Lots Going on

I havn't posted anything in awhile. I'm not sure why because there have certainly been enough things going on. Maybe that's why. First, I havn't told you about the Long Night at the Museum(LNM). Before that, did you know that Mark Twain lived in Heidelberg with his family at one point? I didn't. Yeah, apparently, this is where he wrote ch. 16 of either Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer.


I mention it because LNM is this night in Heidelberg where all museums and restaurants open up in three towns in the area. You buy a pass and get free transportation and entrance into all these really awesome museums from 7pm-2am. SO MUCH FUN! The streets are just packed all night long. I was thinking, "come on, go home and go to sleep!" There were special exibits (jazz performances, art exibits, speakers, concerts, parades, and so much more!).

One of the museums that was open was the student jail at the Heidelberg University. I had heard of it before, but was a bit confused at the idea of there really being a jail for the students or not. Well, they weren't joking. And this is where our old friend, Mark Twain, comes into the picture. Apparently, during his time in Heidelberg, he stayed in this prison. It was by choice, and I'm not sure if it was in protest of the living conditions or for research. I just got a book from the library about his time here, and will report more once I've read it. I just thought it was interesting. Just one of Heidelberg's small claims to fame I suppose.



Here are some pictures of the prison. The walls were completely covered in all this grafitti. They depicted everything from knights in armor to
cameos of students from differnt gangs (notice the differently colored hats? They really functioned like fraternities). Students were sent here for mostly minor infractions (drunkeness, dueling. Yes, dueling. Twain writes about going to the underground duels that were held betwen these different "gangs", which I"m sure isn't the right word for them. They were held out of sport and not malice. But, by this time, dueling had been outlawed.) One thing I can tell you is that there was an overwhelming sense of sadness about the place. Like all the sorrow and lonliness from a hundred years ago until the present had soaked into the walls. I couldn't stay too long.

There were happy things to see! My new profile picture was taken with a new friend of mine who I wish I could take home with me. You guys would really like her-Monika. At this art exhibit we heard a FABULOUS swing band. Yeah, a music form almost as American as Country is huge over here. I'm in heaven.=) Oh, and we saw some art.;)

What else is going on in my life?...

My parents will be her in just four days!! Hooray!! I cannot WAIT to see them. They arrive late Friday night and will be in Europe ten day. Unfortunately, I will be teaching during the week and won't get to see as much of them as I would like, but they are anxious to see Europe including some of my local hangouts. We will be seeing Heidelberg and Bodin-Bodin the first weekend. Bodin-Bodin has these baths apparently...I'll tell you more once we've acutally gone and I have more to report. The second weekend we plan on driving to Prague. We'll see how that turns out. I know they don't let certain cars in (like Mercedes and such) because of the high rate of vandalism. And I don't mean the silver and gold kind (did I get the school colors right, Adam?=) ).



As soon as I leave them, I will be riding a bus to the mountains of Slovakia for Spring Break. I will spend nine days there with a local youth ministry (Club Beyond). I'm still getting all the details, myself, but it looks like I'll be training high school students in how to share the Gospel and maybe some ESL with the children there. I'm super excited to put my degree to use and get more experience with missions. It's only a couple of weeks away and I'm trying to get my heart set on God's purposes in this trip. I don't know anything about Slovakia. Like, nothing. Which is kind of exciting! I get to start learning about a whole new language, culture, people's history, and how God wants to uniquely minister to them through us. Oooo, this is like candy.=) If it seems like this trip just kind of popped out of nowhere, I apologize. I wanted to be sure before I started publicizing that I was going. It came up somewhat recently. So, please pray for me. It will be a trip working with high schoolers, which I don't have a ton of experience with. And in a leadership position that I havn't really done before. I am looking forward to living up to the title of my blog on this one. Adventurous and learning a whole lot, I'm sure.=) Bless you all.

This is College

My advisor from the States shows up in a couple of days and I am nervous. She is a fair lady and I'm sure it will go fine, but I can't help but think that all four of my college years (six if you count community college) have been leading up to this observation. *whimper* Can you believe I'm actually going to be graduating?! I can't. I'll like...have a degree...whoa, heavy. Does that mean I don't get to be a college student anymore? Oh, no! This is just hitting me. No more late night movie parties? No more student discounts?! Let me paint a picture for you of college, so that we may remember those days and sigh at how good we really had it (or thought we had it. I suppose I'll find out in a few months.).

There is a special kind of comradry among college students. This crosses over state lines and even countries borders. A sort of understanding about where a person is at and what kind of issues they are dealing with. I suppose this can be true for any stage of life, but there is something special about the college student's life. Although you may be bogged down with four term papers due that week, have already pulled too many all-nighters that month so you're living on cheap coffee, your landlord hasn't replaced the blinds in your bedroom so you have to change in the closet, and you just picked up another shift at your minimum-wage paying job so you can keep a little more than pasta noodles and tuna in your cubbord; at least you're not doing it alone.

So, you combine your tuna with your roomate's mayo, borrow some bread from the guys next door and make yourself dinner. Or you put on another pot of Folger's Fake Coffee and settle in for a night of studying after a full day of classes and work. And as you sit your labtop computer on the kitchen table across from your roomate, you smile. Because while you probably won't sleep that night, neither will she. You will both be there to tell the other to, "stop checking your Facebook account and write that paper!" Though we complain more than we should about it, we all really love it. These are the moments we will remember.

We hope that we will learn from our numerous mistakes and walk away, ready to maturely face the challenges of the world. But I hope we won't forget to remember a time when writing a paper was our biggest heart ache and we only had ourselves to take care of. So that when the next generation bemoans the worries of a worry-free life, we can smile knowingly with love and a touch of nastalgia in our hearts and say, "yes, I too, was a college student once."

As much as I may miss what I have known for so long, I am looking forward to the future. I know that God is going to take care of me and there are some really cool things to come. So, pray for my lessons on Monday and Tuesday, if you would. And I'll be thinking about you guys as I continue down the path of preparing for next year and the years of "adulthood" to come.

He knows how to shop

I have learned a valuable lesson. When shopping, always listen to that little voice that speaks to us all from time to time...our shopping conscience. While some may brush it off as "buyer's remorse," I believe that it may just be God trying to point you in the direction of a better deal. I spent an evening shopping the Haupstrasse (the main shopping street in Heidelburg). I was in search of a light pair of pants for the warming weather. I thought I had found the perfect pair. "Ah, the feel of linen," I thought. Sure, they were a few inches too long and not quite the right color....but, hey, they were on sale! Long story short, I walked into another store and found shorter, darker, better cut linen pants for $15 less than the ones I just bought. I was banging my head against the changing room divider wondering, "why didn't I listen to that still, small, shopping voice?!" Oh, well. What's the German translation for, "found a better deal elsewhere?"

Okay, so the photos actually come first when I post it this way. Just read the next posting first...

I call this my "James Bond photo."

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Heidelburg. It is the middle of March and Spring has certainly arrived. So, I strapped on my new imitation Burkenstocks, loaded my backpack with the essentials, and put my camera in an outside pocket for ready access. Have you ever had so much happiness bubble up inside of you that you just had to sing? With the sun shining through cherry blossoms and a warm breeze carrying the sounds of people going about their lives, that's exactly how I felt. I imagined people walking past me thinking,"crazy American lady" as I strolled with a silly grin on my face, snapping pictures of gates and interesting looking trees. It would be easy to think that the European air has some magical quality to it, but I honestly think that I am learning how to relax. There are just as many cherry blossoms and interesting corners anywhere else, but being in such a historically romantic place makes you expect it. An ordinary bus stop in Pullman becomes the site of some tragic tale or exciting travel adventure when the signs surrounding it are written in Deutsch. Here are some pictures to show you what I mean.