Back on my side of the pond, and my side of the country for a while now, I've had a fun time getting back to the East.
I was glad to go to the airport and greet the folks from the Dominican Republic with a hello, after 5 1/2 months of minimal contact. Got hugged a bit, talked some and everyone went home happy as clams, though I thing the DR team was shell-shocked by temperatures on the negative side of the dial (GUFFAW).
I also received many-a-hug at my first time back in my home church City Heights, and I was asked to come up to the front and talk a little bit, just a few words about Russia and how it all went. Basically everything in this blog condensed into five or so minutes.
Then I got to plat drums for the first time in a LONG time, which was good. So it was fun because I got a chance
On Good Friday, I got to have a party when I got home! My mom spearheaded a little open house/party (and by little, I mean like 50 plus people) in commemoration of my safe return, so our house was full for a good 4-6 hours, though we had guests for 12 hours straight.
So after the initial hubbub of coming home, I was kindly whacked in the face by a lovely little dose of the real world. The realization that a job, a career and a life are waiting to happen. So I've applied for a little job for a few months prior to going to Kingswood camp this summer, and I have also begun applying to NSCC (Nova Scotia Community College) for photography. So there has been a lot of applications flying around for the last little while.
And finally, I'm looking forward to the end of this week for a few reasons. First off, I get to see someone I met in Vancouver! One of the staff at YWAM Vancouver is from Sheubenacadie and will be coming home for Jesus to the Nations, and I'll get to see her there! Plus, I was also asked to share a little bit at the youth conference there, which I also find to be quite awesome. So things will pick up soon.
Arrivederci.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Victory Lap
This last week has been time for my mom to see some of BC with me, because she quite simply could. Mom was really looking forward to this week for a while from what I've heard, so she certainly wanted to do a bunch of stuff here.
Day one I just didn't do anything at all. It was the first time in a long time I could say that and mean it. The only thing I really did was we went out to dinner ironically at a Russian restaurant in the area. It was more of a diluted experience, since the waitresses could speak proper english as opposed to the broken up Russian version I was used to. Also, the portions were westernized as well. A skewer of shashlik in Russia was about 12 inches at the most. Here in Vancouver it was a 20 inch skewer. I got to use the few words of Russian I know to say thank you to the host, who showed me his collection of jerseys given to his establishment by Pavel Bure, because he used to frequent that restaurant when he played for the Canucks.
The next day we took a ferry and went to Victoria, which was pretty small. We had quite an eventful ferry trip, there was a man overboard drill, and we got to see the local soccer team the Vancouver Whitecaps on bard as well. That whole day was spent walking around the town, which is quite small so we got to see most of the places of interest. I also got to say goodbye the the jazz guys as well, which was good.
Then we got to visit the Vancouver aquarium the next day, which was fun. We walked the whole thing and saw most of what was there, and I also got spit on by a beluga whale. Splendid.
Then we had to get everything ready for home. So I grabbed some of my gear I couldn't take, sold my pair of pads for $50 (considering how used they are, it's a small miracle in my opinion), and started to pack to go. We tried to meet my goalie coach as well, but that whole thing crashed and burned. I waited on a bench for about 2 hours without success. Hopefully, he'll meet us at the airport tomorrow.
Well, that's it. I'll be in NS within 36 hours, which is a welcome concept.
Arrivederci.
Day one I just didn't do anything at all. It was the first time in a long time I could say that and mean it. The only thing I really did was we went out to dinner ironically at a Russian restaurant in the area. It was more of a diluted experience, since the waitresses could speak proper english as opposed to the broken up Russian version I was used to. Also, the portions were westernized as well. A skewer of shashlik in Russia was about 12 inches at the most. Here in Vancouver it was a 20 inch skewer. I got to use the few words of Russian I know to say thank you to the host, who showed me his collection of jerseys given to his establishment by Pavel Bure, because he used to frequent that restaurant when he played for the Canucks.
The next day we took a ferry and went to Victoria, which was pretty small. We had quite an eventful ferry trip, there was a man overboard drill, and we got to see the local soccer team the Vancouver Whitecaps on bard as well. That whole day was spent walking around the town, which is quite small so we got to see most of the places of interest. I also got to say goodbye the the jazz guys as well, which was good.
Then we got to visit the Vancouver aquarium the next day, which was fun. We walked the whole thing and saw most of what was there, and I also got spit on by a beluga whale. Splendid.
Then we had to get everything ready for home. So I grabbed some of my gear I couldn't take, sold my pair of pads for $50 (considering how used they are, it's a small miracle in my opinion), and started to pack to go. We tried to meet my goalie coach as well, but that whole thing crashed and burned. I waited on a bench for about 2 hours without success. Hopefully, he'll meet us at the airport tomorrow.
Well, that's it. I'll be in NS within 36 hours, which is a welcome concept.
Arrivederci.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Back Across the Pond.
Hello,
Back on the lovely little continent of North America after a day of flying around the world, I'll give a quick recap of how that went.
We didn't sleep on the 27th, because it was pointless to sleep for maybe an hour or two before having to pack everything and leave, so we just stayed up.
We got to the airport at around 2 AM, and waited for the chance to get through customs and such. It did, thankfully, go quite smoothly in Russia. We actually had a Lufthansa worker at the baggage check, so that went very well, nobody got dinged for baggage, so that was cool.
So we first flew from Perm to Nizhny Novogorod to Frankfurt, where we were welcomed back to the Western world by a round of MacDonalds. After hanging around the Frankfurt airport a while, we took a 9-hour flight to Toronto, where the real fun began.
A few members of the team thought it would be cool to get knives in Russia, the spring-loaded ones. The kind that they got are OK in the US, but little did they know they are illegal in Canada. So customs was a royal pain, since a bunch of people on our team bought them. I didn't so I was fine. The ones who did however, got stuck up in customs for a long time and actually missed the flight to Vancouver. That flight was OK, though the TVs were broken in the plane. I luckily bought a magazine and crossword book in Frankfurt, so I was sufficiently preoccupied.
We are now staying at a church here called 'Glad Tidings'. We were originally going to stay in the base at Napier street, but a disgruntled neighbor decided to kindly greet us with a can of worms.
The building before it can be used for housing must be 're-zoned' for the purpose of housing. We did that, but an apartment complex decided to appeal the rezoning and for some reason or another called the press and told them to keep an eye on the building or something like that. We weren't explained too much about it, so that's all I know. So to be safe, YWAM vdidn't want us to be there in case TV stations/ newspapers decide to come over.
So anyway, we're here for the week, and we'll be busy for most of it.
Arrivederci.
Back on the lovely little continent of North America after a day of flying around the world, I'll give a quick recap of how that went.
We didn't sleep on the 27th, because it was pointless to sleep for maybe an hour or two before having to pack everything and leave, so we just stayed up.
We got to the airport at around 2 AM, and waited for the chance to get through customs and such. It did, thankfully, go quite smoothly in Russia. We actually had a Lufthansa worker at the baggage check, so that went very well, nobody got dinged for baggage, so that was cool.
So we first flew from Perm to Nizhny Novogorod to Frankfurt, where we were welcomed back to the Western world by a round of MacDonalds. After hanging around the Frankfurt airport a while, we took a 9-hour flight to Toronto, where the real fun began.
A few members of the team thought it would be cool to get knives in Russia, the spring-loaded ones. The kind that they got are OK in the US, but little did they know they are illegal in Canada. So customs was a royal pain, since a bunch of people on our team bought them. I didn't so I was fine. The ones who did however, got stuck up in customs for a long time and actually missed the flight to Vancouver. That flight was OK, though the TVs were broken in the plane. I luckily bought a magazine and crossword book in Frankfurt, so I was sufficiently preoccupied.
We are now staying at a church here called 'Glad Tidings'. We were originally going to stay in the base at Napier street, but a disgruntled neighbor decided to kindly greet us with a can of worms.
The building before it can be used for housing must be 're-zoned' for the purpose of housing. We did that, but an apartment complex decided to appeal the rezoning and for some reason or another called the press and told them to keep an eye on the building or something like that. We weren't explained too much about it, so that's all I know. So to be safe, YWAM vdidn't want us to be there in case TV stations/ newspapers decide to come over.
So anyway, we're here for the week, and we'll be busy for most of it.
Arrivederci.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Pulling the Curtains.
The last few days have been a bit of a recap/ reflection of the past two months and everything contained therein. I'm sure writing about writing journals is exactly something exciting or useful. But that does not mean nothing is happening.
Our team was invited back to Zakamsk, our first place to visit for dinner. It was a pleasure to see all of our friends once more before preparing to leave tomorrow. So we all had a great meal, and we also stayed around and played games and just talked with people there, and we even had gifts given to us. We each received a picture of the team from Zakamsk two months before and we also received bracelets weaved in the Russian colours, white, blue and red. So for some, it was a difficult time, because, to put it plainly, was the beginning of the end (at least, of this particular outreach). So we said our goodbyes, and took a bus back to the base in Perm.
Tomorrow we finish up debrief, go out to an Uzbek restaurant, and we also do not sleep, because we leave at abour 2 in the morning. One point of prayer is that the workers at the airport are, in a word, corrupt. They will in most likelihood charge obscene fees for baggage and without the aid of a translator, we will probably have to simply nod and agree regardless of the obscenity. So if the staff there maybe decide to practice some honesty, that would be awesome.
Бока
Our team was invited back to Zakamsk, our first place to visit for dinner. It was a pleasure to see all of our friends once more before preparing to leave tomorrow. So we all had a great meal, and we also stayed around and played games and just talked with people there, and we even had gifts given to us. We each received a picture of the team from Zakamsk two months before and we also received bracelets weaved in the Russian colours, white, blue and red. So for some, it was a difficult time, because, to put it plainly, was the beginning of the end (at least, of this particular outreach). So we said our goodbyes, and took a bus back to the base in Perm.
Tomorrow we finish up debrief, go out to an Uzbek restaurant, and we also do not sleep, because we leave at abour 2 in the morning. One point of prayer is that the workers at the airport are, in a word, corrupt. They will in most likelihood charge obscene fees for baggage and without the aid of a translator, we will probably have to simply nod and agree regardless of the obscenity. So if the staff there maybe decide to practice some honesty, that would be awesome.
Бока
Friday, February 22, 2008
Пермь (Perm)
Just a quick recap of our week here in Perm.
Although it was full of many things, it was certainly not as hectic of a schedule as we've seen in other places. We are not actually working with a church this week, but we are with the YWAM base doing things.
We've gone to a couple of schools. One is an agricultural college of sorts, where I actually had to speak French for a few people who either didn't know English or at least, knew very little. The other group was an 'American club' that meets in a library downtown, and were certainly very welcome to some native speakers of English, a rarity in Russia.
Contrary to expectations, we didn't do a practice with the team here. We only played a game (indoors, the first time in a long time) and we also had our own little ice time on a rink just outside the main rink in Perm. It was to be honest a bit disappointing, but any invitation to play there is a welcome concept.
We also got to go to the ballet as well. For a lot of the guys, it didn't seem like the ideal way to spend an evening, but I, being the patron of the arts that I am, was very much intrigued by the idea. We got to see two dances, one was the classic Verdi 'The Four Seasons', and the second was the more modern American 'The Concert'. Each one paralelled the other in enjoyability, due to their own distinct merits.
Out team is also going to have a relatively active weekend, as we are going to the circus, a hockey game, and possibly, the opera. Regardless it should be an active few days before our departure.
Бока!
Although it was full of many things, it was certainly not as hectic of a schedule as we've seen in other places. We are not actually working with a church this week, but we are with the YWAM base doing things.
We've gone to a couple of schools. One is an agricultural college of sorts, where I actually had to speak French for a few people who either didn't know English or at least, knew very little. The other group was an 'American club' that meets in a library downtown, and were certainly very welcome to some native speakers of English, a rarity in Russia.
Contrary to expectations, we didn't do a practice with the team here. We only played a game (indoors, the first time in a long time) and we also had our own little ice time on a rink just outside the main rink in Perm. It was to be honest a bit disappointing, but any invitation to play there is a welcome concept.
We also got to go to the ballet as well. For a lot of the guys, it didn't seem like the ideal way to spend an evening, but I, being the patron of the arts that I am, was very much intrigued by the idea. We got to see two dances, one was the classic Verdi 'The Four Seasons', and the second was the more modern American 'The Concert'. Each one paralelled the other in enjoyability, due to their own distinct merits.
Out team is also going to have a relatively active weekend, as we are going to the circus, a hockey game, and possibly, the opera. Regardless it should be an active few days before our departure.
Бока!
Friday, February 15, 2008
кунгур (Kungur)
Our last week outside of the base in Perm was spent in the town of Kungur, a little town about 100 KM south of Perm.
The most glaring (and enjoyable) variant on this trip was we stayed in a hotel as opposed to on a church floor. It was also very central in location so our team had relatively easy access to anything in Kungur.
We didn't spend as much time at the rink as we have in past weeks, we only had 2 0r 3 practices all week. Also there was no goalie for said practices, so I was underworked and overdressed for them. A lot of the practice featured standing around, but I don't mind that too much.
We did however have a few games. Our first was with the young kids, we mixed up with them and so it wasn't really YWAM vs. Russia. The other three games were, and they were pretty good games. We won two of them and tied one. I had to do a fair bit for a couple of the games, and not much in the last one.
We also visited a few schools and like the last time we did, we ended up thrusted into a game of basketball. The result this time around was more of whay we expected, losing by a relatively large margin.
So this was a fun week, we did quite a bit and had plenty o' fun. We stay in Perm for the remainder of our time in Russia for a week of outreach and a quick stint of debriefing as well.
бока!
The most glaring (and enjoyable) variant on this trip was we stayed in a hotel as opposed to on a church floor. It was also very central in location so our team had relatively easy access to anything in Kungur.
We didn't spend as much time at the rink as we have in past weeks, we only had 2 0r 3 practices all week. Also there was no goalie for said practices, so I was underworked and overdressed for them. A lot of the practice featured standing around, but I don't mind that too much.
We did however have a few games. Our first was with the young kids, we mixed up with them and so it wasn't really YWAM vs. Russia. The other three games were, and they were pretty good games. We won two of them and tied one. I had to do a fair bit for a couple of the games, and not much in the last one.
We also visited a few schools and like the last time we did, we ended up thrusted into a game of basketball. The result this time around was more of whay we expected, losing by a relatively large margin.
So this was a fun week, we did quite a bit and had plenty o' fun. We stay in Perm for the remainder of our time in Russia for a week of outreach and a quick stint of debriefing as well.
бока!
Saturday, February 9, 2008
цернчшка (Chernushka)
This week we went to the town of Chernushka. It's not too far away from where we are, just a few hours by bus.
The situation in Churnushka regarding hockey is a bit odd. The first time YWAM went there, it was good and organized. But, in the two year gap between visits, the head coach left Churnishka, so it is a lot less organized. So I think the team there was very appreciative of some coaching, since they haven't seen any in a long time it seems.
This week there was only one goalie to work with, so I liked getting to work one-on-one, though I only had a translator half the time. His name was Paul, and he only played hockey for 2 years.
We also went to a few different schools, something that YWAM hasn't done in Chernushka. So we got to meet with classes from a higher class elementary/jr. high school and a cadet school. At these meetings we also got invited to blay basketball and soccer. Little did we know that both games were actually publicized in the school, playing against the school teams. By some miracle, we WON the basketball game, 43-39. So that was a bit crazy, and most difinately unexpected. Then right after we went outside in about -15 weather to play soccer. The team had all their equipment, cleats, shin guards etc. while we played in winter boots. Needless to say we failed miserably and lost 9-4.
We also played a few games, and we had a little reception in our church for the hockey kids and school kids after our last practice.
So it was a good fun week, and we go to Kungur next after a weekend.
Arrivederci.
The situation in Churnushka regarding hockey is a bit odd. The first time YWAM went there, it was good and organized. But, in the two year gap between visits, the head coach left Churnishka, so it is a lot less organized. So I think the team there was very appreciative of some coaching, since they haven't seen any in a long time it seems.
This week there was only one goalie to work with, so I liked getting to work one-on-one, though I only had a translator half the time. His name was Paul, and he only played hockey for 2 years.
We also went to a few different schools, something that YWAM hasn't done in Chernushka. So we got to meet with classes from a higher class elementary/jr. high school and a cadet school. At these meetings we also got invited to blay basketball and soccer. Little did we know that both games were actually publicized in the school, playing against the school teams. By some miracle, we WON the basketball game, 43-39. So that was a bit crazy, and most difinately unexpected. Then right after we went outside in about -15 weather to play soccer. The team had all their equipment, cleats, shin guards etc. while we played in winter boots. Needless to say we failed miserably and lost 9-4.
We also played a few games, and we had a little reception in our church for the hockey kids and school kids after our last practice.
So it was a good fun week, and we go to Kungur next after a weekend.
Arrivederci.
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