(This was written on Saturday but I was not able to post it in time. Whoops! But you know what they say, "Better later than never"!)
Dear friends and family,
Today is
Saturday, a day in which I welcome with open arms! The weeks here in Neuenburg
are not particularly busy but they do have a way of draining your energy, bit
by bit, so that by the time Friday comes you find yourself longing for Saturday
morning when you can sleep in with the peace of knowing you have no school to
attend, no practice to plan, and no people to meet.
However,
the weekdays are full of excitement and adventure. Here is a glimpse into my
German experience thus far:
In the
beginning, my days were random and unexpected at best. I think it appropriate
to use the word “boring”. But, since language school and softball practices
began a new level of enthusiasm and eagerness has risen inside of me.
Mondays are
much like Saturdays. All the interns are given Mondays off in order to spend
time in mental reflection upon the previous week and mental preparation for the
week to come. Chrissy and I generally like to use these days to explore new
places such as the charming town of Freiburg or the delightful, bike path
running alongside the Rhine River. Monday's end with a Worldview Bible study taught by Stephen Spanjer at NIC (Neuenburg International Church).
My week
truly begins at 7:55am on Tuesday mornings. Lane, Chrissy, Josh, and I journey
together in the “Purple Pride” (aka Josh’s Kia Pride) to Bad Krotzingen for
language school. There we stay from 8:30 to 12:30pm. Language school, although
quite challenging, has become one of the highlights of my week. We have sewn
relationships with men and women from all corners of the world. In our class we
have representatives from the United States (obviously), Hungary, Romania,
Portugal, Afghanistan, Poland, Nigeria, Brazil, and some Middle Eastern
countries that seem to have escaped my mind.
Each time I
step foot into the classroom I feel as though I’ve landed in Lewis’ Wood between the Worlds. However, entrance into each other’s pools is not achieved through
yellow and green rings enchanted with ancient magic. No, it is instead achieved
through the understanding of the German language. With real relationships at
steak it gives an entirely new importance to learning the language.
After class
on Tuesdays the “fabulous four” (Lane, Chrissy, Josh, and I) travel back to
Neuenburg. Chrissy and I generally go back to our underground apartment, which
we have given the nicknames of “cave” or my personal favorite “the Hobbit hole”. To this hide out, Chrissy
and I return for our afternoon lunch and down time, which more often than not
is followed by a short nap.
We then do
our German homework or whatever other busy work that needs to be completed
until 5:30pm when we mount our bikes and ride to softball practice (one of my
favorite times of the day). Practice begins at 6:00pm and goes to 8:00pm. We are
not actually playing games at the moment so the commitment level for most of
the players is very low. That being said, we have an average of three to four
girls that come to practice each day. At first I was a little disappointed in
the daily turn out. Coming from a numbers society, I thought it a failure to have a practice where only three girls showed up. However, I was reminded that God is not a God of numbers He’s a God of relationships. We
(me, Chrissy, and Claudine) have two full hours to pour into these girls twice a week. Meaning, the fewer the girls that come to
practice the more likely we are to really get to know and impact their lives
and for that I am thankful.
On
Wednesdays we go to language school once again. However, there is no softball
practice so we usually have the afternoons free.
Thursday mirrors Tuesday.
Fridays are particularly special because Chrissy, Josh, and I attend a private Theology class with Stephen. We are doing a study on the theme of Chaos to Order in the Bible. It has been so very interesting to see how the Bible fits so perfectly together. But I will refrain from mentioning any of those intricate details to save those of you who are already longing for the "Saturday morning" of my blog post.
Auf Wiedersehen!
-MG
