so. 2 days of lecture into the program, and i absolutely love it. the schedule is becoming more routine, and people are finally calming down after the overWHELMING amount of excitement this past weekend when we all first arrived. we have 3 papers due in a couple days, 2 memorized verses due at the end of this upcoming weekend, 7 chapters of reading to do per day in the Bible [in order to complete the entire Old Testament this term], our first assigned book's reading schedule started today, AND.... we spend all this Saturday climbing the Swiss Alps. no distraction there ;)
today i went on a fabulous european bike ride for about a half hour into downtown Friedrichshafen with Mckenzie, Kendra, and a German guest student named Alka [she wants to join the student body in January when 2nd term starts, and she's awesome]. we took pictures on the waterfront [bodensee], walked around town, did some shopping inside H&M, and finished our afternoon with some ice cream outside a restaurant overlooking Austria and Switzerland across the lake, wrapped in blankets and talking about cultural and political differences between Germany and America.
overall... a VERY satisfying afternoon.
though no school work was accomplished. oh well :P
each day that passes gets easier and easier to be away, because i'm becoming more and more confident in my decision to even come here in the first place. i'm cutting back on my computer time, told joel we basically can't talk because it pulls both him and me away from our personal lives and it's clearly not the best thing for either of us, and we must rely solely on hand-written letters that will be read by one or the other when we have the time and space to do so. [ps joel:: thank you so much for being the MOST incredible guy through all of this. your patience and willingness to wait for me and allow me to fully BE here blows me away and brings me to a very humbled and undeserving state of mind each time i remember just how lucky i am to have a guy like you. i adore you and am eternally grateful for having the opportunity to be with you. i love you].
duties are pretty hardcore... an hour of cleaning is done by most students every single day, and my particular job for the next 4 weeks before we rotate jobs is breakfast dishes every morning [with about 7 or 8 other students with me in the kitchen]. the kitchen is HUGE and dishes are definitely both plentiful and disgusting. lots to learn, and a language barrier between the kitchen staff and students makes fast learning absolutely vital. my first morning's experience involved milk getting dumped on my slippers.
so today.. i bought some SWEET kitchen clogs. oh yeah ;)
in short, i love it here and am definitely where i'm supposed to be. i miss home, but Peter Reid did the math for us tonight and this program, for the next 6 months, is only 0.6% of my life. setting aside a wholehearted and willing attitude to abide by these rules and devote my time and attention to getting the most out of this school year is really... in the end... hardly any sacrifice at all.
i think i can manage :]
i've spent the last 26 hours just trying to figure out how to put this blog into words. i arrived yesterday [very late] by train to the school and started my experience with a commencement dinner. afterward was a meeting with an overwhelming amount of information, followed by some free time [during which, while most students got online to check facebook and e-mail friends and family, i chose to do laundry, ironing, and unpacking. normal, right?] before an early lights-out in hopes of getting all students to bed at a reasonable hour to get over jet-lag. saturday morning was breakfast followed by another two even MORE overwhelming meetings. when i say overwhelming, i mean... legitimately so much information i am left speechless. i, marissa, am left speechless. let me give you an example of this term's coursework that we were told about just today:
**we will be expected to, and tested on, printing by hand every book of the Bible in order and spelled correctly, along with the memorization of almost 40 verses [recited to and checked off by school staff]. we are required to read the entire Old Testament before Christmas break [which will be about 6 chapters a day] on which we will be writing several papers. on top of that, there are 4 books outside the Bible that we must obtain and read, writing a paper on each one of those as well. daily lectures will coincide with all reading, and there will be a number of papers, projects, and exams on all material given to us over the next 3 months.
i knew it'd be challenging... but... dang.
i guess the part that's so overwhelming is the lack of time to do it all. on top of all the school work [both in and out of lecture], we all have work duties each day, small group [k-group] time several times a week, church twice every sunday, required meal times, and a TON of available and tempting activities both on and off campus each day. this upcoming saturday we're hiking the Swiss Alps, a few days later we can run a German 8-k race if we want, and a few days after THAT, they're taking us to the Neuschwanstein Castle [the castle Walt Disney used as his model]. downtown Friedrichshafen is VERY close by bus, the soccer fields and volleyball courts outside are always calling for attention, and the school's lakeside location makes it VERY difficult to not want to spend hours down by the water just... admiring life.
i share a room with three other girls, one from South Carolina, one from Canada, and the last from Germany. luckily, they're great. all students are in very tight quarters this term [well, every term - it's a small school]. this is each student's alloted space per room: one bed, one under the bed drawer, two shelves, and one QUARTER of a closet. community showers, dining hall, lecture hall, game room, e-mail room, laundry room and lounge make for absolutely zero alone time. i mean, except for literally standing in the shower or sitting on the toilet. otherwise, any concept of a personal bubble was popped the second we walked through the door yesterday afternoon. good thing i've done this for a year and a half already at tri delta ;)
i've shared conversation with people from all over the world - aside from my roommates, i've talked with students from Japan, Norway, Australia, Ethiopia, India, and all over my own country. mmmm... talk about a legit melting pot :]
keeping up with life back home might be a challenge, and with all that i'm about to embark on in my faith and personal growth, my heart's been growing more and more fond of cutting myself off. at least from facebook. its a constant distraction and worry - 'when can i check it next? oh, dont forget to write to her and tell her....; remember to respond to his post and mention.....' i want to wrap my mind, body, and soul around this experience and i'm afraid i cant if i'm just as connected to the world and life back home as i've always been. i will keep it on the foreground of my mind and heart for a while and decide fairly soon just how much i can handle.
in the meantime - i will absolutely keep posting here, and enjoying life here with my new family and in this new country i can now call home :D i heart kendra hamman. a whole lot.
So the last four days basically flew by in one big blur of Frankfurt and trains and tours and castles and hostels and LOTS of German that I can't even come close to understanding. But it was a GREAT way to adjust to the German time-zone, and get to know 4 amazing girls who are now my classmates at school. Katie Montgomery, Mckenzie Walker [the two that I flew out of Seattle with], Katelyn Dyck [who met up with us at our hostel in Frankfurt our 2nd day in], and then Kendra Hamman [who checked into the hostel our 3rd day there] are the 4 that, with myself, complete the 'Frankfurt Five.' We took trains and the subway places, walked everywhere, adventured from morning til night, all the way til it was time to leave for Friedrichshafen down south, to FINALLY attend Bodenseehof - the school I've been waiting to attend for years :]
Frankfurt was great, St. Goar and it's caslte and towns were great, late night talks in the hostel were great. Germans are friendly, smart, and funny. And now, I move on from traveling to studying. Off to Capernwray, Torchbearer Bible School:: Bodenseehof, Germany.
I will miss the Northwest incredibly. But... it is time to say goodbye. And thus begins a whole new chapter of my life. Icelandair flight FI520 nonstop to Reykjavik, Iceland then a connecting flight to Frankfurt, Germany. Traveling with new friends Mckenzie and Katie the whole way.
This... will be an adventure of a lifetime :]Bring. it. on.
I can't believe it. I leave tomorrow and I've been packed for three days already. I said my goodbyes in Pullman last weekend and have had a couple goodbye coffee dates this weekend. Tonight is my last night and I'll be spending it with some friends, but mostly just Sydney.This summer went by crazy fast. I remember my countdown being over 200 days long. And now... it's only a matter of hours. I don't think it'll hit me until I'm on the plane, or maybe even IN Frankfurt, Germany that this is real. This is happening. God has given me a gift, and it starts tomorrow. I'm nervous, excited, anxious, sad, happy... a little bit of everything, I'd say. I will miss everyone, especially Joel. You have my heart now :)Lord prepare me...
Holy smokes. God is good :D Joel and I have done lots of talking, thinking, and sharing of our hearts. We are now official, as of August 28, 2o1o, and happier than ever. Where this will go once I have to leave for Germany, only the Lord knows. But Joel and I both understand the need to be open-minded and positive about anything and everything that could happen to either of us in the next 7 months. This was so NOT my plan 3 months ago....
