So, I realized that I have two blogs, and while I don't really use even one of them all that much, I definitely have no need for two. But I don't want to just delete everything I wrote all my old blog, so I am just going to copy and past all that was on that one to here. So, this is from last year...I just thought it was time to consolidate.
Here is my blogged trip to Germany Feb 25-June 1, 2009
Feb 25, 2009
So it begins...
I am going to Germany for 5 months to help start a campus ministry at Tubingen University in Tubingen, Germany near Stuttgart. Everyone was telling me to e-mail them...which I still plan to do, but I just figured this would be easier. Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- His good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Feb 26, 2009
"We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere."
As I was driving away from Athens yesterday I finally felt the impacts of the fact that I am leaving the people I love the most in this world and I won't see them for 5 months. 5 months sounds like such a long time to me right now. I knew this would be good because one day... probably around graduation I would leave my community of best friends for good. One day sitting up in bed and talking to Lauren, or going down the hall and talking to Bon, going downstairs to talk to Allison, or even making it all the way across the street to talk to Beka, Leanna, Erin or Katie will seem like a lifetime away; but right now, it is my reality. I live in the closest proximity possible to the best friends I am convinced anyone has ever had. I was in physical pain leaving that. I didn't realize I was such a softy. I know I will be in the presence of friends in Germany, and that I will probably be a bit distracted by the work God has for me, but I just want you to know, friends, that apart from God, you guys give my life purpose. You add remarkable value to my life and I never want to give any of you up. That is why this little trip of mine is so valuable: I am too selfish to let any of you go, and I know that one day we will all go off and become missionaries or have fancy careers (cough Allison) or get married (cough..you know) and follow whatever path God has planned for us, and on that day we will be mature and cry and hurt but be happy for one another, because we will have learned to let go. Right now, I am learning to let go of you, and it stinks horribly. So, if you were wondering, I am not as super-stoked as I should be about going to Germany in (T- 2) days because I am mourning the loss of my most beloved community, but no fears, I have a fast turnover rate. And I will be taking bits of all of you with me, you all are a part of who I am, I love you all irrevocably, ha- almost as much as I love myself.
..upon arrival
March 1, 2009
As I arrived in Germany and was waiting for my bags, I was struck by a wave of nausea and an intense feeling of fear. That was a very weird experience for me because I don't normally freak out very easily. So I put my American music in my ears and breathed in and out while I focused on the conveyor belt that would bring my clothes to me. THANKFULLY, my team was right there waiting for me, filming me actually, as I walked through the exit. I am now here with ERIN!, Steph, Nate, Neb, Jack, and Brady and our fearless leaders: Chandler, Beth, Stephanie and Chris. Chandler filled me in and made me sign paperwork saying that I wouldn't drink heavily or make out with Germans. Then we went to lunch where a very intimidating Asian German woman told me I couldn't drink me bottled coke in there. She was speaking German, but it definitely sounded like: "get that out of here". Then we walked around Tubingen, my new home! It is so precious, I can't believe this is real. It is 10 am in Atlanta, 4 pm here, and apart from about 3 hours of sleep on the plane, I have been up since 10 am yesterday....and I am not planning on going to sleep anytime soon. Needless to say, I am REALLY tired, but going strong. Talk to you later, maybe next time I will be awake enough to give some interesting information.
Schule
March 5, 2009
Okay, it has been really hectic over here in Europe, so I have a few things to catch up on... Day 3: Do any of you remember how I said we were trying to get into this Intensive, month-long German course? I might have mentioned that they wanted us to be A2 German speakers...but we really didn't know what that meant. Only two of us have actually taken German, and the rest of us were just going to wing it on this test (that I didn't realize we had to take when I signed up for the class). We had a day to prepare and learn a few phrases in German "Ich heise Kelly", "Ich komme aus den USA". But when we got to the test EVERYTHING was in German. They wanted us to write a 10 sentence essay and answer 90 questions. It was actually really hilarious. Nate wrote on his "Ich heise Nate. Ich komme aus den USA. Ich speche Deutsche nicht." Which means "My name is Nate. I am from the United States. I don't speak English." And he walked out in like 10 minutes. I was laughing the whole time as I wrote sentences like "I eat Apple Strudel" and pretended like I new what the test said. At one point during the class the teacher made a joke in German and everyone laughed...so we all looked at each other and laughed along with them. It would be nice to know what that joke had been. Needless to say, only the 2 of us who had actually taken German got into the course. The rest of us got a lot of exasperated looks and were escorted to a language institute where we could be in an actual beginner's class. EVERYONE of the 45 people in that class now know us as the "Georgia people". Chandler, our fearless leader, actually heard this group of students talking about us when he was around town. We are pretty well known here in Tubingen. It's quite fun. Okay, chew on that story for a while. I miss you all!
German School
March 7, 2009
Not too much has happened....... The first day Erin, Steph, and I were 30 minutes late to class. The second day our bus broke down... But Germans rock. When we broke down, there was a new bus right behind us to take over. They are very efficient here. WE ALL GOT INTO TUBINGEN UNIVERSITY FOR THE SUMMER SEMESTER! That is definitely a praise. Chandler had been waiting outside the office practicing cuss words in German in case we didn't get in and he had to threaten the administrator. Erin and Steph met this homeless man named William Wallace. He gave them a dragon made of copper wire and rubber tubing...I don't see how it looks like a dragon at all. We made friends with the other people in our class: one is Hungarian, two are Swiss, one is Indian, and the other is Uzbekistani (?). The Indian girl, Ketaki, is learning German because she just moved here in December when she got married to her German husband, Sven. They are both SO sweet. They are going to have a housewarming party soon that they invited us too. I can't think of anything else exciting, so I hope that is enough for now. Have a wonderful day!
A Few Bumps in the Road
March 11, 2009
So, you know how I said that we all got into the Tubingen for the summer semester.....that was kind of a mistake. Today we went and talked to the HEADMASTER who was completely baffled at the fact that we were even in Tubingen, how and why we were here, etc. Two people asked us if we were SURE we were in the right city. It was kind of humorous actually. The problem is, since we are not even in an exchange program, we cannot be in Tubingen's exchange program. The headmaster told us that we could sign up for the courses after all of the real students had signed up, but there probably won't be that many courses left over. BUT, we did get dorm rooms. Somehow. The headmaster was really confused as to HOW we got dorm rooms seeing as WE AREN'T STUDENTS at the university. Thankfully, though, God found us a place to stay before we got rejected from school. Oh, I baked cookies yesterday! I was so proud of myself. Finding the baking soda was the hardest thing, but I was resourceful. That's all for now. I am working on pictures.
Another Brick in the Wall
March 13, 2009
We Don't Need No Education.... So, we met with the Headmaster of the International Program (again), the Student Exchange coordinator, and Frau Hahne (again, also) today...let's just say it was another busy day...let me start over. In the hustle to get our dorm rooms (was that JUST two days ago?), we had to talk to a sweet woman named Frau Hahne...I say sweet with all the sarcasm that can possibly be intonated in a 1-syllable word. See, we needed admission papers into Tubingen to get dorm rooms so we went to see her because, like I said earlier: we thought we were actually in some program the school offered. She seemed really upset with us and told us: "I will not register you into Tubingen" and then left in a huff. Well, yesterday, this same woman called us while we were in German class and talked to Nate. She said we had to come and meet again today and talk to the aforementioned people. She also mentioned that it was her birthday today and she would have to come into work anyways to see us...nice. So we are all really nervous, but what's the worst that can happen, right? We had to leave class early so we could meet with everyone at 10:30. Now here, my friends, was the best part of my day...nay my week... Okay, we have this sweet older woman, Cornelia, who is our German teacher. After we tell her we have to go meet with the University she gave us our hausaufgabon (homework) and then she asks us if we are coming back. We told her we probably we wouldn't be able to (class is over on Fridays at 12). She says: "Please try and come back...I LOVE YOU". We died. It was so precious! Everyone just cracked up laughing and professing their love for her too. We should have known...we are very well-liked here in Germany for some reason. Nothing too exciting happened in the meeting...except they told us to not tell any of our friends back at home to EVER do what we are doing....so any future Global-scopers will have to make up a new state to be from. Besides, we Georgian's are making a name here in Tubingen and we don't want anyone tarnishing the lovable reputation that we have. Oh, I forgot to mention. Since Frau Hahne had told us that it was her birthday to guilt trip us, we decided to bake her cookies and get her a card. Ummm.....turned her into the SWEETEST woman. People just need a little sugar and love to make the world taste better. I am out for now, we are painting the main room of the campus house a hideous, gak-green and I really don't want to miss restraining my upchuck reflex at the desecration of this 1920s house. LOVE you guys!
March 15, 2009
Hello all! So, many of you have joked about how my lateness would be a problem for me in the very-efficient, always-on-time Germany. How right you were.... So yesterday, we were all going to go to Bodensee (like 2 hours away by train), see Lake Konstanz and just have a nice day in the sun. The train left at 12:30. As I watched the bus I was supposed to be on to get to the train station in PLENTY of time, I knew that I wouldn't be able to make it to the Haubtbahnhof (train station), but I ran anyways. About 15 minutes later, after passing atleast 3 other bus stops to see if I could catch a bus to take me to the train station, I called Chandler and asked him what I should do if I was late and he said that there was a train 30 minutes later I could catch. Well I ran out onto the platform and could see the train all of my friends were on just chugging away (do trains still chug?) and I was nearly about to cry. It was very movie-esque, it would have been nice to have some sappy song playing in the background. So I went to the ticket counter to get a ticket on the next train and he told me I wouldn't get there until 5, and it would cost 21 euros. So I opted to just have a relaxing day in Tubingen and get a few necessities, like a hair dryer and a James Dean poster for my room. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but we meet these friends when we were failing the Intensive German test when were first got here: Ketaki and Sven. Sven is German and Ketaki is Indian. They met in India when Sven was doing an internship and they got married a few months ago. Now Ketaki has to learn German, as she is living in Germany, and she came with us to the Sprachinstitut when none of us could handle the Intensive Course. We all became friends really quickly. Last Sunday we all went Salsa Dancing and a few nights ago they had us over for dinner. So when I realized I would be spending the day in Tubingen alone, I called Ketaki to see what she was up to...I was in luck! Ketaki & Sven were performing at man's 65th Birthday party. They told me I should come along, and how could I turn down my first opportunity at a German Birthday party?! Ketaki danced an Indian dance, Sven juggled. The family was so nice to me and I even caught on to a few of the stories they were telling in German. It really sucks that I missed the day trip, but I am really glad I got to experience all of that yesterday. Working on being on time until next time!
March 18, 2009
I decided to do some shout-outs to people on here, just to make things a little more interesting (and obviously so you can see who I love the most). I have a lot right now because I have been thinking about doing it for the past few days: Allison, even you have been saying your last name wrong this whole time; it is pronounced: shlishting. Crazy huh? Christina Serra, remember that green hat that I tried at half moon, around my birthday? Well I got it later ( I actually ordered it and had my parents send it to me). Now everytime I wear it (which is right now in fact) I think of you. I would like to give my overwhelming thanks to you John K for letting me steal all of your music last year. Ok Go has been a godsend. Bonne, I have a very horrible story for you. They don't dance here. Actually, this is for everyone: when a good dance song is on these people don't even budge. There is no swaying of the hips of nodding of the head with a good beat, they all just stand there as if music has no affect on the body whatsoever. I just don't understand it. Beka, Mary Ellen, Allison & Lauren: I have the picture of when you took me out to LongHorn's for my birthday on my computer and everytime I look at it I nearly cry because I miss you all (and EVERYONE) so much. Thankfully, I am definitely starting to see my purpose here...my straightforwardness is coming in handy if you get my drift. I can't think of anything as exciting as missing the train...so I will just end it at that. You all are so amazing and I miss you like crazy. Please pray that the spirit of God will be on this house as we prepare it for German students and be in each one of us so that we can reveal the glory of God.
March 25, 2009
So, what have we been doing? We are all progressing in our German..so that's good. Erin and I saw a French film (in German) at the theatre and it was was actually pretty good. It was a romantic comedy I would say...more comedy than romance. We understood the story eventhough we couldn't really understand what they were saying. Beka, THANK YOU so much for all the Tim Keller sermons you have blessed me with. If you feel the need to send me more, go right ahead. We go to church here, but...its in German, so needless to say, we don't get a lot out of it. It is really nice just to put a sermon on and get fed for the day. Yesterday Erin helped me move out of the apartment I had been staying in so I can sleep on her floor (wahoo!). It was HILARIOUS! She was carrying all of my food in a bag that ended up breaking (of course) and I had all of these cushions tied to my bag with scarves. We had to walk like 15 minutes and then take two buses. I was just laughing the whole time because I was so tired from caring all of my crap and the bag ripping and us just looking ridiculous. It was awesome. On Fridays in Germany people leave random stuff in front of their houses just as give away. I have picked up at chair and a platter for the girl whose apartment I was staying in, and we also got a coffee grinder and an espresso machine. It is so weird, because the stuff all works, but really nice. We plan on scouring the streets every Friday to stock up the campus house. Oh, and "Lieber gar nichts zu Weihnachten" means "I would rather have nothing for Christmas". You would use it if someone asked you to do something really horrible like: "Hey, do you want to eat this spider?" I love you and miss you!
March 28
A Day of Rest
Writing a blog is kind of difficult because I never want to say anything that will hurt anyone's feelings or divulge too many of my emotions because I really never know who could be reading this. So, being here has been really great, don't get me wrong...but it has been really hard for me. If you know me you know how my love language causes me problems when I am not with the people I am completely comfortable with. This whole time here, with all of the random difficulties we have gone through, I have never really felt at rest. I haven't been able to just be comfortable and fully at peace with the people around me... I love them all and they are really great, but like I mentioned before, my love language requires more than just good conversation and encouragement. So I had kind of been wearing thin as I went through each day and tried to keep a positive attitude about everything; but yesterday I was revived! And I want to thank everyone who was a part of that. I love each one of you SO much. Yesterday I needed to call my mom and dad, so I went to Steph & Chris's apartment and skyped them. Kind of by accident, I ended up at there apartment for the rest of the day, most of it alone. I talked to my parents for a while and it was such a blessing. Then I watched the Office for 2 hours, which was priceless, and then, the icing on the cake: I got to talk to Lauren for an hour. I wish I knew more of your numbers by heart, but unfortunately I could only think of Lauren's and after trying a few times, she finally picked up. She really encouraged me and made me feel loved and purposeful. Lauren, it was so hard to say goodbye to you, hearing your voice was such a blessing, I wish I could record you so I can have it always with me....sorry if that sounds weird. The day ended perfectly: Steph came home, and Brady was planning on having dinner with her and watching a movie. Two other girls came over, and it turned into an impromptu girls night complete with TAGALONGS! and Peanut Butter M&MS! that Steph had brought back from America. I also want to thank you all SO much for any prayers you can throw my way. This ministry will only succeed with prayer and the Holy Spirit rocking this campus. I love you all more than these words could ever explain, and I think being over here is just making me love you all the more because I miss you so much.
A Day in the Life
April 7, 2009
So, last night we did Karaoke. Oh Yeah. And the girls we were with chose to sing "Like a Prayer" by Madonna. We were pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. So, what have we been up to?...or better yet, what does a day in the life of Kelly Boswell look like in Germany? Let me just tell you: I usually begin my day with music (this morning it was "Grillz") and a little dance party in my dance room that is desperately missing miss Bonne Beasley. Then I read my Bible and eat a little breakfast. The other day I made an Apple-Oatmeal crisp ensemble that turned out very well. Then the day consists of either 1) working on the house, 2) taking a day trip, 3) going to class, 4) walking around the Old City and window shopping, 5) watching massive amounts of TV on "watchTVsitcoms.com", or a combination of all of them. For meals I eat Apples, chocolate, nutella, bread, pizza (when I am lucky), doners (when I am even luckier- they make my top ten for best meal ever. They are kind of like Gyros), and/or cheese. I have thus far baked about 1,000 cookies, give or take a couple hundred. And I look forward to many more baking experiences. At night we either go to a bar and drink very large glasses of German beer or go do Karaoke with students that we have meet, have a Bible study, or just spend a quiet night to ourselves. And that's about it for my day... Here are a few tidbits about Germany should you want to know: 1) they don't dance here 2) they like to drink a lot 3) you don't get water for free at the restaurants 4) Bread=life 5) they prefer "mineralwasser" which is all bubbly and not thirst-quenching at all 6) there isn't any air-conditioning 7) the mail-man rides a bike, and sometimes get on the bus...with his bike 8) you can get yelled at on the bus for talking too loud (which happened to us), having your headphones too loud, or putting your feet on the seats 9) They LOVE juice, any kind of juice, they have it here 10) very small children ride the bus by themselves I think 10 is enough for now. I love you guys!
Fruhlingsfest
April 15, 2009
So, you all know about Oktoberfest I am sure...but have you heard about Fruhlingsfest?! Basically, this is a festival with Six Flags-esque rides, corn on the cob, drinking tents, and crepes all in one! I didn't know singing lame 90s songs and dancing on benches while a bunch of tipsy Germans attempted to have rhythm would be so much fun!...okay, maybe I could've guessed it would be amazing. See, we meet a girl in one of our dorms who works at said festival as a waitress- yes she wears the traditional lederhosen and can carry 5 1-liter mugs of beer in each hand (that is why German women are so strong!). She invited us to this better-than-Oktoberfest- festival on Monday in Stuttgart and it was well worth it. We were in the beer tent from 3:30 to 11 dancing. It was priceless! Brought back memories of homecoming all over again. Easter- I just want everyone of you to not take for granted the fact that you can go to church and understand the sermon. Even though I can't understand what is going on, something about being in a church, being there with people that have the same beliefs as I do, and are worshipping the same God that I do is so refueling and comforting. This past Easter was a great day. I only understood "Jesus hat alles bezalt" which means "Jesus paid it all", but being in the presence of the risen God was worth more than I can ever get out of an English sermon. God is the same here and in America...y'all just don't take Him for granted because I am still jealous of you. Love you and miss you all!
Mr. Baden-Wurtemburg
April 26
Hello all! So, the house is all finished and we had our first event on Friday night. It was game night. We played Apfel zu Apfeln auf Deutsch which was really difficult because, um, I don't speak German (very well). We are getting better at German and yesterday I went to a Cook Out and had a pretty good convo half German/half English. So, there are many parks around Tubingen, and now that the weather is nice we spend a lot of time just hanging out in the sunshine. At the main park (on Wilhelmstrasse) there is a particular local business man who has a daily routine of coming to the park in his suit and stripping down to a white speedo in front of everyone so he can lay out and increase his already ridiculously dark tan. His name is Siegfried and he was Mr. Baden-Wurtemburg 1997. We met some British people who call him Black Bear because of his intense tan. He occasionally gets up and walks around the park doing stretching exercising and pours white powder on his body...I am guessing that is to help the tanning process. I think the biggest thing I am learning here is how to do ministry a different way. I mean, I have always thought of ministry as serving and being there for people when they need it and BIG results and such; but here, ministry is just going out and meeting people. I have to stop expecting huge things to happen and just be okay with making one friend at a time. Here, the Holy Spirit is working slowly, but surely. I guess it is as my Trig teacher used to say: "slow and steady wins the race". I am not going to lie, it is really frustrating. I hate that I can't see results and that we just have to day-by-day chip away at the surface of this university. But I know this is where I am supposed to be for some reason and I can't get disheartened or be disappointed because things aren't happening the way I want them to. I would really appreciate all of y'all's prayers for me and for our team and for God's will to be done here. On a more excited note: I am meeting my parents in London on May 5th! I am SO excited. Hugging them will be like connecting with home and life. I can't wait! Okay, that is all for now. I love you all!
A Little Recap
May 13, 2009
Wow, sorry I haven’t written in quite a while. If you are one of those dedicated checkers, I feel bad for letting you down. SO much has been happening I don’t even know where to begin… Okay, things are really picking up here in Tubingen. We have already had a few events: Game night, Café English, May Day Brunch, Friday Movie Night (all in German if you would believe it!), and a Sunday Cook Out. I also threw a party with my hall a few weeks ago (which was quite a success, as you would imagine). It is SO amazing to actually see the house getting used and see people who want to come and hang out there. I feel like the house is happy to be fulfilling it’s purpose and we are so excited to see how far everything has come in the short two and a half months that we have been here. I feel like we are getting fully integrated into the German night life, too. Most times we go to local bar right in our dorm complex, but we have gone to Top 10 (Tubingen’s night club), and frequented a lot of house parties. Also, Spring has brought the most beautiful German scenery. So, to be cliché, I feel like the weather is mirroring our success here…or I guess I should say God’s success. I don’t usually get into nature that much, but the flowers and green landscapes are impossible to ignore here. Everything is coming to life around us and reflecting the creativity and glory of God (at least for me). It is also getting very warm, which I LOVE. The sun is out most days and we spend our afternoons in the park or walking around enjoying the beautiful weather.
Volleyball auf Deutsch
May 14, 2009
So I just got back from the University’s sport center where I played volleyball and it was AWESOME. First of all, I can understand a little German, but being in there, with all of those people, and no one understanding me because I don’t know any of the German words for anything having to do with volleyball, was hilarious and confusing and SO much fun. When we were separated into teams I turned to my team and said: “Enshuldigung. Ich bin Kelly. Ich komme aus den U.S.A. Ich verstehe am bisschen Deutsch.” (Excuse me. I am Kelly. I am from America. I understand a little German.) They all kind of laughed at me and nodded their heads. Whenever someone did something good I was like “NICE”. Then one time I spiked the ball and the other team couldn’t defend it and this guy on my team, Marcos, turned to me and said “NICE”. It made me so happy! He was either making fun of me or trying to make me feel comfortable, I took it as the latter. So, if you ever think to yourself when playing a sport “I am so confused right now”; just be thankful that it is in English. That is the lesson for today. I miss you all! See you soon! I hope y’all are having an awesome summer!
May 18, 2009
This last week has been really hard. I realized how many different things can tug on my heart and pull it in all different directions to the point where anything I decide is going to hurt. How can everything I do be selfish? I have always known it is impossible to please everyone, so people tell you to just follow your heart. Which, let's be honest, is pretty lame advice. But really, no one really wants you to not be a people-pleaser. Everyone wants to be considered. Everyone wants to be know that they are important to you. So if I decide one thing, does that have to mean that I don't care about the other? Sometimes it is impossible to live without regrets. I just have to face that. Sometimes you just have to make a pro and con list, sometimes you just have to pray, but I think most the time, deep down, you just know. And that is how you make a decision. You just know. I just know what I have to do.
May 24, 2009
So, if you read my last post you might have seen that I was having a pretty tough time because I had to make a tough decision. And, in reading that, you may have thought to yourself: "I wonder what tough decision she is having to make." I figure it is time to mention that I am coming home a little earlier than planned...as in this Saturday..at 4:00. It is kind of a long story. Yes, I am sad to be coming home. No, I did not do anything illegal. That is all. See you Saturday...well maybe Sunday, I need to sleep.
June 1, 2009
Home
I am officially home! Now I just have to find a way to make money while I am here. I will be taking a Junemester class...so that will be fun. As of this minute, the plan is to be a waitress somewhere. Cool.
No comments:
Post a Comment