Not much has happened since I last posted. I had a couple of boring days off before this past week of fun! Tuesday I went to my cell group and really enjoyed myself and then on Wednesday we had a "Thanksgiving" meal at my church. The pastor is American but the food consisted of coleslaw, baked potatoes, and ham! Not quite a traditional meal. After a couple days of work I was able to relax this weekend. On Friday night I went out with some guys from work and Saturday we had a genuine Thanksgiving meal at my flat. All of the volunteers came over and we ate Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, bean casserole, salad, and all kinds of pies! The other 2 American volunteers had friends here so it was a full house! We went arond the table and said what we were thankful for, so it felt somewhat "homey."
All this being said, I need to make a public Happy Birthday wish to my dad. Who turned X years old on Thanksgiving day! I'll let you guess how old he is. :)
Yesterday I went to church as usual and then over to one of my co-workers to watch the Manchester United match. One thing that Edinburgh does really well is celebrate Christmas. Downtown is decked out with a ferris wheel, carousel, trees and tons of lights. There are also a lot of different programs and events going on during this coming month. Tonight there is "begginers-comedy-night" at one of the comedy clubs. It's free so I think we are going to head up and see if we can heckle some future comics! Other than that I think I am going to go see my first movie in a theatre since I've been here. Nick, one of the volunteers, and another fellow I work with want to see a film this afternoon so that's where I'm headed to in a couple of minutes.
This Friday some friends from Bluffton are flying into Edinburgh. THey are studying in Belfast as part of the Bluffton program, so it will be an exciting time of catching up and showing them some of the city. Alright, this has been short but so is my time on the computer. Take care people!
Mike
Monday, November 28, 2005
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Greetings
Warning: This post contains several spelling errors that I wasn't able to correct because spell check wasn't working and because I am not the best speller in the world! :)
That's right, two post in about two weeks! I told you I would get better. However, this week has been less exciting then weeks past, no international travels! On Sat. I was able to see the U.S. at least tie Scotland, it would of been nice to see a win but I can't complain. It was a great chance to hang out with the volunteers. On Sunday after church I just lounged around the flat and played a lot of games with my roomates. We all get along really well and each night normally ends with us chatting away in the living room. On Monday, although I didn't work again I had various meetings and went out to eat with my pastor. He has given me the challenge (or mission, goal, ministry, whatever you want to call it) to reach some junior high age kids in the neighborhood. They play football a couple times a week and I am going to play with them and eventually try to introduce them to the church. Hopefully create some relationships and go from there. I am also preparing to help lead worship with my flatmate, Danny, in a couple of weeks. Danny is quite the guitar player and has been blessed with an awesome voice, so I don't feel any pressure since I can just play away in the background!
I worked yesterday, which was pretty normal (which means that it was abnormal by a lot of working enviroments standards). I stayed pretty busy with a lot of various tasks but the day ended well becaues I had the chance to spend a lot of time in the flats visiting the guys. One of our residents moved out into his own flat after a 4 month stay. It is rewarding to see a guy like him move on into supported accomodation. He came in with a hosts of problems and was viewed as a high support resident. He left yesterday as one of our best residents and a guy that had come to know the Lord during his stay.
Today I had food and hygeine training from 9-5 and am currently on my way to the house to finish the shift with the rest of my team (so I'll be working from 5pm-9pm). The weather here is still manageable, I am still finding the energy to run at least 4 times a week, which is encouraging. My new routine now involves a bicycle that I found in our flat! Instead of taking the bus to our training today I biked 20 minutes both ways, it's good transportation, excersise, and gives me a little bit of variety.
One last update....I saw the sun today :) That means two days in a row! I think I am going to start to identify the sun as a U.F.O since it is such a rare sighting! Not a lot sun here but still no complaints, I love what I am doing. Take care
Mike
That's right, two post in about two weeks! I told you I would get better. However, this week has been less exciting then weeks past, no international travels! On Sat. I was able to see the U.S. at least tie Scotland, it would of been nice to see a win but I can't complain. It was a great chance to hang out with the volunteers. On Sunday after church I just lounged around the flat and played a lot of games with my roomates. We all get along really well and each night normally ends with us chatting away in the living room. On Monday, although I didn't work again I had various meetings and went out to eat with my pastor. He has given me the challenge (or mission, goal, ministry, whatever you want to call it) to reach some junior high age kids in the neighborhood. They play football a couple times a week and I am going to play with them and eventually try to introduce them to the church. Hopefully create some relationships and go from there. I am also preparing to help lead worship with my flatmate, Danny, in a couple of weeks. Danny is quite the guitar player and has been blessed with an awesome voice, so I don't feel any pressure since I can just play away in the background!
I worked yesterday, which was pretty normal (which means that it was abnormal by a lot of working enviroments standards). I stayed pretty busy with a lot of various tasks but the day ended well becaues I had the chance to spend a lot of time in the flats visiting the guys. One of our residents moved out into his own flat after a 4 month stay. It is rewarding to see a guy like him move on into supported accomodation. He came in with a hosts of problems and was viewed as a high support resident. He left yesterday as one of our best residents and a guy that had come to know the Lord during his stay.
Today I had food and hygeine training from 9-5 and am currently on my way to the house to finish the shift with the rest of my team (so I'll be working from 5pm-9pm). The weather here is still manageable, I am still finding the energy to run at least 4 times a week, which is encouraging. My new routine now involves a bicycle that I found in our flat! Instead of taking the bus to our training today I biked 20 minutes both ways, it's good transportation, excersise, and gives me a little bit of variety.
One last update....I saw the sun today :) That means two days in a row! I think I am going to start to identify the sun as a U.F.O since it is such a rare sighting! Not a lot sun here but still no complaints, I love what I am doing. Take care
Mike
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
I'm back!
O.K. I will get better at posting! I promise, think of it as a Thanksgiving resolution (even though I don't celebrate Thanksgiving here!) The reason I haven't been able to post is because I just got back from Paris yesterday morning. The week prior to that I was workign night shift! That meant one week of 12 hour shifts from 9 pm- 9 am! It was pretty uneventful because the guys are in bed around 12 and not up until around 8, so I spent a lot of time cleaning, watching some television, reading, and brushing up on my French. Probably the highlights of that week were when I fire alarm went off and when one of our residents came back so drunk that he forgot to use the bathroom and opted to use his pants! He is a bit of a hassle but our residents struggle with everything from drug addiction to severe mental problems, as is his case!
Hands down the best part of the past week was going to Paris! I was able to stay at the Mennonite Centre just outside of Paris and at the same time able to avoid all of the riots! I can't begin to tell you everything I did, but I'll try. The first weekend of every month all the meuseums and monuments (the monuments that cost money) are free, so I did it all! Eiffel Tower, the Arc, Notre Dame, the Louvre, Musee Rodin, Musee Picasso, Musee D'Orsay, Royal Palis, Petit Palis, Sacre Couer, Markets, Latin Quarter, Bastille, Pierre-Laizze Cemetery, The Catacombs....and some other stuff.
What was the best? Well I can honestly say I was blown away by the Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame. These building are absolutely stunning! I also enjoyed the little things like watching 700 people on rollerblades (think of a giant parade) skate throughout the city, the spontaneous jazz concerts on the bridges, the warm weather, and the view from the Arc! Paris is awesome and I defintely encourage anyone to go there! Better yet I did all of that for under....15 Euros! However, the worst part of the week was when I threw away my Metro ticket, which I didn't know you had to hold onto, and the police stopped me to check that I had it! Unfortunately I didn't have it, and I didn't have 25 Euro's on me to pay the ticket. What is even worse is I didn't have my passport (whoops!) and the lady started threatening me that I would have to go to prison! By that time I was getting a little mad because here she was telling a foreigner he "should of known better," when they have thousands of youth rioting around the streets! I think they could have spent their time a little better! However, lucky for me they did take credit card! So the cost of that stupid ticket was double what I spent in one week in Paris. Oh well, live and learn.
This is my day off, I worked yesterday and I am hitting the grind again tommorrow. On Saturday the U.S. is going to beat Scotland here in Glasgow! So I'm heading to watch the match with some people from work and other volunteers. Pray that the U.S. wins or else I'll end up hearing about it until next August! Blessings!
Mike
Hands down the best part of the past week was going to Paris! I was able to stay at the Mennonite Centre just outside of Paris and at the same time able to avoid all of the riots! I can't begin to tell you everything I did, but I'll try. The first weekend of every month all the meuseums and monuments (the monuments that cost money) are free, so I did it all! Eiffel Tower, the Arc, Notre Dame, the Louvre, Musee Rodin, Musee Picasso, Musee D'Orsay, Royal Palis, Petit Palis, Sacre Couer, Markets, Latin Quarter, Bastille, Pierre-Laizze Cemetery, The Catacombs....and some other stuff.
What was the best? Well I can honestly say I was blown away by the Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame. These building are absolutely stunning! I also enjoyed the little things like watching 700 people on rollerblades (think of a giant parade) skate throughout the city, the spontaneous jazz concerts on the bridges, the warm weather, and the view from the Arc! Paris is awesome and I defintely encourage anyone to go there! Better yet I did all of that for under....15 Euros! However, the worst part of the week was when I threw away my Metro ticket, which I didn't know you had to hold onto, and the police stopped me to check that I had it! Unfortunately I didn't have it, and I didn't have 25 Euro's on me to pay the ticket. What is even worse is I didn't have my passport (whoops!) and the lady started threatening me that I would have to go to prison! By that time I was getting a little mad because here she was telling a foreigner he "should of known better," when they have thousands of youth rioting around the streets! I think they could have spent their time a little better! However, lucky for me they did take credit card! So the cost of that stupid ticket was double what I spent in one week in Paris. Oh well, live and learn.
This is my day off, I worked yesterday and I am hitting the grind again tommorrow. On Saturday the U.S. is going to beat Scotland here in Glasgow! So I'm heading to watch the match with some people from work and other volunteers. Pray that the U.S. wins or else I'll end up hearing about it until next August! Blessings!
Mike
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