In the winter Berlin is dark and withdrawn. In the summer Berlin is alive and friendly. On Sundays Berlin is a ghost town. And in August...oh the glorious August, Beriln is dead! Everyone goes on vacation, your favorite restaurants are closed, and more importantly, the U-bahn isn't crowded.
So what did this glorious August have for me? When is Rome do as the Romans do. I also followed all the Germans and headed to vacation! I got to send a glorious week in Italy. That's the joy of living in Europe! Another country is less than a two hour flight away. Italy was a needed vacation for…
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Language Learning has probably been the hardest part about moving oversee. Recently a few of us decided to take a day trip to Brussels. For us Americans that sounds super foreign, but a round trip via airplane to another country can take less than 2 hours and cost less than 20 Euro. Praise the Lord!
Back to Brussels, so we arrive in Brussles, and this is our first time out of Germany since arriving in January. We have been so intent on using German as much as possible but also remembering we speak like children and don't have a large vocabulary.
For those who don't know Brussels…
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The joys of living in such an international city. Before coming many people told me it would be so easy to communicate in Berlin because everyone knows English. Right but WRONG. The primary language I hear is definitely German. More importantly, many Berliners won't speak English unless their English is perfect! So as I stumble over my German they continue to respond in German even if they know English. Yes, it is as difficult as it sounds.
Nevertheless, this is such an international city. I know the saying is "all roads lead to Rome" but I think it should really go, "all nationalities live…
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In the wake of the end of 2015 and my upcoming departure, I wanted to reflect on some things I've been learning in the past few months.
How many of you are familiar with the Head Start Program? In the 60s the Department of Health and Human Services decided to start a "catch-up" program for low-income children. They designed programs to foster stable family relationships, enhance children's physical and emotional well-being, and establish an environment to develop strong cognitive skills. Basically, in was the pre-work before the work started.
In college, I remember…
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A few very simple thoughts:
I can be 100% supported. I can have a large prayer team. I can even learn German inside and out. I can spend time studying the personality of my team. I can pack the right clothes. I can hangout in communities that resemble Germany. I can eat German food. I cannot talk to my family to prepare to be away from them. I can talk about my expectations and fears. I can do a million and one different things. But the only thing that can really prepare me for Germany is equipping myself with Scripture.
There were many situations this week where I got to…
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