My first few days!

So it turns out that outside my window isn't bird suburbia at all but mistletoe. Some of the other things I have learned in the last two days are:

• The bus is extremely packed at 5pm... I read an English magazine over someone's shoulder today.
• Ikea is under 20 minutes from my house and EXACTLY the same as back home. I bought a $3 pillow and a $15 duvet cover.
• A delicious, fresh sandwich made just down the street from my office is 4 Canadian dollars... A Gyros is even less.
• Our washer drains onto our floor - Hooray for the bonding moment for my roommate and I as we cleaned up a HUGE puddle of water.
• In banks you take a number and wait to be called... This wait can be mere seconds or an hour.
• People say "See Ya" to say both hello and good bye. This of course is just what I hear and say back... I doubt this is how it is spelt.
• The ketchup here is delicious... I can't say the same about the mayonnaise.
• I live above a place where non-profit groups have office space. There is a choir that meets there, a ski (or ice-skating) club and last but not least an association for people who... wait for it... Oh this is sooo good... TRAIN CARRIER PIGEONS! Can you believe it? CARRIER PIGEONS!!

That is about all I have for you now. Oh! I have a cell phone (pictured) and if you were to call me it would be free (for me - not for you) and I would hear the best ringtone in the world (Chris K - I give you two guesses as to the song it plays). Anyways it was with me this morning on my way to work...

- I taught myself how to bluetooth pictures to my phone (Photobooth with Highschool friends made the cut).

-The court yard.

- The very skinny second story balcony leads to our office.

Apartment

I have FINALLY unpacked. I have been really lazy since I got here and I still haven't figured out what time it is. The other night I was up until 4 am and then proceeded to sleep in until 3 pm the next day. THREE PM! WHO DOES THAT? Anyways, this morning I forced myself to get up at 9 am... I was so proud of myself when I did roll out of bed. However, my ipod had changed with day-light savings time so I had actually slept in until 10. Just when I thought I had it all figured out Europe has to go ahead and fall back. That means, I think, for the time being I am only 7 hours ahead of Alberta but only until you kids fall back as well. I might be wrong though, because instead of learning time zones in grade eight we were doing a hockey pool. By "we" I mean the boys and our teacher were doing a hockey pool and us teen angsty girls were being sent to the principals office.

So I have now officially unpack completely and rearranged my 1960s bedroom. Here are pictures of my new place:

-My bed, my coffee table and my sweet sweet lamp.

- Could quite possibly be the best plug-in in the entire WORLD.

-The other side of the room... Oh what are those on the little cupboard???

- Well that is my new friend... Trent... He is pretty talented.

-And that... Well, that is his completely nude friend.... she is just doing her hair.

- It was finally sunny (I of course am inside being lame) so it was hard to take a picture of my desk.

-My excellent vase.

-The view of the tree outside my window reminiscent of "The Birds".

-The bath/sink/laundry room... Not to be confused with the toilet room.

- Could that be any cuter?

-I feel like I am on cribs. So here are the contents of the fridge....

-The kitchen.

-And finally the kitchen light... How I love this apartment!

Edmonton -Toronto - Brussels - GENEVA!

-My Computer on a train

So I haven't posted in a long time but that doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about posting. Did you know I arrived in Budapest? Well I did! However, it was via a 22 hour trip (this doesn't include the 15 hour train ride)... Here is something I cooked up for you in the airport in Brussels.

I don’t know what day/night day/time it is anymore – I slept for about half of my flight next to a guy from Tibet who was going home for the first time in a year and a half. I felt we bonded over the fact that he hasn't seen his family in a while and I won't be seeing mine for a while. I think I also may have tried to spoon him a couple times too. I can’t afford the internet in this super clean and sleek airport as it is 10 EURO an hour. My breakfast sandwich and coffee has already cost me half of my new salary. That being said my tiny and delicious coffee came with a free cookie. WHAT? SOMETHING FOR FREE? YES PLEASE.

Then I got to Geneva and tried to exist in the future on zero sleep... and I wrote this on the train to Zurich...

My travel to Europe took me just under twenty four hours I think… I left Edmonton early in the morning taking a flight to Toronto on WestJet. After a minor freak out, caused by a certain cousin who was also travelling on WestJet that day and updating his facebook status to anti-travel warnings, everything turned out ok. I arrived in Toronto in one of the three terminals. FYI Toronto has three terminals and if you don't have connecting flights you are pretty much hooped. I arrived in the one for local flights and had to get to the one for international flights (the third is for what I can only assume is for wizards -apperating, and floo networks). Thankfully, someone I knew met me there and dragged me and my 140 pounds of baggage to the next terminal (via clown car). Four hours later I left for Geneva via Brussels. The flight was great – there were a full selection of Bollywood movies and soothing Indian announcements and advertisements. Because our pilot was such a rockstar we arrived an hour early and I had three hours to kill in Brussels (see above). I finally got to Geneva on a sketchy and very LOUD plane. I saw the mountains as we landed and it was tres pretty.

The BVS European Coordinator, Kristin, picked me up at the airport and we stopped in at her apartment to drop off my stuff. I was allowed to change and shower but after that it was volunteer boot camp. We wandered the old part of the city and visited a very beautiful church that holds Calvin’s Chair. We walked around the lake, saw an Ikea Billy ad being filmed, went to the park where people play chess and looked at the giant creepy statues of the people Calvin was friends with. Around dinner time we headed back to her apartment ate some food and I was finally allowed to go to bed.

-Check it out... Old church!

-Ze fountain

-Chess... The only thing Krista and I did in Geneva last time I was here.

Day two in Geneva was spent at the office where Kristin works. The BVS office is in the same building as the World Council of Churches and the Council of European Churches. For a church nerd such as myself this is a pretty big deal. I got to meet various people and interns working for both organizations as well as with the WSCF. I was introduced to a Canadian and it only took two minutes to find two people we both knew (For my American readership (BVSers): She was also a UCC geek this is not true of all Canadians).

That night we went for fondue with two interns in a cute little resteraunt near the office. This was probably the number one thing I would recommend you do in Geneva on your way to visit me. Fresh, white bread, giant pot of cheese, white wine... Need I say more?

I finally got to go to bed around 10 pm that night and slept until about 3 am… I woke up starving and WIDE AWAKE so I hung out all alone for about four hours until I was tired enough to fall asleep again.

My last day in Geneva was spent back at the office building – I got to meet with a WCC intern (yes a real live WCC intern!!! This of course is only interesting for church nerds who have seen these internship applications). I ate a huge pizza at the train station and then I was off to Budapest...

-My life and a beer...

My Life in 100 Pounds or Less

All my bags are packed so I suppose I am ready to go. One more night in Valleyview, one more day in Rocky Mountain House and one more night at my sister's.

I had the best, greatest, and most fantastic trip to Montreal. I think it can be summed up in this one picture...

-Sloppy Joes AND Cheesies

Just joking that was only a third of it. The other third of it was rekindling my relationship with my one true love...

- Leaves...

Who thought I was going to say Brittney?

And finally...

-Larping

One of the goals I have set for myself is not to lie as much as I did on my trip to the States. I lied to all the Americans but I doubt that Europeans will be as gullible. I mean really, who believes that Canada's number three resource is book binding? Or that our Navy and Army were always together until our tank/submarines started leaking? Or that 80% of media content has to be Canadian? Wait that one is kinda true.

Anyways, this is my last post as a resident of Canada. Now to the real world of work - I have been getting all kinds of work related emails which has been intimidating. I had kinda forgotten that I am moving because I have a job. I haven't worked for a month now and I am wondering if I have forgotten how...

Moments

To prove I am doing spiritual things here is a video we watched today in a session about paying attention to life's moments.

WNYC - Radiolab » 16: Moments

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Capital City Adventures

Just as we got settled into our routine in New Windsor we had to pack in ONE bag, drive to the capital of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg) and move into a giant hall in a church. Twenty two people, twenty two sleeping bags, twenty two towels, forty four flip-flops, forty couch cushions, three couches, one hide-a-bed, one "shower" (A stall in a fridge storage room), one mattress, and three ROOMS for THREE DAYS. But I am not complaining, I slept on cushions every night and even though I woke of four thousands times in the night I wasn't on the floor.

The Brethren Church we stayed in ran a lot of community ministry projects and is partnered with a low-cost housing organization. They hold classes and after-school programs all week and we were there to help out with cleaning the church and their other properties as well as help out with their Friday food distribution program.

A lot of things happened while we were there that were quite memorable but I am having trouble remembering them and my friend who has already blogged what happened wrote it all out in German (JERK!). So here is a list of the top things I remember right now:

• We drove to the grocery store while listening to the sound track from The Mission. Yo-Yo Ma which really set the tone of the drive. 
• We cleaned an unventilated kitchen in a creepy basement. The sink were poured our dirty water down didn't have a drain pipe missing in the sink, we found old Parmesan cheese, cooking supplies from the late 40s, snow-cone supplies (including syrup) from the late 60s, a razor blade from the early 1900s and a bunch of mysterious vials... I don't know when the last time anyone was in there but there was mouse poop in the microwave and a book that was called "We Know God Loves us Because He Gives us Peanut Butter." The cleaning project was actually kind of fun but that could have been the effects of the Orange Cleaner, Awesome cleaner, and Pinequate we were using.
• We cleaned weeds out of the church parking lot
• I washed baseboards
• My food group and I made enough curry for fifty people but we had an industrial burner so it was actually ready in time... Quite the accomplishment seeing as my partners would only let me use two pots, one strainer, three spoons and one knife as opposed to every dish I can find in the kitchen.
• We played four hundred games of Werewolf. Probably the best game EVER invented. It would take forever to explain but there are werewolves, and willagers, and a witch and lovers, and cupid and oh just so much fun.
• An old man tried to save me and everyone else in line for the Food Distribution. He was yelling a lot and talking in tongues. I don't think he was Brethren because they seem to be pretty straight laced for the most part.
• I attended a bible study with people waiting for the food distribution. It was mostly just people yelling things like KNOW WHOSE YOU ARE and PRAISE JESUS. It was intense. I stayed quiet. They were discussing the story where Jesus gives out the fish and the loaves and there are extra left over. All the yelling about what a miracle it was made me not want to talk about how we were taught that it was probably just that everyone shared their own food and that we should probably just learn to share. This was the longest hour of "church" I have attended in a long time.
• I attended a conflict resolution Sunday School class. We silently played this Sign game the entire time with our leader. Also a game that is hard to explain but so much fun.
• My group took a walk down at the water front and when we got back we realized that the capital building was the opposite direction. I was pretty upset because things like Capital Buildings and historical garbage are my favorite. That being said I did see a guy using an American flag as a paddle on the very polluted river. God bless 'Merica.

-Note how the dead squirrel lays in solidarity with those who died before him.

• Almost all the streets in the city are named after nuts and berries. So Cute!

That is all I can remember right now... It was great weekend. It was an intense weekend. It was the weekend that I threw my fellow werewolves under the bus and won the game all alone!!!!!!!!

As mentioned earlier my friend Chris blogged about this weekend as well:

http://robinamericandersson.blogspot.com/

I am sure it is a good story too but it's in German. He posted some pictures (you will recognize my butt - Thanks Chris) there as well so you can see the neighborhood and the scary kitchen we cleaned. We weren't really encouraged to take pictures so the ones he has posted are of the nicer streets.

Things I Don't Want to Be When I Grow Up

It seems as if the days on Grace's farm eating weeds was so long ago... I have accomplished so much since then: I've worked in a factory and on a farm, eaten a "Whatchamacallit," had restaurant food TWICE and had to tell a radical evangel that no I will not repeat him and ask Jesus into my heart. I would have preferred to say "stop yelling in my face you are scaring me" but I chickened out because he was going to be around me for the next hour.

Anyways, orientation is still going well, the three day road trip almost pushed me over the edge but we have finally got back to New Windsor and I was able to escape into my dorm room for a couple of hours of JP time.

Last week we had a "work day" here at the college and I was at a shipping centre place type thing where I unpacked Canadian Ivory soap for two hours. Each bar had an inspirational saying so at first it was an uplifting experience but you know what Ivory? Reading the "shortest road always leads to friends" and "Simplicity is joy" forty thousand times just gets annoying. Word of advice - You need more than eight sayings. After that we did a quality control check on donated school bags and baby blankets. When I grow up I do not want to work in a factory.

The next day was called "work-day in the city" and that morning we realized we had been duped by our leadership team. LIARS! LIARS ALL OF THEM! Instead we were divided into groups and driven around the countryside for forty five minutes and then dropped off with a sandwich, a letter saying who we were, and the commandment to find 1. work and 2. a ride home. After sobbing in a ditch for fifteen minutes my group realized that we were really only 4 miles from New Windsor (I speak American now - but I still don't really understand what a mile is).

-Marcel trying to be brave

-This looks pretty when you aren't stranded there.

-Majestic and very empty farm

Anyways, none of the farmers were home, and the ones that who were home were mean, rude or just not interested in us. It took us all morning to make it to the neighbouring town. The townsfolk (or willagers), were not interested in letting us help them either. At around 3pm it began to rain this was an hour before we needed to make the "emergency cell phone call of defeat" to get a leader to rescue us. A guy finally came out on his lawn to ask us what we were up to. We chatted about how weird Canadians are (a favorite topic of most people here) and then he offered to drive us to the local pizza place to sit out the rain for the next hour. He turned out to be local youth leader and habitat for humanity guy and when he took us into the restaurant everyone there seemed to LOVE him. He bought the three of us a giant, glutenous, cartoon pizza and the owner gave us a free "soda". After we explained to him that we were trying to live out the idea of "service in the community" he told us that sometimes service means letting people help you - I wasn't going to argue with a man who was providing free pizza. When we finished the entire pizza we asked if we could take a picture with the owner to prove we had done something. She then felt so bad for us that she drove us home and gave us her cell phone number in case the MEAN leaders EVER did this to us again. (Just joking leaders - we only said nice things about you... Your credibility in Union Bridge is safe). I just got off the phone with said pizza lady and she might be giving us more free pizza when I grow up these networking skills will come in handy however, I do not want a job that drops me off in the wilderness and tells me to find a way home.

-We made it to a town!

- Ahhh remember the days of the pizza trade?

- Cartoon pizza woooooooo!

The rest of the week was spent doing various activities such as going to a local church, doing a crossword every morning (the Washington Post has a crossword puzzle that four of us can actually finish), attending sessions on what we want to be when we grow up (hippo) and peace. Oh! And of course, another farm... My parents would be so proud - two farms in two weeks! I did so much work that day I ruined a pair of jeans (they were old Anita don't worry). I picked two cases of green tomatoes, a ground hog ran across my feet, a threw a fuzzy orange worm off of my arm, I looked at a giant praying mantis (the third I have seen since I have been here), and planted a LOT of strawberries. (Family members skip the next sentence). We also taught the Germans English Lesson #17 - Sexual Innuendos. It was an all around great day on the farm. When I grow up I do not want to be a tomato farmer - ITCHY ARMS!!!

Time for the last grocery run.