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| Lost in another worldI used Myth Busters for a "great" presentation the other night, only to find out that none of them knew what Myth Busters was...! Our kids watched it all the time last year and it was great! Thought it would provide a great approach to my topic. Used each of my points as a myth, then finished them off with confirmed, busted or plausible. Got the idea from Vanessa in Russia as she used it in her newsletter.
However, since we don't have cable anymore we don't watch Myth Busters either. So why did I think students have time for Myth Busters? Why did I think they'd know what it is and the basic idea of the show? It proved to me once again, that just because I am familiar with something does not mean today's students are. So then, how many things are they familiar with that I am totally unaware of?
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| Spring is in the AirBlossoms in May? It's common in Poland -not Wyoming. They had snow yesterday in Laramie. It was over 70 for the 19th day in a row. That should be a record for our 5 years here. But the consequence of such nice weather is beautiful blossoms. They even smell nice to me despite the itchy, bloodshot eyes.
This past weekend was Radykalni. It is a youth conference. Several hundred young people came from around Poland. It was great to see so many so hungry for God.
I met Dawn -again. The first time I met Dawn was here in Krakow. She was part of a Master's Commission team. Now 4 years later, she is a leader of a Master's Commission in England. She has married a Polish guy who found a real relationship with Jesus at a Radykalni conference 3 years ago, heard about the Master's Commission, went there, met Dawn and now they are praying about coming back to Poland to start the first Master's Commission in Poland. It's cool to me to see how God works in peoples' lives and weaves a common thread to accomplish a common purpose.
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| MovingIt has been a while since I posted because we have moved to a different apartment on the other side of town that is much closer to the kids' school. I remember a conference/retreat speaker once talking about different stress sources. Moving was near the top following death of a loved one, getting married/divorced and changing jobs.
Our old apartment was great, it had everything we needed -some things we did not need (like the pigeons). But often it was taking over an hour to get to or from the kids' school. Our new apartment has everything we need -some things we don't need (like 3 full bathrooms!). But it is closer to the kids' school. This daily trip to the kids' school was a time to talk or listen to them, but it took a lot of time.
So now that we are settling into our "new" apartment, I have more time to write.
We were quite surprised by the students who helped us prepare for the move, during the actual move and in the clean-up and painting of the "old" apartment. Helping students move has been a form of our ministry throughout the years, but it is not as often that they get to help us move. I told a couple of guys that the longer you are married and the longer you live in a place, the more STUFF you accumulate. One of them muttered, if they have this much in 6 years, I'd hate to see it in another 6 years! Too true. Hence, one of the upsides of moving is that you go through things and realize how much STUFF you can do without because you do not want to move it! It also helps that our "new" apartment is technically smaller, but it is laid out better.
Another positive, we learned several new Polish words through this process too. When we signed our last contract, we did not know any Polish. Now we know more and every day provides opportunities for new words.
Related: We had to "un-register" from our old address at the city government office in the old neighborhood. Then we had to register in the new neighborhood. The lady at the new office was the nicest, friendliest government employee I have met in 6 years. Good thing, we have to go back to her in 4 months as we begin the process of renewing our visas. This whole un-registering/registering made me wonder, how do we do that in the States? Is it a simple change of address form at the PO? adding a note to the water, electric and phone bills? How do they know where to send your tax bill? I guess it is things that I took for granted before this last month.
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| Pi DayToday is World Pi Day. The kids' school Math Department celebrated the day again this year with a competition to see who could memorize the most digits of this non-repeating number. Beth won -again this year. She has a very good short-term memory. We are proud, we are amazed, and yeah...
3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209 7494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651 3282306647093844609550582231725359408128481117450284102 7019385211055596446229489549303819644288109756659334461 2847564823378678316527120190914564856692346034861045432 6648213393607260249141273724587006606315588174881520920 9628292540917153643678925903600113305305488204665213841 4695194151160943305727036575959195309218611738193261179 3105118548074462379962749567351885752724891227938183011 9491298336733624406566430860213949463952247371907021798 6094370277053921717629317675238467481846766940513200056 8127145263560827785771342757789609173637178721468440901 2249534301465495853710507922796892589235420199561121290 2196086403441815981362977477130996051870721134999999837 2978049951059731732816096318595024459455346908302642522 3082533446850352619311881710100031378387528865875332083 8142061717766914730359825349042875546873115956286388235 3787593751957781857780532171226806613001927876611195909 2164201989380952572010654858632788659361533818279682303 0195203530185296899577362259941389124972177528347913151 5574857242454150695950829533116861727855889075098381754 6374649393192550604009277016711390098488240128583616035 6370766010471018194295559619894676783744944825537977472 6847104047534646208046684259069491293313677028989152104 | | |
| Polish Lessons aboundI have been trying to push through to the next level in Polish. I recently took a two week intensive course -it showed me that I still have a lot to learn. Then today a colleague of ours in Italy sent me this link, I see that Irish people have troubles with Polish as well. This article is great and proves that Polish is a tough language no matter what country you live in.
I met a couple of nice Polish Police officers again the other night. I was late getting home from a student meeting and everything was going well as I got close to home. I had two green lights in a row that allowed me to merge through four lanes (from far right to far left) in about 1/4 of a mile. At the second light which was still green, I flipped a U and went through the gas station to catch the street that goes down to our apartment. This little maneuver saves at least a km and two more stop lights. It was as I past the station and ready to turn down our street that I noticed a police car behind me. I even thought to myself, I hope he's not following me for some reason. Sure enough, as I turned down the street that goes to our apartment, he turned on his lights. I hate it when that happens! I immediately pulled over, got out my papers and International Driver's License and he asked me if I knew it was illegal to make a U turn at the light. I did not know it. I have done it often and seen many others do it too. That does not change the fact that it is not legal. I told him I did not know it was illegal. He then came back and told me it would be 500 PLN (about $150) and 6 points on my record! I said, "There was no sign not to allow U turns." He said, "It is only legal when there is a U turn sign." Now I know. When he told me the second time how much it was going to cost, he said, "300 PLN and 5 points." So I said, "f I broke the law, I have to pay." I started to dig to see what kind of money I had as I asked if I paid him or at the station. He said, "Do you live in that apartment?" I said "Yes". He said, "Go home."
I think I know the meaning of grace mixed with mercy. I am thankful my Polish was not as good as I wanted it to be that night.
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