Germany

2006-04-18T18:10:00.000+00:00

So I had my first German Easter this weekend. It was a little different from normal but not really in any way that I had expected. Basically that makes it just like everything else here that's different from home. The main differences that I noticed would have to be: 1. we did not sing "Christ the LORD is Risen Today" and 2. the service wasn't all that celebratory. Other than that it was fairly normal. They even have their own version of our little "The LORD is risen!....The LORD is risen indeed!" saying. Or at least I think that's what it was. I can't really be sure though.

I was in Gießen for the weekend and a good weekend it was. I did absolutely nothing, which is to say it was about like all the other weekends I have here. I've gotten to the point, however, where a weekend like that can still be called good and that's a good feeling. On sunday morning I was sitting in church waiting for it to start and an older couple sat down next to me. We got to talking and I find out that he's an animal nutritionist who lives just outside of town and works with all the local farmers. He invited me to come out sometime and visit the farms and see agriculture around Gießen. I didn't have time on that visit but next time I go back I certainly will make it. What I would have given to meet him the first month I was here!

The big news of the week, however, has to be that my resolve finally broke. I had been cracking for a while but last thursday I finally trimmed my beard. I have been cold ever since and these are nice, warm spring days. People keep asking me why I did it and, to be honest, right now I'm asking why I didn't do it sooner. I'm glad I didn't if only for the warmth factor but it's so nice not to have to take care of it all the time.

Work here continues on about the same. We finally finished planting and we only have 15 pigs left so soon it will change slightly but not that much. Samuel keeps demanding more of my attention. He likes spending time in my room and he likes playing with (read: destroying) things. His favorite are electrical gadgets (iPod, camera...) but fortunately I've managed to keep his hands off of those. I have a hard time disciplining him when we can't really communicate and his dad doesn't really do much either so it gets a little out of control at times. I know divorce is horrible for the children but it certainly is nice to be able to send him away every other week.

All in all my time here in Germany has been a wonderful experience. That said, it is very nice to think about having our spring retreat in a week and a half which means that the second term is half over. I've enjoyed it here but this isn't my home. I'm sure July will come too soon when it does but right now, I'm ready for it to come.

Love and warmth
David

2006-04-03T18:26:00.000+00:00

So I've been here a few months, I have a few left to go. Time has really ceased to mean much to me anymore. At first, the days went slowly but the weeks flew (is that really how it's spelled?) bye. Now the days fly and the weeks crawl. It's kinda weird and I've given up trying to figgure it out. What's even harder to grasp, though, is that I'm 1/3 done here in Weierhof. Soon I'll be home and almost instantly after that I'll be at school.

So, aside from the random ramblings. Work here is going really well. We're in a bit of a holding pattern right now waiting for the feilds to dry out so we can start planting. Normally they would be almost done right now but apparently it's been really odd weather for this time of year. We're doing a lot of stuff right now that's never important enough to get done when there's other stuff to do. Two weeks ago Ortwin discovered my computer skills (so far I haven't fixed any of his computer problems. He solved one on his own after I had given up on it, though) and last week he let me start doing some mechanical work (like dissambeling and greasing the whole 3-point assembly on the big tractor). We've been doing a lot of that kind of stuff. That and cleaning. As often as I clean the kitchen you would think it would radiate light by now, but, alas, there are four young children in the house half the time so...no such luck. We've also been cleaning outside which I don't think has been done for a few (read many) years. So it's been good.

To quote from the Hamfast in The Lord of the Rings, "All's well that ends better." All in all, this is turning out to be a pretty good ending to the year. Even though the year isn't all that close to ending yet.

Peace and Love
David

2006-02-18T17:38:00.000+00:00

Welcome back everyone, I don't really have a lot of time so I'll prioritize and be breif...hopefully.

First, I promised Hannah that I would mention her here. She's a Canadian that I met in Gießen and I think our current status would be classified as dating. I called her on valentine's day so I guess that pays a little tribute to the status of our relationship :) I don't really know how much I'm supposed to disclose here but I think I covered the most important part.

Second, I made it safely to Weierhof! It's been four days now and I can honestly say, I have never worked a more grueling four days in my life. I've probablly worked harder but not when I'm this far out of shape. Two years in college and six months in a fairly slow paced job can do that to you. So far I've spent my time hand splitting and stacking wood as well as mucking out pig and cow stalls. I do a little work in the house: sweeping floors, washing dishes, and the like, but most of my time is outside. It's been fairly warm this week, 5-10 degrees (upper 40's) but it's also been raining so every night I've been sore, tired, and wet. It's going to be a great six months! (seriously, I'm excited) I haven't met the entire family yet (the kids spend half their time with their mother) but Ortwin is a really good guy to work/live with.

Finally, contact info. We had a 4 day conference with all the trainees between placements and it was drilled into our heads that we should give everyone contact and emergency contact info because MCC is tired of getting calls from families of trainees wondering how to get ahold of their loved ones :)

David King
c/o Familie Gallé
Crayenbühl Str. 10
67295 Weierhof-Bolanden
06352/5471

For those of you calling from the states, I think you would dial 011-49 and then the number without the leading zero but I'm not quite sure on that one. As for emergencies, my contact person here in Germany is Johannes Neufeld, he lives in Frankfurt and should be able to get a hold of me in a decent amount of time. His phone number is 069/79534998. I'm also thinking of getting a cell phone but I probablly won't get around to doing that until it's not worth it anymore. There you have it.

Love and blessings
David

2006-01-26T16:41:00.000+00:00

So it's been a month since my last post and I do appologize for that but I have a feeling that this will become more of the rule than the exception in the comming months. In two weeks I move to my second placement in Weierhof and, from what I hear, my internet access will be very limited, and thus, my blogging will be very limited.

The last month has been good though. I had two Christmases, one with a German family and one with an American family and they were surprisingly very similar. I was expecting much more differences to ponder but the only ones I really noticed was that in Germany St. Nick comes on the 6th of December and they celebrate Christmas on the 24th.

Newyears was also fun. Hannah Beck (an American friend of mine from here in Giessen) and I went to Karlsruhe to party with some of my friends. I don't think I've ever breathed in so much firework smoke in my life. I don't ever want to again but it was still fun.

These past two weeks now my family has been here and we've been travelling around. We started out here in Giessen and then headed east to Leipzig and then Prague. It was my first time in the former East Bloc and it was very eye opening. In Prague we took a 7 hour guided walking tour of the city and by the end of the day we were frozen and ready for coffee and a good bout of teaching my aunt how to play Texas Hold-em. Always a recipie for good times :D

The next three nights we spend in Wintersheim which is about a 20 min drive north east of Weierhof. There is another trainee living there on a winery and they have some guest rooms that we were able to stay in. We took day trips from there to Weierhof, Heidelberg, Luxemborg, and we drove through the corner of France just to say we were there.

After leaving Wintersheim we spent an hour in the air and an hour underground and we were at the London Mennonite Center where we spent the next three nights. We went all over the city and even took a day and drove out into the countryside to Oxford and through the Cotswalds. A lovely time. And of course, while we were in London we had to see some shows. Mary Poppins and The Lion King were absolutely fenominal!

And now I'm back and life continues, at least for two weeks...after that, well, we'll see what happens.

Love and enjoyment!
David

2005-12-25T11:04:00.000+00:00

I don't really have a lot of time to write now but I'll let you all know everything about my many Christmases later. For now, I don't know how many of you pay attention to it but Google's logos for the past five days have been kinda cool. You can see them all at http://www.google.com/doodle10.html

I guess this proves once and for all that I truly am a Google freak.
David

2005-12-12T17:16:00.000+00:00

So I haven't really felt like blogging lately and I would feel guilty except that our internet has been unreliable at best so I can't always blog anyway. That plus nothing really exciting has happened other than my deutch class is over (much rejoicing!!). This past weekend, though, I went to Weierhof where I'll be living for the second half of the year. I met Ortwin and his two younger kids. I'm not sure where the older two were but from what I hear I met the best half of the family. They're really nice people, though, so I can't imagine that the other half would be very bad.

On Saturday we decided to take a day trip to Trier. It's about 100km from Weierhof and it's the best preserved Roman city in the world. They also have a really big Weinachts markt (Christmas market) in the city center. We drank glüwine and ate wurst and had a grand ol' time. It happens that Trier is also the birth place of Karl Marx and being good little Marxists we took a few hours to go through the museum. Good times were had by some. The best part was to start our audioguides at the same time and turn the volume up as loud as it would go. The rest of the day we spent looking at old Roman ruins and exploring an old bathhouse. There is an intricate set of tunnels underground that are only lit by very dirty skylights. It's almost dark in broad daylight let alone after dark. It was a good time and we all came back tired of people and walking.

Sunday brought church in a language I don't quite understand yet and then a trip to a winery. There is a trainee about 30km on this side of Weierhof who lives on a vineyard. I spent a coulpe of hours there and then made the long trip home. Sorry for being kinda scattered and not very detailed. I'll try to do better some other time.

Rest and pleasure
David

2005-11-30T18:12:00.000+00:00

I'm not really sure why but since I've been here my memory has improved. Not necessarily being able to remember things from day to day but remembering things that happened years ago. A few days ago I helped to carry some old furniture out of an office that's being refurbished. There were two heavy desks and a few book shelves that had to go down two flights of stairs. The next day we loaded a truck for Armenia and now I'm sore. It brought back memories of past injuries. There came sweet memories of home and bitter memories of pain.

I remember one fateful winter evening when I was four years old. Mom was in the barn milking and, in my excitement of a new discovery (I have forgotten what it was), I went running in to tell her all about it. As I ran, I slipped on one of the icy concrete steps and gashed my chin. I remember some time later as we drove into the parking lot of the doctor's office, my mom had to pull me from the car screaming. I don't know why I was scared of the doctor but my eagerness to hold onto the seat of the car probablly came from the fact that I had a good idea that a needle was headed my direction once inside the building. I got my first, and only, four stiches. I still have the scar and, to this day, it gives me fits if I try to shave. Thus, I have a beard.

I remember eight years later when I was in junior high. I was playing football at the time and one evening at practice we were running tackling drills. By some turn of fate, i got paired up with the biggest, strongest player on the team. The worst injury I can claim from the ordeal was a cut on my left arm, it didn't even bleed much at the time. The next week during the game, however, it made up for lost time. Shortly into the first quarter the ref yanked me out of the huddle and sent me to the sideline to clean my arm, there was blood from my elbow to wrist.

I remember some time later, after my first year at Hesston. I was at home for the summer and helping out on the farm. As I climbed out of one of our chicken pens I tripped and dove head first into the car that I had driven there. Blood came streaming from the cut across the bridge of my nose and, for a while, I couldn't remember much. Eventually I found some water and washed my face. I drove home and let dad finish feeding the chickens. I spent the rest of the day in the house with ice on my nose.

I remember last spring. I had just graduated from Hesston and was working at home until I left to come here. For two years I had been in school and physical labor had been far from my list of daily activities. Early on that summer I sprained my right shoulder and rendered that arm quite useless until it had time (and help) to heal. I remember trying to work and trying to simply live with your dominate arm injured. It is this injury that I remember most. Not only because it was most recent, but because it seems to have not fully healed. Or perhaps it's been, to some small degree, reinjured. My right arm is always the first to get weak and it stayes sore the longest. When this happens, the memories come. Lately, they've been comming a lot.

Rest and strength
David

2005-11-23T20:28:00.000+00:00

For those of you who use a rss reader (Google personalized homepage, myYahoo, etc.) I recently added a feed for my blog. The address is on the right side of the page or here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Germany

enjoy
David

2005-11-23T19:46:00.000+00:00

So I must appologize for my last post. There were a few factual errors (one of which I have clarified) but for the rest, realize it's not news, it's oppinion. Don't use this blog for evidence in a court of law (or anywhere else). I also forgot to include the entire purpose of the post (it's there now) so if you haven't done so already, go back and read it.

Time has been good to me lately. Last saturday evening Duane and Martha Conrad (two Americans that work here) celebrated Thanksgiving and invited me and several Germans over to their house. I ate myself silly and had a grand ol' time. What else are you supposed to do at Thanksgiving? It would have been nice to be with my own family but it did satisify that holiday for the year.

I also found out last weekend that there was going to be a conference of American voulenteers working for Campus für Christus Deutchland on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Now, technically, I'm not a CfC voulenteer but they invited me to go anyway, somewhat late notice but still nice. I went and spent two days with other Americans learning about how to deal with German culture, or that's what they learned. I learned how American I'm not and some ways of dealing with American culture. German culture comes fairly naturally for me and I find that somewhat odd. Odd but nice. The fellowship was nice as well. I learned how to actually play foosball with strategy and I played my first game of Settlers of Catán(sp?). Good times were had by all, well....the one girl was sick but I think she still enjoyed it.

Spontaneity and truth
David

2005-11-18T16:22:00.000+00:00

So this post doesn't really relate much to what I've been doing here. Life is pretty much like normal. I wanted, instead, to comment on a news story I've been following and enjoying these past few days. If you've been following the stories on this there will be nothing new except my random insertion.

I'm a strong believer that downloading music from free peer to peer services like so many people do, even if it is legal and/or moral, is dangerous. MP3 files (the most common type of downloaded music file) are incredibally easy to infect with bad things (viruses, spyware.....). Since 1999 when all this file sharing started the big music companies have been fighting it as hard as they can. One way they do this is to make it harder to copy music off of a cd and onto a computer, or at least limit how many times you can do that and what you can do with the music afterwards. Sony, God bless their "copyright-protecting" souls, just committed suicide.

It seems that Sony contracted with a Brittish company to provide some software to ensure this protection for them. A few days ago, some chap discovered that this protection software was installing things on his computer that he didn't like. The software Sony was using was, by definition, a form of malware known as rootkit (definition of malware and rootkit) it seems that free downloads aren't the only dangerous place to get music anymore. Sony has since been brought to task by class-action suits in LA and NY for not ever mentioning anything about this software that they install. They've released a patch for damaged computers and recalled all the cd's that use the rootkit software but the patch opens up just as many security holes as it fixes. Sony is backpedaling....hard.

But the story gets better. Yesterday some briliant scandanavians made another discovery, Sony's rootkit software uses copyrighted software in an illegal manner. The software that they used was copyrighted as "open source" which means it's free for anyone to copy, modify, and use, with one requirment: the source code of the software must be published alongside the actual program and due credit must be given the original author. (--added 23NOV2005 --) One clarification, only the code used from an open source project must be published, not the entire program(--end of addition--) Sony did neither and now is in European courts fighting a copy-right infringement suit. A bit of a double standard, don't you think?

(--added 23NOV2005--) So I wrote this to let you all know my thoughts on the issue. When I wrote it, however, I forgot to include that part. Sorry. Basically I find it funny. I don't think it impacts any music I've bought recently but I have to wonder what this will do to the market in the future especially since a lot of artists are mad about digital rights management. Eventually there would have to be enough singers sick of the big corporations to start an independent record label together, one would think. I would be really excited if that would happen but for some reason I kinda don't think it will. It is really good that Sony had a reality check though, hopefully they learn from it. That's all I had to say. I enjoy the story. I laugh. And then I go do something else and don't worry about it. (--end of addition--)

Love and legality
David

2005-11-16T14:10:00.000+00:00

I had my first run-in with the German authority yesterday. Well, not really, it wasn't yesterday and I didn't meet any authorities but I did get a speeding ticket in the mail. It was about a month ago on a trip I took way up north. One of the many roadside cameras thought I was going a bit fast and took my picture. It's a really good shot, too bad it's only b&w.

The tickets aren't as bad as they are in the US. Before I left KS, I got one for going 70 in a 55 and had to pay $100+. This one was for going 62 in a 50 and all I had to do was send in 25€ and it doesn't go on any permanent record.

To be honest, I think it was worth it just to be able to say I've gotten a German speeding ticket. Good times were had by all.

God's love and God speed
David

2005-11-09T19:03:00.000+00:00

The weather here is cold and dark. They say it will get worse before it gets better...that's not encouraging news. I don't have any travel plans for the next few weeks and it feels somewhat like I'm slipping back into the empty lonely days I had towards the begining of my time here when I prayed more, drank less, and understood what was going on in my deutchkurz. It that's what's happening, let the lonliness come!

I had a little excitment today. I received a letter from Dora Schmidt who is on the Intermenno Committee. It seems that they recently met at her house and decided what they should do with us once our first placement ends. They decided to send me to Weierhof to live with Ortwin Galle and his children. Ortwin has an organic farm where he raises pigs, cows, and a variety of grains. My responsibilities include farm work as well as some simple cleaning and cooking. There are two other trainees in Weierhof and one more a few kilometers away. It was one of my top picks that I requested and I'm really excited to get it.

Joy and solitude
David

2005-10-31T18:55:00.000+00:00

I'm living in the Bible belt of Germany, if there is such a thing. When I came here I was really surprised at the amount of Christianity I found here. For years I had been under the impression that Europe was largely post-Christian but my first few months here seemed to dispell those fears. I would read about how churches are dieing and people are turning away from their faith but here in Gießen and, from what I hear, in most of Hessen (my state here in Germany) Church attendance is holding steady if not slowly increasing. This past weekend I learned a bit more of the truth.

In Groningen in the north of the Netherlands there was a gathering of Dutch and Northern German Mennonite youth. It was, if much smaller and in a different language, very much like a youth gathering in the states. There were worship times with singing and speakers. We had breakout sessions to discuss the topic of the day and workshops to do other related things. It was by and large a good time....with one small exception. The second (of three) speakers, Piet Visser, is a professor of Anabaptist history at the Mennonite Seminary in Amsterdam. His speech and all of his arguments in the breakout sessions (I was in the same one as him) and everything he said in during the panel discussion focused around the idea that Jesus doesn't matter anymore. He would argue that it's not important to have faith in Jesus as long as you live a good moral life. Indeed, Islam and Buddism have just as much claim to salvation as Christianity does. I would have dismissed him as an outlier if it weren't that most of the youth supported his points. He would argue that, although the teachings of Jesus are very good and a good model to follow, making Jesus a requirment for salvation would serve to exclude people of other faiths and in turn people would become hostile towards Christianity and we would cease to be a community that is welcoming to all peoples. It was encouraging to see young people in and excited about the church but if this is the foundation of their faith I worry about the future. It's much easier to convert someone to Christianity than it is to convert them from being "Christian" to following Christ.

The conference was not entirily depressing. There was one speaker who argued strongly that Jesus should be the center of the church and of our lives. Tim Folley works closely with MMN in N. Ireland leading a church and helping to tear down the hatred between Catholics and Protestants. I was able to talk to him extensively throughout the conference, indeed, I talked to him more than everyone else combined. It was refreshing to hear of his unflinching faith after what Piet had said. Turns out he knows Dell Hershberger (a family I know quite well from Hesston) quite well along with several other people from the area. Mennonite connections are always fun and (seemingly) unending.

Now I'm back. Now starts real life again. My deutch class resumes tomorrow and work is staying busy. Tonight (in 5 minutes) there is a student gathering here. They have a bible study that meets on Monday nights during the semester and tonight is their opening night. Oh well...I can wear dirty clothes for a few days.

Rest and strength
David

2005-10-24T18:21:00.000+00:00

So it's been a while and I do appologize. This past week has been fairly busy and most of the time I haven't been in Gießen. On tuesday I left early and drove to Hamburg. Klaus bought some pallette shelving for the warehouse and I had to go pick it up along with some school bags and other stuff. I was expecting a nice 3hr drive each way and I would be back at a fairly decent time in the evening. Turns out it's almost 6 to Hamburg. That was a long day. I was on the road for about 14 hours. I've really been enjoying driving though. A few of the guys here have a second job driving truck on the weekends and it's got me to thinking about getting my CDL when I get back and trying to find someone I can pull for one or two weekends a month just for the heck of it and a little extra cash. It's probablly not worth it but it could be kinda fun for a while.

Wednesday and thrusday were pretty normal unloading and general warehouse days. They're finding more things for me to do now so I'm never bored anymore. That's a blessing and a curse but it's nice for a change.

On friday I went to Darmstadt and Ober-Ramstadt (just south of Frankfurt) to pick up some more things. I had planned to go to Worms and then Weierhof (there are 4 other trainees in the Weierhof area) for the weekend but after leaving Darmstadt my van and trailer were completely full so I came back to Gießen. It turned out for the best. On friday night Maria and I went to the house of one of her akademy friends and watched Simpsons episodes and had a general good time. I was glad I was back. On Saturday morning then I took one of the Campus cars to Worms to pick up some school bags and then I went to Weierhof for saturday and sunday.

When I came back I brought Micah and Brian with me. Tomorrow morning they're flying to Greece for two weeks. I'm back here in the grind of another busy week and that's kinda hard to chew but I have a certain two weeks in January to look foreward to when my family comes.

All in all it's a pretty normal life. Next weekend I go to the Netherlands for an international Mennonite Youth conference but I'll tell all about that when I get back. Until then......

Love and health
David

2005-10-14T16:08:00.000+00:00

It's six in the evening here and I'm sitting in the office waiting on a truck that is 70km away in a traffic jam. He was supposed to be here this morning to pick up a load of baby foor for Latvia....well....at least they had good intentions. I don't really value my friday evenings that much anyway but I feel sorry for Klaus who is still here waiting as well. I'm not sure that it makes him much difference though since half of our staff is still working. I guess I'm the only one who has a 5:00 end to the day.

I've been craving intelectual discourse recently and, not understand the language, I haven't been getting much. Living with two students should help that but so far we haven't gotten into too many discussions of the type. I did stop by a bookstore yesterday evening and to my delight they had a large selection of english books. I picked up a copy of "The Fellowship of the Ring" (I can't underline for some reason). It's the first 500 pages of Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and in the past day I've finished half of it. The story line isn't all that intelectual but it is a great story and it keeps me occupied.

If you haven't figgured out by now....I'm trying to ramble to waste time. Normally that isn't very hard for me but for some reason it's not happening this evening. I think I'll go rejoin the hobbits on their adventure.

Happiness and grace
David

2005-10-12T19:47:00.000+00:00

I should write a long entry tonight since a lot has happened since I wrote last but I really don't feel like it. Here's the breif....

Last weekend I was in Marburg (25 mins N) for their yearly celebration. GAiN had a booth and I helped set up and tair down on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. In between I spent my time randomly strolling through the city and eating a lot of brotwurst and waffles.....the two traditional German foods. Marburg has a really nice old town but, quite frankly, I've seen enough old towns for a while.

Maria, my other flat mate, moved in today. She's a mennonite from the Kaiserslautern area and thus knows Derek Swarts (he's the trainee at the farm I would really like to go to next). In August she got back from a year stateside living in Harrisburg, PA working in the YES office. A good friend of Shane Miller as it happens. I love being mennonite.

Life is good, they're keeping me busy now but my deutchkurz is on a three week holiday so I have some more free time in the evenings. It's a lot better now that I have people around and I know of things to do in the area.

Happiness and rest
David

2005-10-03T10:57:00.000+00:00

One more month has passed and now the year is officially 1/6th over. At times saying that makes it seem like my time here is almost over and at times it seems like we've only begun. I just got back from our midterm conference in Mekesheim and, to be honest, it doesn't seem like we've been here long enough for that. It was really good though to hear about other placements and realize that I'm not the only person who, at the same time, struggles with and loves the life I have here. It also got me excited about some of the possibilities for my next placement. I think the main excitement stems from people talking about how wonderful of a cook their host mother is. I'm quite certain that they don't compare to my own mother but I'm also quite certain that they are worlds better than me. Some of the work also sounds like fun and hopefully I can land myself on a farm here and get back to the work I grew up with.

Mekesheim is a short train ride outside of Heidelberg and so one of the afternoons we took off and went into town to see the castle, church, people, river, stores, beggars, and all the other tourist attractions. It was raining but we decided to brave it anyway and after ariving in Heidelberg, went as a group up the mountian to the castle where we got a wonderful view of the fog that was covering the city. It was still fun to be there, however, and after that the group split. A few of us decided not to pay the €1.50 to take a tour of the castle that we wouldn't understand anyway so we started exploring some of the other ruins outside and, upon tiring of that, we followed the exit signs out. I don't know what the rules for exit signs are in Europe but I do know that they didn't lead us out. As we went, we began noticing that doors were locking behind us and it seemed that we were going deeper into the castle. Eventually we found ourselves in a passage that, if we went straight, would lead us into what we think was the dungeon, or, if we turned left, would lead us into a courtyard. We chose the courtyard and after waveing to the tourists standing at the top of the wall, proceeded to find an exit. Our proceedings failed and we realized that we were trapped. Eventually someone on top of the wall realized that we weren't supposed to be there and told security. They came looking for us and gave us a stern lecture in German. I think they were telling us not to follow exit signs but I can't really be sure. It was fun while it lasted though, and now I can say that I have passed through the embattlements of a castle and invaded it without anyone else knowing. How many people have done that?

The rest of the weekend was fun as well. We sang and talked and played rook and had a grand old time. Then it was time to re-enter real life and here I am. It's monday and it's a holiday. I cleaned out my kitchen before I left so that food wouldn't spoil and now all the stores are closed. Oh well...after all the food I ate this weekend it won't hurt me to eat meager for a day.

Enjoy what you have and make the most of it while you have it.

Courage and wisdom
David

2005-09-26T17:59:00.000+00:00

I've known about Oktoberfest for quite some time. Whenever we would talk about Germany in school, it was one of the things mentioned as a "Culturally significant event." Having been here for a few weeks, in talking to people I've learned that Oktoberfest is about as significant to the German culture as Mardi Gras is to American culture. It's really big for the local ethnic populus but the rest of us spend the time laughing at the stupidity of it. I have no desire to go to Mardi Gras but Oktoberfest intrigued me for some reason and I must say, I enjoyed the time I spent there. All of about two hours. The rest of the trip, though, was the great part.

Tony Yoder and I met in the München main train station at about 0030 on saturday (just after midnight for those of you not on the 24-hr clock) and we began our journey to the campsite we had made reservations at for that night. As it happens we just missed the train there and the next one wouldn't be for another two hours. Wasting no time we made our way to a local restaurant to wait. Two hours later we got on the right train and twenty minutes later realized that the stop we were leaving was the one we wanted. The next train would be in three hours (0525) and by that time it wouldn't really be worth going to the campsite at all. We were mostly out of the city by this point so after trying to walk back to the previous station, we curled up in a hay field and woke with the sunrise. Luckily all of our belongings were still there and we began the trek back to the city to enjoy all of the festival that we could.

Oktoberfest is like Mardi Gras in that most of the party is centered in a very small part of the city. Having no idea where that part of the city was we wondered around asking people for directions and haphazardly ran into three other trainees and one really drunk Irish guy. As coincidence would have it, we met him again on sunday. After a few more times asking for directions, we finally made it onto the right train and to the festival grounds. It wasn't what I expected at all. It was a carnival, and nothing more. There were rides everywhere and strange people trying to get you to throw a ball at a stuffed mickey mouse. The population density was about three people per square yard and, having no place to put our packs, Tony and I were still carying ours. After two hours of fighting the crowd and somehow getting a bite to eat, we left and headed for Dachau.

It's about a twenty minute train ride there and after checking into our hotel and doing the concentration camp visit, we wandered around town for a bit. It felt amazing to not be carying a pack anymore. We met a couple of locals (one of whom is from South Carolina) and together we had an amazing evening NOT being in a huge crowd of people. It was nice to have a shower and a real bed that night and in the morning we left.

It was a short trip but a fun one, nonetheless. The best part, however, was the train ride there. I changed trains in Frankfurt, and, after sitting down, noticed the guy next to me was reading Fortune 500 in english. We started talking and I found out that he grew up north of Salina and for the past few years has been working in Wichita. The Germany office of his corporation needed some short term help so he voulenteered to come over. It's always nice to meet someone from home, even if you have no idea who they are. It's good to be reminded that it's a small world afterall.

David

2005-09-18T21:33:00.000+00:00

It's been a while since I've written last and I do appologize. Not much has happened this week but I've still been too busy to write much...it's amazing the ironies of life. I've made a few new friends this week. One of them, Sebastion, is studying physics at the university and in two weeks he will finish his doctoral thesis and go to Stockholm to work for a Noble lauriate. He's writing his thesis on the effects of electrical and magnetic feilds on the electron re-uptake of highly charged ions in a storage ring. I don't have a clue what that means but it's been fun to discuss it with him anyway.

The simple physics haven't been all that nice to me this week, though. First of all, it's getting cold. I have no quarels with cold, in fact, I often prefer it to heat, but this is September! It's not supposed to be cold yet. Last Sunday I was also involved in my first bike wreck. It had been raining and the pavement was wet and in the process of jumping onto a curb, I lost control and ran into a light post. Injuries sustained: sore little finger. By far the largest physics problem I've had this week, however, involved gravity. Now don't get me wrong, I like gravity. I'm glad we have it. Sometimes I think, though, that a little less could be a good thing. I was in the warehouse on a ladder that wasn't very secure. It fell. It went one way, my feet slipped through and I went the other way, and there I was, hanging upside down. Fortunately, I was alone so no one saw me there. Injuries sustained: three small bruises on my right leg.

For all the quarles I've been having with physics this week, it's good to know that our God is bigger than all of that and he is here to protect me!

Health and Saftey
David

2005-09-07T18:30:00.000+00:00

I just finished my first posing for the day and I'm making a second already. I didn't want to combine them because the topic and mood is completely different but bear with me....I need to rant for a bit. I don't know that my true frustration will be able to come through the text but I will try.

For most of this week I've been in the warehouse "controlling" (making sure they're not broken and that they include the proper things) school bags. Before I started I laughed at the irony that maybe it was the school children and not the bags that would need to be controlled. Now that I've actually done some controlling I realize that it's the people who donate the bags that really need to be controlled. How, praytell, will a bag full of incomplete, broken, second-hand toys help a child in africa get through school? Or perhaps four pairs of jeans with holes in the knees and frayed hems? I remember hearing from my Aunt Shirley of the time she and her husband spent in misssions work in Haiti how it felt to receive used tea bags from the "caring" people in America. Is it perhaps that charitable giving is not so much a means of helping people in need as it is a way for western society to assuage the guilt we have of controlling over 80% of the world's resources. Or, perhaps, is it a way for us to unload all of our trash that is still too "good" to throw out and giving it to needy children is a way to feel good about getting rid of it. Have we no thoughts of the people receiving our "gifts" (I enjoy the irony the the german word "gift" translates to "poision" in english) and what they need and what they're reaction to what they get might be? Are we really trying to help needy people or are we simply smoothing over our own conscience? Paper and pencils aren't that expensive. Is it to much to ask that you don't send crayons half an inch long or pencils so short it's hard to hold them? Is it too much to ask that you send any school supplies at all!?

I must be honest, there are some very well put together school bags in the mix. It shows that there are some people who spent some time and money to include not only what was on the required list of contents but also many other optional things. It is bags like these that help to keep my faith in western civilization from being destroyed completely. These bags are less than 2% of the bags we receive.

Well...I feel better now, somewhat. Go on now, read my second posting, it's much more cheerful.
David

2005-09-07T18:10:00.000+00:00

I enjoy pondering scientific theories that I have no real knowledge of. One of my favorite is Einstein's theory that the rate of time isn't constant. These past two weeks have been nothing but proof of that. Last sunday after attending church and eating lunch with Marcos (a 30 something guy who lives nearby and rents space in the warehouse) I had to hurry back to my flat to change and go to Bernd and Ziggy's for their international student gathering. I showed up late but no one really cared. It was an evening of fun interaction with students from all over the world, many of whom aren't Christian. The university here in Giessen has a large physics department and many of them were working on their pHd's in physics. They do a lot of work with the physics department at Kansas State and so I quickly learned to describe where I live in relation to Manhattan instead of Wichita. I didn't know the K-State phys. dept was that large but apparently it is. I got back late from that and was more than ready for bed.

The first half of this week, the heads of GAiN USA and Canada were here so monday night was spent running errands for Klaus (the head of GAiN Germany) and Zaiga (his secretary). I learned this part of town and it's respective stores quite well that evening and my legs are still sore from all the bicycling I did :)

Tuesday evening was my first German class at the Volkshochschule. It meets every tuesday and thursday evenings until sometime in December. So far I really like the prof. and I think he'll make it a fun class. Everyone (I think) in the class knows english and more than once he had to chide us to speak only deutch. It'll be a hard class but I think it will be well worth it.

Tonight I have a bible study with some of the local youth. I don't understand any of what we discuss but they all speak english so every once in a while they will fill me in and ask my oppinion. It's not all that spiritually fulfilling for me but the interaction with my age group is!

It seems like only yesterday when I was sitting in my room with nothing to do watching the hours drag by. Einstein really got this one right but in a way far simpler than he thought.

God truly is good to us!
David

2005-09-02T21:14:00.000+00:00

I have often heard the old addage that says, "Those who God will destroy, He first must make proud." This week I have found out that the exact opposite is even more true. Those who God will build up, He first must break. I appoligize for the last post, it was a little different from the normal reporting of life here but perhaps I'm appologizing because it's a little closer to the truth than I really enjoy sharing. This first month has been very difficult. When I read that God will never make us bear more than we can handle, I now read it that he may let us get very close. This first month has been very close. God IS good, however, and before it was more than I could bear he has began relieving my burden. The lament of the faithful really does get answered.

Last wednesday I attended a bible study of several college age singles in the area. I didn't understand much of what we talked about but it was really good to be in the presence of good Christian friends. Today I enrolled in a German class that meets every tuesday and thursday nights that starts next week. This sunday I have been invited in the afternoon to an international student gathering at the home of one of our staff members. I won't say that I am incredibally busy yet but my free time is finally coming to a manageable level. I have gotten used to having hours to lay on my bed and listen to music and now that this time is disappearing I think I actually might miss it somewhat. It's very good to be making new friends and finding activities though. God truly is good.

Some of you have left me comments and to this point I haven't really bothered to respond very well. I would ask, however, that if you leave me a comment, please sign your name to it so I know who to respond to. Some of you are quite good at that and some....well....aren't. So here goes:

I don't know the prices of fuel exactly. GAiN paid for all of that so I never really paid attention to price. I think that diesel is around 1€/liter (around US$4/gal) but I don't know the price of 'benzin' because I've never had to buy any.

The food is....well....I cook everything myself so I really haven't experienced German food other than breakfast which consists mainly of processed meats and soft cheases. Neither of which I am a big fan of. Mainly what I eat with other people is good although most of the restaurants I've gone to are either Italian or what they call Mexican.

The german...well...isn't yet but my classes start on tuesday.

I haven't made any cultural faux pas yet (that I know of). The office that I work in has a lot of foreigners working in it so people are pretty forgiving and if I have done something really stupid, they haven't said anything which is unfortunate but unavoidable.

That's all for now folks. I guess the one main thing I have learned this week that I can share with you is don't give up. This too shall pass.

David

2005-08-30T18:50:00.000+00:00

It's Tuesday, August 30. Day 28.

Thursday officially starts my second month here but already I'm reflecting on this past one. A lot has changed since I've come here. My flat mates both left, I got a new boss, and now I'm looking at starting school (I'm taking some german night classes starting next week). In spite of all of this life has remained pretty much the same. Evenings and weekends are fairly empty. I don't know the language and I haven't been able to find where German youth spend their time. I spend a lot of time in my room listening to music (God bless the iPod) and thinking and for the first time in my life, I'm starting to run out of things to think about. Work isn't much better. Chris, my first boss, was really good at keeping me busy, almost to a fault. He left this past week and Thomas, my new boss, can't seem to find much of anything for me to do. I spend a lot of time at work now sitting and waiting for a job. I guess I'm learing how to be still and do nothing. It's something I thought I was fairly good at before I came but I'm quickly getting better.

I've done a lot of wrestling with God this past week. Wrestling isn't the right verb exactly. It would be the right one if he would wrestle me back but so far he has only given me one answer. I asked him one night how my presence here is of any use to him when all I seem to do is sit and wait. He responded very clearly: "Wait and see." Not exactly the answer I was looking for. I guess if there's anyone who can make this turn out for his glory, he can. Now I just have to wait and see how it happens.

Come LORD Jesus, come. Amen.
Daviid

2005-08-27T09:20:00.000+00:00

Greetings once again! It's been a busy week, I'm not really sure where to start describing it. Last saturday after Chris's party I took the van and trailer and headed south. Rachel had told me that she wouldn't get off work until 10 so I was planning on getting to Thomashof (where she lives/works) around 10 or a little later. I thought better of it on saturday though and decided to leave here earlier so I could get to Thomashof while it was still light. That was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Thomashof is a small Mennonite village northeast of Karlsruhe. In this village is a Mennonite retreat center also called Thomashof. To be fair, the village doesn't have much more than the retreat center, a church (which is connected), and a few houses. Still, the first time I drove through the place, I didn't find the place I was supposed to go. Luckily just past town is a parking area that gave me plenty of room to turn around and head back in. I found the retreat center and, after a while of searching, found a parking space big enough for my oversized vehicle. It was 7:30 and I had two and a half hours until Rachel got off work and could show me where I would be spending the next three nights. So I took a walk to kill some time and discovered the amazing beauty of southern Germany. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the van so I don't have any pictures 'but,' I thought, 'there are more days for taking pictures.' It rained the rest of the time I was in Thomashof. At 10 I met Rachel and crashed for the evening. There was a wedding at Thomashof that weekend and Rachel had to work every day I was there but evenings gave us some good times to talk and laugh and have a general good time.

Tuesday I left Thomashof and drove 20 minutes to Pforzheim where Chris was. The house is an old farm house that is falling apart and worthless. Chris and Claudia are renting it from three sisters and putting between 10 and 12.000€ of their own money into it to remodel and renovate. It makes absolutely no sense to me but here I am and here I'm helping. While I was there we gutted the kitchen and bathroom (they're about the same size).....(not small). In the kitchen we tore up what I thought was a perfectly good sub-floor and Chris had wood ordered to replace it. In the bathroom we took off all the tile, scraped plaster off the walls, cut out the floor under the shower where it was all rotten, and replaced all the plumbing. Chris readily admited that he didn't have much experience doing this kind of thing and I tried to offer a few helpful tips whenever I could but he's not the kind of guy to take suggestions easily.

Friday I traveled around to different houses picking up goods for GAiN. I am continually surprised by what the Europeans refer to as a passable road. A very narrow 10% down grade winding through houses for 3km is not my idea of passable but I made it safely and in one piece. After my last pickup at Oberamstadt I decided that rather than head to Weierhof, I would cut my trip short and go back to Giessen. I did this......well because I could. There were a number of reasons. First, I still didn't know whether anyone would be in Weierhof or if everyone had gone to Wintersheim and I didn't know if they were expecting me in Wintersheim. Second, when we finished loading at Oberamstadt I am guessing I was one and a half times over the legal weight for my vehicle not to mention my liscense and I didn't want to hang around waiting for the police to stop me and ask how heavy I was. Third, this was Uli's last week here in Giessen and I was trying to get back here to tell him goodby before he left. I didn't make it in time but I'm still glad I'm back. I have all weekend now to recover and work starts again Monday morning; it will be interesting to see how things change now that Chris is gone.

To all of you: Health and strength and joy for the journey
David

2005-08-18T17:21:00.000+00:00

It's been a quiet week in Gießen, Germany, my new town. And, indeed, it has been quiet. I don't have anything to say about what has happened but I would like to let you know a little of what will be happening. This is Chris's last week here at GAiN and so Saturday afternoon we're having a party for him at his house (it seems kinda odd to me but that's the way Germans do it). As soon as the party is over I'm headed south with a van and trailer load of his things. On the way to his house (I haven't confirmed this yet but hopefully) I'm stopping in Karlsruhe to visit another trainee who is working at a retreat center there. The job is one of my possibilities for next term and its a good chance to spend some time somewhere else. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I'll be at Chris's new house helping him finish the inside and move in. Friday I drive back toward Frankfurt to pick up a load of goods for GAiN and then Saturday and Sunday I'll either be in Weierhof or Wintersheim visiting other trainees.

I guess my point is that for the next week while all of you are starting school and buckling down for the end of summer, I'll be off trotting the south of Germany :) I like how this works out. But seriously, If you need me....tough. I'll be incommunicado from saturday through the following 9 days.

enjoy!
David