Church Encouragement

Sunday 1-31-10

We got up today and got ready for Church. We were really early again, so we went to a café. I got a cheese and ham scone, which had green onions on it. You would think that would be listed too. So I picked out as many onions as I could find. Vile things, onions.

Then we went in to Church and sat down near an older lady. It was a Presbyterian Church and quite formal. So our feet had to be on the ready as we stood up and sat down frequently, and we never knew when we had to stand or sit. They sang songs we never heard of. The music was at the top and 7 verses on bottom. So we could never match the words with the notes. By the time we got to the seventh verse, we kind of got the hang of it, but then it was over. Also, after each verse, the organ would hold out the last note as if to end the song. Kind of confusing.

Then there was greeting time. No one stood up to greet each other, so we never really talked to anybody. The lady did eventually say something to Alison, but I could not understand her. There was an announcement that newcomers could come for coffee after service, and the lady kept telling us to go.

Then we sat through service, but there was a guest speaker that we really couldn’t follow. Then we sang and had “reflection time.” When the service was over, the lady dragged us to meet the pastor. He was really nice and told us if we needed help with anything, to email him as he knows how we feel. Apparently he did something similar in Germany.

We then left and went to get laundry soap and fruit. Then we walked to the counter of the hostel and asked about long term stay. She said if we were not students, we could not stay longer than a week. She said they sometimes had full houses and dorms so they wanted room or something. We really didn’t understand why they would give up a sure payment. Anyhow, it put us in a spot, so we went down to a nearby hotel (which is more like a hostel and asked if we could stay there from Wednesday on. She said they had vacancies and we could stay up to 2 weeks, possibly longer.

So we booked that and I got a caramel crepe…to make me feel better. Then I made out 2 CVs. One for the museums and one for Early Childhood Education Centers. Then I called mom again for the $2, 2 hours. This time we talked until it was actually 2 hours. It just was nice to hear her voice.

Then Alison and I decided to go to the 7:00 service at a Church she found. She actually found a list of Churches, so we didn’t have to walk everywhere to find Churches. We always learn the hard way. Before we went, we fixed our peanut butter sandwiches and fruit. We had to get the bread from the fridge. In order to open the kitchen door, you have to punch in a code (found on the back of the room key) turn one knob and turn the door knob at the same time. Quite tricky.

So we ate and got ready to go. I was just coming out of the bathroom when a whole bunch of college people were coming together. They were blocking the hallway and making a lot of noise. Then one girl had a crazed look and was coming after someone in front of me with a hanger in her hand. I squeezed past them and hurried to my room.

Then we left to go to Church. It was late starting so even though we were late, we were early. The music was loud. The first song I recognized was “Oh Happy Day” (a song I sang in choir, and I really didn’t like it).

There were two other songs I recognized. They had a greeting time. A lady came and asked us where we were from. We talked to her for a minute and she rushed to the pastor to tell him people from California and Holland (a couple in front of us) were looking for jobs. So he made us stand up and have people pray for us. It was awkward. I guess it was cool to know that people who didn’t even know us were praying for us.

The service was long and ended strangely, like it wasn’t really done. We were the first to leave. People were being “free” in the service, meaning they danced a lot and jumped around.

]Anyway, we walked back and got ready for bed. When I was in the bathroom, there were really giggly and loud girls right out my door. When I came out, one was like a Gothic person with black lipstick and everything. While I took my shower, the drain was clogged, I guess. When I went to wash my feet, my flip-flop was floating around in the water. Kind of gross.