Update from my iPod...

Note: Praise God!! My computer is now fixed!  I figured I would post this update anyways since it was pretty much ready to go at the time that my computer got fixed!

First of all, I'm sorry for the lack of updates! I was almost ready to update my blog when the unthinkable happened: my computer broke. (I know what your thinking: "Kims computer NEVER breaks!").

I am updating my blog from my iPod! My iPod is my only connection to the outside world now. I'm not used to depending so much on it, so it's been kinda exciting to have everything be touchable!

Homesickness:

A sign I found in Bremen
Never too far from home :)

I have been in Germany just over a month. That means I have now been out of America longer than ever before. And after next week I will have been away from my family longer than ever before. This has lead to the first true hit of homesickness, as I realize that this is not just another two to three week trip out of the country. At the same time I am starting to realize that I will not be in Germany much longer...so my emotions are kind of a mix between wanting to be home and wanting to stay in Germany longer.

I have also started to realize the hardships of living in another country. Nothing is easy...simply ordering a cheeseburger or buying a loaf of bread is hard because you don't know if the cashier will know English or if you'll know enough German to communicate. At first that was an adventure, but now it is just hard. It is a hardship I am learning through, and I am reminding myself everyday that I am here to learn and experience their language and culture.

Traveling:

St. Nikolai Church in Hamburg

The last month has been nohing short of amazing! Three weeks ago In spent a day in Hamburg. The highlight for me from that city was St. Nikolai. St. Nikolai is a church that was destroyed during WW2. The remnants of it, including a steeple that you can go to the top of, are now a WW2 memorial. This was the first time that I had the opportunity to learn about WW2 from Germanys point of view and was very interesting.

In front of the west side of the
Berlin Wall

Last weekend I spent three days in Berlin. I'm sure most of you know Berlins history with the Berlin wall. This again was very interesting to learn about from Germanys point of view. And I got to stand in front of the Berlin wall on both the east and west sides.  I also go to walk around Berlin's Holocaust Memorial.

Driving the pedal boat in
Bad Zwischenhahn

Yesterday I spent the afternoon in a city called Bad Zwischenhahn. This is a small tourist town in the north west Germany. It surrounds a large lake and you can rent boats for vey cheap! So five friends and I rented two pedal boats for a half an hour, costing a total of 11 €. I was the driver of my boat and had a great time pedaling around the lake!



Protests:

Logo for the protests in Germany

Back in December and January when he Arab World Protests first started I thought to myself "well atleast Germanys not protesting!". Little did I know the world events that were going to occur while I was in Germany...ever since the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, Germans have been protesting the use of nuclear power in their country. Luckily these protests have been peaceful, but about once a week they protest on the route the trams take to my house, which means the trams to my house stop running for an unknown amount of time. This usually occurs when I am alone after dark trying to get home(at around 7 pm so not too late). The police and tram drivers give the people lots of information, but not in English. This has probably been my biggest challenge here, as I try to figure out how to communicate with people who oftentimes don't speak English and try to find my way home, or atleast figure out when the trams will be running again. I always manage to make English speaking friends at the tram stops and I always get home safe, usually about an hour later then I had planned on.

School:

My German Class!

And of course there is the whole reason I came to Germany.....school! School started two weeks ago. It was a bit of a rough start as the school here does not do a very good job of communicating. But after accidentally ditching one class and being late for another, I finally have my schedule figured out! I am taking four classes. One German language class and three computer classes. So far these are all very interesting. In one of my classes I am the oy person who does not speak German. So the whole class is in English for me...no one seems to mind, too much.....


God:

God has been teaching me a lot since I have been here.  I have met people from all over the world, and have learned about their religions and cultures.  I have had a lot of time to think about my life, my calling and my religion.  I know that I am called to spend my entire life serving God full time, but He has not fully revealed to me what this means.  Over the past almost twenty-one years this calling has been revealed in small bits and pieces. I believe that part of the reason God has brought me here to Germany is to show me, in more details, what His plan is for the rest of my life.  This has been exciting, challenging and hard.  I have been constantly under Satan's attacks and every day has been a battle.  One verse that has really stuck out to me over the last couple of weeks is Esther 4:14 "For if you remain silent at this time, relief will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish.  And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"  This verse has humbled me as I realized that if I were to not fulfill God's calling for my life, He would use someone else.  This verse also scared me as I thought of the possibility of not fulfilling God's calling, and what that would mean for my future.  And this verse gave me an excited peace, as I thought of God calling me for "such a time as this".  This is a topic I'm sure I will write on more in the future...for now it is something you can be praying for!

Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, Germany

Prayer Requests:
-Please pray for my computer that all of its problems will be solved.  It is running again, but it is not completely fixed.
-Please pray for me as what I am studying here is not the same as back home.  Back home I study mostly computer programming, here it is mostly graphic design.
-Please pray for me as I continue to grow in Christ and learn about where God is leading me.
-Please pray as Easter Break is coming up and I am planning to travel during that time!

Praises:
-Praise God that my computer is working again!
-Praise God that I have made a wide variety of friends!
-Praise God for the people who bought me a bike this week!
-Praise God for the opportunities to travel around Germany!
-I finally found a place to get my favorite type of soda, Root Beer!!