So I know you all have been dying for an update! When I first arrived I went to about 2 weeks of staff conference and training and then when I finally arrived in Bamberg this past Friday, I got a nasty 24-hour virus of some kind, and then started in-processing stuff, so I've been really busy and exhausted and I'm not even using my own internet right now. BUT I am having a blast! It's all so much to take in. First, let me tell you briefly about my first two weeks at conference and training and the important people in my new life!
This is my Community Director, Shea, his wife, Sandee, and their adorable little Cecil! They have been taking really good care of me since I got here and have been extremely helpful in my transition. Shea has been the CD in Bamberg for almost 4 years now and he loves video games, Coldplay, and Converse shoes. We definitely get along. :)
This is my Regional Director, Jim, and his wife Shannon. They just moved to Heidelberg after Jim was the CD in Alconbury, England. Jim picked me up from the airport in a British car, with the wheel on the opposite side. That was weird. They have both been great in answering my questions and watching out for me during my transition! Jim and I are friends even though he's a Cowboys fan. :)
I met staff from all over the place at the conference and training, and it was pretty laid back so I had plenty of time to get to know them and rest. We took a day trip to Triberg and Gutach and I got to see Black Forest Clocks and ride a Rodelbahn (google it!) I loved learning things about my job. I remember sitting in the business meeting thinking "I can't believe this is my JOB!" as we talked about plans for Winter Blitz, our high school outreach camp in Austria, and Middle School camp in Belgium, and I know I'm going to love everything about my job, from hanging out with high school kids to planning camps to traveling to new countries to teaching Bible studies for students. I am blessed to work with an AMAZING organization that really takes care of its staff and really loves Jesus and students!
I sprained my ankle pretty bad at the conference one week after arriving in Germany (typical me). It's healing, but I'd appreciate your prayers that it heals well and quickly! Living in Europe involves a lot of walking. I was warned that it's pretty normal for things like this to happen, especially at the beginning of ministry. I mean, hey, satan doesn't want me here, so he's going to try to discourage me any way he can, but all he can do is try!
Ok so on to my living situation! There was a previous staff member that left a semi-furnished apartment that was available to me, which is a huge blessing because it normally takes about a month to find a place that is completely unfurnished. As soon as I arrived in Bamberg, I stayed there, so I got to see what it was like before committing. OH MY GOSH. It's a small apartment, BUT it's located right in the middle of downtown Bamberg, above a bar where I can hear the DJ music. I walk out into my door and I'm walking down the cobblestone road with shops and restaurants and cafes and bakeries and everything that I imagined living in Europe to be like. I mean, there's a 1000-year old cathedral right down the street and a jazz club two doors down where the music floats up through the vent in the street. I am in love with it. I'm a 5 minute walk to Shea and Sandee's apartment and the area where they set up the Christmas markets. So I signed the lease just the other day.
When I arrived in Bamberg on Friday, I got sick for a day, then I got to start in-processing. This involves just getting me set up to work on a military base and stuff. I got an ID, an APO address, a cell phone, and tomorrow I take my drivers license test. I went shopping on post at the commissary (grocery store) and PX (post exchange, like a walmart) and did my laundry at the laundromat because I have no washing machine at the apartment. It's definitely culture shock when you wake up in downtown Bamberg and end up in "Little America" on post. It's so strange!
Today I had my first day of "work." I went to a chapel meeting with the chaplains and other chapel staff (UMT) where I sat around a conference table with lots of guys in uniform and Shea reported on things with Club Beyond. Then I went out to Schweinfurt. Schweinfurt is another post that's 45 minutes away that we will be having joint high school club with. John and Mandy Ritchey are new Community Directors there and I know them from training. They had middle school club today so I got to help and meet middle school kids. After that Shea and I and a volunteer leader at the chapel (he is a private) lead a bible study for middle and high schoolers. It was great to meet girls. Some of them are homeschooled, so we bonded over that. :)
I need to go study for my driver's test, but there's sooo much more I'd love to say! I'll try to update with more pictures with the stories behind them when I get internet, but I wanted to make sure you guys knew what was up to right now! Until then, here is a picture of the time the German fire company came to do a drill at our conference center:
