My Plans...to infinity and beyond

In exactly 11 days (5 days of actual class) my mission as an English TA in Austria will be complete. Wow, that's crazy. I actually started saying goodbye to people at church since I will probably be out of town the next two weekends and have started gathering my possessions to see if they will all fit back into two suitcases. Oh yeah, at this point, if you were thinking of mailing something, you should maybe not send it after all.

My plans for the next couple months just so ya'll know:

May 29 Last day of work
29-June 2 ? Play, pack, hang out, climb ?
June 3 Fly to Barcelona, Spain
June 9-20ish Work on an organic farm near Barcelona, get dirty, learn cool stuff
June 20-July 7 Climb, travel, eat Tapas, drink sangria, learn Spanish, ....
July 8 Fly from Barcelona back to Innsbruck
July 10 Allie arrives from the land of fast food and apple pie.
Go climbing and travel with Johanna
July29 Allie flies out of Innsbruck at 6am, me at 1pm.
She goes to Portland, I got to Boston, spend a few days with the Getbeheads.

Not entirely sure yet, but I will probably be in WA between the 2 and 5th of August. I might be attending a training for my YDA internship on the 2-3 of Aug in Florida but I don't know yet. Especially while I'm in Spain, I will probably not have much access to Internet or other forms of communication. I will have my Austrian cell phone with me if there is an emergency.

That's all for now. I will probably write some more in the near future but I've got a cold and need to get into bed.

Spring and Lederhosen are in the air

Sorry it's been so long. I've been keeping busy but I guess I also felt like the "Adventure" post was so well thought out, that I wanted to follow up with something decent. But alas, I don't think I have any huge thoughts this time, just some updating.

First of all, I hope this works again, I've posted photos from the last month of so on Facebook, including a traditional Austrian dance with Lederhosen and me in dirndl, as well as beautiful mountains. Check it out:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2113644&id=25913493&ref=share

And now a different format; a list of things I'm currently stoked about:

Today I saw my least favorite class for the last time! There are some great and nice kids in this first period class but some of them just have nasty attitudes, don't listen, throw paper and other stupid things. But now it's done!

One more period of class today and I only have three weeks of school left. The funny thing is though, we have several 4 day weekends and since the graduating classes are writing exams, have fewer classes per week.

After very volatile but warming weather, it has started to stabilize more. It's been 70+ degrees the last week or so and sunny almost the whole day. I'm losing my winter translucence and discovering new freckles every day.

My landlady let me borrow an extra bike the family has, so I've been scooting around Landeck and riding to Church in Imst (about an hour one way) for the last couple weeks.

The outdoor swimming pool, that's only a 5 min walk from my house, opened so yesterday I went and froze my buns off in the still cold water, but was able to jump out and lay in the warm sun afterwards. I would have swam longer but I kept getting leg cramps. I'm not sure why, maybe cuz it was so cold?

I bought a plane ticket to Barcelona, Spain! Woohoo! I will be in Spain from June 3 to July 8. i am in the process of trying to plan a two week stay at an organic farm with the organization World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF). You can find out more about them at http://www.wwoof.org/. I will spend most of the other two weeks rock climbing and am trying to figure out if I can meet up with some of my German relatives who will also be in Spain around that time.

I have a four day weekend this weekend so I am leaving this afternoon and hiking up into the mountains behind my house for a four day four night backpacking trip. Alone. This is the first overnight trip I've ever done in the back country. Another TA was considering coming but got a cold and backed out. So I'm armed with all my gear, my Bible, Spanish phrase book so I ca practice, and a climbing book in German by Reinhold Messner-good inspiration while in the mountains.

I've got to run in a minute, but for the praying types out there here are a few prayer requests:

Thanks and praise for my fading homesickness and down-ness has given way to enjoyment of spring and excitement for my coming adventures. Also for the cool stuff I've been learning in the word.

Purposefulness this weekend hiking alone, in my final weeks in Landeck and with the relationships I've built here.

For the coming transitions from work to play and culture shock from Austria to Spain, new language, etc., then Allie's visit in July (yes, that's right, she's coming again) and then again when I return home at the end of July.

OK gotta run to class. Don't forget to check out the funny pictures!

Or on Wednesdays

Saturdays, a song by Late Tuesday-who are from the NW somewhere

Bake another cake please
I really need a party
to pull everyone together.
I'm shaking off this bad dream
I know, I'll make it through till morning
And then I'll pull it all together.

There are ways, on these days
there are ways to celebrate
what is great on Saturdays
though I'm still learning.

So pull out your umbrella
we're pushing through the downpour
you know, you make up for the weather
and we'll pop in a movie
and then we'll talk for hours
about the things
that make up for the heartache.

I'm letting the sun appear brighter
You're making the dark appear lighter
And this is exactly what is good for me
On these days, on these days
I'm still learning
what is great on Saturdays.

So that subsiding feeling of homesickness I mentioned in the last post? Not so subsided now. I still know it won't kill me but I'm at the point where I'm wondering why I didn't buy my plane ticket for the beginning of July instead of the end. And this may seem silly but I seriously feel like my mood and energy has been affected by the weather. Today? Pouring rain and cold again. Considering how much sleep I've gotten lately, I'm pretty puzzled by how little energy I have. I've been taking a daily vitamin so I shouldn't be low on iron, I've been trying to eat salty stuff, so it shouldn't be my low blood pressure. Just the blahs?

I read this though, "I love the Lord, for he heard my voice..." Psalm 116:1

What is the adventure in this? How can I appreciate it? How can I pull out of my half-heartedness right now? Lord, give me the strength, cuz this isn't something I'm going to do on my own.

Plan C: Uploading Pictures

Like I've mentioned before, it takes forever to upload picutures onto Blogger because it has to be done one picture at a time. I already put pictures on Facebook and finally (I think) figured out how to get a link for those of you who do not have Facebook accounts. So click on these links and let me know if they work.

This is the beginning of Mom and Dad's visit including Landeck, Innsbruck, and some of Venice:
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=25913493&k=Z6C43XR54XVM5CCBYE45PR

This is the rest of Venice and then Vienna, Austria:
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=25913493&k=Z2FU5YQ4P4VM5CCBYE45PR

This is Bratislava, Slovakia and Mannheim, Germany with our family:
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=25913493&k=YXAX3XQ5V64M5CCBYE45PR

So, hopefully this finally works so the rest of you can see photos but I don't spend my whole life uploding them!

My slight but growing feelings of homesickness have subsided somewhat after a rousing weekend with friends. On Friday I invited Johanna to go to see the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Innsbruck, a festival that shows all sorts of outdoor adventure films. When I was at Western, I went and saw it with friends every year. One film shown this year, The Endless Knot, with Conrad Anker, showed the Khumbu Climbing School that trains Sherpas to be more skilled for porting and guiding in the Himalayas. The Sherpas sang the song 'Ice, Ice, Baby' by Vanilla Ice but changed the lyrics to talk about the school and training. This immediatly reminded me of the ice climbing trips with the Outdoor Center that I went on. Deborah and I thought of the same song and then I ended up making up some new words for it (before The Endless Knot was filmed I might add). It went like this:

"Ice ice baby..dun dun dun dundalunda..."Yo Debo let's kick it/Ice ice baby (x2)/All right stop collaborate and climb it/OC is back with a brand new excursion/This fat ice grabs a hold of me tightly /Flow with my ice tools daily and nightly /Will it ever stop yo I don't know/Put me on belay and I'll go /To the extreme I rock these crampons like a vandal..."

Afterward we went to the birthday party of a friend of hers and danced the night away. The next moring I helped her correct some of her students' essays for English and then headed home. In the afternoon I had another friend over, Raphi. We went for a walk in the beautiful warm weather ( got to wear my Chacos, but still a long sleeve shirt) then I cooked dinner, we made chocolate chip cookies, and watched The 6th Sense in German.

After about a week of crazy winter weather and lots of snow again, it has finally started to feel like spring. Yesterday I went on one of my beloved run-hikes where I run as much as I can to a trail and then slow to a hike once it gets steep. (Allie, this is the trail you and I hiked on and turned around at the frozen waterfall crossing the trail. I was able to go further this time.) It was so warm, I laid down in the one grassy outcropping for a half an hour, just in my shorts and tank top and just enjoyed the sun. I was so exhausted afterwards, but it was beautiful and refreshing. In the evening I got to talk to a couple friends on Skype who I haven't gotten to talk to in a long time, so that was great. Then I managed to get into bed in time to get 8 hours of sleep. Unfortunately, I don't have any proof, so I'm sure none of you will believe me.

Way More

After reading Eddie and LeeAnne's blog about their ministry in Mexico (http://heartsformexico.blogspot.com), then talking to my mom on the phone, and writing a birthday e-mail to one of my dearest friends, Stacy, I was definitely crying. In sorrow and in so much joy. I am profoundly reminded that the only reason I am crying right now is that I have gotten the chance to love and be loved. Deeply. With endurance. Unconditionally. The reminder of the love I have received and given in this life, however imperfect, has given me a sliver of a view of how crazy huge and inconceivable God's love is for me, for us. And I am truly thankful for that slice of goodness, because it is so hard for me to see the extent of God's love.

"...it isn't just those beautiful moments in the midst of the everyday and mundane; it is also in the tragic and the gut-wrenching moments when we cannot escape the simple fact that there is way more going on around us than we realize."

"Truth is everywhere, and it is available to everyone...For Paul [the writer of several books of the Bible], anyone is capable of speaking truth. Anybody, from any perspective, from any religion, from anywhere...I don't follow Jesus because I think Christianity is the best religion. I follow Jesus because he leads me into ultimate reality. He teaches me to live in tune with how reality is. When Jesus said, 'no one comes to the Father except through me', he was saying that his way, his words, his life is our connection to how things truly are at the deepest level of existence. For Jesus then, the point of religion is to help us connect with ultimate reality, God."

-Rob Bell, in the book Velvet Elvis

Thank you God for life and love. Thank you to you who I get to love and who love me.

Adventure is Everything

I wrote this a couple days ago. A fraction of the fruits of much pondering....

Since I’ve been in Austria, travelling, climbing, teaching English; I’ve gotten the line a lot, “Your life sounds so exciting, adventurous.” But adventure isn’t everything.
I’m on month seven abroad; right around the time most of the others are really feeling good and comfortable, confident with the culture and their language skills, I’m starting to feel homesick. After days-weeks of dreary snowy weather (despite the fact that the calendar says it’s spring), the clouds finally rolled back for a few minutes today to expose the sun and the glorious snow covered mountains, the birds were singing, and I had tears in my eyes as I pictured all of your beautiful faces in my head and heart, knowing how far away you all are from me.
Yeah, I know, Dad and Mom just left of Friday. I should still be carried by the high of getting to see them, but somehow that is what has allowed these feelings to surface, made them suddenly so acute. That is the bitter sweetness of having visitors.
Allie was here in December. She is basically the friend that I’ve had for the longest, she understands me, I understand her in ways many others don’t. We could just be together and enjoy seeing those smiles and hearing the laughs we each know so well.
Kurtis came in February. We have many mutual friends, went to the same college, have both worked with YD Adventures for a while, and have many common interests and faith, but we only cross paths every once in a while and usually only for a short time. Despite or because of these factors we had a lot to talk about. We discussed, questioned, encouraged, shared stories in a way that I hadn’t gotten to with anyone for a while. It was a short but deeply meaningful slice of the community I miss so dearly from home.
I even got to cross paths with Jason and Thom from YDA for a few short days in Prague.
Dad and Mom were here in March. The loins that produced me, two of the people that I love most dearly but too frequently take for granted. Despite that fact that there are things that I don’t always share with them, they know me like no one else on earth does. And perhaps love me more unconditionally than anyone else on earth—I base this primarily on the fact that they have put up with me the longest—that really says something. Oh my dad’s big, long, man hugs, my mom’s jokes and smiles, the way she laughs at the little things I do—like my lizard face. How I love these things so dearly. I even sort of miss how she makes loud kissing noises in my ear, just to be silly.
I’m learning lots, enjoying lots, relaxing, and playing here in Austria. But I miss being known. I miss being understood. And I miss knowing and understanding the people around me. There is a certain beauty in the written word but frankly I’m tired of trying to express myself through a keyboard that doesn’t know what I want to say. I miss being able to have long solid conversations without using the technology of phones or the internet. Conversations that happen on long road trips in the depths of Canada, girl talk while piled on one of my roommate’s beds, discussions at Boundary Bay, laughter echoing from the side of some mountain, tears…anywhere--but shared with a friend.
I can’t complain my life is so good; I appreciate every day God has given me. But I am also learning more and more about myself and my passions. I love adventure—and it comes in so many shapes and sizes, some half way across the world, some in the challenge of a hard conversation in your own living room. Maybe I’m getting old fashioned, but I think I like the idea of, dare I say it, settling down. I would really like to live somewhere for a long while, have community, continuity. When I left Bellingham I knew that I was leaving a place that had very much become my home. I love new people and situations but I loved showing up at Mallard Ice Cream or some outdoor film, recognizing a bunch of faces and wander around chatting with them. I don’t mean get boring and lazy, what I want really is a base camp. It is the place you always come back to but you regularly venture off to try something new, be challenged. But you’ve got a cozy place to sleep, first aid, community, all waiting for you there when you get back (and usually you don’t leave for 9 months or more). By the way, base camp itself is pretty gorgeous too, rivers below, peaks all around.
I am perhaps idealizing things back home. It wasn’t perfect before, I was way more stressed out with school, work, and always busy, not much money. But at least I had friends to share it with. I think there is so much adventure and challenge in being somewhere for a long time, in knowing people more deeply. It requires more commitment, more sacrifice, more patience. You can’t just say,”Oh well, I’ll be gone in four months anyway.” The fact that you are sort of stuck with each other (voluntarily or not) makes you want to and have to work harder at being a community. But what a sweet adventure that is.
Adventure is in the simple things. I love going out and challenging myself on a rock face or in a long running race. My second summer at YDA Brie reminded me of the adventure in simple things; intense long laughter, skinny dipping, running around your city in the dark playing hide and seek or some other equally beautiful and innocent spur of the moment activity.
Adventure is in our heads. That is what makes some of those simple things such an adventure for some but a bore to others. Wrapping my mind around God is an adventure. The challenge and joy of living my life for God is an adventure. Listening to other peoples’ journeys is a great adventure as is learning, reading, watching, jumping in, staying out, questioning, walking, looking. A challenging adventure I’m having right now is learning that, “Being a Christian is more about celebrating mystery than conquering it.” (Rob Bell from the book Velvet Elvis). Trying to live frugally and generously at the same time is a great adventure. Other good adventures: trying to ease some suffering in this world, having purpose, understanding politics, learning to be wise but not worry, living today like there might not be a tomorrow, trying to express my appreciation and love for the people around me, getting out of my comfort zone socially, learning how to listen more and speak less, how to be more patient and not get angry.
There are so many adventures in this life if we would only see them as that. I’m talking to myself as much as I am to any of you. Adventure is everything, but our attitudes are what determine whether we classify things as adventures or not. So as I turn from my homesick lament to teetering on the edge of corny motivational speaker, I must ask myself, “How will I let my homesickness be an adventure and not purely a sorrow or dread?” Adventure is not everything unless you can make everything into an adventure. So maybe the next adventure is figuring out how to make everything an adventure.
“The sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.” –Pascal
“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” –Matthew 10:39
“An adventure is an inconvenience rightly deserved.” –G. K. Chesterton
“The pleasure we derive from journeys is perhaps dependent more on the mindset with which we travel than on the destination we travel to. If only we could apply a travelling mindset to our own locals, we might find these places becoming no less interesting than the high mountain passes and butterfly-filled jungles.” –Alain De Botton from The Art of Travel
We live today in a world of growing isolation, frantic activity, and desperate violence, where paradoxically, we find ourselves longing for both solitude and companionship, intimacy and community. Some of us may look back to times when life seemed to make sense and relationships were more certain. Whether or not such times ever existed, we nevertheless long today for relationships that acknowledge who we are and who we want to be. We want someone to hear us, to hear our hearts beating, to hear our deepest longings—even longings of which we dare not speak. - Sondra Higgins Matthaei Faith Matters

Spring?

Spring is supposed to start on March 21st right? Or am I in another dimension? I was running outside in a tank top and shorts the last week of February (granted that was pretty warm for that time of year) but when I got home on Friday afternoon it was snowing and continued to do so all evening. We ended up with 4 or 5 inches that night. This is what it looked like out my front door: The next day it got sunny, a bit warmer, and a lot of the white stuff melted but now it is Sunday and it just started snowing again.

I check online and the average low for March is 31 degrees (F). This year it has dug deep to 18 F!! The average high is 51 F, but this march it has gotten up to 63. Wow. So it was super warm at the end of Feb and now it's snowy again. I was just getting pumped for climbing but it looks like I might need to pull out my snowboard stuff again.

Happy Easter! Revel in the resurrection!