You Know You're In Europe When... #1

#1 You know you're in Europe when the water in the shower turns off every two minutes and so do the lights.

Everything You Need to Know About the Amazing Race

(Kari, Hondo, Nate, and Me)

So, I don't know how many of you have seen the TV show "The Amazing Race." I personally, have not. However, for the beginning of the intern training, JV has their own amazing race in order for us to see right away different team dynamics, to learn more about interacting with the culture, and to get us out of our comfort zones. I promised you in my last post that I'd explain more about this when I had time, so here's what you need to know about my last last three days here on the Amazing Race.

Day One (Wednesday):

I arrived at the airport in Vienna, Austria and had some down time to get to know other interns before we started. Once everyone arrived (safely and without too much delay, thank God!), we broke up into our teams (13 altogether) based on what country we were going to be serving in. My teammates are Kari (pronounced Car-ee) and Nate at the moment, but two more girls are joining us in the middle of June. Hondo, a JV missionary in Slovenia, also did the amazing race with us. He's great, though he still won't tell us the real story about how he got his name ;) The competition started with a scavenger hunt around the airport and then we were handed 6 clues to different spots in Vienna where we'd have to go to do different things. The stations each had a task/game to complete before we could go on. These varied from logic games to eating challenges to everything in between. My highlight of the day was the station set up in a square where we had to put on a performance and get someone to give us money without asking for it :) It was funny and we ended up forming an alliance with another team so that we'd have enough people to really cause a scene! We got to our ending spot in first place and felt good about the day!

Day Two (Thursday):

After a short six hours of sleep at a youth hostel we were back in action. Kari was feeling sick so we lost a member of our team for a while. The rest of us left at 7 in the morning with a clue that told us to find the oldest dry bobsled course on Kobala hill, which happens to be in Bratislava, Slovakia. We got there and were tested on the JV core values and got to slide down the course. After that we had to find a UFO (we met up with Kari here) and then were off to a huge mall in the city to find 5 JV missionaries stationed there with small tasks for us to do. After that we ended in Brno trying to eat as much cow stomache soup as we could in this sketchy little Czech restaurant. Because of a few wrong turns and missing a train, we ended in 12th place.

Day Three (Yesterday):

Yesterday was the most physically challenging of the race! The first challenge in Brno was to find an English school and take an English grammar test (since we will be teaching English all summer). You'd think this would have been easy for me as a writing major and everything, but it most definitely was not! I got 40%. Do I even know how to speak English?! For every question we got wrong we had to wait more time at the school before we were allowed to continue. This was the only down time we had besides traveling, because basically the rest of the time we were running. The next challenge in the main square in Brno was gross! We had to get 2 pounds of gummy bears out of a bowl one at a time with our mouths and run to bowls a little ways away and put them in the bowl they belonged in based on color. It was a lot of running! And slobber! After that we headed to Malenovice, raced out of the train filled with at least four other teams to get the first taxi to the JV training building. Our final task was to make ten goals on the soccer field before running up a the huge hill the building is on. We made it in fifth place overall and were proud of our efforts!

So, those are the basics of the Amazing Race. It was great for team building, getting over jet-lag, and seeing some of Europe before some more low-key stuff around here. This is a long post, so I'll stop now, but thanks to everyone tracking with me. I'm so looking forward to getting to know the interns and missionaries even better and diving into camp stuff once in Slovenia (we get there on Wednesday).

Malenovice

After a long two flights on Tuesday/Wednesday, an "Amazing Race" training excercise for the interns (which I'll explain tomorrow) and meeting and quickly bonding with my intern team, I'm laying here in bed at good, old Malenovice, JV's main training center in the Czech Republic. It's awesome to be back in a place that feels so much like home! I have so many fond memories of Josiah Venture conferences that took place here -hanging out with missionary kids and running around all over Malenovice with people who felt like family. Even though I only arrived here this afternoon and the sixty or so others with me are people I've only begun to meet, it still feels like it always has... like home.

And, man, I'm so thankful that we get to be here until Wednesday!

More to come when my eyelids aren't at half-mast and I'm able to take a bit of break.

Up in the Air

My life is pretty up in the air right now. I graduated from Taylor on Saturday, packed up my room, said goodbyes, came home, unpacked and repacked, and am leaving this afternoon. I can't believe things are happening so fast! I still have a ton to do, but I wanted to let you all know once again how much it means to me that you are willing to support, encourage, and track with me as I head out on my summer adventure. Thank you!

Before I go, here are a few quick prayer requests:

- That the 50 something interns leaving today for Europe (including me) will arrive safely and on time to Vienna where we will start our training.

- That I'll get enough sleep and feel healthy when I get there (Finals week left me with a cold).

- That I'll be able to fully concentrate on being in Europe, not on having just left college life or thinking about my life after I get home and have to find a job.

- That God will continue to prepare each of the interns, JV missionaries, and campers for how He is going to work this summer.

Can't wait to tell you all more.

Two Days!

I leave for Slovenia in two days. I can't believe I'll be hopping on a plane to Europe so soon!

Here's the list of things I have to do before I head out:

- Pack two months worth of clothes, American gifts, and travel supplies into a bag small enough to carry on my back.

- Make sure my electronics are ready to go. (Camera w/batteries, computer backed up, iPod charged, etc.)

- Work on job search. I have a Tyndale application/test to fill out for freelance editing.

- Do loads of laundry!

- Write thank you letters (you supporters are great!) and email everyone a link to the blog : )

- Clean room as much as possible.

- Watch the LOST show finale.

I don't know how I'll get it all done, but one way or another I'll be off on Tuesday!