My class ended last Wednesday and doesn't start again until January 15th. What's a guy to do? ROAD TRIP!!
I'll be heading out on the 1st to visit a couple of cities and a couple of friends in those cities, and I should be back by the 12th or 13th. See you then!
| Permalink | 
In all my posts about living over here, I haven't posted much about work. So, I figured I'd fill you in on what that looks like. After all, it's why I came over here in the first place.
My work these days consists of two parts:
1. Learn language at school.
2. Hang out with people and witness.
As you can guess, #2 is much more fun, but would be pretty much impossible without #1.
A Normal Day
On a normal day, I get up and head to the big university here and go to class for most of the day. My class lets out around 4:30, at which time I hang out on campus with students and practice the language and witness as opportunities arise.
I've built relationships with music students almost exclusively on campus. I know a few students in other departments, but mostly just music students. I wish I could say this was by design, that I prayed over who to build relationships with, but the truth is they are the closest to my building on campus.
When I first started going to class a few months ago, I walked out of my building after class one day and looked for the first building I could practice the language and make friends in. Lo and behold, the first suitable building I came across was a cafe on campus where all the music students hang out at. (I think I just ended two straight sentences with prepositions. Is that wrong?)
So, I've been going to this cafe for the past 3 months or so after school most days. I've met a lot of students, made several friends, and have had a lot of opportunities to witness, much more than I thought I would have. Most people around those parts know me as a "spiritual" person. (I really hate that title, we need to come up with a better one.) The guys there are pretty friendly, and several have invited me to their apartments and to hang out on the weekends and things like that.
Well, there you have it. That's what I've been doing for the past few months when I'm not accidentally haggling in the market or spraining ankles on the basketball court.
| Permalink |
Merry Christmas, everybody! Though I really wasn't looking forward to Christmas this year, it turned out to be a great time. I spent the night Christmas Eve at the K's and got to hang out with them and their 5-year-old twins most of Christmas Day.
God provided, and a day that I was pretty apprehensive of turned out to be a great day with family.
| Permalink |
I had one mission Friday afternoon after class: Find a gift.
My language class had decided to do a gift swap the next week, so we all put our names in a hat and drew out who we would buy a gift for. I picked a guy who I think I've talked to 3 times in my life. No matter, it's my responsibility to make sure this guy doesn't go home sad after gift swap day. There are few things as shameful as seeing your secret buddy leave the room with tears in his eyes after gift swap day.
So, with this in mind I headed to the local market, figuring I could find something cheap and...well, cheap. The only rule was that whatever you bought had to be 15 bucks and under. Not knowing this guy from Adam, I had no idea what to get him. Does he like music? Movies? Socks? As I entered the market, I had no clue what to buy...
As I first entered, I saw a bunch of guys with signs yelling something, and one guy with a megaphone yelling something. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I didn't hear the words "America" or "George Bush", so I figured I was in the clear. Some cops were standing to the side, so I guess it was a legal protest. The signs they were holding had broken pieces of bread on them, whatever that means. Just to be sure, I took the long way around and kept going...
Well, I wandered around the gigantic market for a while, got lost, found my way back, and stumbled onto a guy selling football team sweaters. Since every male from a country that doesn't start with "Ameri" loves football, I figured this would be perfect. So I walked up and started a conversation in my horrible "Yes, I am a foreigner" accent:
"How much are those?"
"30." - Ouch. The limit is 15.
"That's expensive. I can give 12." - I don't know why I said 12, it was the first number under 30 that came into my head.
"That won't do."
"Okay, thanks." - I turned and started to walk away.
Wait for it, wait for it...
"15." - I turned around and bought my secret buddy some happiness.
In all honesty, I wasn't trying to haggle. I really was walking away, wondering where else I could go to find some cheap football sweaters.
In all my daily blunders of language and cultural etiquette, it was nice to do something right for a change, even if it was by accident.
| Permalink |
I don't know what it is with me and bananas, but we have some problems.
I kept these puppies out in the open and everything, but apparently after a week or so, even properly stored bananas go bad. Go figure.
| Permalink |
The Christmas season was officially heralded in this weekend, at least for me. I watched a Christmas movie ("Home Alone", not as good as I remembered it), had a white elephant Christmas party, and put up my Christmas tree.
We (me and the team) had our Christmas party early since some people are heading to the states for various reasons. Carols were sung, food was eaten, stories were told, it was a good time. And, of course, there was the annual white elephant game. (For the rules, click here.) After all the opening and stealing, I ended up with some nice bounty (and no, you can't get this stuff here, it had to be shipped over) :
As you can see, there will be some serious chip dipping in the near future...
To top off all the weekend festivities, I found the (not quite real) Christmas tree under my bed, left by the family that lived here before me, and set it up in the living room. This is the first year I've put up a tree, I think last year me and my old roommates just strung Christmas lights around, and found they make great mood lighting. Anyway, here is my amazingly lifelike Christmas tree, accentuated by a nice off-balance tilt:
All in all, it was a good, festive weekend.
| Permalink |
I met some friends of mine today to play some basketball and hang out. We had not been able to spend any time together in a couple of months, so I was pretty excited to get to hang out with them. After some wandering around, I found the court they were at and proceeded to play.
Woe #1: I was playing against one of my friends when he had the ball. His teammate set a screen, and he went around and put up a shot. I went under the screen and jumped to get a hand in his face as he shot, and as we came down he landed on my foot, twisting his ankle pretty bad.
He immediately fell to the ground and started moaning while grabbing his ankle. He looked awful, but every now and then he would look at me and say (imagine the worst foreign accent you can) "No problem, no problem", then he would go back to grimacing. Needless to say, he didn't play any more basketball that day. After a while, he seemed a lot better, and even walked around some. Okay, he hobbled, but that's close to walking. It's not too serious, and there were no hard feelings.
Woe #2: I came to the sad, honest realization that I have very little, if any, basketball skills. It began to dawn on me as I airballed and bricked most everything I threw up, from layups to jumpers to off-balance haymakers. My defense was a little better, but I still got scored on more times than I care to remember, mostly from the post.
Non-Woe #1: I found that I at least had plenty of energy with which to play, even if I had no skills to play with. I started running some this past summer, and it seems to be getting me in better shape. I could run around a lot, even if I couldn't do much of anything else.
Non-Woe #2: After the game, we all walked (and hobbled) over to a restaurant and then to one guy's house to hang out. All in all, it was a good time with friends. Maybe next time we can play foosball...
| Permalink |
I woke up Friday morning feeling really rested, and when I looked at the clock I realized why I felt so rested. I had overslept, and had an hour and 15 minutes to get across town to my classroom. (Remember, if you're late, the teacher won't let you go to class).
I threw on some pants (and a shirt) and ran out the door to catch a bus, all the while wondering if I was going to make it or just waste a trip across town.
BORING BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Buses take one of two routes across town: the fast way, and the slow way.
I was hoping for a bus taking the fast route, as that seemed to be my only hope of getting to class on time. Well, after a few (very long) minutes of waiting, a bus taking the slow route pulled up. Seeing no other choice, I got on and awaited my fate.
As the bus wound along, oh so slowly, I looked out the window and saw God's provision for the morning: a subway stop I did not know of.
OTHER BORING BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The subway here runs through a 3rd of the city, and is lightning fast.
I got off the bus at the next stop, ran back to the subway, and bulleted my way to class on time.
God provided.
| Permalink |
