I hadn't realized I had been gone for so long. I haven't come on this page for what seems forever!!
Anyhow, you can read about my GREAT American Holiday and check a video my Friend Brandon has made with my lyrics and comment and everything and nothing...
Read you soon!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hplhfScHlQI
16.2.08
I had just posted my note on facebook when a terrible sound made me jump on my chair. Oh my gosh, what was going on? I wrote to the friend I was chatting with, that the alarm had gone on and that I was going to check downstairs that everything was still ok.
While going down the stairs I pictured a man breaking in and was really scared. The sound wouldn’t stop anymore and it got louder. Finally I am in the kitchen and see that there is a FIRE! Yes! I had forgotten the water-boiler… and it was burning!!! I jumped to the sink, took a towel and started slapping the thing with all my strength… in a second it was over and so was the monstrous sound. I ran to the phone to call Anne or Bobby, I was shacking like crazy… I hadn’t even dialed that the alarm went on again. Oh my, I am in my pajamas, and if it’s like in the movies (don’t laugh, so far, everything here is like in the movies), the firemen are going to come and I don’t know what to do or say!!! Finally Anne calls me back and the alarm stops. I tell her what happened and I am sure she is going to kick me out or something… Nope, she is on her way, and I don’t have to worry…
I start cleaning the mess, the boiler doesn’t look good at all, finally Anne, Bobby, Anne’s sister and her friend come into the house. And Bobby and Anne were so so so nice about it. They asked me how I was and didn’t even care about the mess.
I am so glad it was “only” fire and not a burglar or something… gosh!
Anne and I went to the coke museum a few days later and had a really good time. You can see it on the album II and III (I think). It is so nice and the people working there are just hilarious… at the end of the tour we tried like 34 sorts of coke and I tell ya, there was a party going on in my stomach! There was a kid who had tried the worst drink of all and I had seen his face turn green as he spat the rest into the bin. Well, he later was walking around handing on cups full with the drink to his friends telling them how good it was…
That evening we ate at Steak and Shake and I tried a Cookie Dough Shake: amazing! We later went to a Dollar shop and I bought some stuff there.
I pretty much worked on the Valentine’s Party for the rest of the week and hang out with Lauren and Christy which was fun. We tried prom dresses on, rain boots, ate pizza and took half a million pictures. It was really great!
I have just come back from a crazy photo-shoot with Kendall, Christy, Ashley, Joseph and Lauren… I’ll post them in a second… I still have to write about FLORIDA.
My gosh, I cannot believe I got to go there too! We left at 7 o’clock in the morning and drove for 9 hours. Ashley’s mom picked us up and while Bobby and Anne left for Officer’s counsel, we drove to Tampa. The weather was just perfect, warm, sunny, breezy… I bought flip-flops and walked around with a smile on my face =) The highlight was driving to St. Petersburg where we (Christy and I) spent a few hours at the B E A C H… It is one of the best afternoons ever and I will never forget those moments. I felt so happy and took so many pictures… The water was warm; the sand was so soft, it tickled my toes as I walked around and looked for seashells. Birds were flying around, people walked hand in hand and some fishers were throwing their net to catch more fishes (they already had 3 buckets full). I tell you, that was just pure happiness!
Ok, Ashley and Christy are back and I am going to stop writing…
I am leaving in 3 days and I know already it’s going to be very hard. I have met a lot of wonderful people, some have become friends, some have just passed my way… but they all belong to this great experience. I shan’t forget them!
On Thursday I am going to leave for Chicago, then Zurich, then Rome, where I’ll stay for 2 days. The trip is going to last forever… I leave on the 14th and arrive on the 15th, this is sick ;) On Sunday I leave for Bern again and Monday: Youhou, I start my last semester! 4 months of pain and then, never again!
I have no clue (but some wishes) where I am going to be after that, but I know for sure, that the Lord knows and He is forming me and preparing me for His plan! I am ready to go and look forward to all the things that are going to happen.
That was it! My American Experience! So thanks for reading, take care and feel free to comment ;)
While going down the stairs I pictured a man breaking in and was really scared. The sound wouldn’t stop anymore and it got louder. Finally I am in the kitchen and see that there is a FIRE! Yes! I had forgotten the water-boiler… and it was burning!!! I jumped to the sink, took a towel and started slapping the thing with all my strength… in a second it was over and so was the monstrous sound. I ran to the phone to call Anne or Bobby, I was shacking like crazy… I hadn’t even dialed that the alarm went on again. Oh my, I am in my pajamas, and if it’s like in the movies (don’t laugh, so far, everything here is like in the movies), the firemen are going to come and I don’t know what to do or say!!! Finally Anne calls me back and the alarm stops. I tell her what happened and I am sure she is going to kick me out or something… Nope, she is on her way, and I don’t have to worry…
I start cleaning the mess, the boiler doesn’t look good at all, finally Anne, Bobby, Anne’s sister and her friend come into the house. And Bobby and Anne were so so so nice about it. They asked me how I was and didn’t even care about the mess.
I am so glad it was “only” fire and not a burglar or something… gosh!
Anne and I went to the coke museum a few days later and had a really good time. You can see it on the album II and III (I think). It is so nice and the people working there are just hilarious… at the end of the tour we tried like 34 sorts of coke and I tell ya, there was a party going on in my stomach! There was a kid who had tried the worst drink of all and I had seen his face turn green as he spat the rest into the bin. Well, he later was walking around handing on cups full with the drink to his friends telling them how good it was…
That evening we ate at Steak and Shake and I tried a Cookie Dough Shake: amazing! We later went to a Dollar shop and I bought some stuff there.
I pretty much worked on the Valentine’s Party for the rest of the week and hang out with Lauren and Christy which was fun. We tried prom dresses on, rain boots, ate pizza and took half a million pictures. It was really great!
I have just come back from a crazy photo-shoot with Kendall, Christy, Ashley, Joseph and Lauren… I’ll post them in a second… I still have to write about FLORIDA.
My gosh, I cannot believe I got to go there too! We left at 7 o’clock in the morning and drove for 9 hours. Ashley’s mom picked us up and while Bobby and Anne left for Officer’s counsel, we drove to Tampa. The weather was just perfect, warm, sunny, breezy… I bought flip-flops and walked around with a smile on my face =) The highlight was driving to St. Petersburg where we (Christy and I) spent a few hours at the B E A C H… It is one of the best afternoons ever and I will never forget those moments. I felt so happy and took so many pictures… The water was warm; the sand was so soft, it tickled my toes as I walked around and looked for seashells. Birds were flying around, people walked hand in hand and some fishers were throwing their net to catch more fishes (they already had 3 buckets full). I tell you, that was just pure happiness!
Ok, Ashley and Christy are back and I am going to stop writing…
I am leaving in 3 days and I know already it’s going to be very hard. I have met a lot of wonderful people, some have become friends, some have just passed my way… but they all belong to this great experience. I shan’t forget them!
On Thursday I am going to leave for Chicago, then Zurich, then Rome, where I’ll stay for 2 days. The trip is going to last forever… I leave on the 14th and arrive on the 15th, this is sick ;) On Sunday I leave for Bern again and Monday: Youhou, I start my last semester! 4 months of pain and then, never again!
I have no clue (but some wishes) where I am going to be after that, but I know for sure, that the Lord knows and He is forming me and preparing me for His plan! I am ready to go and look forward to all the things that are going to happen.
That was it! My American Experience! So thanks for reading, take care and feel free to comment ;)
I have been a bit under the weather lately and as we drove back from Tennessee it got worse and I ended up sleeping 14 hours in a row. Gosh, that’s what happens when it’s so cold outside and you get home and it’s so hot… Anyhow, it won’t hinder me from having a good time here! Nope!
So, on Monday we drove back from Shocco Springs and spent the day with the worship band in Atlanta. That was fun. But I didn’t get to see much of the city actually, we were in a Mall and I got to see all the shops I know from FRIENDS and other tv shows, so that was fun.
On Tuesday the captain said we could go get our nails done. Ok guys, I don’t care what ya say! I have never had a real manicure so I was really excited about that. We got to this place and the people were very nice and pampered me as if I were a VIP, which I enjoyed (who wouldn’t ;)). We didn’t do much that day, but it was nice too!
On Wednesday and Thursday I helped out at the Corps, there was a lot to do and I love it. They asked me to create a flyer for the Valentine’s day Party so I got to be creative and it was fun to do that. On Wednesday night we had Home League and a dentist came to speak about Teeth Whitening – that was interesting! He even handed out Whitening Stripes, which didn’t have any kind of consequence on my teeth, since one has to use them for two weeks at least, but it was fun anyways.
On Thursday I went to the Worship Band practice and we sang “You are my all in all” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC617kE1maU )
I LOVE this song. It’s so nice! We also sang songs in Spanish for the Spanish Service. I think if I were to stay here for a longer period, I’d be able to speak Spanish again; I really had a great time.
On our way back, we went to Wal Mart to get a stuffed-animal puppy for Captain Bobby. He would really love to have one, a real one. So we chose one and when we got home, we put it by the door, rang the bell and hid behind the bushes. His face was just hilarious when he opened the door. He looked around and then saw the puppy and his eyes just grew bigger and bigger. Haha. The little dog did look scary in the dark though…
On Friday I left with a group from the Corps to go to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for the Young Adults Retreat. We drove for about 5 hours and then got to a place that looked like mini Las Vegas to me (never been there, I know, but still). Blinking lights, Christmas decoration and souvenir shops everywhere, no place for the eyes to rest and outlet malls that make you want to be a millionaire in order to buy all the nice clothes you see.
The hotel was really nice; I had a gigantic room for myself -with a coffee machine, bath tub and… a fireplace.
I didn’t go skiing because I was too scared I’d hurt my knee, and I am glad I didn’t. The guys came back and almost couldn’t sit down! I think their butt was more on the snow than their feet… but they had a great time. While they were on the “mountain” I went to an outlet mall with Debbie and Rachel and almost went bonkers; the prices are incredible! Reebok, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger… they all have stuff for less than 10 dollars. I ended up buying a Tommy Hilfiger Shirt (turquoise, obviously) for 4 dollars. I am very proud of my purchase!
In the evening we all went to the Fort Fun centre and played Laser Tag. It was a LOT of fun, so much we played that one twice! The motion ride made us all scream like crazy and some of us felt sick on their way out (nope, not me!). Black Light mini golf was something I had never played before too, we all had weird faces down there: white teeth and eyeballs and black shadows on the cheeks. Spooky, that’s for sure. The music playing was the little Mermaid’s Soundtrack at first, which was hilarious, and later the Beatles and other songs from the 60’s.
We left on Sunday at about 11 o’clock and for half of the trip we played karaoke: Britney Spears, Walt Disney, Backstreet boys, Celine Dion, Avalon, N*Sync… it was almost as if we all were 16 again. Elliott (the one who was driving) must have thought we were crazy, we laughed so hard, it was just great!
It’s Monday now, and I have no idea what the plans for week are, but I am really enjoying my time here. Three more weeks and I am in Rome, and then back to Bern for University, my last Semester!
I feel blessed to be here, the Lord really gave me a great present in allowing me to come here, the people are spoiling me as if it were the most normal thing to do, the places I go to are great and I am thankful. Really thankful. Sometimes it feels as if we are going through hard times only (I know I did, during this past 4years and most of all during 2007), I have learned that the Lord is there, carrying us and never giving us more than we can handle. And at the end of the road there is light, there is hope and there is a place where you can come and rest.
So, on Monday we drove back from Shocco Springs and spent the day with the worship band in Atlanta. That was fun. But I didn’t get to see much of the city actually, we were in a Mall and I got to see all the shops I know from FRIENDS and other tv shows, so that was fun.
On Tuesday the captain said we could go get our nails done. Ok guys, I don’t care what ya say! I have never had a real manicure so I was really excited about that. We got to this place and the people were very nice and pampered me as if I were a VIP, which I enjoyed (who wouldn’t ;)). We didn’t do much that day, but it was nice too!
On Wednesday and Thursday I helped out at the Corps, there was a lot to do and I love it. They asked me to create a flyer for the Valentine’s day Party so I got to be creative and it was fun to do that. On Wednesday night we had Home League and a dentist came to speak about Teeth Whitening – that was interesting! He even handed out Whitening Stripes, which didn’t have any kind of consequence on my teeth, since one has to use them for two weeks at least, but it was fun anyways.
On Thursday I went to the Worship Band practice and we sang “You are my all in all” (http://www.youtube.com/wat
I LOVE this song. It’s so nice! We also sang songs in Spanish for the Spanish Service. I think if I were to stay here for a longer period, I’d be able to speak Spanish again; I really had a great time.
On our way back, we went to Wal Mart to get a stuffed-animal puppy for Captain Bobby. He would really love to have one, a real one. So we chose one and when we got home, we put it by the door, rang the bell and hid behind the bushes. His face was just hilarious when he opened the door. He looked around and then saw the puppy and his eyes just grew bigger and bigger. Haha. The little dog did look scary in the dark though…
On Friday I left with a group from the Corps to go to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for the Young Adults Retreat. We drove for about 5 hours and then got to a place that looked like mini Las Vegas to me (never been there, I know, but still). Blinking lights, Christmas decoration and souvenir shops everywhere, no place for the eyes to rest and outlet malls that make you want to be a millionaire in order to buy all the nice clothes you see.
The hotel was really nice; I had a gigantic room for myself -with a coffee machine, bath tub and… a fireplace.
I didn’t go skiing because I was too scared I’d hurt my knee, and I am glad I didn’t. The guys came back and almost couldn’t sit down! I think their butt was more on the snow than their feet… but they had a great time. While they were on the “mountain” I went to an outlet mall with Debbie and Rachel and almost went bonkers; the prices are incredible! Reebok, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger… they all have stuff for less than 10 dollars. I ended up buying a Tommy Hilfiger Shirt (turquoise, obviously) for 4 dollars. I am very proud of my purchase!
In the evening we all went to the Fort Fun centre and played Laser Tag. It was a LOT of fun, so much we played that one twice! The motion ride made us all scream like crazy and some of us felt sick on their way out (nope, not me!). Black Light mini golf was something I had never played before too, we all had weird faces down there: white teeth and eyeballs and black shadows on the cheeks. Spooky, that’s for sure. The music playing was the little Mermaid’s Soundtrack at first, which was hilarious, and later the Beatles and other songs from the 60’s.
We left on Sunday at about 11 o’clock and for half of the trip we played karaoke: Britney Spears, Walt Disney, Backstreet boys, Celine Dion, Avalon, N*Sync… it was almost as if we all were 16 again. Elliott (the one who was driving) must have thought we were crazy, we laughed so hard, it was just great!
It’s Monday now, and I have no idea what the plans for week are, but I am really enjoying my time here. Three more weeks and I am in Rome, and then back to Bern for University, my last Semester!
I feel blessed to be here, the Lord really gave me a great present in allowing me to come here, the people are spoiling me as if it were the most normal thing to do, the places I go to are great and I am thankful. Really thankful. Sometimes it feels as if we are going through hard times only (I know I did, during this past 4years and most of all during 2007), I have learned that the Lord is there, carrying us and never giving us more than we can handle. And at the end of the road there is light, there is hope and there is a place where you can come and rest.
My American Adventure
So here I am, sitting at the airport in Chicago. I feel tired, one look at my watch, it’s 00:23 my time, I am literally sleepwalking! It started to snow, just as we were landing and now cars, planes and people are covered in white. I am glad to be inside and be able to stretch my legs for a while. The sound of the motors, my companion for the past 12 hours, is making me tired too, and yet, I am waiting for one more flight. To Atlanta. Oh my gosh: I am so excited to finally get there. I have wanted to go to the States since I was 16 and now, I am in Chicago. Yeah baby!
People are walking around, and it’s not a cliché, most of them have a Starbucks cup in their hands. Me included. The first thing I saw when I entered the airport, was a sign: STARBUCKS. One dilemma though: should I go to the one on my left or the one on my right? =) In Bern, there is one Starbucks… sad, sad.
My Tall Latte with Caramel Syrup will have to wait though. People are getting up and looking around, they seem nervous… I’ll soon know why! Ratatouille’s cousin is running under the seats and scaring them off. Hilarious! She must be waiting for her flight back to Paris…
We are about to land in Atlanta. The city is a sparkling sea of colorful lights and the view is breathtaking. I am almost there!! The tiredness, unwelcome at this point, disappears leaving me almost bouncing up and down. My legs have almost forgotten what “walking” means, my 24 hour journey is about to end. Thank you Lord, it went all well!
The first week has been just amazing. The people I am staying with are very nice, they are also Salvation Army Officers and I drive with them to the Corps (Church) every day. I eat every day in a different restaurant, Mr. Pibb, Dr. Pepper and Root beer (no alcohol there guys, no worries) are my new favorite drinks and I almost get used to the fact that e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g is deep-fried. There are so many Fast-food restaurants, it’s just crazy. My favorite so far: Sonic. It’s where I ate for the first time in my life (and not the last, that’s for sure) cheesecake bites and you guessed it, they were deep-fried. With caramel-cinnamon sauce. My my my…
On Tuesday I went to Songsters and sang “What a Friend we have in Jesus” with them, later Band practice. Somewhat smaller then our Band in Bern, but it was great! When I got “home” we ate Korean bread and drunk hot chocolate. It was pouring outside and everyone was hoping for snow. It hasn’t snowed for 7 years in Atlanta… And I wouldn’t mind if it didn’t for at least another month =)
On Wednesday I helped the Officer to prepare a Power Point Presentation… in Korean. Don’t ask me how I did it… but it worked!! Later I cooked Jamaican Chicken with Hazel, she is just great, man! We’re almost ready for the people to come in and eat when it starts snowing. Oh my gosh! People are going crazy, Kinds are running around all excited and the Staff is thinking about canceling all the activities for the evening. (Jessica, you must think we’re weird [me? Nooo…cough.. yeah.. cough nooo] But snow is a big deal here in the South. We are not used to it and people get so scared they all run to Wall Mart and buy bread and milk in case they were to be stuck in their house for weeks. [Ok, this is CRAZY… but I get it =)]
On Thursday I leave with the other Officer to pick up the Worship Band from the airport. We’ll then all go to Shocco Springs, Alabama, where ROOTS is taking place.
The band leader is… Graham Kendrick. Oh my! I cannot wait to meet him…
The Weekend has been amazing, it was freezing, but the meetings were very good and I loved the Worship Moments. The Lord really touched my heart during this few days and we all had a great time and felt the Lord was with us, blessing us and our conversations and talking to each one of us. So often we think that worship is something that happens at some point when really it should be an ongoing attitude in our lives.
Now, my second week has started and I look forward to all the things that are going to happen.
I am really enjoying my time here! It’s all so… so… American =)
Greetingzzz to Chris, Misha and Dani =)
People are walking around, and it’s not a cliché, most of them have a Starbucks cup in their hands. Me included. The first thing I saw when I entered the airport, was a sign: STARBUCKS. One dilemma though: should I go to the one on my left or the one on my right? =) In Bern, there is one Starbucks… sad, sad.
My Tall Latte with Caramel Syrup will have to wait though. People are getting up and looking around, they seem nervous… I’ll soon know why! Ratatouille’s cousin is running under the seats and scaring them off. Hilarious! She must be waiting for her flight back to Paris…
We are about to land in Atlanta. The city is a sparkling sea of colorful lights and the view is breathtaking. I am almost there!! The tiredness, unwelcome at this point, disappears leaving me almost bouncing up and down. My legs have almost forgotten what “walking” means, my 24 hour journey is about to end. Thank you Lord, it went all well!
The first week has been just amazing. The people I am staying with are very nice, they are also Salvation Army Officers and I drive with them to the Corps (Church) every day. I eat every day in a different restaurant, Mr. Pibb, Dr. Pepper and Root beer (no alcohol there guys, no worries) are my new favorite drinks and I almost get used to the fact that e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g is deep-fried. There are so many Fast-food restaurants, it’s just crazy. My favorite so far: Sonic. It’s where I ate for the first time in my life (and not the last, that’s for sure) cheesecake bites and you guessed it, they were deep-fried. With caramel-cinnamon sauce. My my my…
On Tuesday I went to Songsters and sang “What a Friend we have in Jesus” with them, later Band practice. Somewhat smaller then our Band in Bern, but it was great! When I got “home” we ate Korean bread and drunk hot chocolate. It was pouring outside and everyone was hoping for snow. It hasn’t snowed for 7 years in Atlanta… And I wouldn’t mind if it didn’t for at least another month =)
On Wednesday I helped the Officer to prepare a Power Point Presentation… in Korean. Don’t ask me how I did it… but it worked!! Later I cooked Jamaican Chicken with Hazel, she is just great, man! We’re almost ready for the people to come in and eat when it starts snowing. Oh my gosh! People are going crazy, Kinds are running around all excited and the Staff is thinking about canceling all the activities for the evening. (Jessica, you must think we’re weird [me? Nooo…cough.. yeah.. cough nooo] But snow is a big deal here in the South. We are not used to it and people get so scared they all run to Wall Mart and buy bread and milk in case they were to be stuck in their house for weeks. [Ok, this is CRAZY… but I get it =)]
On Thursday I leave with the other Officer to pick up the Worship Band from the airport. We’ll then all go to Shocco Springs, Alabama, where ROOTS is taking place.
The band leader is… Graham Kendrick. Oh my! I cannot wait to meet him…
The Weekend has been amazing, it was freezing, but the meetings were very good and I loved the Worship Moments. The Lord really touched my heart during this few days and we all had a great time and felt the Lord was with us, blessing us and our conversations and talking to each one of us. So often we think that worship is something that happens at some point when really it should be an ongoing attitude in our lives.
Now, my second week has started and I look forward to all the things that are going to happen.
I am really enjoying my time here! It’s all so… so… American =)
Greetingzzz to Chris, Misha and Dani =)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
