Thursday, March 31, 2005
Jumping In--Literally!
Here in Norway, you are considered extra-tough (and probably extra-crazy) if you go swimming in the sea before the 1st of April. Being that we have the Norwegian Sea as our backyard, some of the staff challenged the students to go for a nice winter swim this afternoon. There were 6 of us total who decided to take the plunge. Basically, the feat consisted of jumping in off the dock and swimming as furiously as possible (while remembering to breathe!) to the ladder taking us back to shore. And boy, I don't think you know cold water until you've swum in the Norwegian Sea in March! Okay, maybe if you did it in December, you'd also have a pretty good idea :-), but nonetheless, it was freezing! The initial impact sent a shock through my body, but somehow, despite my tingling toes and racing heart, I passed this rite of passage and have lived to talk about it--hopefully without any irreversible damage to my central nervous system. And apparently, I get extra points for bravery since I'm from California and I don't know what cold is to begin with. "Even the California girl did it!" people were saying at supper tonight. Anyway, it was part of the experience, and when else will I ever get the chance to say I swam in the Norwegian Sea before April? If the pictures aren't good enough proof for you, I've also got a video for the record :-). More adventures to come!
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Gunhild, Denmark & Jofrid-cise...
Well, the school here has finally begun! Yesterday about 4pm, students started pouring in, transforming the base from a quiet retreat haven on the sea, to a hustle-bustle of new faces and excitement. Around 4:30, my roommate arrived! Gunhild (who I call Gunna for short) and I hit it off immediately, and the fun hasn't stopped since. She is 20 years old, and just finished her DTS in Scotland and Morocco in January. From the moment we met, she couldn't stop expressing her excitement at having an American roommate. All the students on her DTS were Americans and converted her to a Saturday Night Live sense of humor, which apparently cannot be matched by Norwegians :-). And what are the odds--she also likes to run! We took our first run together this afternoon, and tackled some pretty steep hills in the process. I'm looking forward to becoming great friends with Gunna over the next 3 months. It's a relief to know that we are going to get along fine.
There are 2 schools going on at the base here concurrently. The first is the school I'm doing--the School of Intercession, Worship & Spiritual Warfare--and the second is an Intro to Biblical Counseling school. The SOI only has 6 students, and Gunna & I are the only 2 who are living on the base (another reason it's a relief and a blessing to get along so well!). The IBC has about 20 students. All the students besides me in the SOI are Norwegian, and the IBC is all Norwegians as well with the exception of one girl from Denmark and another from Sweden. So I am the only American student in both schools! The girl in the IBC from Denmark is Line (pronounced like Lina), and we have hit it off as well. I think we are going to become good friends as time goes on, even though we are in different schools.
So my attitude for these next 3 months is to just jump in to everything! I'm trying to focus on taking every opportunity presented to me each day, and not to wait until I am comfortable or feel "ready" to try new things. For those of you who know me well, you understand that this is at times a challenge! I definitely tend to take my time easing into things, and not jump into anything without lots of thought and cost/benefit analysis :-). But I realize that I only have a limited amount of time here to learn, develop relationships, and experience new things, and so I am doing my best to take advantage of TODAY, and not wait to jump in until later. So part of this attitude make-over involved "Jofrid-cise." "What in the world is 'Jofrid-cise?'" you are wondering... Well, this afternoon about 6 of us girls joined our school leader, Jofrid, in a beautifully coreographed aerobic workout, leading me to reflect that girls have such silly ways of excercising. Why do we do this? Why do we insist on standing in rows and performing pseudo-dance moves in time with high-tempo music? Well, I don't know, but I can say that despite the silliness--or perhaps because of it--the 6 of us had a lot of fun, and I will most likely be a regular participant in "Jofrid-cise" in the future. It's part of the experience, right? And I refuse to stand on the outside and watch this time around.
So there you go--my reflection on the first 2 days of class. I'm excited to see what God has in store as I am obedient to jump into what He has prepared for me. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, and much love to you all! Until next time...
There are 2 schools going on at the base here concurrently. The first is the school I'm doing--the School of Intercession, Worship & Spiritual Warfare--and the second is an Intro to Biblical Counseling school. The SOI only has 6 students, and Gunna & I are the only 2 who are living on the base (another reason it's a relief and a blessing to get along so well!). The IBC has about 20 students. All the students besides me in the SOI are Norwegian, and the IBC is all Norwegians as well with the exception of one girl from Denmark and another from Sweden. So I am the only American student in both schools! The girl in the IBC from Denmark is Line (pronounced like Lina), and we have hit it off as well. I think we are going to become good friends as time goes on, even though we are in different schools.
So my attitude for these next 3 months is to just jump in to everything! I'm trying to focus on taking every opportunity presented to me each day, and not to wait until I am comfortable or feel "ready" to try new things. For those of you who know me well, you understand that this is at times a challenge! I definitely tend to take my time easing into things, and not jump into anything without lots of thought and cost/benefit analysis :-). But I realize that I only have a limited amount of time here to learn, develop relationships, and experience new things, and so I am doing my best to take advantage of TODAY, and not wait to jump in until later. So part of this attitude make-over involved "Jofrid-cise." "What in the world is 'Jofrid-cise?'" you are wondering... Well, this afternoon about 6 of us girls joined our school leader, Jofrid, in a beautifully coreographed aerobic workout, leading me to reflect that girls have such silly ways of excercising. Why do we do this? Why do we insist on standing in rows and performing pseudo-dance moves in time with high-tempo music? Well, I don't know, but I can say that despite the silliness--or perhaps because of it--the 6 of us had a lot of fun, and I will most likely be a regular participant in "Jofrid-cise" in the future. It's part of the experience, right? And I refuse to stand on the outside and watch this time around.
So there you go--my reflection on the first 2 days of class. I'm excited to see what God has in store as I am obedient to jump into what He has prepared for me. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, and much love to you all! Until next time...
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Arrival in Norway!
Well, today is Day 3 in Norway! The school doesn't start until Monday, so I've had some good time to adjust to the time difference, rest, explore, and get set up here in my room. When I arrived on Thursday morning, I was exhausted after nearly 24 hours of travel (Fresno to LA to Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Kristiansand) and only 1 hour of sleep the night before I left. I was able to sleep some on the plane, but plane sleep just isn't the same! Despite my exhaustion, I was awake enough to realize that Norway is beautiful! Right now I'm looking out my window at a bright yellow full moon shining over the sea reflecting its glimmering light. Wow! Day or night, overcast or sunny, the view from the balcony outside my room is incredible. It's exactly like what I might imagine Norway to look like, if that means anything. Lots of red houses on the shore, fishing boats, little green islands, and even a lighthouse. They say on a clear day, you can see Denmark across the sea.
I went for a run yesterday afternoon, and this island is perfect for running! It's mainly residential, so there aren't any busy city streets, and there isn't much traffic. The roads are narrow, windy & hilly, which keeps things interesting and adds variety (as opposed to the straight, flat streets of Fresno). It's still pretty cold here (no one can tell me the temperature in Farenheit, but I'd guess about 50-55 degrees), which I think is perfect weather for running. So it is a blessing that it won't be difficult for me to keep up my running habit while I'm here.
And it's a good thing, too, because the food by itself sure isn't going to benefit my waistline! Today for dinner I had pancakes rolled up with blueberry jam and little pieces of bacon--a nice high calorie meal :-) That is the traditional way to eat pancakes in West Norway, they say. Once the school starts, we will be eating 4 meals a day (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper), and 3 of those meals are bread. Bread & cheese, bread & jam, bread & meat, bread & bacon, bread & Nugatti (a spread similiar to Nutella, but much better, I've been told). I try to eat salad whenever it's offered, since it is pretty much the only fruit/vegetable we have (so far, anyway). But it's not that exciting compared to the wonderful salads at home. So if someone wants to send me a Fugazzi's Apple & Pecan salad by mail... haha :-)
The last thing to share (for now) is how great it is to have a wireless connection! I can sit here in my room and have constant access to the Internet. So this is a big benefit for communication, especially since I'm not using my phone while I'm here. Of course there is email (you can email me from this page), but you can also reach me through MSN Messenger (lisajeanfree@hotmail.com) and through AOL Instant Messenger (screen name: ayes4jesus).
So I think that's it for today. Enjoy the pictures and have a Happy Easter!
I went for a run yesterday afternoon, and this island is perfect for running! It's mainly residential, so there aren't any busy city streets, and there isn't much traffic. The roads are narrow, windy & hilly, which keeps things interesting and adds variety (as opposed to the straight, flat streets of Fresno). It's still pretty cold here (no one can tell me the temperature in Farenheit, but I'd guess about 50-55 degrees), which I think is perfect weather for running. So it is a blessing that it won't be difficult for me to keep up my running habit while I'm here.
And it's a good thing, too, because the food by itself sure isn't going to benefit my waistline! Today for dinner I had pancakes rolled up with blueberry jam and little pieces of bacon--a nice high calorie meal :-) That is the traditional way to eat pancakes in West Norway, they say. Once the school starts, we will be eating 4 meals a day (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper), and 3 of those meals are bread. Bread & cheese, bread & jam, bread & meat, bread & bacon, bread & Nugatti (a spread similiar to Nutella, but much better, I've been told). I try to eat salad whenever it's offered, since it is pretty much the only fruit/vegetable we have (so far, anyway). But it's not that exciting compared to the wonderful salads at home. So if someone wants to send me a Fugazzi's Apple & Pecan salad by mail... haha :-)
The last thing to share (for now) is how great it is to have a wireless connection! I can sit here in my room and have constant access to the Internet. So this is a big benefit for communication, especially since I'm not using my phone while I'm here. Of course there is email (you can email me from this page), but you can also reach me through MSN Messenger (lisajeanfree@hotmail.com) and through AOL Instant Messenger (screen name: ayes4jesus).
So I think that's it for today. Enjoy the pictures and have a Happy Easter!
Last Week in Fresno
My last week in Fresno was filled with fun and activity! On Thursday the 17th, my good friend, former roommate, and 2003 Road Trip partner, Gloria, arrived from Washington, having just returned from her DTS (Discipleship Training School) in Puerto Rico and Colombia. As always, we enjoyed lots of laughs and late-night talks. I'm convinced Gloria and I were meant to be roommates--the most natural thing we can do is be together, no matter how long we've been apart. Whether it's talking about something as insignificant as bobby-pins, or as important as effective discipleship methods, we can talk together incessantly. What a blessing to be able to spend part of my last week with such a dear friend!
Sunday the 20th was a non-stop day, beginning with a St. Patrick's Day lunch at my Dad's, continuing with an Open House Goodbye Party, moving to my last night at The Well, and finishing up with a movie night at Aunt Robyn's. This was also the day Ben from Alabama arrived! I can't really say "Ben" without also saying "from Alabama"--the two are so closely associated in my mind :-). It was a great treat to have Ben stay with us the last days before I left. On Monday, we drove up to Yosemite for the day and enjoyed the beauty of one of God's most amazing works of art. There was never a dull moment, between my unending attempts to plan each minute and Ben's natural tendency to "Take It Slow" (thanks John Legend!). Ha! If I've ever seen a more pronounced difference between Meyers-Briggs' Judging and Perceiving personality components, I don't know where it was! As his visit came to an end, I couldn't help but just be thankful to have a friend like Ben; my life is richer because of him. Again, such a blessing to have him stay with us.
I can't think of a better way to have spent my last week at home before the next adventure. Thanks to all those who came to visit, who came to the Open House, who sent their love and good wishes through phone calls and emails. It takes pretty special people to remain faithful friends across the miles, when it takes more effort than the convenience of living in the same city requires. So I hope all of you enjoy reading about my experiences the next few months. I'll try to make this as interesting as possible! :-)
Sunday the 20th was a non-stop day, beginning with a St. Patrick's Day lunch at my Dad's, continuing with an Open House Goodbye Party, moving to my last night at The Well, and finishing up with a movie night at Aunt Robyn's. This was also the day Ben from Alabama arrived! I can't really say "Ben" without also saying "from Alabama"--the two are so closely associated in my mind :-). It was a great treat to have Ben stay with us the last days before I left. On Monday, we drove up to Yosemite for the day and enjoyed the beauty of one of God's most amazing works of art. There was never a dull moment, between my unending attempts to plan each minute and Ben's natural tendency to "Take It Slow" (thanks John Legend!). Ha! If I've ever seen a more pronounced difference between Meyers-Briggs' Judging and Perceiving personality components, I don't know where it was! As his visit came to an end, I couldn't help but just be thankful to have a friend like Ben; my life is richer because of him. Again, such a blessing to have him stay with us.
I can't think of a better way to have spent my last week at home before the next adventure. Thanks to all those who came to visit, who came to the Open House, who sent their love and good wishes through phone calls and emails. It takes pretty special people to remain faithful friends across the miles, when it takes more effort than the convenience of living in the same city requires. So I hope all of you enjoy reading about my experiences the next few months. I'll try to make this as interesting as possible! :-)
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