Something Unpredictable...

Alright, tonight's theme is unpredictability I guess. Or the little things that you find yourself stumbling into. Or maybe I just have the Green Day song stuck in my head...




It's Allergy Season...
There are some things that you learn when crossing culture that you never really expect to. Like when I first moved to the US, I had to learn what "hard water" was. In Singapore, all water that flowed through the faucets tasted the same because they came from the same source: the water treatment plant.

Or like allergies. I never knew that when the seasons change, depending on how your respiratory system is built, you could get really sick or irritated by the pollination. In Singapore, we basically only have two season: hot and wet, and hotter and wetter. Pollination? Who's ever heard of that?

This week, my allergies have been hateful. It might been that I've been outside for too long, but my nose definitely has not been happy. Nor have my eyes for that matter. Last night, I slept for about twelve hours straight. "Spring" has come really late in Berlin this year, according to Rhonda. And I'm not sure how I feel about that yet.

Office Work...
In other news, this week has involved a lot of office work and brain juice. Not that being with people doesn't require brain juice, but office work has been intensive. And once again, too much coffee has been consumed (hence tonight's late night activity). We've had a few things to work aound here. Evaluated the two-and-a-half weeks of the Urban Ministry class. Officially got my intern contract with the team here somewhat complete today. And... The website for the team.

If your organization or team has a website that is user-friendly, succinctly describes who you are and what you do, loads quickly and efficiently, will you PLEASE send us the contact information for whoever your creative team is? As Aaron would say, "Good goo!" This website business is a pain in the you-know-where.

I haven't quite decided yet if it's a blessing or a curse to be working with two people who function very differently from me. I guess seeing as this is the first time I have to work this closely in a team like that, it's always an interesting process. It's great that Kelley has the big picture and a far better understanding of what language to use to communicate with our audience (and I'm not just talking about English oder Deutsch here, although those can produce interesting problems we have to work through). And Aaron has the business plan arena down. Then there's me and my artsy-fartsy-ness. Together we should technically make a great team, but we need to speak the same language first, and also understand how each of the others work best.

It's an interesting process - really frustrating at times, but so much to learn and so much room for me to grow.

Hey, once the website is up and running, we'll let you know.

Praises...
Everytime I think about this opportunity I've had to work with this team, I count it as a blessing about five or six times over. Could there be a better match for me to do my internship? I don't know, but the Planner of these things will have to get REALLY creative.

AND the weather here has been amazing the last few days. No, really. Sunshine and 70s-80s deg F or about 20s deg C. Yes, please.

And (I already mentioned this in a previous entry, but still...) Yay for new friends and good food! Sushi, and people who speak all these different languages but yet still trying to find some way to communicate with one another? Yes, please.

So much to be thankful for. If you want all the specifics, you'll have to buy me dinner or coffee when I get back :)

Prayer Requests...
One of our team members, Mely, hurt her back on Saturday when we were out on our excursion. Doctor's put her on 3 weeks bed-rest so she can't even lift Emilia (her one-year-old) now. Adrian has dropped Emilia off here the last two days so Rhonda and I could watch her, but Mely's mum came in tonight to help out for a bit.

And also, just got news that the wife of the national leader of the Church of God in one of the Asian countries is not doing so well because her cancer has returned. Between the missionaries and the national leaders, the region has been stricken with cancer four times over - one of whom we lost in January. Also, their son and daughter-in-law will be arriving in Anderson in a couple weeks to start their Masters programs this fall. I hate not being there to give them a proper welcome, but pray for their period of adjustment.

And finally, little Kaleigh Lee will be coming into the world anytime now! My cousin's having her first baby - also first baby from our generation!


I guess that's all, kids. Hey, 39.5 hours till the first World Cup game where Mexico plays South Africa. Which teams are YOU cheering for, and which teams deserve to be trash-talked to/about?

Love you all.