definition of culture.

i just started a book for my gender & culture class called, culture-centered counseling and interviewing skills (by paul b. pedersen and allen ivey). they begin their book with a very interesting definition of culture:

"culture is not something outside ourselves, but, rather, an internalized perspective that combines the teachings of every significant person or group we have experienced, read about, or heard about and from whom we have learned something. when individuals try to understand their own or someone else's culture, it is understandable that they are frequently overwhelmed by the complexity of the task. each of of us then 'belongs to' a thousand or more cultures, any one of which might become salient or most relevant depending on the time, the place, and the situation."

another polish friend!

last night, a friend and former professor of mine (dr. al lunde) introduced me to a young lady from lublin, poland who has worked here in the states (wildwood, nj) for the past three summers. we all had dinner together in cape may...it was so neat to talk about poland and hear her polish accent! she told me that the next time i come to poland, i'll have to visit her in lublin (eastern poland) and she'll show me around!

me, dr. lunde, and karolina

group photo!

camp pictures!

click for pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/podgorzyn2007

stay tuned for more updates!

gordon college!

...and right NOW, i'm updating from the gillies cafe here at gordon college where we're moving my brother, eric, into school. look for a REAL update within the next week or so, but bear with me - i move into school on monday and begin classes on tuesday!

ah, crazy schedule! =)

and she's back!

i'm now sitting at sue thomson's desk at SEND International in michigan! i leave for the airport home soon and will see my family VERY shortly! YAY!

i survived podgórzyn 2007! =)

i'm back from camp! i have so many new friends, so many stories, and SO many pictures! these next couple of days are going to continue to be incredibly busy - tomorrow we're still spending more time with the campers (since most of them live in town), with ice cream in the town square and a girls' movie night later on. tuesday my flight leaves wrocław at 7:15 am, so naturally that means heading to the airport REALLY EARLY. luckily, another girl on staff is on my same flight to munich! so we'll get to fly over together and spend time in the airport - we both have three-hour layovers. =) i should arrive in detroit at about 5:30pm on tuesday.


i searched all of my pictures to try and find the *classic* camp podgórzyn picture. since i do not have the group photo yet, it was hard but i am happy with my choice of this picture which is currently my computer wallpaper:

rebecca (new york), marek (wrocłow - camp leader), me, maria (holland), jagoda (wrocłow - my roommate!), chris (poland)

camp TOMORROW!

after 5 hours of training, 6 pizzas, and a trip to the city for ICE CREAM - the camp staff is ready to head off to CAMP TOMORROW!!!

i'm feeling a lot better and building many new friendships with the STAFF. our staff is very international - one girl from holland, one girl from canada (who is chinese), two girls from australia (one of them was born in poland and has also lived three years in africa), one man from america (but he's lived in poland for five years now), and a few polish people, and a few more american missionaries. it's so great to learn about different cultures and discuss different words and learn about PEOPLE.

looking at the schedule, it is going to be an intense week. we've been warned ahead of time that we probably won't be able to sleep much. and are actually encouraged not to do so because "the deepest conversations happen at night." here's where my college experience comes in handy, eh? haha. during the day there are english classes and we have afternoon activities and bible lessons and discussion groups in the evening.

CONTINUE to pray for me, for our team (and unity and strength therein), and for the campers!

eve (australia), me, maria (holland), debbie (canada), keren (australia)

time in the city.

today we have free time until 5pm, so i jumped on the tram to tackle the city of wrocłow! i spent some time at the rynek, did a little more shopping, walked to cathedral island (and stopped in at every cathedral on the way), visited the botanical garden, grabbed some lunch, and here i sit at an internet cafe!

i miss lubin and the people there VERY much, but i know that God wants me here for the camp! we begin training this evening and then we all leave for the mountains on thursday.

here we go!

wrocłow!

today i leave lubin and head on down to wrocłow to begin preparing for the english camp!

kraków!

out of all of the pictures i took yesterday while walking around through kraków, this one is my favorite. there were so many musicians playing in the streets, but this guy on the guitar just seems so chill. he's just having a great time - just him and his guitar.


we also visited the castle:


tonight at the coffeehouse was a blast - i have decided that i've played more uno in the past two weeks than i have in my entire life. i'm slowly learning what i call "uno polish" - how to say things like the names of the colors and "what color is it?"

poland:

the past and the present,
the old and the new,
joining together -
walking hand in hand...

lessons from contra.

a few weeks ago back in the states, i tried something new. i went contra dancing. now, i had heard of contra dancing through my friend jim (check out his blog!) and he had shown me some of the basic steps. other than that and a youtube video, i had no idea what i was getting myself into. as the music started, i felt excited and comfortable to jump right in. as i was dancing with one man, he said to me, "are you new to contra?" "yes, i replied." "well then, don't worry about messing up. just always smile and have fun."

today i went with pat, carlene, and the kids to a city called ścinawa to visit a women's shelter. there, none of the polish women spoke english. for a while, i felt a uncomfortable and unsure of how to fit in. then i remembered the words of wisdom from my contra partner - "just always smile and have fun." while pat and carlene spoke with the ladies, i tried to understand the conversation from body language, context clues, and what little translation my missionary friends had time to give me. i was able to play with the children - they didn't seem to recognize the language barrier. in addition to this, i realized that even if i could not sit down and have a long conversation with someone, i could pray for pat and carlene as they did. i walked around the building and prayed for the women who live there. i don't know their stories - but God surely does.

culture, culture, culture.

there are moments when i'm walking through the store or down the street or just sitting at the coffee house, when i just think to myself - "hey, i'm in poland." i suppose it's still that "honeymoon sensation" of being in a new culture where everything is new and exciting.

like this exciting story - yesterday i went with paul to the store to buy supplies. as i was looking at the flavored syrups, i held one in my hand looking for others. an older woman came up to me and she began to speak in polish and point to the different signs. at first i was a little freaked out - "do i tell her i only speak english? what if she asks me a question? what do i do?" finally it clicked - she was pointing out that the syrups on the second shelf were cheaper than the one i had in my hand! WOW! "tak, tak! dziekuje!" ("yes, yes, thank you!") i said smiling and proudly - i understood her! she said "you're welcome" (in polish, of course) and walked away. paul came back over: "what did she say to you?!" "she told me that this one here is cheaper - let's get it." "was she speaking english?" "no, polish. but i understood her!"

lately i've been working on a lot of coffee shop stuff - making a menu, new drinks, posters, flyers, and such. i've also been able to spend a lot of time with the people here - sightseeing some with pat and carlene, having tea with bolgusia, playing volleyball with the neighborhood guys. in addition to that, every night from 17.00-22.00 i'm hanging out at the coffeehouse with the kids who come there. building relationships is tough across the language barrier, but communication is much more than language. please pray for relationships to be built here!

the dreaming bridge.

today was a fabulous day! a few of the missionary women and i took a trip to nearby wroclaw to explore the city a bit. as we walked to a cathedral, we neared the very bridge i spoke of in my support letter. my letter read as follows:

"Last May, I traveled with the Philadelphia Biblical University’s Chorale through SEND International to Poland and the Czech Republic. While I was in Wroclaw, Poland, there was a bridge (left) that we walked over on Cathedral Island. Tradition has it that if you walk over this bridge and “dream a dream” while silently walking over this bridge, then your dream will come true! At the time, we thought that this was a very creative way for parents to get a few moments of silence. =) Yet now, I remember the dream I had: that I would be able to return to Poland. This dream is coming to a reality! This summer, I have the opportunity to go to Poland for a month!"

as we neared the catheral today, we walked across this very bridge.

this time as i walked across it, i still did not speak. i thanked God over and over again for His amazing provision in fulfilling my "dream." over a year ago, it was just that - a dream - who would have thought it possible? but with God, ANYTHING is possible - even your wildest dreams.

tornados.

"Poland was hit by a tornado, which is rare in Europe. News channel tvn24 showed roofs ripped off farmhouses and barns and cars destroyed near the southern Polish city of Czestochowa on Friday night.

At least 7 people were injured and hundreds left without power.

"Suddenly I saw the trees outside swaying violently and looked out to see a brown funnel approaching. We all took cover just in time," one middle-aged man told tvn24."

Reuters, UK


a man spoke about this situation this morning at church, saying that villages were destroyed and people left with NOTHING.

czestochowa is three and a half hours southeast of where i am right now. please pray for the people who lost their homes and family members due to this tornado!

cafe logos!

my mind is reeling with polish words. even now, i clicked the wrong button and outloud i said, "nie!" ("no"). and as i fumbled to find english words to express myself, the missionaries laughed at me and said, "she can't be losing her english already!" yet i find that i use my words less and my facial expressions and hand gestures more - even around english speakers if i'm in that mindset.

today was my first day at cafe logos. it was INCREDIBLE. as i was standing there, learning how the ministry worked, all i kept thinking was of how thankful i am for people like YOU who have supported me financially and who are praying for me as i'm here. i mean, when you gave and when you told me that you'd pray i was grateful enough, but now it just means SO MUCH MORE because i'm actually seeing the kinds of things that i will be doing.

so what exactly will i be doing while i'm here? great question! i actually found that out today! i'll be working here at the coffee shop (tuesday, wednesday, friday, saturday) - this includes hanging out with the *kids* (er, youth) and forming friendships with them. there is only one or two girls that come, mainly because there are only men that staff the place (andrea - we need you!). also, i will get to serve drinks! today we went out to find some flavor syrup to make flavored drinks. we found *some* near baking... it seemed to work okay. so i made a vanilla raspberry latte! paul eager said that they'll need some help with the actual coffee house business, so i get to help out on that end too. i am sure going to have fun with this. excel, here i come. ;-)

today was an excellent first day of official ministry, yet now it is time for me to get to bed! church tomorrow @ the coffee shop - 11am!

ah, lubin.

this picture is such an incredible example of the merging of old and new here in poland. in the background you see a simple church. in the foreground you can see the stone foundation of a very old building - this was once part of the old city of lubin. now, this area is fenced off and they are beginning to build a "gallery" (a mall) on this property. however, to preserve the old city, they will somehow use glass walls over this foundation in order to keep the old and rebuild the new.

i'm here!

so i'm sitting at the eager's house in lubin, poland! as i clicked to this website, i notice that the words i type are in english, but all of the website is in polish. so it's a good thing that i know my way around the website to begin with (can we say, "addicted?" haha), so i'm pressing buttons with my best guess. =)

in any case, I'M HERE! the flight was long, and since when do we have tornado warnings in connecticut? we ended up taking off in a thunder storm! ah! but we landed safely and i enjoyed my 7 1/2 hours on a *german* flight (the attendent spoke to me in german until i said, "ENGLISH?"). upon landing in munich, i had 20 minutes to run to the other terminal to catch my next flight - and my luggage didn't even make it on the plane! PLEASE PRAY that it will come soon! it's okay though, i'm prepared with toiletries (under 3 oz. of course) and an extra set of clothes in my carry on.

today is a day to rest a bit, tomorrow i'll get orientated to the ministry here and then, jump in!

hey guys - i'm in POLAND!!!! =)

this is it!

ladies and gentlemen, in less than 12 hours, my travels to poland begin!

here's the schedule:
2:31pm - departure from hartford, ct
4:05 - arrive in washington d.c.
-- four hour layover! --
8:05pm -- depart for munich, germany!
-- 8 hours and 10 minutes in the air! --
10:15am -- arrive in germany
11:05am -- depart for wroclaw, poland (yikes! short layover!)
12:25pm -- arrive at my final flight destination - wroclaw, poland!

paul and pat from lubin will be meeting me at the airport. i've seen paul in pictures and i'm hoping that i recognize them easily! i'll ride back with pat to lubin (about three hours away?) where i'll eat some food and get settled in.

i cannot believe that i'm leaving TOMORROW. it has been such a long journey or preparations and prayer that it honestly feels incredibly surreal right now. my bags are packed (except for a few items of clothes that are hang drying), my tickets ready, and my clothes are laid out for tomorrow. now all i have to do is pack up my computer and charge my cell phone. yikes, the next time i go to bed, i'll be in a different country. hey, next time i update here i'll be in a different country!!! =)