Some days you just have to laugh. It's either that or cry. I choose laughter. Here are some funny moments from my life in the last week or so.
"Tea Boats?" Background fun-fact: As I learn new words in Russian, I start to forget/mix up the easy ones I learned forever ago. This is an example. I wanted to buy 5 tea spoons as a christmas present for Rochelle, so I went to the bazaar and the market where I knew I could find them. I asked three different women, "Do you have tea spoons?" and each time they asked me to repeat myself and showed me metal tea infusers for loose tea, not spoons. I thought they just didn't have them there, so I walked home. As I was walking, I literally laughed out loud- I realized instead of asking for tea spoons (chaini lozhki) I had actually asked for tea 'boats' (chaini lodki) three times. "Amanda: Closet Activist?" Every Friday morning, the workers at Living Hope Church have a meeting for three hours to talk about what's been going on in the church, debrief recent events, plan ahead and make the schedule, and pray together. So, every Friday morning I tell Valiya I have a meeting, and every time she gives me a weird look, asks me where it's being held, and who's going to be there. It was always a little weird how she asked so many details about a simple church meeting. I had no idea what I was really saying. In Russian lessons last week, my tutor was telling me about places that use certain prepositions in Russian (в and на places, if you must know). One of the ones we talked about it the word 'митинг', which is pronounced almost exactly like the English word 'meeting'. However, the meaning is very different. The Russian 'meeting' is the word used for large-scale, outdoor, public events like picketing and protesting. Guess which word I've been using to describe my Friday morning church meetings? Yep- apparently I've been saying that I will be attending a protest at church every Friday morning with the church leaders and pastors.
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It's pretty crazy, but I think God designed me for Ukraine. I think this mostly because I haven't eaten a whole lot of foods over here that I dislike. Other than the soup-every-day-diet, which gets old sometimes, it's been great.... with two exceptions: Holodets- Think chicken soup jello. That's literally what it is. the taste isn't what makes it hard to eat- it's the texture. You see jello. You expect jello. You get a somewhat-hardened form of (surprise, surprise- not) soup. Why would you want to eat soup instead of drinking it? I have no idea. I, personally, have never thought "Gee, why can't I eat soup with a fork? It would make life a whole lot easier." But they love it here. Sala- Sala is pig fat rolled in salt. Not tasty pig fat, like bacon- just pig fat. If you don't know what you're eating, it probably wouldn't be all that bad, since most people eat bacon without thinking twice. But once you know what it is, there's no going back. The gritty salt coating does nothing to take away the fact that you're eating pig fat. Nothing can take away that knowledge. Some things in life you just can't un-learn. Thankfully, I've been able to be polite about new foods, and am more than willing to try anything once. In the cases of these two foods, I've expressed to Valiya that we don't have these in America, and that I don't think I hate them- it's just so new that I don't even have the ability to process what it is I'm eating.
I just say "It's.... 'new'....". This week contained so many random happenings that I just have to share them. Here goes. Saying Goodbye Suck That's right. It's no fun to say goodbye to people you've been working with and having a great time with. On Thursday, Lindsey left to go back to America. I met her when I was here this summer and came back just in time to hang out with her for another month and a half. She's now back in Iowa getting ready to go to school for a bit. I'm so thankful that God brought us together this summer and fall- she's been so fun to be with, wise to talk to, and encouraging. I'm praying that the Lord will bring another awesome follower of him like Lindsey to hang out with and be mutually encouraging. Before Lindsey left, a few friends got together at Top Sandwich and made her a fry cake for her birthday. Needless to say, it was probably the best cake ever made and she loved it (or at least pretended to!). Worship Night On Friday, we had a worship night at the church. It was great. I love singing in English and Russian!! Kind of makes me think of what Heaven will be like (see Revelation 5, 7:9). We sang this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4ccyUztz4M (Hillsong: You Are Stronger- I guess it's only available with random paintings of Anglo-Saxon Jesus... we sang it without them btw). Anyways, a great time was had by all. SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!! As the title suggests, this week there was snow. I walked to my Russian tutor's house for lessons on Monday afternoon and quarter-sized flakes were falling (and sticking), and when I walked back after my lesson an hour or so later, there was a solid 3 inches of snow on the ground. It was beautiful. Apparently it doesn't normally snow this early in the year- normally it snows after New Years and in January/February. However, this year has been especially cold (it was -7 C during the day today with a wind chill that made it feel at least 10 degrees colder), but thankfully, next week it's supposed to warm up a bit (into the 30's during the day). The Roller Coaster of Success I've found that my success in Russian is on a solid every-other basis. On Friday, it was awesome. I understood EVERY WORD Tatiyana (my tutor) was saying. Every word. Not just the general jist of what she was saying- EVERY WORD. This has not happened since I met her this summer. It was a moment of victory (that included crab chips, of course- the only food worthy to be eaten in moments of sheer victory). This was a win for me, and a win for Amurica. Now normally I don't keep score (Ukraine: 500,000,000,000,000; Amanda: 4), but when I have a fleeting moment of victory, I like to chalk it up for a win for democracy, freedom, liberty, and the American way. In moments like these, one song runs through my head: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzkINTeCeUw (but in my version the blue angels fly overhead, like in the Superbowl). This was my Friday. Monday was a different story. It was horrible. Like, I can barely remember the word for blue, horrible. BAD. But on Tuesday, it was great again. On the current trajectory, I'm due for a horrible lesson on Friday. Never Give Apples to Kindergartners
Don't do it. Ever. Even if you want to teach them simple possession ("I have") and articles ("an apple"). They will destroy it, and if it is your breakfast, you will be sad. It all sounded like such a great idea to put it in a plastic bag (or two or three) and then pass it, until curiosity got the best of the little rugrats who HAD to see what was in the CLEAR.... COLOR-LESS PLASTIC.... SEE-THROUGH.... COMPLETELY TRANSPARENT bag. Breakfast ruined- check. First, they will blow their noses on their hands and touch the apple, then sneeze, cough, and maybe spit on it before passing it to the next person to say "I have an apple". Then little Elias (a.k.a. child from Hades who doesn't know the meaning of "sit down" in English OR Russian) has to chuck the apple. Really, man? Really? You have an apple and just expressed this idea correctly in English like the 8 other kids before you who ROLLED it to each other on the floor, and you have the obviously BRILLIANT idea to just throw it at a girl who can't catch for beans. Since it worked SO WELL the first time you did it, it's probably a good idea to throw it even HARDER the next 4 times you do it. Great. That's what gets you kicked out of my English class in kindergarten- hitting, pulling hair, pants-ing, screaming, and throwing fruit. Now you have a bruised, mushy, dripping juice, coughed/sneezed/snotted-on apple that has also been licked by a 4 year old who thought the point of the game was to put it in his mouth... lesson learned: Never, I repeat, NEVER give apples to kindergartners. Ever. Here are 10 lessons I've learned (and some I'm in the process of learning) so far in the month-ish I've been here in Ukraine.. Lesson 2. Ukrainians like soup. A lot. I thought I liked soup, but Ukrainians show me up every time. Enjoy your solid meals while you can, young skywalker. Lesson 3. Your joy cannot, I repeat, CANNOT be defined by your circumstances. Sometimes the director of the school will tell you you're doing everything wrong. Sometimes your students don't understand and mutiny on the day the head teacher just happens to be dropping by for a visit. Sometimes it rains and drips in your room, all over your nice pants so it looks like you peed. Hold your head up high. Sometimes you give a ridiculously big denomination at the supermarket because you didn't hear clearly the amount you owe and you get the 'are you stupid' look from the obviously perfect and superior cashier. Sometimes all this happens in one day, and sometimes this happens several times a week. If you look to yourself or what's happening in your life for the solution, you'll always be disappointed. Look to the Lord for your joy, affirmation, and peace. You can count on Him. He is forever. Lesson 4. Look for ways to serve others. Maybe it's letting someone cut in front of you in line, or maybe it's giving someone your seat on the bus. No matter what it looks like, do it. It might be the first time they've ever been served, and it will confuse them. Guaranteed. Lesson 5. Lifts (elevators) are not reliable. Sometimes you have to use the stairs, even if you live on the 16th floor. But that's okay. Take it as an opportunity to work off all that soup. Lesson 6. Don't try to cook in Valiya's kitchen when she's home. She will feign curiosity and soon take over the situation, and then how will you ever learn to make food beyond grilled cheese, jello, and toast? Go to Rochelle's or Kim's. Lesson 7. Go to Humana (a second hand store) when everything in the store is about $1. Find H&M apparel for super cheap and warm winter clothes. Lesson 8. Always wear a hat, even though you're not a hat person. It is cold in winter, even if it doesn't look like it from behind your window. Lesson 9. Spend time with your roomies, even if you're busy. Encouraging them and learning more Russian at the same time is worth it every time. 7 months from now you won't have this opportunity. Take advantage of it while you can! Lesson 10. You will look stupid. All the time. Try anyways. If you wait until your Russian is perfect and you know exactly how to do everything, you'll never do anything. Remember, humility is the name of the game. (See blog post: Leave Your Pride at the Border) Just try. Ask the bus driver if this is the right bus. Answer the old man's question about where the potatoes are. Answer your phone when an unfamiliar number is calling you. Go to the produkty (where you have to ask for each item in a specific way) instead of the supermarket (where you can grab what you want). Accept the fact that you will look completely dumb and go for it. Then, laugh at what happened and turn it into a blog post or a fun dinnertime story to entertain your roommates. For those of you who've been following this blog, you've seen some funny things about homicidal cats, some serious things about JC and what He's been teaching me, and some moments of cultural/linguistic confusion that is part of the whole living in another country deal. Hopefully you've enjoyed it, or at least smiled a little :) For those of you who are more interested in specifics, here's some examples of what I've been up to this month-ish that I've been here in Ukraine: 1.) I've been learning Russian and growing in my use of it. It's hard, but it's been so cool to see my language abilities and understanding grow through living here with Valiya and Tanya. We laugh together (most often at me rather than with me, but I take what I can get), eat together (so.... much..... food...... all the time), and talk about the Lord together. I have really enjoyed the opportunity to live with these two amazing ladies. It's been hard, don't get me wrong, but the hard moments are balanced out by the good moments, so it's all good. 2.) I've been teaching at Эрудит (Erudit school). I teach conversational English at a local school 2 times a week. On Tuesdays, I see grades 1-5, and on Wednesdays, I see 4 classes of kindergarten and then grades 6 & 7. It's been a pretty good time so far, but definitely difficult on many fronts. It's my first year of teaching, which is filled with a lot of unknowns, tons of mistakes, and a whole bunch of inadequacy and doubt thrown in. But God is faithful- He's been at school with me for every minute, helping me through. Sometimes students get out of control and color on each other's faces with markers, sometimes they cry because they didn't get the color sticker that they wanted, sometimes your boss tells you to speak not a word of Russian to give directions to a class full of 4 year olds (yeah... that's not going to happen), and sometimes there are 4 boys named Kostiya in the same class whose extent of English is saying "I play computer games"... that's just how it goes sometimes. But in other moments, kids learn ordinal numbers, how to spell color words, how to say the names of foreign countries in English, and euphemisms for death like 'kick the bucket', 'gone to the happy hunting ground', and 'take a dirt nap'- sometimes it's just plain amazing. Some beautiful ladies from church/English club at Ladies' Bible study (P.S. My roomie, Tanya, is on the far left) 3.) I've been working with the local Russian/English speaking church called Living Hope. I help out with Saturday English clubs and am also a part of a team that recently began English clubs on Thursday nights at Mechnikov University. I've really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know people at church more and to meet new people at English clubs, and I'm excited to continue working with them this year. It's been such an amazing thing to be able to worship God in English and Russian on Sunday mornings- just a taste of what Heaven will be like. I am seriously so thankful for this group of believers and pray that the Lord will cause it to grow as we reach out to the local community.
4.) I've been enjoying time with great friends. Since I live only 5 blocks or so from the family I stayed with this summer, I am able to visit often (in fact, I'm headed there tomorrow) and hang out with Kurt and Rochelle and their family. It's also been great to spend time with new friends from church that I'm getting to know, and of course hanging out with my awesome roomies. In conclusion, Odessa is great and I'm loving it here. Though some times are definitely tough and I am constantly aware of my weaknesses, it's been great to be back and to see what God's been doing in this city, and it's so exciting for me to be a part of it! Yes, someone actually thought that. I think they got it mixed up with Uruguay?
But anyways, the deal is that many of you have no clue where Ukraine is. Several of you may be under the impression that it's in Siberia or somewhere up near the Arctic Circle. It's not. Also, you might not know where Odessa is located. I didn't before I first came here this summer. In case you're wondering, Chernobyl is not next door to my apartment, nor is it a 5-minute walk for me to Kiev. Here's a handy map feature you can use to see where I'm at in Ukraine. You can also zoom out if you want a quick refresher on world geography. Enjoy! Hey Friends!
So yesterday was great because it was Thanksgiving, but it was also great because last night we had our first English Club at Mechnikov University in Odessa. As some of you know, Living Hope Church (the church I attend and am currently working with) has a weekly English Club on Saturday afternoons. However, this opportunity to have English Club at Mechnikov is an answer to prayer for many workers in this area and is such a great opportunity for students to practice their English and make new friendships and a place for me to meet new people to live life with and have conversations about the stuff that really matters in life. About 25ish people showed up, which was really great. Our topic was on the American holiday of Thanksgiving, so we talked about how it all got started, what the holiday looks like, and had discussion groups on the importance of being thankful and different holiday traditions. It was such a fun night, and it seemed like the students really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the opportunity to practice Russian after the club with some students who didn't feel comfortable speaking a whole lot in English. It was a pretty great time of meeting new people and having fun in English. English club at Mechnikov will happen every Thursday night, so pray that it continues to be a good means of meeting people and that much fruit would come of this opportunity. So here are some spiritual thoughts that I had recently and wanted to post before things got crazy this week. Here it is, straight from the journal:
The term cross-cultural ministry has always seemed like a misnomer to me. I get the mental picture of two groups of people divided by a line called Culture with one group throwing some nebulous thing called "The Gospel" across like a football. It just doesn't work that way. You can't really minister across cultures- you can't pass the Gospel off to someone by holding it out to them across some invisible line dividing different cultures, you safely on your side and "them" on their side. You have to cross the border. Crossing the border means leaving behind your definition of "normal". It means casting aside what you've always done how you've always done it for the reasons you've always done it. Cross-cultural ministry isn't toeing the line and reaching across, nor is it quickly sprinting across the line just long enough to tag someone with the Gospel, then run like heck back to "home base" like it's some giant game of Capture the Flag. It means dropping what you know and love and leaving it behind on your side of the line to cross over to the other side. Crossing cultures means becoming a 2 year old child. It means being unable to properly express yourself in anything other than screams or small words like 'yes', 'no', and 'more please'. It means getting laughed at, yelled at, and stared at. It means getting touched, bumped, squished, and bruised. Sometimes it's not the action, but rather the absence of action that hurts- like being ignored, looked over, and misunderstood. Better get ready- crossing cultures isn't for the fainthearted. Leave your pride at the border. Crossing cultures means leaving behind your respectable position and your subsequent rights, what you're "entitled to" as a tax-paying American adult. It means abandoning your fancy education, your intelligent, eloquent speech, and your quick wit. None of that matters here. Now you won't remember the word for socks or teeth, or sometimes you'll forget the way to say 'hello' and say 'thank you' instead. Crossing cultures means choosing weakness over strength. No one embraces weakness well. It hurts. It's painful to go from knowing how to function well in your own world to not being able to properly communicate even the simplest of things. When it comes down to it, no one's a good loser. Nobody's really okay with giving up everything to look ridiculous and stupid for a seemingly endless period of time. No one likes not being able to express an opinion about anything. I only know of one person who's crossed cultures perfectly. He was royalty, the most powerful, knowledgeable, wealthy, famous person ever. He was the elite, having the respect and worship of all creation. But he gave that up. He gave up knowledge to come to a new place as a child, not knowing how to speak or even how to tie his shoes or dress himself. This guy left a life of fame to lead a life of anonymity, and eventually misunderstood, deadly notoriety. This person left a life of perfection, beauty, and ease to embrace a life of poverty, hunger, suffering, loneliness, and pain. His own family didn't even understand him. He was laughed at, scoffed at, teased, ignored, beaten, crushed, and crucified. This man, this god-man, Jesus Christ, is the ultimate example of what it means to cross cultures. He left the richness, beauty, and perfection of heaven to come live in a broken and sinful world. He learned a new language, customs, and so many other things. He left his pride at the border. Philippians 2:6-8 says that Jesus, "though he was in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross". Jesus chose this. He crossed cultures, setting aside parts of himself, to become a part of Hebrew culture. He gave up his rights as the son of God to become a lowly servant. Why? Jude writes in vs. 24-25 that Jesus is able to present us "blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen". Jesus gave up everything so that he could present us as blameless to God. Jesus left it all behind so that He could serve as the proper sacrifice to pay the penalty for all sin for all time, in order to introduce us to God. And I have the same goal: to introduce people to God. Don't misquote me here- I am not Jesus. Really. I'm not. But I am his sister, coheir, friend, and fellow laborer. I'm not trying to be him, but rather be like him and follow his example of crossing cultures. In conclusion, I have one kind of discouraging truth and one-and-a-half really encouraging truths. Kind of Discouraging Truth: I will never be able to cross cultures for ministry as well as Jesus did. Really Encouraging Truth: Jesus is always with me, every moment of every day. Plus, he knows exactly what I'm going through (Hebrews 4:15-16). Humility, service, prayer, and relentless love- that's what it takes to cross cultures like Jesus did. Are you willing to follow his example? This happened just the other day, so I thought I'd share it before I lost it! Here goes:
So I had my first two days of "teaching" this week, which were actually observation days. It was super-helpful to be able to evaluate the students' levels and see how their classes are run. Anyhow, on Wednesday I decided to be classy and wear a skirt. I couldn't find leggings or tights to go with it, so I decided not to wear them. I was planning to leave around 9:00, which is almost the warmest part of the day here this time of year, so I thought nothing of it- it would be a little chilly at the bus stop, but nothing I couldn't handle. No probs. Valiya saw me before I left the house and started telling me that I needed something over my legs. I said it's fine and that I don't get really cold. Valiya would not let it go- generally, Ukrainian babushkas think that exposed skin in cold weather is sure to bring on death or an array of wretched diseases. Furthermore, children without hats in the middle of summer are most certainly being neglected by their parents and will not live to see their teenage years. Knowing this, I gently told her that I would be fine, that I would not be cold or freeze to death. Apparently after I left the house, Valiya called Rochelle and said she was concerned for me and that I would most certainly be sick. Rochelle said it took her a long time to convince her that I would be fine. Anyways... so as I thought, the bus stop was a bit chilly, but nothing scary. I was fine the whole way to school- even in the school it was toasty warm. Until I walked outside at the end of the day (around 2:30). It was cold. I don't think I've ever understood the word cold like I did yesterday. Even in all my years of late-autumn football games with the marching band I've never been as cold as I was yesterday. Except for maybe the first year at giant's stadium... Anyways, it was cold. The wind was whipping and I could see my breath. It was freaking C-O-L-D. I finally got back to the apartment building after my 20 minute bus ride, but my hands were a little pink and my legs were frozen. I knew that if I walked in the door, Valiya would see how cold I was and "advise" me to listen to her next time. My pride didn't want that. So instead, I took the lift up to my floor, hoping I would warm up in it. I didn't really. So I did what any sane, freezing cold, prideful, sinful human being would do- I ran down and then back up about 7 flights of stairs to warm up. I got to the door MUCH warmer, and short of breath, pride intact. I went inside the house and Valiya asked me how my day was, whether I was cold, feeling sick, etc. I said no- it's all good, everything was fine- running down and then up 7 flights of stairs helped out quite a lot. I've made sure to faithfully take my allergy medicine this week, plus a healthy dose of vitamin c tablets so as not to encourage Valiya's concept of disease and health. If I get sick, you know she'll blame it on that one fateful Wednesday when the crazy American didn't wear leggings... Here's where I live! beautiful birthday flowers from Denise So yeah- this is my home. So far I love it and am enjoying the challenge of living in a foreign culture and getting to know my hosts, Valiya and Tanya, in a foreign language. Never a dull moment, that's for sure.
In other news, I went to Эрудит yesterday and today to observe the English classes I will be teaching 2 days a week. On Tuesday I met students in the primary school, and today I met students in the secondary school, some of which I recognize from the English camp I taught at this summer. It was so great to meet the kids and to get a better feel of where I will fit within the school's English program. I will be teaching 2 days a week focusing on the skill of speaking English in conversation. I'm so excited for my first "real" day of teaching next week and all it will entail! It's my birthday on Friday- I'm turning the big 2-2. It's not super-heartbreaking to be away from family on my birthday, as my last 3 birthdays have been celebrated in SC. Rochelle has set up a special birthday dinner for me and some friends with her family on Friday, which I am excited for. It should be a good time :) I'll post more news as it happens- so stay |