Great Weekend!

This past weekend was absolutely amazing. I would have to say my favorite thus far. Friday I wondered around and took pictures and rode the tram for fun. That night Larry, Pam, Karen, and Sven all made it back from the retreat safely. Janine stopped by. It was just a great day.

Saturday was busy, we started with ladies breakfast and then had Alex's, competition and after that Janine's concert. The breakfest was great, there is a pic above Mario, Pam and Tiff cleaning up. Alex's competition was A-Mazing! There was a nice sized group of us from the church their to cheer which always makes things better! And then Janine's concert was a blast! I heard some songs I haven't heard in a long time and Janine was absolutely amazing. When she said she was in a band I half-heartedly laughed not really knowing what to expect, but they were good! Almost all of the songs were in english too, which is always a plus!

Sunday started with church. After church we had a pot-luck. There weren't a lot of people there, but that kinda made it nice because it wasnt crazy! Alex brought his mom, so it was nice to get to meet her and have her meet everyone. Sunday afternoon, Roy, Tiff, Ceili (pronounced Kay-lee), Yan, and myself all went to Leipzig together for worship. Worship was great, it was all of us, Marc and Karen, and Pam and Larry. After that, Marc took Roy, Tiff, Ceili and I back to the train station.

From the time Marc dropped us off was an adventure in and of itself. In summary: we ordered Pizza Hut and had to take it to go; the train was waaaay to crowded so hopped off and caught the next one, we played cards the entire way back, we got to see Chemnitz downtown at night which was lovely, and I learned that the bus driver hears a "beep" every-time you push the "stop" button....

All said, it was a great weekend! I am looking forward to what this week will hold! Wednesday we are packing more clothes for Bulgaria, Thursday Tiff and I are meeting Barbra in the morning and Friday, Tiff, Ceili, and I are all going coat shopping together!

So above are some pictures of everything. I dont have the pictures from Janines concert uploaded yet, but hopefully I got some decent ones! Oh yea, and Olesnitz is at the top. We went back a week or so ago and put in some insulation in the floor before they pour concrete on it.

Parting Quote: Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. ~ Will Durant

Be good and do good!

Sarah B

Whirlwind

This week has been out there! Karen, Larry, Pam and Sven are at a Bible Seminar and have been gone all week, which means it has been Roy, Tiffany and I all week!

Things have been great, Monday I still wasn't feeling very well so I spent the morning in bed and ventured out to get a puzzle monday afternoon. I also started listening to New Moon on audio book again. Monday night Alex came over with Tiffany and we all watched Twilight together. Tuesday I went downtown to find a charger for my camera so I can take pictures on Saturday. I spent some time at the church pulling some weeds and then came back and got ready for Bible class Tuesday night. Wednesday Marion came over for coffee. It was great getting to chat with her. I look forward to getting to know her better. Tiffany came down after a bit and we all had a good time together! That afternoon Tiff and I had a german lesson. it went very well! I am feeling much better about my german now. I can understand some more, and I can figure out more, but I am still not very confident in my pronunciations. Wednesday night Alex came over for supper and Roy, Tiff and I all had supper together and played games. That was a good time! I enjoy getting to hang out together.

Today I went downtown to print some family pictures because I realized I did not have pictures of a lot of my family! I had 2 readers this afternoon and we hit some pretty deep topics both times. Hopefully next week we can talk more about what we hit on this week.

Saturday is going to be busy, we have the ladies breakfast Saturday morning, and then Alex has a gymnastic competition that afternoon (which I am SUPER excited to see!!!!) and then Janine has a concert that night (which I am also SUPER excited to hear!). So its going to be a busy weekend!

Snickers and I have bonded this week, it has been great! Hints the pictures at the beginning! Anyways, I think thats all.

Quote: Sometimes He calms the storm. Other times, He calms the child.

Be good and do good!

Sarah B

Its snowing.... and I have a cold

This week the weather has gotten ridiculously cold! It has been chilly all week, but today it has snowed literally ALL DAY!!!! We all know how much i looooove the cold! But seriously, I do like the snow, not the biggest fan of the cold but thats just part of the deal!

Yesterday I had another German lesson. It went much better this week than last week! However, me being me, left my notebook on the tram when I switched over and had no idea until I got the house for lessons! No worries though, that just meant I didn't have a test!!!

After German, Karen, Alex and Jessi came and picked me up and went to Dresden to visit Steffi! We saw Steffis apartment then went downtown and visited Starbucks! I met a group of exchange students from a university, one guy was from South Carolina and one of the girls was from Texas! We talked about the crazy cold weather! After that we went to check out movies, to no avail there were no English movies, so we set out for another movie theater across town! We also stopped to see a replica of the Hundert Wasser house... just take that for what its worth. Anyways, it was fun finding it! It was in a really cool part of town and it was just getting dark so there were lights everywhere! I will try and get some pictures from karen and put them up later!

After that we made our way to Elba park and saw a movie! It was a German movie and I understood more than I thought I would. I have watched movies with english dub overs before, but this was the first English movie with German dub overs. It was much better than I expected! After the movie we were all pretty tired so we dropped Steffi off and headed back to Chemnitz! We had a nice chat all the way back, I got the question game going, and everyone knows how much I love to ask questions!

Today I met with the older couple I am reading with! Well, I am reading with the husband, and roy with the wife, but since Tiffanys parents are in town I met with both today. We just chatted, I asked them about their families and herd some stories about their lives. It was really cool! The husband was telling me about how he used to speak English as a boy with the Americans when they lived with him, and then later with the Russians. He said the Americans would always play with him and teach him words, but the Russians would never play with him, they were always very serious. Anyways, I invited them to English Bible Study tomorrow night. I dont know they will come or not, but we will see!

Larry has been really sick today, he doesnt get sick often, its been over 15 years since he has been this sick, but he is sick!! So not good! There is just nasty-ness going around! I am getting a head cold, no fun! Tomorrow I am heading back to Olesnitz to help put insulation in the new floor! I will try and get some pictures up!

That is all for now!

Be good and do good!

Sarah B

Quote: Love the moment, and the energy of that moment will spread beyond all measures. ~Corita Kent

Sunny Days Have Come Again

The Vienna students made it in this weekend! We had 14 people total, 10 students and the sponsors with their 2 children. We packed over 150 (i dont remember the final count) bags of clothes to take the Bulgaria for the winter.

Our baseball party was rained out, sad day I know, never the less we played volleyball! We had a good turn out! I was a bit sad that none of the random people I had met and given invites to came, but so goes life! We still had some new people come!

I also met another American here, Steffi actually met here somewhere. Hopefully we will get to hang out with her some more! I am making some more friends here which helps. Not that I dont love the people I already know here lol, but I am meeting more people and getting to know them better!

We went to a worship service in Leipzig last night- that was an amazing experience! We missed the sermon due to some directional issues, but made it in time for communion and some singing!

It is truly a blessing to have the opportunity to see a new church form! The transitions that are going on, watching the native members take on leadership at the church here and witnessing a new church sprouting up truly leaves me in awe of God and how He moves in us and through us.

Alas this has been a long post so I shall end it. Have a great week! Be good and do good!

Sarah B

Quote: The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands. ~Robert Persig

Rough Day

Hey folks!

Life here is going good! This weekend is going to be crazy busy! The Vienna students get in this afternoon, I need to go get some goodies for them in just a little bit! We have a baseball party tomorrow and then Sunday a pot luck!

Lets back track a little. I went to Dresden to visit Janine on Wednesday. It was a great day, I rode the train all by myself successfully! I did get a bit of motion sickness though, granted I was riding backwards the entire way which im sure had a lot to do with it! She showed me around the university in Dresden and then we stopped at an odd looking church and went inside, that was fun! We went downtown to starbucks and the mall. Good times! Then we went to KFC for lunch, that was exciting! I got hot wings (there are not a lot of hot things here) and they were great! Then we went to a science museum! That was amazing! It was like the omniplex for adults! Lots of hands on stuff! There were english translations on most everything too so it made it even better! Then we went for coffee, to Janines apartment and then to the Dresden english Bible study and back on the train!

I got back to Chemnitz just fine on the train, but got off one stop to soon for my train stop. Luckily (keep in mind it was around 10:45) it was somewhere in town I recognized! I walked up to the next bus stop and saw one was coming in about 5 minutes so I waited and made it home by 11 just fine!

Thursday was a rough day. I was still frustrated with myself from the night before and not looking forward to starting German lessons. Tiffany and I went over to Steffens house and started our lesson. Long story short, I freaked out just a bit. All was okay, and I calmed down, but it was a frustrating day. Last night we had the ladies Bible Study which is in english and that helped! We had a great turn out, we talking about being thankful and how to be thankful. It was a very good lesson!

Today is prep for the Vienna students. Like I said, busy weekend ahead. English Bible Study tonight (Hey look at that, 3 this week!) and set up for the morning. In the morning we are sorting clothes for Bulgaria and then tomorrow afternoon we are having the Baseball party! Tomorrow night we are having a few friends over and playing card games with the girls we will have staying with us. Sunday we have a pot luck and then taking the group back to the train station.

Anyways, alls well that goes well. One foot in front of the other. Its odd, I find myself standing at a bus stop and listening to the wind rustle the leaves as they roll past. Admiring the cobble stone streets that people have walked on for years, hundreds of years.

Europe has a majestic err about it. I dont really know how to explain it. Sometimes it doesn't even seem like Im not in the states, and then other times, one is utterly aware of the insignificance of one human life. At the same time, one can't help but imagine all of the influences each of the insignificant lives have had. The same insignificant people that have sauntered across the same stones.

Unlimited possibilities....

Quote: Success is permanent, and failure isn't fatal. ~ Mike Ditka

Almost a Month

Its hard to believe I have been here almost a month already! It certainly doesn't feel like it!

Well lets see, I was supposed to start German on Monday, however Friday I got an email (all in german mind you) that said my class had been canceled because there weren't enough people signed up. I am completely and utterly unmotivated to learn German.... kinda of bad when Im living in a country and cant understand what is being said. All that said, I start lessons with a gentleman from church on Thursday with Tiffany. He is a language instructor and is crazy smart lol. I hope I get it.... I just feel dumb when I am trying to learn, not like I just graduated from college. This will be a humbling experience....

Monday I ventured down to the train station and back- Friday the Vienna group comes and we are supposed to go meet them and bring them back to the church. But we have never taken the bus there and back. It went much easier and smoother than I expected :D. On a side note, while I was at the train station Monday I ate lunch at Burger King. Great place by the way, I tell you all this to say, they were very confused when I ordered a burger with just meat and nothing else. I really only wanted a burger and drink, no fries, but that was going to be to complicated so I paid the extra 50 cents to get deal with fries that I didnt touch... but it was extremely interesting as the manager and lady taking my order proceeded to point to each item that usually comes on a burger and ask me if i wanted it. The answer was always no...

Also, while I was in the train station monday, i meandered into the bookstore. I was casually looking at some newspapers, they had a few in English (much to expensive to buy or I would have!) when I noticed an older lady looking at the English section of books. Taking my cue I wondered over casually standing next to her, and asked her, "Hello, do you speak English?" She turned to me and greeted me with a friendly smile, and then responded, "I learned in University" and went back to looking at books. I then said, "Its so nice to hear someone else speak english, it is so rare to find." She then proceeded to walk away. Fail.

Tomorrow I am going to Dresden to visit Janine. That will be fun! I am riding the train by myself for the first time though, I am a bit nervous, not going to lie. But I am sure it will all be just fine! Not sure exactly what she has planned, I know Starbucks is in there somewhere!!!

Anyways, that is all for now! Here are some pictures I have taken of things around: We worked putting in a new floor in Olesnitz last week, the oldest tower in Saxony, Karl Marx's head, and a church downtown :)

Quote: We should not say that one man's hour is worth another man's hour, but rather that one man during an hour is worth just as much as another man during an hour. Time is everything, man is nothing: he is at most time's carcass. ~Karl Marx