this isn't trick photography - it isn't even poor photography. this is actually how things look here
As tempting as it is to update the blog on a regular, timely basis, I have been able to fight the urge for a while now. No more of that. Today I give in.
Debunking myths has become a popular pastime of Americans as of late – first started by a pair of pyromaniacs on the Discovery Channel and most recently adopted by our very own President in discussing national health care options – though the televised explosions occurring in the latter situation are a lot less enjoyable to watch.
As such, I’d like to comment on one of the more pervasive misunderstandings… about summer. I had heard that there was less work to be done during the summer break than what one might expect during the regular school year. This is simply not true.
On top of demand for website work (which extends my stay here, little by little), students have increased time for activities while school is out, our team is down to myself and Beth while the others raise support stateside, and we now have two lovely exchange students who we are in charge of training – that means two weeks of orientation, language classes, and integrating into the culture. Shorthanded, short-staffed, and short of breath.I’ve literally been sleeping at work – much to the chagrin of the Colemans’ cat, whose care I have been charged with.
It will most likely continue this way for a while – at least until teammates start returning and slowly easing the burdens. I invite you – during this time where blog updates may take a back seat to other priorities, like, say, eating – to follow our new student website at www.unterwegstu.com and to follow me and our exchangestudents on Facebook.
This project by programmer Jonathan Harris is what inspired me to do the Hope/Fear project back in November. As a refresher, I collected photos of people around Tucker (and via Facebook, around the world) with their greatest hopes and fears written on sheets of paper held in front of them. The sermon that accompanied the project was possibly the easiest I have ever written – simply because the people that had participated had, in large part through their collective stories, already written the sermon for me. After all, any good look into the nature of God must involve a look into the nature of people.
So tonight we start a new step into the recognition of our community here at Unterwegs with the wir sind unterwegs wall. The wall is open for anyone to add their signature or their photo or something personal to, and – hopefully – this will continue indefinitely. Our hope is that this will create a new feeling of impact and ownership of the community among students here in Tübingen – and that, through their collective stories, we will write a sermon that will change lives without ever being preached from a pulpit.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, the toilet needs cleaning.
In German, it's a double entendre - which means that there are two entendres.
I don’t know about where you are, but it’s August here in Germany. Among Europeans, August means one thing: vacation. At these higher latitudes, the summer heat is now reaching it’s peak, and everyone packs their bags and heads out of town to use up four weeks out of their six weeks’ vacation (I know, right?). Where you go is not important – the single criteria is that you spend August away from where you live.
Meanwhile, work at Unterwegs continues, albeit at a little more relaxed pace from the breakneck speed of things during the regular semester. We’ve celebrated a late-night birthday party. We’ve finally made steps in turning our utility closet into an office – plastered the walls, sanded, painted, and even put in some fantastic furniture we pulled from the dumpster. We put together a new wall (above) to start putting pictures and signatures of everyone who comes through Unterwegs on.
I’ve even found an apartment (the homelessness ends on September 1).
So it’s been productive, even if it doesn’t make for terribly interesting blog material. Don’t you worry, though – the newest batch of exchange students arrives from the States in 11 days. With the Colemans and Chandler still stateside until the middle of September, the job will most likely become more interesting than the standard German vacation time is long.
