I'll be home for Easter! I just got an invite from my mom for Easter Sunday dinner and I just couldn't stand the idea of not going. So tomorrow I'll be trying to adjust my flight to come home.
Nate
Monday, March 17, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
homecoming
It's official. I'm coming home after four weeks here in Holland and then possibly planning another longer trip at a later date. Not much else is new. I met a very new-agy lady in the bar and she talked with me for a bit and then started to talk at me later on. more on that later after I've cleansed my ears and my soul for a bit... keep me in your prayers. I feel like I was able to speak a bit of life to her so lets pray that that life grows in her heart to come to full fruition.
Not much else is new today, peace and love to all of you from our true life source Jesus who loves us! ah, it feels good to say that!
Not much else is new today, peace and love to all of you from our true life source Jesus who loves us! ah, it feels good to say that!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Relief
I found the Laundromat! woot woot! PARTAY! Never thought it'd be that exciting. But then again there's nothing more relieving than knowing you'll have clean underwear in the morning when faced with the prospect of not! That being said I must admit once again that I'm a lazy American who's spoiled by the use of his car. It was way shorter of a walk than I thought and that's probably the main reason I got lost in the first place. Everything in Europe is tiny . I was riding on the train on the way to Amsterdam last weekend and I noticed that there would be all kinds of space and farmland between towns and then when you get into the town everything is crammed together as if you are in a big city again... except there's not as many buildings.
That and the forests are just friggen WRONG! the first forest I saw just rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't really know why, just that it wasn't right; it wasn't like a forest should be. After a few small wooden areas passed I realized it was because all of the forests were planted, and the first growth trees had been planted in straight lines. Pathetic. sorry, and disgusting. The smaller trees around them were filling in the areas with a more natural random spacing, but the main growth was just... ugh, made me kinda sick.
Amsterdam was cool. It was old, and it was Dutch. I saw the palace, and I saw a really old section of town and then had some beer and a really good Pizza and then had to head back to Eindhoven again. My tour guide was feeling sick for some reason so she needed to head home to bed and I didn't want to get lost in Amsterdam by myself. That sounds like it wasn't much, but keep in mind that this is Europe and food and beer don't go down fast. I figured I'd have another chance, so why not head home and get some rest. No, I didn't see the redlight district. I didn't want to be turned off of sex for the rest of my life thank you very much.
Sunday I went to Ede (pronounced aye-deh) and saw Andrew Shearman and David Fredrickzs. It was really good to see them. I went to David's church, Soma, and then went to his home with Andrew and the fam and ate Shrimp for lunch! It was great! Especially seeing Andrew again, I love that guy! If you wanna read a real good blog go to AndrewShearman.com. Then I hung out with this other group of twenty-somes and watched Oceans Eleven after a great dinner of fries (which they actually had Ketchup for) and these meaty things that remind me of polish hot-dogs. the main course was really the fries though, and I was the only one eating them without a fork! The Husband of the house, Bruce, happily ate with his hands with me just so I wouldn't be the only one. I think he just liked using his hands though. :) Anything to give your wife something to be embarrassed about right? it's good for them.
So back to the question about how long I'll be staying. well, don't know yet. there's been some developments with my Visa not being applied for, so without that I'll be forced to stop working at four weeks. But there's still a chance we'll decide to have me stay. I really don't feel like it's gonna happen though... we'll see!
That and the forests are just friggen WRONG! the first forest I saw just rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't really know why, just that it wasn't right; it wasn't like a forest should be. After a few small wooden areas passed I realized it was because all of the forests were planted, and the first growth trees had been planted in straight lines. Pathetic. sorry, and disgusting. The smaller trees around them were filling in the areas with a more natural random spacing, but the main growth was just... ugh, made me kinda sick.
Amsterdam was cool. It was old, and it was Dutch. I saw the palace, and I saw a really old section of town and then had some beer and a really good Pizza and then had to head back to Eindhoven again. My tour guide was feeling sick for some reason so she needed to head home to bed and I didn't want to get lost in Amsterdam by myself. That sounds like it wasn't much, but keep in mind that this is Europe and food and beer don't go down fast. I figured I'd have another chance, so why not head home and get some rest. No, I didn't see the redlight district. I didn't want to be turned off of sex for the rest of my life thank you very much.
Sunday I went to Ede (pronounced aye-deh) and saw Andrew Shearman and David Fredrickzs. It was really good to see them. I went to David's church, Soma, and then went to his home with Andrew and the fam and ate Shrimp for lunch! It was great! Especially seeing Andrew again, I love that guy! If you wanna read a real good blog go to AndrewShearman.com. Then I hung out with this other group of twenty-somes and watched Oceans Eleven after a great dinner of fries (which they actually had Ketchup for) and these meaty things that remind me of polish hot-dogs. the main course was really the fries though, and I was the only one eating them without a fork! The Husband of the house, Bruce, happily ate with his hands with me just so I wouldn't be the only one. I think he just liked using his hands though. :) Anything to give your wife something to be embarrassed about right? it's good for them.
So back to the question about how long I'll be staying. well, don't know yet. there's been some developments with my Visa not being applied for, so without that I'll be forced to stop working at four weeks. But there's still a chance we'll decide to have me stay. I really don't feel like it's gonna happen though... we'll see!
Monday, March 10, 2008
That is the Question
So, lets make this official since it is official as of today. I have the option to stay here in Europe for as long as I want to. Months,... years? *shrug* don't know. It'd be awesome because the work is great. But I'm not so sure I wanna leave my Family and friends... I really don't know what to think about this whole thing. Parts of it suck, like not having people to hang out with after work. But parts of it are nice, like the opportunities I have for cool projects.
I don't have the feeling that I'd stay for a year,... and I don't have the feeling that it's necessarily this trip that will be my long term trip.
The questions I have are more to do with what I really want in life. To be or not to be? that is the question. Ha! and that's the first time that question has EVER made sense to me! lol, yeah I know, I can be a little slow sometimes. But really, I guess I'm just throwing it out there to see what my faithful blog readers think about the idea?
So please, if you've read this blog leave me a comment with your honest thoughts. :)
I don't have the feeling that I'd stay for a year,... and I don't have the feeling that it's necessarily this trip that will be my long term trip.
The questions I have are more to do with what I really want in life. To be or not to be? that is the question. Ha! and that's the first time that question has EVER made sense to me! lol, yeah I know, I can be a little slow sometimes. But really, I guess I'm just throwing it out there to see what my faithful blog readers think about the idea?
So please, if you've read this blog leave me a comment with your honest thoughts. :)
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Lost
So There's about one Laundromat in all of Eindhoven. It's about 1.4 km's from my Hotel, so I decided to drive to get there. well, I forgot my map but went ahead anyways. How hard can it be to remember the general location? I mean, all roads lead to Rome right?
Right.
So on the way I realized I didn't really know where I was going but kept trying anyways. I found the street that I needed to go to and grabbed a bite to eat at a pizza joint on that street. The cook was from Afghanistan! he didn't know much English so we tried to talk some but it didn't work so well. I asked him if he knew about the laundromat, but he didn't know what I was asking. So I ventured out in my car a little ways without finding it. I then realized it was getting a bit late so I wouldn't have time to finish a load anyways.
So I headed in the general direction of what I knew was downtown. well,... thought was downtown anyways. I drove for a while, then realized I wasn't recognizing anything at all, then found a main street which said city centre. followed that and found it didn't go where I though.
Completely lost, but I didn't think I was at the time. I found the 'ring' which is a road that circles the city and started driving around. After driving for a bit I started trying to find one of the cross roads on another map which was in the car from my first day so I could head for the center of the city again and towards my Hotel. I thought I was on the south side of the City so I was searching for one of the main roads which were visible on the map only to see a sign that which read "DAF Museum" on the side of the road. This of course meant that I was on the completely opposite end of the city from where I thought I was. I felt really cool about that! About another two blocks and I was back to the road that I take back and forth from DAF. Three more minutes and I was in the Garage, and another four mintues and I was in my room heaving a sigh of relief and signing on to Blogger.com!
Right.
So on the way I realized I didn't really know where I was going but kept trying anyways. I found the street that I needed to go to and grabbed a bite to eat at a pizza joint on that street. The cook was from Afghanistan! he didn't know much English so we tried to talk some but it didn't work so well. I asked him if he knew about the laundromat, but he didn't know what I was asking. So I ventured out in my car a little ways without finding it. I then realized it was getting a bit late so I wouldn't have time to finish a load anyways.
So I headed in the general direction of what I knew was downtown. well,... thought was downtown anyways. I drove for a while, then realized I wasn't recognizing anything at all, then found a main street which said city centre. followed that and found it didn't go where I though.
Completely lost, but I didn't think I was at the time. I found the 'ring' which is a road that circles the city and started driving around. After driving for a bit I started trying to find one of the cross roads on another map which was in the car from my first day so I could head for the center of the city again and towards my Hotel. I thought I was on the south side of the City so I was searching for one of the main roads which were visible on the map only to see a sign that which read "DAF Museum" on the side of the road. This of course meant that I was on the completely opposite end of the city from where I thought I was. I felt really cool about that! About another two blocks and I was back to the road that I take back and forth from DAF. Three more minutes and I was in the Garage, and another four mintues and I was in my room heaving a sigh of relief and signing on to Blogger.com!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
DRIVE!
So I must say, I really like the drivers here. They actually drive! Not like us Americans who talk on the phone, eat fast food, text, and generally don't pay attention to the roads. As usual we're always trying to distract ourselves from what we are really doing and what is really important like driving! so because of that we have to lower the speed limits and drive passively! okay, okay, I'm on a rant, but it really is different here and all the drivers really are paying attention to driving when they're driving.
Work is going well. To be honest it has been a bit boring sometimes. Since I'm new to this team I'm working my way into the whole mess slowly, and well, i should say it feels quite slow. Part of the problem is getting me integrated into a project which has the right skill level for where I'm at and where I'm going. I got a project that I'm really excited about assigned to me today. It starts tomorrow and I'm expecting that I will continue to have favor in all that I do!
I met with a friend David Fredriksz for dinner and then saw John Rambo with him. It was great. We had a good talk over dinner with a few beers and then watched a mans movie with all the blood guts and gore you could ever wish for! It was actually a pretty decent movie with an ending that was better than I had expected. Of course maybe that's why it was decent, because i didn't expect much. I mean, the guys like sixty or something right? And it completely validated what one of the Dutch guys here was saying about how Americans are sadistic in our enjoyment of violence. Yep, can't deny it. I enjoyed that movie.
Nate
Work is going well. To be honest it has been a bit boring sometimes. Since I'm new to this team I'm working my way into the whole mess slowly, and well, i should say it feels quite slow. Part of the problem is getting me integrated into a project which has the right skill level for where I'm at and where I'm going. I got a project that I'm really excited about assigned to me today. It starts tomorrow and I'm expecting that I will continue to have favor in all that I do!
I met with a friend David Fredriksz for dinner and then saw John Rambo with him. It was great. We had a good talk over dinner with a few beers and then watched a mans movie with all the blood guts and gore you could ever wish for! It was actually a pretty decent movie with an ending that was better than I had expected. Of course maybe that's why it was decent, because i didn't expect much. I mean, the guys like sixty or something right? And it completely validated what one of the Dutch guys here was saying about how Americans are sadistic in our enjoyment of violence. Yep, can't deny it. I enjoyed that movie.
Nate
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