It's funny 'cuz it's bigger than a normal hat

I've been watching some Saturday Night Live lately, and I've been finding some things about it that are impressing me. For one, they have had some clever writers on board, coming up with some interesting, albeit sometimes crude, bits of humour. Some things fall a bit flat in my opinion, but often it is funny, sometimes in a silly manner, sometimes clever, and sometimes just weird (but hey, that's my bread and butter right there).
Some good actors have also gone through the halls of the show. Comedy is a hard field to perform well, and some of these people are just spot on. Tina Fey, still with the show, is a good writer and performer (for those who don't know, she is the head writer on the show). Norm MacDonald is a near comic genius, at least in my mind. He has such a unique delivery and style, one that I find to be quite innovative and very amusing. It's not just the writing either. I saw him on a talk show, and he was just a funny guy. He would cover the weird area of humour very well. And then there's Jimmy Fallon. I don't think that man could keep a straight face if you paid him (which they were, come to think of it). But he is still a funny guy, though I haven't seen any of his movies. Belushi, Akroyd, Sandler, and so many other classic comedy actors have walked through the show. One of the biggest, though, in my mind is Will Ferrel. Farril? Ferrrillll. Whatever. That man can play such a serious funny man in a way that no one else is able. I think he is someone who can do any type of acting that he wants, funny, serious, quirky, anything, and do well at it. He is able to make people like him, even when his character isn't all that likeable (I'm thinking Ron Burgandy here, such a jerk, but somehow you just like the man). I think I've liked every movie of his that I have seen.
But what I like most about Saturday Night Live is the LIVE part. There is something about live comedy that is different than sitcoms or movies. Somehow it can make some things funnier than they might be otherwise. Jimmy Fallon is a good example of that. Because he was laughing throughout every skit (and I do mean EVERY skit) he somehow seems more real. Who among us hasn't had times where he or she has been saying or doing something funny and been completely unable to keep a straight face? I know it happens to me all the time (I'd probably be worse than Fallon if I were on a comedy skit show). And then sometimes they mess up a line and have to repeat themselves or say the wrong thing entirely. Again, that happens to everyone in real life, but never on TV or in the movies. In Elf, Will Ferall's character never stuttered or messed up, but on the show he would sometimes say the wrong line, or just miss a word that turns a sentence into nonsense. And they just keep going. That's real life. When it's live, they have to just keep going no matter what.
It brings to mind old time comedy, especially Abbot and Costello. I remember seeing an episode of A&C's old live TV show (a rerun obviously), and they were having trouble keeping in character and keeping straight faces in one seen, and out of nowhere Abbot says "Let's do the 'Who's on First' routine" and launches into it. Costello just tells him that "we aren't doing that one now" and carries on. The audience loves it, it obviously wasn't scripted, and it was hilarious. The ability to think on your feet is so crucial and so hard to do, but some of these guys are amazing.
That being said, SNL isn't without its problem. Sometimes they are overly crude (there are limits, though they are very stretched). It is possible to be crude and still funny, but crude isn't funny on its own. And there are times where the joke becomes too obvious and they try to make that the joke. Good humour is often seated in subtlety. I'm reminded of a scene in "Chicken Run" (a movie that has nothing to do with SNL, but it has a similar situation). Some chickens are working at building this flying machine, and some rats are helping them get parts that they need in exchange for eggs. At one point a chicken is laying many eggs into a sack that they are holding as she does something and one of the rats says "Eggs from heaven," and the other one replies "No, from her bum." The joke was just too obvious. Everyone knows where chicken eggs come from, and saying it is just pointint out what didn't need to be pointed out. Now that is a personal opinion, I know some people who view that line as their favourite, but it is a joke that I won't find funny very often. It would have to be executed much differently than it was there. And SNL falls into that trap from time to time as well.
All that to say, SNL isn't a terrible show. I haven't actually seen much of it in the past couple years, so maybe it is a terrible show now, I don't know. If you want to be amused, I recomend watching the best of Christopher Walken from SNL. He has hosted the show (which is what they call their guest stars) a few times and has shown that he can be a very amusing guy. The Blue Oyster Cult cowbell skit is about the funniest thing I have ever seen.
And go.

Fools Of Us All - Chapter 2 (see June 11, 2006)

Driving in the rain is always hard, especially at night. The worst, though, is when there is a group in the car and the windows start to fog up because it is just too humid. I hate that. That is why I was so unhappy on this day.
There were three of us in the car - myself, my cousin Gerry and his girlfriend Cindy. Who am I you wonder? Well, my name is Spin. Obviously that is not my real name, but that is the only thing I have been called since the second grade. Heck, even my parents started using it. No one is quite sure where it came from, but it stuck. I blame my uncle, really. It seems like the sort of thing that he would start.
Anyway, the night in question, we were driving on the highway, heading back home to Calgary after visiting some friends out in Manitoba. We had just left Regina when I noticed the rain clouds moving in. I figured it would be a mild rain, givin how it had been rather dry the entire summer, but I was in for a surprise. Living in Calgary, I thought I had seen some impressive rainstorms, but mother nature was about to outdo herself.
I don't know what it is about the prairies, but they can have some of the most impressive thunderstorms you have ever seen. The clouds built up very quickly, appearing much quicker than I thought possible. Within minutes we had gone from a clear moonlit sky to absolute darkness. A few drops of rain landed on the windsheild, just a smattering of rain. Gerry and Cindy didn't even notice at this point because they had both fallen asleep the second we left Regina after filling up with gas. Suddenly a peal of thunder rolled across the field. It was so loud that my rearview mirror shook hard enough to make it difficult to use. Not that it mattered because that sound signalled the start of the deluge. The rain hit so hard that I couldn't see through the windsheild within seconds. I flipped on my wipers, but they weren't much help. I was starting to get nervous.
Cindy and Gerry woke up with the sound. Cindy actually screamed a little, causing me to swerve out of surprise. I managed to get the car under control, but my heart was beating rather hard for a bit. I glanced over at Cindy and I could see that she was feeling rather nervous. "Shouldn't you pull over or something?" she asked, showing more wisdom than I realised at that moment.
Gerry smiled and teased his girlfriend. "What's the matter, Cin, scared of a little rain?"
I had known Gerry all of his life (he was two years younger than me), so I could tell that his heart wasn't into it. He was obviously a little nervous as well.
It was right then that the windows fogged up. It was like watching a curtain rise over the glass, completely blocking out my vision. I turned up the fan to blow on the windshield, reaching forward to wipe off the glass so that I could at least see a little bit. Lightning and thunder started going off regularly, the sound combining with the flashes to set a rather eerie mood.
"C'mon Spin, just pull over at the next road and we'll wait it out."
I shook my head. "I don't want to be stopped on the side of the road during this downpour. What happens if a semi comes by and doesn't notice us until it is too late?" I was determined not to stop. I figured that the rain couldn't last much longer.
But Cindy was just as determined. "And what happens if you don't see a car until it is too late? Then we are just as dead."
"Look, the rain will let up soon. This is just a small cloudburst. It can't last."
Now Gerry entered into the mix. "Spin, I hate to argue with you, you know that, but this time I think Cindy is right. We have to stop."
"It's not dangerous," pleaded Cindy. "You turn off the road onto a smaller road and wait at the side of that one. Leave your lights on so that people can see you if they are coming, and since you're near an intersection no one will be driving with much speed anyway."
I don't know why I argued with them like I did. Maybe I was just too tired. We had been driving for six or seven hours by that point and still had another seven to go, and we had left much later than originally planned. "Don't be such pansies," I said, running a hand through my short blond hair. "We'll be fine."
"Spin, please!" I could see that a couple of tears had worked their way down Cindy's cheeks. A glance back at Gerry showed that he was extremely uncomfortable as well.
I sighed, but I could see their point. The windows were still fogged up, giving me only a small circle out of the windshield to see while I was driving. And the storm really didn't seem to be abating at all. So I made a concession. "Look, Moose Jaw is not too far from here. We should be there in ten minutes, tops. We'll pull in there, maybe find a place to eat or get some rest. Okay? I'm not stopping before that."
Grudgingly the other two agreed. They knew how stubborn I could get, so they accepted my concession. In my mind, the rain was going to have let up by the time we reached Moose Jaw anyway, so I was feeling pretty good.
We rode on in silence for a few minutes as the windshield slowly cleared. The lightning continued to flash between peals of rolling thunder. Cindy fidgeted with her long brown hair like she did every time she was nervous. At least she wasn't chewing on it. I hate when people do that. Gerry drummed his fingers against the window, humming tunelessly to himself. His long braided goatee vibrated with every beat of thunder.
I finally decided that I needed something more to distract me from the unhappy vibes I was getting from my friends. I glanced down at the radio as I turned it on. I don't know if I could have changed anything had I not looked away from the road. But I do know that when I looked up as bolt of lightning hit, illuminating a small figure standing in the road, holding a small glowing orb. That image was burned into my eyes as the bumper of my car slammed into the person.
It all plays in slow motion when I think about it. The person had leapt at the very last second, as though trying to jump over the car. I could see that it was a girl, and as she jumped my car hit her legs, cutting them out from under her, causing her head to slam into the back edge of my hood before she bounced into the windshield on Cindy's side. Because of the rain the car started to fishtail wildly. The body of the girl bounced over the car and I lost sight of it. Cindy and Gerry both screamed. Cindy was pressed back against her seat, her feet pushing against the dashboard. Gerry, who hadn't been seated in, was tossed around the back seat, screaming and swearing the whole time.
Amazingly I managed to keep the car from flipping over or doing more than spinning in a few circles. I was glad that the ditch at that point was very shallow because that's where we ended up, sitting far from the side of the road, steam coming up from the hot engine. We all sat for some time, breathing hard, unable to speak. I could feel my hands wanting to shake, so I kept them firmly gripped onto the steering wheel. I noticed water starting to drip in where the windshield had been hit. It had held together somehow, but it was in bad shape. Part of me was momentarily mad that someone had wrecked my car, but that was mostly a product of shock. It hit me then that I had just killed someone, and that's when I had to open the door so I could throw up. At the same moment Cindy had the same reaction. Gerry was passed out in the back seat.
I wonder what that would have looked like to an outside observer. A car sitting in the ditch, lights shining in the rain, when suddenly two doors fly open and one person leans out from each door, wretching up the remnants of every meal eaten since high school. In the right circumstances, it may have been comical.
As far as I knew, the dead body was laying back quite some distance. I figured that I should probably call for help. I started to pull my head back into the car when I felt something brush my head, moving the opposite direction of the rain. Just then Cindy let out the most bloodcurdling scream I have ever heard. I jerked my head to see what her problem was and two things happened right then.
First, I heard a weak voice say "It's not too late."
Second, the body of the woman slowly slid its way down from the roof of the car onto the hood. I realised what I had felt then - it had been the woman's hand hanging over the door. Cindy had noticed it and screamed just as gravity finally did its work, causing the body to slide down. It was only much later that I decided the voice had been the woman's. I had no idea how the woman had managed to hold on as long as she did.
As quickly as I could get my seatbelt off I was out of the car, not caring that I was getting soaked. I reached the woman and checked her pulse, a futile move, or so I thought. To my surprise, there was a pulse, though it was rather weak. Blood ran down her face, mixing with the mud on the ground and the rain from the sky. Her breathing was very shallow and sounded laboured. In her hand was the glowing orb I had noticed earlier. Taking it from her hand, I examined it before placing it in my pocket.
I was trying to decide what to do when the woman's eyes flew open. I couldn't believe how much pain I could see in them. She reached up with one hand and grabbed the collar of my shirt, pulling herself up until her face was almost touching mine. "Help me," she whispered before she collapsed. Her heart was still beating, but I wasn't sure how long that would last.
Making a decision, I put my arms underneath her and lifted her, shocked at how little she weighs. She really isn't all that large of a woman. Her clothes somehow seemed to be odd, but I didn't think about it at the time. Carefully I placed her in the back seat, moving Gerry as best I could to give them both room.
Cindy looked over at me as I got back into the driver's seat. "What are you doing?"
I threw the car into gear, thankful again for the shallow ditch as I pulled onto the highway. "She's still alive. We're heading to Moose Jaw to get her to a hospital." I fingered the orb, feeling some warmth coming from it. "Call ahead and let the hospital know we are coming."
As Cindy tried to figure out how to contact the hospital in Moose Jaw, I clenched my jaw in concentration, trying to get there as fast as I could. Everything about the night had been awful, and for some reason all I could think about was the colour of the mystery woman's eyes.

And that's the way the cookie crumbles

Today I was officially hired on at KalTire. I will sell tires and do other little mechanicy sorts of things, such as, well, I'm not completely sure. Rotating tires is definitely a task of mine. I start on Tuesday.
That's not the big thing in my day, though. I went to help Dan move (he was the director at the English camp in Switzerland), and while I was there some of my German friends called me, completely out of the blue. It was cool talking to them again, even if it was briefly. I miss them all.
That's not the big news of my day, though. The real event in my day was that I finally tried pork rinds. It is the stereotypical snack, the one that is used as the 'fat guy's favourite' in sitcoms and movies. It is almost set up to be the holy grail of salty snacks. A person who is serious about snacking would be wise to make sure he didn't leave these little tid bits out of his diet.
THEY ARE DISGUSTING! I ate one, and only swallowed it with the help of a great deal of water. I was grossed out of my gourd. They made me feel as ill as the Chaos ride at Caloway Park (the ride I dry heaved on). Even now I can still taste it in my mouth. So sick. I will hopefully never have to try them again.
And that is the big news of my day. I take my snacking seriously.

Downpore

I was a little disappointed today. I was sitting in my room watching Jurassic Park (a good movie, but the book is better) and I heard a thunderstorm started. I decided that today I would take a walk in the rain. I got outside and it rained for about two minutes and then died out. The whole reason I wanted to walk in the rain was to get completely soaked, and I barely got wet at all.
I don't know why, but I like to walk in the rain sometimes. There's something I like about getting absolutely soaked. Really, rain in general is sweet. Or more correctly, a really hard thunderstorm is sweet. The rain that drizzles down for two straight days isn't quite as cool, though it has its place. I could go all symbolic and metaphorical, saying something about how it is like washing away the old, or washing away my sins or cleansing the soul, or something like that. But really, I just like to get completely wet.
Now, that's not always. I don't like working in the rain, and if I'm going somewhere that is not my house I don't really want to get too wet. I don't mind walking from the car to the movie theatre in the rain without running, but I wouldn't want to walk for hours and then go to a movie or to eat or something. Getting soaked is best followed by going home, changing into something warm and dry and then either writing something interesting or watching mindless media.
And that's what I have to say on that subject.

Hmmm

You know, I was thinking earlier today...
Now my head hurts. I don't think it's a coincidence.

Introspective

Well, what more can I say about my trip to Switzerland? I've been home now for about as long as I was away, and I don't think I've had time to fully get a sense of the entire trip yet. I don't know if I ever will. It was such a good time, a time that I didn't want to end. Every time I try to sit down and put down in words what my experience was, I fail completely. It was just too big, too overwhelming, too personal. Feel free to ask me about it, I will try to tell you about it, but if you want to hear more, don't wait for me to bring it up. I might, but I likely won't. I don't really know why it is so hard for me to describe anything specific. It's not like I don't remember the details, because I do. They are on the tip of my tongue, at the ends of my fingers as I write, but they refuse to get out into the world. It's almost as though separating them from me in such a way would somehow make them less real.
This all sounds very odd, even to me, so I will say this: I really enjoyed my two weeks working at an English camp in Switzerland. I made friendships that I hope I will be able to sustain for years to come. I learned about myself and about God and how the two of us are supposed to interact. I felt a tug in my heart and a glimpse of a direction in my life. I came across teens that I care about deeply and I still pray about to this day.
Now I'm home and I have to concentrate on living my life here, but I don't think I will fully leave Switzerland for quite some time.

Extremities

I've been reading through the Gospels lately, and it's got me thinking - which disciple am I most like? The more I read, the more I realise that I am very much like Peter in many ways. One of Peter's most notable traits is how much of a hothead he is. That's not me, but that is also not what I notice most about him. What I notice about him is how extreme his moods and actions are. Take for example the scene where Jesus starts washing the disciple's feet. I'm sure they were all uncomfortable, but the only one to speak was Peter. He starts out completely mortified (missing the point of Jesus' actions completely, but I don't really blame him) and absolutely refuses to allow Jesus to continue. There is no way that Jesus would ever be allowed to do something so demeaning to Peter! But when Jesus insists, Peter swings all the way to the other side. 'Don't just wash my feet,' he says, 'but give me a sponge bath while you're at it.' Suddenly Peter wants it all and he is set that Jesus does a complete and thorough job (again completely missing the point). He is always willing to do nothing or everything, and there is very little room for anything in the middle. When he decides on something he just charges forward - his mind is made up and so now it's time to do it. He jumps out of the boat to greet Jesus because he wants to greet him and greet him now, so why worry about wet clothes or dignity or anything. It's time to go.
In many ways, I'm like that as well. I'm not quite as bold as Peter, but I am definitely a child of extremes. Someone said to me this weekend that I am someone who doesn't care about most things and is easy-going, but when I do care I care completely. And it's true. I don't let things bother me, but when something affects me, I let it affect me completely. If I'm going to do something, then once I decide you can't change my mind. This Switzerland trip, for example - I heard about it one week and then forgot, and then the next week I heard about it again at church. Within two days I was starting to get ready to go because I was decided that I was going. I didn't hem and haw for a long time, I just wasn't sure and then I was.
That's not to say I'm decisive. As most people who are around me know I am very indecisive most of the time. But that still plays into this whole area. What I'm not decisive about are things that I don't see as being vitally important. When I say I don't care what movie I watch or where I eat, it's because I will be happy either way. But if I don't want to eat something, then I don't want to eat it at all ever (peanut butter). And when I don't want to do something, then I won't.
When I make up my mind, it is made up. If it is an opinion, then I won't even bother arguing because I don't care if other people have a different opinion than I, they're allowed to be wrong :D Seriously, if it's just an opinion (this movie is better than that), then I won't bother arguing. I don't see the point, it's just a wasted effort and sometimes I think it's arrogant to try and change someone's opinion of unimportant matters. It's almost as though I would be saying that I am more important than others. But that's just my take on it.
If something matters to me, though, then I am an unmovable force - I can outstubborn most people I think. Sometimes I hold my ground when it doesn't matter just because I feel like showing that I can be more stubborn than whoever else. It's a passive aggressive thing. One area that I wouldn't be joking about even remotely, though, is in how guys treat women. It should ALWAYS be with respect, and when I hear that one of my female friends has been mistreated, then I'm angry at whoever was being the jerk, even if it was years ago. I feel that there is no reason for acting like an ass, and when a guy does it absolutely breaks my heart. I've been fortunate in that I haven't had to deal with that very often, usually just hearing about past stories, but even those are bad enough. It's not even specific people hurting friends - sometimes I get mad at society in general, everytime I hear a woman say she needs to lose some weight or that she can't eat french fries because they are too fattening. It's totally not fair that woman spend so much time worrying about their physical appearance when it doesn't really matter. I understand the desire to be a healthy weight. If a person is at an unhealthy weight then there are problems that can arise from that. In that case, losing some weight is understandable, and making different food choices is commendable. But when a woman is not at that point, but she feels bad because she isn't a large-breasted twig, then I am very frustrated. Ladies, listen to me - be happy with who you are! If a guy isn't interested in you unless you are of a certain body image, then he isn't worth your time and you should just get away from him!
Okay, so I don't know exactly how I ended up ranting about that, I guess I have some not so hidden issues with that entire issue. But really, I would expect Saint Peter to react much the same way. Very extreme, very passionate.
Well, that's my rant for today. Check back tomorrow when I talk about my Switzerland trip, some more specifics and stories and whatever I think of.

Guten Dag

As you probably know, I just returned from two weeks in Switzerland (if you don't know, then take a moment to read some of my recent BLOGs dealing with those two weeks, and I will likely post a little bit more about some specific things from those two weeks). While I was preparing for that trip, I learned about Black Forest Academy (BFA). BFA is a school in Germany that caters to the children of missionaries around the world. It is run by Janz Team Ministries and is located in Germany. After much prayer and consideration, I have decided to apply to work there as an RA starting in September of 2007.
As an RA, I would be responsible for taking care of some of the kids who are living in the dorm at the school. I would be a spiritual mentor for the children, as well as a chauffer, a disciplinarian, and whatever else I need to do. In many ways it is similar to what I was doing at the camp in Switzerland, only there are more responsibilities. The position would be for a minimum of two years, and is a volunteer position, so I am responsible for raising my own support.
I have to say that I am totally stoked about this opportunity. There are many questions that have to be answered, and many forms that have to be filled out before I can officially say that I am going, so I am trying not to get too far ahead of myself. But I think that it is an opportunity that God has placed before me and I think that I have much to offer the children at the school. I know that I am not a perfect Christian, but I do think that I am someone who is able to look at the world around him and ask the questions that need to be asked. Sometimes I think that is the hardest thing for many people, especially those who grew up as Christians, to learn. I love hanging out with teens and kids and they seem to like me. I really think that I will be able to guide the kids to being better people and stronger Christians than they were when they arrived.
I don't have many specific details yet, I'm still working on them. But I am starting the process of applying for the position. Hopefully in the next month I will have more details for you.
In the meantime I have to find a job here in Calgary. That is something that has me a little concerned. I am not very good at looking for work because I find the process to be rather tiresome. Plus, I never feel like I'm really sure what I want to do, so I don't know what to apply for. So I guess if you want, you could pray that I find a job quickly, one that I can be happy with, and that the whole BFA process goes smoothly.

Grand Finale

I just had an aha! moment. For the past many years I have been waiting for my life to begin. A BIG part of what I was waiting for was a wife, in part because that would give me something to live for besides myself. But based on decisions that I have almost made (I'm giving myself a week or two to decide) I realised that I'm already in life, I just need to start living.
Something I've often heard is that God should be in the driver's seat of my life. I don't think that is quite right. When you visit somewhere you've never been before, the driver is relatively unimportant. Any idiot can drive. But if you want to get where you need to be as easily as possible, then you need a good navigator, and God has given us the best guide possible in the HOly Spirit. So now I have to get in hat driver's seat and tromp on the gast (making sure to buckle the (seat)belt of truth first - HA!). Along the way I may pick up passengers, but only when I'm ready.

Yesterday the kids left camp. Today everyone else leaves except for a couple of us. Tomorrow I go home. I've already cried my tears for the week, but now I feel sad and energyless. I don't want everyone to elave. I will miss them. It's hard to say goodbye. I also missed my Grandpa's funeral - that's contributing to my lack of energy. It's been a long and tough two weeks, but I wouldn't trade them for the world. It may have been the best two weeks of my life.

I'm sitting at the train station at 5:30am, waiting to head from Neuchatel to Geneva. I'm mostly confident I'm at the right track. I'm really quite tired, but we didn't get to bed until around 1am, and then I was up at 4.

All right, I'm on the train. Or, I'm on A train. We'll see if it's the right one [it was]. I'm by myself, and that's kind of sad. I miss everyone already. Sayinggoodbye was hard. I miss the kids, even the slightly surly ones. But I really miss the staff. I made some really good friends that I will miss greatly. I really love it here.

The conductor (or some train official) just came by and told me that '2me classe est en dernier' (which is French for 2nd class is at the back)(or something like that). So I grabbed my backpack and went the direction I though he had indicated and ended up at the front of the train in very nice seats. I was confused until I realized that the conductor dude had been standing with his back to the front of the train, so when he said to go to the back I just translated that as towards his back, which was the front. And then I realised that I didn't have my other bag with me, I had left it at my ill-begotten 1st class seat. So I had to go back and pick it up and continue to the 2nd class at the back of the train. I am now in my proper class.

I made it to the airport and now I'm on my wat to Toronto, and from there to Calgary. While at the Frankfut airport (I flew from Geneva to Frankfurt) there were announcements about a direct flight to Calgary. I was jealous.

We are over water north [that sentence doesn't make sense to me either], quite likely the water between Eurpe and teh U.K. Not the English Channel, though. Much further north. It honestly looks like the sky is just spread out below us. It's pretty cool.

I'm still feeling down about leaving my European friends. It's sad. And it's not like coming back home is full of joy right now. There is still some sorrow to be worked out. I need to remember the good times and to look foraward to seeing them all again (my Eurpoean friends and Grandpa) some day, even if not until heaven. That's exciting, I will wait with great expectations.

I'm in the toronto airport now. Let me tell you, it was an interesting landing. We touched down, and then as soon as the pilot hit the brakes, it felt like we skidded a little bit. It would have been fun in a car, but was rather disconcerting in an airplane.

There's a woman sitting in a chair not far from me, and she is intently looking at something on her laptop. I'm assuming a movie of some sort because she has headphones on. I have also noticed that she isn't wearing her shoes and it got me thinking - women do that alot. It seems like the first thing a woman does when she gets anywhere is remove her shoes. At hte movies, church, the airport, school, anywhere. I thik that explains why there haven't been any female astronauts on the moon. The second they got out of the shuttle onto the surface, they would remove their shoes and get sucked out of the bottom of the suit.

Well, I'm on the home stretch. As I near Calgary, I look back at the past two weeks, and I can't decide if I want to laugh or cry. Maybe a bit of both. I have made friends that I will hopefully keep for the rest of my life. I went to teach and cousel, and it was I who learned and was comforted. God works in funny ways, heosn't He. So I sign off thies travelogue, and though I return in body to Calgary, my heart and my prayers reamain in Switzerland for a little bit longer.

Darrell Ulriksen
July 16-31, 2006

More of my journey

Part 2:
I keep waking very early. But that gives me time to spend with God before everyone else is up and about.

The kids come today, and I'm nervous. This is when the feelings of gross inadequacy really hit. I almost feel ill. It's possible I am becoming sick because one of the guys who has been sharing my room has been sick all week, but it is more likely that I am just nervous. I need to take a moment to quiet my heart before God.

The kids are here and it is going well. They are pretty good kids. There are a few clowns, but that is okay. It's fun. The language barrier is tough to work with, but it's okay. We can usually figure it out.

I am learning about focus today - I don't have much. I need more. This is something that I've known for a long time, but now I'm starting to see more precisely how it can affect things negatively.

I think I know more why I can't TALK about myself. When I'm with a group, I don't want to focus on myself, I want to focus on others, to help them, to sympathize. But when I write, that is my form of worship, my area of expression. When I write I am free to praise, to cry, to sing, to laugh, to shout. I can say anything when I write.

Sometimes life is confusing, even as a Christian. I'm not very sure of what the proper of best thing to do usually is. Today I sat to do my devotions and someone walked by to go on a walk. It would have been a good time to walk and get to know him. But then I wouldn't have done my devotions, which is a time set aside to get to know God. And I likely wouldn't have done them later. So which should I have done? I'm tired right now, so do I go to bed and miss the couple hours of haninging out with the other counsellors? I can't help wanting to help - I always want to help people and be around, but I will burn out if I'm not careful. I don't know if I'm doing the right thing. Ever.

It's amazing - there have been times when I have been shown a slightly larger portion of the path of my life. Within a day I am doubting what I have seen. The enemy wstes no time in launching an attack.

I need to rethink this. I'm not always as patient as I need to be.

When I leave here will I forget all that I have seen? Will nothing matter? Will the messages not matter? The time with God? The people? My memory is so short, my heart so distracted. I don't want to forget, to move on with my life as though it doesn't matter. I want these ripples to surround my life forever.

Eloi Eloi Lama Sabacthani - I don't feel this way anymore.

I just found out that my grandfather just died a couple days ago. Yesterday, actually. It was a heart attack, so it was a surprise. I always figured I would take death rather stoically. I had to share my testimony about 30 minutes later. I ended up crying for the first time in four years. I've never had to deal with this before. I feel really bad for my Grandma. They just celebrated their 50th anniversary. It will be a tough change for her. But she is tough and smart enough to lean on God. It will be hard, but she'll be okay. I'm praying for her.
Grandpa, don't worry about the harvest this year, we've got this one. Take some time and take Jesus to a Tiger's game. This may be their year. We'll miss you.

I feel like the wind has been taken out of my sails. I just don't have the energy I had before, and I don't really want to be in a group. That makes camp very hard sometimes. I don't know how to feel, this is all new and different.

My Travels

All right, here we go. During my time in Switzerland I kept a bit of a travelogue, just observations about what was going on while I was there, as I mentioned. I've divided it into three separate entries. Today is the first:

I'm in the plane right now. The plane is cruising at around 10,600 metres - 10kms straight up. They handed out warm moist towels. And then, about ten seconds later they were following with a tub to collect the used ones. I think people were wiping hands an faces with them. It's like take-off makes people dirty. Or moist...

I like how clouds look from the top. We are over Northern Manitoba or Northern Ontario [note: it was Manitoba]. The clouds are very far beneath us, very solid looking. It's very awesomely sweet.

"Failure To Launch" is actually not a terrible movie. They have a naked room (watch the movie, you'll understand).

"Pushy Americans, always showing up late for every war." A line from Chicken Run, said by Commander Fowler.

I want them to land in Scotland. But they won't. Jerks.

I finally talked tot he kid sitting next to me. His name is Josh. He's travelling back to Vienna from Calgary by himself. He lives in Vienna with his mom who is divorced from his dad. He had family all around Europe, so he travels alot. The divorce and situation is hard on him, it's easy to tell. I wash I had talked about God with him, but I didn't. That's a failing on my part. I'll pray for him though.

We had a staff meeting yesterday and at the end we had a prayer time, and the German people prayed in German. It was awesome because I'm barely mono-lingual, so I had no idea what they were saying, but God is onmi-lingual, so he knew. How cool is that!

We're all here now, we just have to get ready for the kids.

My biggest responsibility as a counsellor is to get connected with the kids. I think I can do that, though the language barrier might be interesting to work around.

I jusmped out of a window yesterday and biffed the landing. Now my wrist is sore. It's not swollen though, so I'm not worried [note: the wrist is better, not sore at all]

They have pink and blue toilet paper here!

The kids come in less than 48 hours. I'm really started to get excited. The staff here is getting along great. There are many people from so many places worshipping one God. Man, God is just going to do GREAT things here!