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Remnants of the ancient settlement on the Bodensee at the “Pfahlbau Museum.”

Catch up blog Part 1 of 2! Hiking to Würmlingen / Bodensee Class Trip

As of last Friday, our five-week intensive German course is finished. Now that I’m done studying everything there is to know about German grammar, I finally have some time to catch up on my blogging – but unfortunately not too much, because I’m leaving for Vienna in eight hours!

It’s been awhile since my last post, but I’ll try my best to write a little bit about some of the things I’ve done over the past few weeks! Because of how many things I want to write about (and the fact that it is 5 AM and I haven’t gone to sleep yet) this will have to be part one of two “catch up” entries, but part two will have to wait until I am back from Vienna!

September 18th – Trek to Würmlingen
As I mentioned in my last blog, the five of us Valpo Tübingen students became hopelessly lost in the woods on the way to visit the Brixners – longtime friends and professors of Valparaiso University. As of earlier this year, the Brixners retired from their jobs as professors at the VU Reutlingen program, and they were awarded with honorary doctorates from President Heckler at the graduation commencement in May. They absolutely love Valpo students, and even though they no longer work with them on a daily basis, they invited us to their house for dinner.

Emily and I in the middle of a field. (Dancing to entertain ourselves. We were so bored and lost.)

Mr. and Mrs. Brixner live in a town called Würmlingen – which although only a few minutes by car, is about a 1.5 hour hike through the forest from Tübingen. According to the Brixners, it is tradition that when students are invited to their house for dinner that they hike from Tübingen, along a path that originates near the castle. We were told by many that the path was clearly marked, and that finding our way would be absolutely no problem. In reality, it was anything but clearly marked! We had even read three sets of directions before setting out for Würmlingen.

The church we should have walked past. Zoomed in from a very far distance.

The path began as a concrete road, which turned into a concrete path, which became a gravel path, and eventually a dirt trail through the forest, splitting off into a multitude of unmarked forks every few minutes along the way. We were pretty successful with guessing which fork to take initially, until we made a small mistake. Luckily, we came across a woman hiking through the forest, who directed us back to the right path, and told us which signs to follow. We weren’t that far astray, so five minutes later, and we were back on the right track.

We continued onward for awhile before coming to a point where the trail split into three paths. A sign that read “Würmlingen” hung indecisively and unhelpfully between two of the paths, and after much discussion and some disagreement, we decided to take the path to the right. It was wrong, and added an extra hour and a half to our trip. So rather than visiting a picturesque, well-known chapel on top of a mountain shortly before arriving at the Brixners’ house, we took a much more pastoral route. Instead, we saw horse farms, streams, empty fields, towns, and an unfamiliar train station before realizing that we had arrived in the wrong place.

After walking about 45 minutes along the side of a road connecting the towns, we finally ended up in a neighborhood where sweet Mrs. Brixner was pacing the sidewalks in search of the five lost Americans for whom she had spent the day cooking. It was a little embarrassing, but they were happy to see and feed us nonetheless! After touring their house and garden and being entertained by Mr. Brixner’s stories, we were served the best German meal I’ve ever had – consisting of potato salad, meat, salad, and ice cream cake.

September 28th – Class trip to the lake of Constance
On September 28th our entire Deutsch Kompakt Kurs (German Compact Course) took a trip to the “Bodensee” (Lake of Constance) and the city of “Konstanz.” The Bodensee is one of the largest lakes in Europe, as well as one of southern Germany’s largest sources of drinking water.

Rococo Church Exterior

We began our tour with a stop at a Rococo-style Church close to Konstanz, right next to the water. The exterior, although beautiful, wasn’t particularly “churchy” looking, but the inside was absolutely stunning. Some people don’t like the Rococo style due to the complete sensory-overload decorations that adorn every centimeter of the interior, but I found it fascinating. Absolutely everywhere you could lay eyes upon was in some way decorative. Sitting through a long sermon during a church service there would be no problem – there’s so much to look at!

Complete sensory overload! Rococo church interior

From the Rococo church we hiked along the lake for about 30 minutes until we reached the “Pfahlbau Museum.” Here we learned about the Bronze and Stone Age settlements that were discovered dating back to 850 BC. Because the forest was so extremely thick, an entire village of wooden, thatched-roofed houses was built directly over the water on stilts. Some of the original buildings remain and some are recreations, but it was still very interesting to see and learn about. The tour guide was slightly difficult to understand at times, but I think I took most of the important details away from the experience.

Remnants of the ancient settlement on the Bodensee at the “Pfahlbau Museum.”

The next stop was a tour of Meersburg Castle, which happens to be the oldest currently-inhabited castle in Europe. The lakeside castle was a very important location during the reformation, but it is perhaps better known as the home of German Poetess, Annette von Droste-Hülshoff.

Part of the Castle Exterior

Looking out the castle window! Bedroom of the famous German poetess!

We ended our day with a ferry-ride to the city of Konstanz, where we were given the chance to explore the city before joining for dinner at a Turkish restaurant. Some people in the course took advantage of the free time and crossed the border into Switzerland, but I decided to stay in Konstanz and see some of the sights, landmarks, and churches in the city itself.

Yet another giant, old, beautiful, European church! Konstanz.

The Bodensee, and flags of the states and countries that border it

That’s all for now! I’m off to bed so I can wake up in a few hours, shove some clothes in a backpack, and be out the door en route to the airport.

Bis dann!

Street art!

October 11, 2011 / Lindsey Skala / 0 Comments

Translation: One learns more in one white night than in a whole year of sleep. All-nighter, anyone?

Coming from a fairly urban background, I’d like to think that I’ve seen my fair share of graffiti in my twenty-one years of existence. In the States (well I can mostly speak about my home base, Chicago), street-art is often gang related and while always colorful and interesting to look at, disappointingly homogenous.

Saw this on a sidewalk not too far from where I live. What does it mean? well, long live the sh*t, essentially. Instead of seeing this as negative, I’m taking it as a cheeky nod to the copious amounts of dog excrement on the street.

Thus, whenever I find myself in a new place, I always make it a point to scope out any specimens of uh, self-expression that are a bit different–more creative, more humorous, more uplifting. I’m happy to report that, in Paris, I’ve found just that. All but one of the photos posted here were taken in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, which is home to both the Pere Lachaise cemetery (home to Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde) and happens to be the birthplace of famous Parisian chanteuse Edith Piaf (as immortalized in the movie La Vie en Rose). More about the 20th later, back to its street art! While some may argue that these are nothing more than examples of spray-painted concrete (and indeed that’s what they are!), I’d like to think that there’s more to them than meets the eye!

Translation: Where will you guide your boat?

Graffiti, above all, offers information about the most important part of any city–its inhabitants! You don’t have to look far to get a general sense of the thoughts and feelings and above all, SPIRIT of the people that live around you. Public defacement of property or not, street art adds a little bit of grit and character to places that might otherwise be a little mundane or even a little too pristine. In the same way that some people plant flowers to brighten up a space, others create public art (call it what you like!) to make other people smile, laugh, and most importantly, THINK. A mon avis, (in my opinion), the world’s urban playgrounds would be boring without it! If you’re interested in seeing more, check out my Picasa album https://picasaweb.google.com/114721777633407213084/Franceypants. Ciao for now!

This was taken in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, called Belleville (Beautiful city). While I have yet to encounter a Parisian who considers this the most beautiful part of the city, it is definitely one of the most diverse and interesting.

TOO FRENCH???

October 8, 2011 / Lindsey Skala / 0 Comments

My first weeks in France, I had this reoccurring (and curious) thought: that

Une boulangerie. In Paris, you can find one of these babies about every 10 feet.

somehow all the Parisians I saw in my daily comings and goings were TOO French. French to the point that they must have been acting. The more I observed, the more I was convinced that all these cigarette smoking, baguette buying, and small-dog toting people existed only to reinforce all the stereotypes that exist about French people. It had to be a farce! Un petit spectacle du théatre! And I am here to tell you that it is anything but. It’s life à la française! In Paris, daily living is art. Everything from self-presentation to meal preparation is a delicate process which requires much time and attention to details. And the thing about the French is that they don’t apologize for their Frenchness, which is interesting to me, an American in Paris, who, for better or worse, is constantly apologizing for the supposed shortcomings or “unculturedness” of her home country. Having been here a little over a month, I’ve since decided to “laisse tomber” the apologies and instead take full advantage of my current (if unofficial) position as American ambassador to France and soak up as much Frenchness as possible, and if in doing so, I happen to leave a little USA behind, so be it.

For my smoking specimen, I've chosen mon ami Mathieu Brandisi, who was, interestingly enough a French exchange student at Valpo 2009-2010.

Où j’habite ! (and other gentle reminders that I’m not in the US)

October 8, 2011 / Lindsey Skala / 0 Comments

Quite excellently, my homestay assignment is in the 18th “arrondissement” (=French term for the districts in which the city is divided) of Paris which is called Montmartre. Home not only to the famous Sacre Coeur cathedral but also the vampy Moulin Rouge cabaret, Montmartre is generally regarded as the sort of artist’s quarter of Paris. But we’ll get back to that later! Right now, I want to give you about more of an idea about the building in which I live! When you think of Parisian architecture, you undoubtedly picture ancient and ornate apartment buildings with intricate iron balconies and flowering windowsills. And in doing so, you would be spot on! (Here, see for yourself! http://maps.google.fr/)

The view from my bedroom window! Typical Parisian landscape!

ANYWAYS i live on the 6th floor of a wonderfully old brick immeuble (apartment building!) with two wonderfully hospitable host parents. The apartment is small for our standards, but for Paris, it’s just about right! It’s quaint and intimate and I have a little upstairs loft to myself. These little upstairs fixtures are remnants of post 1860s additions to buildings (Haussmann! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris) to create more housing in the city. Thus, back in the day, my little space would have been used as servant quarters! But today it’s perfect space for housing exchange students like myself! Have a look!

La baignoire (bathtub!) Note the lack of shower curtain!

The beautiful little parlor area! I suppose our equivalent of a living room!

The view from the dining room table!

European specialty: le WC (water closet, gotta keep that toilet separate! it's both a matter of sanitation and space!)

My whole back wall is covered in empty Camel packs. What can I say? The French love their cigarettes!

Volksfest in Stuttgart

October 3, 2011 / Jake Stefan / 0 Comments

So it’s officially October here in Germany. And what does that mean? Oh yeah, Oktoberfest, of course!

Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany is probably the most famous, but there are Bierfests all over the country. After consulting with some German friends, we learned that making the trip to Munich might not be worth it. It was purportedly quite the experience, but very touristy, there’s nowhere left to spend the night, and everything is really expensive.

Instead, everyone suggested that we make a point to go to the Cannstatter Volksfest – Stuttgart’s version of “Oktoberfest” and the second largest Bierfest in the world. They told us that there weren’t very many tourists, and it was probably the most authentic experience we could have.

On Saturday we decided to take the train into Stuttgart do a little shopping and then meet up with some other people from our German course at the fairgrounds.

We ate lunch at a café that serves traditional schwabisch food, just to complete the experience. Unfortunately we had terrible service. Because customers here are expected to tip much less, there isn’t as much pressure for “service with a smile.”

Eventually we made our way to the Cannstatter Wasen – the grounds where the Volksfest is held. It was huge! There were rides and tents and food and toys and games and anything else you could dream of!

Canstatter Wasen

American Burgers! - "The Giant Hamburger"

Las Vegas!

Behind all the typical “carnival rides” they had giant beer tents that seat thousands of people. But these aren’t just like temporary cheap-o tents. These are like hardcore buildings they take up and down every year. And everything inside is done up to nines. It was surreal!

Dinkel Acker

The tent we were in

At first we had some difficulties meeting up with our friends from the course because it was so huge! We tried calling and texting but the German cell phone network kept crashing. That’s how many people there were at this Bierfest. The cell phones didn’t work. How crazy is that!?

Eventually we met up and sat with a bunch of German students. Because the Germans are pretty serious about their Bier consumption, they were pretty friendly.

Inside the tent

Panorama

We turned out to be one of the main attractions of the evening, with all the Germans taking turns teaching us all the traditional drinking songs. They showed us how to stand up and dance on the tables, as well as how to “properly” hold a Maß (1 Liter) of Bier.

The whole festival really reminded me of the smaller Galas or Fairs held in America around the Fourth of July. It was really an experience and I met some more German friends in the process!

Not all Rainbows and Butterflies…

October 3, 2011 / Jodie Buchanan / 0 Comments

So I think when people read about going abroad, everything seems amazing. And believe me it is… but there are some things that can be really frustrating. Here are the things that have been really difficult thus far:

LANGUAGE! So I think if you study abroad in a country that has one universal language this might not be as big of an issue. However, in Southern Africa there are numerous languages. In South Africa there are eleven official languages and in Namibia there are nine recognized languages. It has been so difficult to talk to people here because while I know some phrases in certain languages, there is no guarantee that they will understand what I’m saying. Needless to say it has been a huge frustration of mine.
Eating out in Namibia
FOOD! Ok so this also might not be something that upsets some people, but I have so many food allergies it is ridiculous! At first, the food here was really good; they made me lots of rice, beans and gluten free pasta. However, that is all that I have eaten now for 2 months. I am so sick of rice and beans I do not think that I can ever eat it again. I think going abroad is hard for people with any type of food restriction. On my trip we have vegetarians, peanut allergies, lactose intolerance, and gluten allergies. I know that each person has experienced aggravation with eating food here. But with all of that aside there is a food here called pap. It is one of the greatest things ever! I think I could eat it every day
AFRICAN TIME! I was raised on the mentality that if you’re early you are on time and if you are on time then you’re late. The idea of punctuality does not exist here in Africa. The locals have constantly called their concept of time “African time” They get to places when they get there and they complete tasks when they decide to complete them. It has been something that has been very difficult for me to adapt to because I am used to being so leisurely with my time. But I think that it is a part of my lifestyle that I could eventually learn to change. When I was in South Africa, I was walking with one of my host sisters and I told her that I was not used to walking so slow, because in Chicago it is so fast paced. In response she said to me, “Why would you want to rush to a destination? The fun part is getting there. The place you’re going to will always be there, so take your time getting there.” I really love that idea, and while this slower paced life has been difficult for me, I can see it being in my future.
Waiting on the bus

4. LIFE BACK IN THE STATES! This has probably been the hardest thing for me to deal with. Being here in Namibia, I have felt torn between two lives, the one here in Windhoek and my life back in the states. It can be really difficult to balance the two of them because you want to experience as much as possible here, but at the same time you want to stay connected with family and friends back home. It has been so hard when family or friends tell me about things going on at home that I want to be there for. Now I know being in Africa is probably a lot cooler than most of the things going on back in the US, but it is still a struggle to find a happy medium between contact with loved ones and truly enjoying your time abroad.

Out with some friends.

Like I said before, I am in love with Namibia and most days I find it hard to imagine leaving this place to go back home. But that doesn’t mean that everything about your abroad experience is going to be perfect. You just have to look at the positives and in my case that means being in the beautiful, warm country of Namibia and getting to see a glimpse into a world outside my own.

Click! Here I come!

September 29, 2011 / Stephanie Volz / 0 Comments

Lichtenstein

Last weekend was the weekend of palaces, castles, and fortresses for me. It’s been one of my favorite parts of traveling so far, being able to see all the cool sights and beautiful nature of Germany. On Friday, our class ended at noon, so we decided to spend the afternoon at Lichtenstein Castle, only a short bus ride and a steep hike away. Lichtenstein Castle, not country. And in no way related to Heath Ledger as Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein. Sadly. But the hike was incredibly beautiful, like walking through a Tolkein novel, with moss-covered rocks and castle ruins on the way up. The castle itself was also beautiful. It was built only a few hundred years ago, and was based on the description of a castle in a book. Even though it was fairly small, it still held all the awesomeness of a castle. Really, they’re pretty dang cool.

When we got back to Reutlingen that night, I decided that I really wanted to go somewhere over the weekend, because we have German Rail passes that expire next week. Since it was the night before I needed a hostel, reservations were hard to find online, and I tried several cities before finding one that would work. The first one I found was in Würzburg, a town in northern Bavaria, so without really knowing what the town had to offer, I decided to go for it! And then after reading about the town and being there, I’ve decided that randomly picking a city on a hostel website can turn out to be an amazing weekend. Even if you do have to go by yourself because the rest of your group is lazy.

Residenz

After wandering the city for a bit, I headed to the Würzburg Residenz, the palace constructed for two prince-bishops and finished in the early 18th century. The largest fresco in the world is located there, and actually is pretty funny. It depicts the four “continents” of the world, with Europe as the most modernized, and the Americas as this backwards place. Each nation had its own symbolic creature, and I found it amusing that the American scene depicted a native American woman riding an alligator. Pretty interesting stuff right there. But it was also a beautiful palace inside and out. It even had the typical palace mirror room, a room made entirely of mirrors with paint and embellishings on them.

I also hiked up a hill covered in vineyards for wine to the old Fortress Marienberg. I didn’t take a tour, so I didn’t get inside the buildings of the fortress, but even being on the grounds and in the courtyards was impressive. It gave a full view over the river Main and the downtown area of Würzburg. I also got to see the outsides of beautiful churches downtown and relax on a really old bridge over the river that had huge statues of religious figures.

The old bridge, the Main river, and Fortress Marienberg

By then it was getting dark, so I tried to find my hostel. Try being a key word. The map online definitely led me to the middle of a park. Across the river from where the hostel is. I have no idea how that one worked out. But eventually I got directions and made it safe and sound. And the benefit of traveling alone kicked in when I met another American study abroad student, because we felt a little safer walking around town and comparing our experiences so far and drinking wine with at least a hundred others on the old bridge. I think that’s one of the best parts really, getting to meet people from all over the world, or who are studying all over the world (this girl was in Luxembourg).

The next day I headed out to stop at Dachau to see the concentration camp before getting into Reutlingen. But since that didn’t have the same exciting emotions as the rest of my weekend, I’ll save it for another post. Moral of this story: travel wherever chance takes you, because you’ll never know what and who you’re missing out on if you don’t!

My Wohnheim

Adventures Walking Back to Neuhaldenstraße

September 27, 2011 / Jake Stefan / 0 Comments

Getting home at night is always an adventure. For example, I usually end up stranded in a neighboring village, being followed by a creepy bum or getting rained on halfway through my journey. My luck with the whole process is just really subpar.

Why I expected today to be any different is beyond me.

The day started off decently enough. I woke up early to visit a German high school, but it turned out that our teacher had mixed up the dates. So it was back to regular old class for us.

Our school day ended with a few presentations done by members from the class, the last of which was a presentation from Zach and his group on the topic of German wine.

As luck would have it, another obnoxious American spilled wine all over the front of my shirt. I should have taken that as a sign.

My Wohnheim

After class I headed back to “Neuhaldenstrasse” (not Neuhalde) to finish some things and change my clothes.

About three blocks from my Wohnheim the obligatorily stressful part of my journey reared its ugly head. Right as I turned the corner an old woman collapsed in front of me.

Really? Why do these things always happen to me!?

I ran to her and helped her regain her bearings a bit. Another student behind me rushed to her other side. Together we helped her turn around and sit on the half wall she had collided with on her way down.

Suddenly, Germans started coming from everywhere! Everyone was so willing to help! Even though the Germans generally keep to themselves, they jumped right in when they were needed.

Soon, a middle-aged woman took control of the situation and sent everyone except the other student and me away. It became clear that the woman had nicked up her arm pretty badly. She started bleeding onto her sandals and onto the sidewalk.

After a short debate, the three of us decided that an ambulance wasn’t necessary, but that we would take her home to call her general practice physician. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with this decision, but being an exchange student I didn’t exactly have much say in it. I was in a state of shock about what had just happened, and wasn’t quite equipped with the vocabulary I needed to argue this point with them.

We got her to her feet and eventually had her explain the directions to her home a couple blocks away.

Once there we worked on cleaning up her arm and trying to get ahold of a family member. She mentioned that the only person looking after her was her daughter, and we eventually got her to tell us her daughter’s number. Despite a couple of tries, the number never went through.

The older woman began to get annoyed that we were encouraging her to sit down and wanted us to leave. However, none of us thought it was a good idea to leave her alone.

We couldn’t find the number for her family doctor, and sat for a while considering what options we had left. Soon enough, the woman in charge noticed a church bulletin on a coffee table. She must have been familiar with the church because she immediately formulated a plan.

She began speaking really quickly (in schwabisch- the regional dialect) and began relaying directions to the other student and me. Although I didn’t quite pick up everything she said, I got the gist that she wanted us to get the older woman to sit down while the middle-aged woman ran to get information from the church.

After about an hour of this whole situation, the middle-aged woman figured it would be okay if the other student and I left. She was able to get in contact with some family or friends that would check in often.

On my way back to my Wohnheim I found my arms covered in blood and dirt, my pulse still a little high and maybe just a little bit proud that I had navigated this entire situation in German.

Looking back now on the whole situation, I’m reminded of the good in people. No one had to stay with her, they could have simply called the police and left. But instead this middle-aged woman decided to spend her entire afternoon helping this other woman find help.

But I’m also reminded of why I want to go into medicine. There is just something about the feeling of knowing you made a difference in someone’s life, even if that difference is simply asking if someone is okay, holding their hand, and walking them home.

A Weekend to Remember.

September 26, 2011 / Jodie Buchanan / 0 Comments

The local kids teaching us to dance.

This past weekend was definitely one to remember. Early Thursday morning we all headed to the Namibian coast town of Swakopmund, also called Swakop. We were all super excited to get out of the house for a weekend and Swakop did not disappoint. When we drove into the town, I felt as if I had just entered a beach town in Florida. There were palm trees lining the streets, cute cafes and shops, and sand galore. As per usual, this was not just a trip to relax, but to try and learn more about the Namibian culture. Prior to coming to Swakop, we had learned about the German-Herero Genocide that took place in the early 20^th Century. This genocide is one that is rarely acknowledged, however the Germans implanted an “ethnic cleansing” of the area and ended up killing 65,000 Herero people, leaving about 15,000 as refugees. The area of Swakopmund was the site of the concentration camp that the Hereros were sent to, and many of the dunes that surround this beautiful town became mass graves to those that are long forgotten. Swakop’s past is one that has been full of pain and heartache, but we all had the opportunity to see how far the town has come.

On the Thursday that we arrived, we were given a tour of the city and it was amazing! It started off with a cappella performance by the local group called Vocal Galore. They were amazing and it was such a treat to hear them sing. We then went to visit a kindergarten in the township where the students sang to us and taught us traditional Oshivambo dances. They were so full of energy and excitement that every single one of us could not wipe the smile off of our faces. That evening we walked along the ocean and ate dinner at a restaurant on the pier. It was already a fantastic start to the weekend

Climbing up Dune Seven.

On Friday we had numerous presentations about the inner workings of both Swakop and Walvis Bay, which is a neighboring town. We then visited three different places to get more of an idea about economy and the role that it plays there. The first place was a factory that had products shipped from Germany here and then the Namibians would add a simple thing such as a bolt, and then ship it back. It seemed as if the factory was not a necessity, but it was still awesome to see the machines at work. Then we headed to center for people with disabilities and had the opportunity to see the how here in Namibia, there has been nothing put into place to help those with disabilities. The tours of the day ended with the viewing of a fish packing factory. We were put into big lab coats and taken into the factory where we were able to view how everything worked. This factory in comparison to the one we had seen earlier was more of a well-oiled machine. While all that was extremely eye-opening, the best part of the day was getting to climb Dune Seven, which is massive 100-meter high sand dune in Swakop. It was quite a feat to tackle, but the view from the top was breathtaking. All in all it was a fabulous day.

Relaxing by the ocean with my friend Jessy

Saturday was a free day for us, and everyone split up to do different activities. Some went sand-boarding and quad biking, while others decided to kayak with seals and dolphins. I decided that I just wanted to chill, explore the town, and sit on the beach by the ocean. Which is exactly what I did. Two of my friends that I have made in Windhoek drove down to hang out. There is nothing like sipping a glass of wine and watching the waves of the ocean crash onto the beach. It was the perfect end to an trip that I will not soon forget.

Finding my place

September 25, 2011 / Jodie Buchanan / 0 Comments

SU Namibia Logo

Here in Windhoek, I have been placed in an internship with the organization called Scripture Union. I was very excited that this was my placement, because the goal of SU is to make the news of Christ available to young children. I felt as if I would be a really good fit for the organization, while at the same time learning a lot about a different culture. However, when I arrived at SU, I realized that my role within the group was not what I had anticipated it would be. At this point in the year, the schools in Namibia are entering their third term, which means most of the students are going through exams. As of a result of the busyness of the students, SU does not have as many programs scheduled. Adam, one of the SU staff, explained to me that they have worked hand in hand with the education system in Windhoek, and realize that it is very important for children. So when they need to focus on exams for school, SU will ease up on their programming. I was very pleased to hear that, because I feel that Christian organizations can often neglect certain aspects outside Christianity, such as practical life skills and education, to name a few. While I was agreed with SU’s stance on education, there is not much to do at my organization for an intern, however there are tasks that need to be done by a full time staff member. Yet the problem is that the two full time staff members have new born babies in their lives. So the tasks that they usually do they need help with, but I don’t know if I feel qualified to do them. Every day that I go to my internship I feel that there is so much that needs to be done but I feel like I have no idea how to begin tackling it. Naturally, I felt a sense of hopelessness in creating my goals for the semester because everything that I had thought this internship would entail was false. I constantly would pull out my learning objectives sheet (part of the requirement for an internship here) and stare at it blankly, confused at what direction to take my learning in this internship. I knew that it was coming close to my meeting on Wednesday with my supervisor, so to the best of my abilities, I created what I hoped to get out of my experience.

I finally had the chance to sit down with not only my supervisor, Graeme, but also one of the other staff members, Adam, and discuss my goals for the semester. I first had the chance to talk with Adam and I really appreciated everything that we were able to discuss. He really listened as to where I wanted to take my internship and asked questions as to guide me in how I wanted to attain my certain goals. Adam was also very cognizant of the reality of my goals and if I would be able to accomplish them. One of the things that I hope to achieve is being able to learn more about the issues that are facing the youth in regards to forming a relationship with Christ. Within my agreement I specified that I hoped to achieve this goal by spending time with not only students, but also with their teachers, because I feel that the educational system plays a very big role in teaching children about Jesus. Adam expressed that obtaining an understanding of how the educational system plays a role in teaching children about Jesus would be difficult if I stayed in the office. He instead has decided to set up multiple interviews with teachers at the local schools. He also said that he is going to get in contact with the local SU clubs in the high schools so that I can facilitate some of the meetings and get to know students in town. After talking with Adam I felt much more at ease as to what this internship holds for me.

I then had the opportunity to talk with my main supervisor, Graeme, and I don’t think that it offered any sort of guidance for my internship, but we did have a great conversation. It has been very beneficial for me to have Graeme as my supervisor, because he is also a foreigner in Namibia. He has been a real blessing in the fact that I am able to discuss issues as far as cultural differences or norms that exist here. We had a long conversation about how it is easy to judge a situation from afar in contrast to actually living some place and experiencing things first hand. We also discussed how both he and I are going to go back to our home countries with new perspectives on things, and back home people will most likely be unaware to what we have learned. I totally agree with him, because that is exactly what I experienced when I came home from Vietnam. However, one of the main things that I took away from our conversation is that part of my role here is to learn and share what I have experienced here with those from home. And while I might not be able inform every single person in America about the reality of the situation in Southern Africa, I can tell the people around me. I have really become excited about my time with Scripture Union; I think it will be a good time of learning and understanding, not only about how certain organizations function in Namibia, but also a time of learning about me.

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