school age girls. I am really excited about this group and about pouring into the girls during this time.
Our follow up to KECY summer, called KECY Klub started last night. We will meet monthly to continue conversations, get students thinking and have fun. The party last night was fun and it was really cool to see some of the students I had not seen since camp. We are tying to start a "small group" thing within KECY Klub. I am trying to figure out what that looks like and how to really express how important it is to live life with other people.
These were just a few of the cool things I got to do this week. So many days I am walking through this city thinking "I cannot believe I get to live this life. I am so blessed by God to do what I do." Not that everyday is some cake walk and I could probably write another blog entry about the lowlights of the week as well. But I don't really want to. Some days life is hard here, but it's hard wherever you are too...life is just like that.
My calendar is quickly filling up for this next week too, language lessons, my first day teaching Conversational English in a high school here, meetings with students, etc. Looking forward to whatever comes my way in the coming days!
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