39 ways to conjugate “to go”
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- Friday November 30th, 2007
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Friday nights in Russia haven’t exactly been up to par. Tonight is about the same. I like watching movies a lot…but on a Friday night, by myself, watching two Tom Hanks movies isn’t really the most enjoyable thing in the world. Don’t freak out, I’m not in some deep depression, but today has not been one of the best days. I miss home a lot. The day started out great. The sun was actually shinning and I woke up with plenty of time to get ready. But then my parade was rained on in language class. It was just one of those really hard days. We were working on verbs of motion. Remember how I said yesterday that there was two different forms of every verb (perfective and imperfective)? Yeah, well today add on to that that there is two more major forms of the verb “to go” depending on whether you are going on foot or by transport. So let’s say that with the two forms of both “to go” verbs there are 4 different words that you could say for “to go”…then add on the past, present, and future conjugations(sp?) of the imperfective verbs…and the past and future conjugations of the perfective verbs…that leaves us with 30 different ways to say “to go.” *forcing a smile* OH!!!! and let’s just have some REAL fun and add in the word “to come”!!!! Oh, but we’ll be nice, since the perfective form of that word is hardly ever used so we’ll just add on another 9 words that you’re trying to remember! *shoot me now*
Yeah, if you followed all that you’re doing better than I am. Needless to say, class didn’t go to well. Discouraging would be an understatement.
Then I had to go to chapel.
Those words in my life back at home would never come out of my mouth. But here chapel is not the greatest. It’s not just that we don’t have a very good interpreter, is that they don’t really have that good of programs. Even the students here don’t like going to chapel. BUT…today’s chapel, went better because we actually sang some worship songs. And the students from the first year (freshman) led the service. So it made it more interesting.
So my day got better.
After lunch Feodor and I went on a walk and that cheered me up too. He then took me to a cafe and bought me stuff. I tried to tell him not to. Okay, not exactly. I allowed him to buy me some tea, but I told him that I wasn’t hungry and didn’t want anything. Well, he obviously didn’t believe me because he bought me a blini with cmetana (a crepe with sour cream on top….Russians put it on/in everything). I wasn’t lying or just trying to be nice about not being hungry, I really wasn’t. And I don’t really like sour cream, but in a situation like that it’s not like you can really refuse. So I forced myself to eat it, but thankfully he also bought us some fruit salad so I could get rid of the taste.
On our way back to school we stopped at a video/music store and he proceeded to buy me a CD of children’s music. Yup, not kidding. I didn’t give him a straight answer when he told me what kind of music I liked because I knew he was trying to buy me something. He pulled out a CD full of “kids” music from movies (like Little Mermaid, Hercules, Shrek, etc.) and it was in English so he had me read it. Well, I like that stuff so I said I liked the kids music. That must have given him the wrong impression because then he proceeded to buy me a CD of Russian kids music. *rolling eyes* So I graciously took it and listened to it. hehe…I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s not just kids music, it’s kids singing it too. And when it’s not kids singing it’s these really over-dramatic semi-opera singers, or singers that sound like the guy who sings the “Mr. Grinch” song. You know what I’m talking about? Yeah so that was interesting. 
So that was my adventure of the day. Then I watched Catch Me If You Can and Cast Away. Sveta has this DVD of “The Best of Tom Hanks” and some of the movies I can still hear the English really well underneath the Russian dubbing. I know it sounds kind of desperate and maybe it is, but I’m really tired of the movies I have in English, so I really wanted something different.
Cast Away was particularly funny because it starts out in Russia! How cool! It was so funny that at the beginning of the movie he’s trying to get the mail system here to work faster because it is soooooooo true. It was super strange to see places in Moscow that I was at just 2 weeks ago. They showed trucks breaking down in Red Square which is completely absurd because for years no cars have been allowed to go through there without special permission. But still, it was cool to see on the screen.
I think now that I’m still feeling wide awake I’m going to watch the nice sappy, You’ve Got Mail hopefully it won’t make me miss Sara too much, but if it does I can just cry myself to sleep and wake up tomorrow to a new day.
Don’t worry, I’m not really that down. I feel like I have to clarify just so that you don’t all (mostly my mom) go into panic mode. Not that panic’s really the right word, but you know what I mean.
So…in a final note, here are some of the pictures from my Thanksgiving! I love you all! Only 20 days + a few hours, before I leave!
The usual kitchen hubbub before dinner. I love this time!
John Gerig is blue, Julie has her back to us. Their son Brandon is behind John, and the other guy is named Allen and is another missionary.
Dutch Bltiz! Julie won 
overall. In the red shirt is Jared Zartman who graduated from Bethel and now is a short term missionary here. The boys are Julie and John’s two sons Daniel and Brandon.
All the kids playing before dinner. The really long haired girl in Megan Gerig and the boy in the window is Andrew Gerig. 
The other two kids were Allen and Trish’s kids and I never got their names, except for Rachel, who is in grey, is in my youth group here.
Me at the “adult” table. Beside me is Jim Mendenhall who is a missionary working in the computers and PR department at the university. He’s hilarious and loves BSG like I do. At the h
ead is Janyne, whom I love dearly and takes care of me. Then Annya who we just met that night and Trish (wife of Allen).
Julie, making some 
yummy frosting!
That’s it! But I loved it! I’m thankful for Thanksgiving with my American/Russo family!
I’ve been back from Thanksgiving break for about a week now and life is crazy as normal.
This weekend we have the choir Christmas concerts. We’ve been having a few longer evening rehearsals, etc. The concerts always end up going great, but the week before is always stressful- lots of last minute memorizing, polishing, formations, etc.
Also, Saturday morning (between concerts) my interpreting class is taking the National Interpreter Certification test. It’s pretty huge, I feel like it’s the interpreter’s equivalent to the bar exam or the board test or something. “Not Gonna Lie”, I’m pretty scared of it. I feel like I’ve been studying like mad and I’m not sure if I’m ready or not. If you think about it, you can think of me/pray for me and my class Saturday morning. Thanks!
(Here’s a picture of my interpreting class)
“…do it all for the glory of God.”
I’ve been thinking about this verse today (and even talked with my mentor about it). What does it look like to do everything for the glory of God? How do I study interpreting for the glory of God? Am I really doing a good job of letting God’s glory shine through me in EVERYTHING? not only in “spiritual” things? I’m so amazed by God’s grace and overwhelming love. I don’t even begin to deserve it, yet He gives it so freely. There aren’t even words to describe how humbled I am by the fact that He still loves me and chooses to use me despite every weakness I possess.
BEAUTIFUL! That’s all I have to say.
Done, Done, Done, Done, Done!
Yup that’s right! My book report for Introduction to Ministry is finito! Goodbye!!! Hahaha~!!! I have vanquished you!!
So if you can’t tell, I’m rather pleased about that.
Now, I’m peacefully sitting here responding to emails, writing my blog, and eating some wonderful animal crackers. The funny thing about these animal crackers is that they are called “Vitaminee” Does that not make you think of ‘Vitamin’? Sure, does me. I have no idea if the Russian word relates to the English word at all but if I pretend it does then I can imagine this big company trying maliciously to trick mothers into buying their kids these “healthy” animal crackers and actually making them fat and addicted to “Vitaminee.”
Of course you’d have to eat a whole bunch of animal crackers (probably with other stuff too, to really get fat) but don’t ruin my imaginative ramblings with that thought.
So other than my paper, I did all my other homework tonight too. (Not actually all, because I have literature to do, but that’s not due until Tuesday) Which included reading for history and a whole stinking bunch of Russian Language. I had about 12 charts to fill out with every conjugation of each verb. And in Russian there’s two major forms of every verb. So that means I have to do the past, present, and future tense of each verb twice. Yeah…feel sorry for me. Okay, so you don’t have to, it wasn’t really all that bad.
I also have been drinking some yummy tea all night. Of course I would rather be drinking hot chocolate, but the brands I’ve tried here so far really aren’t that great. (I don’t get my tea out of the Russian samovar, but it’d be cool if I did) The only thing is I get my hot water and put my tea bag in and then forget about it for at least 5 minutes I don’t mean to, but I get distracted. So then I end up with this really strong, bitter tea…and although I put lots of sugar in as a precedent it’s still to strong and I have to dump it out. But that’s only happened to me once. The second time I just choked down the tea anyway.
Oh! and the other dumb thing I did today. Twice I emailed in assignments to teachers without actually attaching the assignment. Not exactly the end of the world, but I felt dumb.
So I have this list of 17 things I need to do before I leave and I now have 2 checked off. Some of them I won’t be able to check off until it gets closer to leaving time. Like I can’t check off my history final until I actually get to it. Duh! And then stuff like packing dishes and giving books to Janyne also can’t be done too early.
Okay! That’s all I have for today! Thought I’d leave you with another picture of God’s beautiful creation! (picture taken by Brent Reimer)
Dr. Santa,
For Christmas please send me the new Josh Groban Christmas CD, a pony!, and a knight in shinning armor.
Being good all year,
Amy Malmkar
P.S. If you send the knight, maybe you should make it a stallion instead of a pony. Just a suggestion.
Hello from Kansas!
For Thanksgiving, my family drove to Kansas to celebrate with extended family and my sister at her college. The drive down, which is usually 13 hours, ended up being just over 14 because of rain and a different route that was actually longer. BUT, despite arriving at 3:20 in the morning, it’s been SO good to see family, especially my sister Janell, who I hadn’t seen since the beginning of August. It’s so fun to be able to hang out with both of my sisters.
Yesterday we had a huge thanksgiving meal then exchanged gifts for “christmas.” We do gifts “grab-bag” style…everyone ended up with a gift that mostly fitted them except me: I got men’s large flannel pajamas It made me smile. It’s a good thing I really don’t care about gifts I decided that I’m really not a gift person. I mean, they’re fun and everything, but I’m much more of a words person. I’d rather get a card any day than a gift that I’m not going to use.
Ok…I have to go. My family is running a 2-mile race this morning. Yay fun! Here’s a picture of me and my sisters!
Pretty much a perfect day…
That is what I would call Saturday. I love it when I have those. I can list several of them off the top of my head. These days stick in my head and bring me joy whenever I think of them. They are my standard for what “the good life” should be. So since Saturday was one of them, let me tell you about it.
I didn’t even set my alarm that morning and didn’t even stir till about 10am. This is because Sveta never came back to the room that night and I wasn’t awoken by Sveta’s many alarms. So I peacefully woke up in a very warm bed and looked over to see the sun dancing on the walls through my window. What a peaceful and glorious site. Unless you live in Seattle you don’t understand how precious the sun is here. It was glorious.
So I finally got out of bed and turned on my beautiful Josh Groban. I had to throw on some clothes so that I could go get my laundry that had been drying. But even this I didn’t mind because the air was crisp and cool and the sun made everything beautiful. When I returned to my room I grabbed some breakfast and curled up in my bed to eat it. Then I got in the shower and didn’t have to rush. The hot water kind of came in and out, but it wasn’t too bad, so I still enjoyed my shower.
I took my time getting dressed, then I did my makeup and hair really good. Why? Because I was going to see people that day. Because it was finally Thanksgiving over here in Russia! After having devotions and picking up the room a bit I went over to the Gerig’s house and got there around 2:40pm.
Thanksgiving in Russia!
I loved being there. It really was a home away from home. There were kids playing in different rooms, good conversation in the kitchen, and the men sitting out in the living room talking. I made my apple salad and then played some games. Of course, it was one of my favorite games, Taboo and even though my team lost, I had a blast.
I got to sit at the adult table (something I was never allowed to in my younger days and am still slightly bitter over) and there was good conversation and of course, good food. As usual, I ate about 6 bread rolls and got seconds on the mashed potatoes and stuffing. We played a group trivia game about Thanksgiving and then split up to play some more games. We played Taboo again and then played Dutch Blitz (another favorite of mine).
The party finally broke up around 9:30pm and a group of us went back to the university. I then proceeded to watch “Meet the Robinson’s” instead of doing my homework and absolutely loved it. I’m so thankful for feeling like I have an American family that I can go to while I’m here in Russia.
I took a few pictures while I was there, hopefully I’ll get them from Matt soon and I can give them to you.
Sunday…
wasn’t quite as perfect as I had to do the homework that I had been putting off. After church I took a nice nap and then got going on my essay about my trip to Moscow. I also got some groceries. Not thrilling, but still, something I did.
Today is about getting started on my book report for my Intro to Ministry class. I told Dr. Beals I’d get it to him by the 30th so I need to get going.
I love you all and hope that you can have some perfect days too. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!
P.S. I have Matthew chapter 5 memorized. Only 2 more chapters to go!
bare feet = bad things
So apparently, if your feet are bare it automatically means that you’re going to get sick or die, or most likely both. I sat out and talked to my friend Sara on the phone this evening and every girl who passed by (and speaks English) pointed at my feet and said “Oh…no, no Amy you need shoes. You will get sick.” (or some variation of that).
So other than rediscovering Russians need for foot ware, not much happened today. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m in a lazy streak, so that means I watched a movie this afternoon. I watched “Pride and Prejudice” again. I was pleased to discover that the ending I thought wasn’t there, is in the extras, so I no longer feel jilted. Since I’m feeling really honest I’ll admit that after playing the piano for awhile I returned and have started watching “Phantom of the Opera.” I know, I know…chide me…I don’t care. It’s Friday, I can do what I want. Haha…I explained to some Russians today that we have a phrase “TGIF” that means “Thank God It’s Friday.” They thought it was really neat and tried to make up a Russian acronym for the same Russian phrase. In it’s English transliteration it ends up being “SBSP” which doesn’t really sound that good in Russian either.
I did get three things accomplished today, other than classes and watching movies that is. 1. I got groceries and what I need for tomorrows Thanksgiving celebration. This is a big accomplishment since it’s been raining all day…and cold, as always. 2. I gave myself a manicure. It may not be important to you, but your opinion doesn’t matter. 3. I did Sveta’s hair for her date night with Dimah. And let me just say…I did a dang tootin’ good job. It was amazing. If my camera worked I would have taken a picture. It was creative and cute with twists and curls. Of course I can’t really describe it well, but let me just say…It was gooooood.
So since this is a short entry, I thought I’d show you a few more pictures from Moscow and our time with Brent.
So of course these are all in the Red Square. There is the one great night shot that I thought you should see as well. It’s not the only good night shot that Brent took (these are all by Brent), but I like it because it shows both St. Basils and the Kremlin, and of course Lenin’s tomb. The snow one was on our second day. It varied between not being too cold and being bitter. It just depended on the wind and how long we had been out. So there you go
Hey All!
Oh man, these past couple weekends were amazing!! The three foreign churches in Beijing have camps throughout the year, and we were fortunate enough to be counselors for both High School and Middle School camps. It was really weird though, being considered a counselor and not participating in the activities as a camper, but it was still super fun!
High School
It was pretty sweet, but a little frustrating. The mindset I was going into camp was that we had tents, meeting places, crazy wood games, basically “roughin’ it” to an extent, because you know, it’s high school. But it turned out to be really nice. We had our “cabins” which were hotel rooms, our meeting places were big rooms at this resort, and our meals were cooked and served to us, so it wasn’t a challenging experience, but it was still awesome. The only problem was that there were about 180 kids, and approximately 30% were Korean. It was cool at first, but when it came to the games, I felt like a babysitter, because nobody knew what was going on, and I was really discouraged, and decided I wouldn’t go next week.
Middle School
So Chase and I made plans to go to some sweet places that weekend with Brad, but on Friday, at noon, I got a call from Chris, one of the counselors going that we knew, and he said they needed only like, one more counselor… Chase had to do something that weekend that he couldn’t miss, so I didn’t know what to do. I turned on my iTunes and started listening to music when all of a sudden “Rescue” by Desperation Band came on, and I knew God told me to go. So at 3:15 that same afternoon, we left for this 2nd adventure with the oh so infamous middle schoolers… I have to say, it was a BLAST!! The layout was the same, so I didn’t have to worry about what to do next, there was more food, the kids were easier to get along with, and my favorite part, was the worship… Just something about seeing 12 year olds jumping around, dancing, singing, and giving their all to some crazy awesome worship music was really moving. I swear, everybody in that room, about 200 people were sweating through their clothes by the end of the music, and it was awesome.
The Father does so much in our lives, and I learned that when He tells you to do something, you won’t regret it.
It is a sad fact that I have not let any of you see what I have been doing here, so now that I have the chance, I am going take advantage of the availability of internet and throw up some pics! Enjoy!
Thanksgiving Thanks
and Thoughts
Sometimes I wonder what it is that people say that they are thankful for and why they say what they say. That said, I wonder sometimes if the reason that I say what I am thankful for is because “everyone else is doing it.†So, I guess this year, I want to have these things come from the heart. I want to be able to say that I have thought long and hard about these things and I want to be able say, “Yep, that is exactly what I mean.†So, all of that said, this might be a bit of a long discussion of these things that I am thankful for and will probably indicate some rambling, but bear with me.
What Am I thankful for?
Family
So often, I think that this is a group of people that gets overlooked sometimes with genuine, heartfelt thanks. How much do we actually give thanks for the family that we have? How often do we hear of other people’s family members passing away much earlier than was expected? How many people reading or hearing this actually know how long they have to live? I don’t think that we can completely come to the understanding that at any moment we could be parted with the people that we love.
So today, I urge you, my dear brothers and sisters, to tell those that you love and those that have worried over you, provided for you, given you the opportunity to live, that you are thankful for them. If you can’t pray and thank God that he loved you so much that he put them into your life and gave you the opportunity to live and come to know Him. I can’t say enough how my relationship with my mom and dad have grown in this year and hope that you can become closer with your parents.
I also want to encourage you, that if your relationship with your parents is a broken one, to make the effort to try and rectify that relationship. What a burden it must be to have a relationship with a parent that isn’t even at a state that you can talk with them and go to them in times of need. I hope that you can find a way that you can make this communication happen.
Friends
What a weight that friends take off of your stress level. I have found this year that when you get with your closest friends and you give them a chance to really get into the inside of your problems, that when it comes down to it, they are the best thing in the world in dealing with those issues. I think of the way that The Fellowship has helped me in that regard. My House group plus others have given me the opportunity to deal with issues in my life and just talk about real issues that we all are having to deal with. My friends have helped me grow in my relationship with Christ by pushing me to be more like Him and be a good and accurate representative of the way Christ taught us to live. This school year even, certain friends, who know who they are, have become very close to me and I pray that this continues as we trek through life and everything that journey sends our way.
Jesus Christ
I don’t think that there is any way to express how Jesus Christ is so dog-gone awesome and amazing. Is there words to describe what Jesus does in our lives on a daily basis? I can’t even begin to accurately describe just what kind of love He has for you and I. Is there any way to describe His Love? What has He done in your life in just this week? This day? Of course there is no way to comprehend what it is that this God, who decided that we should be given a second chance to live, loves us so much that we have no way to understand just how much He loves us.
Today, I think God that I have the opportunity to live in a relationship with Him and have the chance to worship Him. What more can I ask but to just have the opportunity to praise Him with my breath and my life. This is the true reason for living: Praising Him in everything that we do. How amazing is it that we can have the opportunity to praise and serve a God whom we can’t even comprehend how big and amazing He is. It is my hope that we can accept this as the truth and can come to the realization that even though we are so small in comparison He loves us SO much and wants us to be SO Successful in our quest to serve Him.
Thank God for the opportunity to be His children. Thank God for the opportunity to serve Him. Thank God for His Love. Thank God for Jesus. Thank Jesus for being so REAL. Thank Jesus for showing us the way. Thank Jesus for taking it all. Thank Jesus for being a man of his Word. Thank Jesus for having a relationship with us. Thank the Holy Spirit for wrapping us in such a love that we can’t even comprehend.
I Hope You Had a Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!
So they tell me it’s Thanksgiving…
but I’m not sure I believe them. I see no orange and yellow table displays. I didn’t wake up this morning and join my mommy to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I didn’t move my shoes out of the way when my mom told me to. I didn’t snitch the dough for the rolls throughout the morning. I didn’t hear anyone talking about what family they were seeing. I didn’t have to entertain my niece, or put away her toys, and I definitely didn’t get any Stove Top stuffing in large quantities.
All this leads me to believe that it’s not really Thanksgiving Day. But I suppose that all is typical for being in another country where they don’t celebrate. The World Partners Missionaries (and a bunch of other people) are going to celebrate on Saturday. I’m really excited about this, but I know it won’t be the same. I’m making some fruit salad for the event, at which there are supposed to be around 17 people. I don’t think I’ve even been at a Thanksgiving that large since I was 7 years old with my mom’s side of the family. I have no idea how we are all going to fit in the Gerig’s apartment. Matt (the introvert) is not so excited about the prospect of that many people, but personally I’m thrilled.
Homework (as always)
That’s about all the news I have. I have a fair amount of homework, but absolutely noooooo motivation. I’m praying for it, but I admit I’m not praying that hard. I have 2 papers to write. One small, easy one, and the other big hard one. Usually motivation comes for me when deadlines begin to loom in front of me. I need to change that, but it’s really hard. I keep telling myself that being disciplined brings good things, but so far, being only half disciplined hasn’t hurt me that much, so I still end up waiting to do things. So that’s all, you people can pray for motivation for me. Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Praise God for every good thing!
Happy Thanksgiving to you all back in the States! While I wish I could be there with my family to enjoy turkey and stuffing, being here has given me a whole new perspective on what being thankful really means. God has shown himself in so many ways here. However, the thing that I have come to be the most thankful for during this time away is God’s continual faithfulness.
He has been especially faithful during some exceptionally hard times that have been taking place in our group these past few weeks. It was actually the day that I wrote my last blog, on my way back to Mata Gorda, when I first got sick (which I thought was due only to the unkept rural road). I had forgotten that the day before I had been at friend’s house in Mata Gorda and drank some juice that apparently was made with unpurified water… uhh ohh. Lets just say that started a series of illnesses that included amoebas, dengue fever and bacteria. Fun! During my time in the hospital I struggled to see God’s hand in taking me away from my ministry in Mata Gorda for so long. But I now know that he was teaching me things that I have yet to understand still. Since my return, God has given me an even stronger love for the people of Mata Gorda and a heart to intercede for them.
I am not the only who has been sick, and I know that I speak for everyone when I say that God has been so faithful. He is doing mighty things here. While that means Satan’s attacks are more intense, we are being made witnesses to God’s power in amazing ways. As we have chosen to unify, we have seen more fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Our love for each other is exhibited as we lift each other up in prayer and encourage each other at our ministry sites.
Let me start out this post with a humble apology to the people working in admissions at Bethel. I was told I should blog something at least once every two weeks, but it has been nearly a month since I have posted anything. I’m sorry! I’ve been very busy and I have never made blogging a part of my life before, unlike Amy, so I fell a bit behind. Life is going very well for me in Russia. November has been a very full month for me between helping out with the youth group and the harvest party at the International Academy, finishing up our Russian Art class, showing Brent around the city during the ten days he was here, going to Moscow, and the usual stuff like classes, shopping, cooking, and cleaning. I only have one month left in Russia right now, which is a scary thought to me. I have adapted and feel so comfortable here and I really love this country. I love being able to walk down random streets and find courtyards that open up into huge areas that are otherwise hidden behind buildings. I love Orthodox churches and iconography. I love the historical monuments that are everywhere. Even things like intermittent hot water and the fact that only one of the four washing machines we have is functioning like it should don’t seem like a big deal to me. I love the history and culture of this country and I love being in a beautiful city so rich in art and architecture and full of incredible historical significance. It will be very hard to leave all of that behind.
The point to this post was not to reflect on Russia, though, but rather to describe one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Last Sunday Amy, Brent, and I went back to the Peter and Paul Fortress, and while we were walking on the walls of the fortress we saw that the Neva river was choked full of large pieces of ice that were floating down. The pieces were gathering around the spit of Vasilievsky Island and were climbing on top of each other, creating one enormous, mangled sheet of ice. I had never seen such huge chunks of ice flowing in a river and was fascinated by it. Fast forward just two days to Tuesday night of this week. We went back to the river and it was completely covered in ice. It was an uneven piece of ice, made up from all the different pieces of ice that had flowed together. Jagged pieces jutted out as far as the eye could see, and in the dim light of the late evening it was breath taking. The ice created a stunning piece of natural art that continues to amaze me. I know Amy has posted a few pictures of the ice, but I am going to include a few more that I took because I cannot get over how impressive and beautiful it is. Seeing things like this makes me love this country even more for the cold, stark beauty of its nature.
Today’s activities.
So I’ve definitely had days that I’ve felt better physically. That fall yesterday really hurt. Give me a second to list the resulting maladies. I have a bruise on my back. My back hurts like it has a funny kink in it. My neck hurts, as in my muscles are pulled from trying to keep my head from hitting the ground. I have a headache from when my head still hit the ground anyway.
Okay, so that’s enough. Other than that it’s been a good day. It was Brent’s last day here and we took him to
the Hermitage. I like the place but I’m honestly not very good at being in an Art museum. I know you’re supposed to go slow and look at the various paintings, etc. But honestly I could move pretty fast through most of them. I suppose that means I’m unrefined or something, but I don’t care. Only some of them catch my eye and then I want to slow down and really look at them. (Like Rembrant’s “Christ’s Descent from the Cross” shown at right) But I do like the Hermitage in general. We did get lost in it today. We were trying to figure out how to get to the Monet’s and the Picaso’s that we had seen earlier. We knew it was on the 3rd floor but we got lost trying to get there. We never had success and eventually lost interest. So we went to go take some pictures at night and had a blast.
The Neva River is finally frozen and it was so cool! I shouldn’t say finally, because it happen in like 2 days flat. 
Here’s a picture from Sunday when we were at Peter and Paul Fortress. The next is from tonight and I’m actually standing on the River. It wasn’t actually frozen solid, there were spots where you could probably fall through, but not many. Okay, I need to go now. Sveta wants the internet (which I now have in my room, how cool!) By the way…these wonderful pictures are from Brent Reimer…isn’t that cool! Love you all!
Wipe Out!
If I didn’t have room to complain about the poor planning of drain pipes (draining onto the walking path) and lack of shoveling and salting then I do now. I had a MAJOR wipe out tonight on the ice in front of the administration building. My feet slipped from underneath me and Brent (who was with me) says that I was pretty much horizontal in the air before I fell flat and hard. Although from what I remember (and from the way my body feels) it wasn’t exactly flat. I think I fell first on my lower back (which feels like it’s been whiplashed) and then rolled the rest of the way until my head finally smacked the ground good and hard. Oh man it hurt. My whole world slowed down. I knew that I was okay, but I just couldn’t think fast enough to do anything. My head hurt the most first, but now it’s my back. I’m kind of hobbling around like an old lady, half bent. I think I’ll be fine, but it just wasn’t a very fun experience.
Oh, I fell in Moscow too. We were walking to the Red Square our first morning and everything is slick there. I just went “whoop!” and was suddenly on my butt. That one didn’t really hurt, but I didn’t enjoy it either. I was wet and kind of embarrassed.
So anyway, that was my day. I had class of course, but nothing too amazing. We watched a movie about Stalin with Robert Duvall and Julia Ormond. It was good, but you can’t talk about Stalin and not end up at least temporarily saddened.
I know I would tell you more details about my Moscow trip, but I’m not really sure what to tell you. It snowed a lot. It was cold, and the stones in the Red Square are really slick. We went in an underground mall for one of our lunches. Where I had this funny kind of panini sandwich, but it was tasty. This old guy at the hostel kept trying to talk to me and I kept answering in this very broken Russian while we watched Russia play Israel in soccer. And….um….St. Basils had all sorts of cool passage ways and stairs…..ummm…..some of the souvinier vendors are really pushy….I had fun. That’s about all I know to tell you. I can show you pictures and tell you more, but I don’t have them yet. I suppose if you have questions you can ask and I can tell you whatever, but I just don’t know what all you want to hear, so for now that’s all.
Israel Trip
I realized that I didn’t really tell you much about this Israel trip. I forget sometimes that I don’t give all the details and that in other times I give way too many details so anyway….
Bethel has these things called “May terms” where you can sign up to take an intensive course and finish a whole years course in one month. Often, they offer travel ones. Where you can go to Hawaii, or Spain, or Finland, etc. and also get credit for a course that had to do with that area. So for example in Hawaii they offer an Environmental Biology science course. Of course, these all cost extra, but they are an experience. Well I’m going to Israel! The course offered is a general studies New Testament or Old Testament credit. I don’t technically need this but can use it as an elective towards my Biblical Studies degree.
The trip itself is from May 15th to the 31st. So it’s actually only two weeks, but from what I understand it is a very intense two weeks. Supposedly we fit 3 weeks of stuff into 2. It’s lots of hiking and lots of Bible study. Actually, non-Bethel people can go, so if any of you are interested in coming just go to www.israel.laidig.com
And if some of my Bethel friends are thinking about going I think they should just jump in with both feet and live life to the fullest.
There’s also a $2000 dollar scholarship offered to anyone (I’m not sure about non-bethel people, so technically not “anyone”) who memorizes the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7). I already have the first 20 verses of Matt 5 down, but I still obviously have a ways to go. Below are some pictures from previous trips. There is a really cool video on that website that shows what we will be doing.
In general it all gives me motivation for everything. This is going to be a full last month here in Russia, but right now I’m feeling really good about it. Thank you for your prayers. They mean a lot to me. It’s so different when one of my non-Christian friends says “I’m thinking about you” versus my Christian friends saying “I’m praying for you” the first seems so trivial compared to talking to the Almighty God for me.
I’m going to Israel!
Yeah it’s a bit of a shock for me too. But I talked with my parents and they seem to approve of the idea and are even willing to help me out with the money so, I’m going.
I’m thrilled and determined. Determined because this is going to be a really hard trip, physically and spiritually. We are hiking 5-10 miles everyday on rough terrain and in 100 degree heat. We will be stopping for devotions and lessons along the way and living as a Christian community. I can’t wait!
I’ve already started memorizing the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5-7) so that I can get a $2000 dollar scholarship. I have 20 verses memorized. But I still have a long way to go.
Here’s the website if you guys (esp. bethel people) are interested.
I wish my boots had some padding….
…but other than that it was awesome! That’s my overall thought from my time in Moscow. Though the result of my great time is the fact that I’m extremely tired. We did lots and lots of walking (in the snow) and I was very glad to have my boots as there was lots of puddles, slush, and snow. But they aren’t exactly nice cushy tennis shoes ( I know…Captain Obvious).
Let’s see let me give you a nice list of the places we saw…
*Our hostel-haha…exciting…it was actually really cute. This large apartment with one room full of bunk-beds. Very homey.
*The Kremlin- There’s many things inside the Kremlin. *About 5 different orthodox cathedrals. The one we went into (the Assumption Cathedral) was where the tsars were married and sometimes crowned. * There was also the old palace. Here’s where the tsars used to live before Peter moved the capital to St. Petersburg. *The President’s (Putin) offices and the second administration building. *The Armory-a big museum with all sorts of gowns, crowns, thrones, royal gifts, and faberge eggs.
*Red Square- just the square itself is famous
*Lenin’s tomb-this includes seeing his pickled body and the graves of other famous Russians (like Stalin).
*St. Basils-Yes, mom I got to go in that church that you liked. I also got my picture taken with it like everyone else.
*The Goom-not that any of you know what this is. But it’s a giant mall on Red Square that was made into a state run store. Now it’s just ritzy stuff.
*The very center of Moscow. People stand on the spot and throw coins over their shoulder. Then old ladies stand there and scramble after the coins.
*Novidivechy Convent. LOTS of famous people are buried here, including Yelstin (who just died in April). I have a good story from here but I’ll have to tell you later.
*Tomb of the unknown soldier -Same concept as what we have at Arlington.
*Ismailovsky Park- not exactly and amazing site, but it’s where every tourist ends up as it’s the best souvinier park in the city. I’m so excited at what I got all my friends and family.
*The metro- maybe you don’t think the metro is a site to see, but in Moscow it is. Not only is it a labyrinth but they are beautiful. Mosaics and statues galore.
*I saw a lot of other sites by bus, but not up-close. Russia’s version of Hollywood. Where Gorbachev used to live, the old part of the city, Moscow university, Moscow stadium, KGB headquarters, the street where Putin drives to work everyday, etc.. I know this is a short entry. I’m sorry. I’m just not super inspired to tell every detail. In a couple days I’ll get some pictures, then I’ll be more inspired.
I think every time I go to write a new post, I feel like I have a hundred new pics to put up! There is just one event after another happening here, but its exciting.
DANCE PARTY!
MY GET AWAY WEEKEND IN THE CITY!!!
BRUSH UM BRUSH UM BRUSH UM!
The coolest part about our food group/teeth unit was I made a food journal for each student and they had to fill out everything they ate each say for a whole week, and then we put it all on the food pyramid Friday…it was awesome, and they really wanted to eat healthy. On Friday before going home they got to choose from the treasure chest without giving me any tickets if they stayed on green all week, and Sarah told me she didn’t want to choose candy because its not good for your teeth!!!
LEARNING TO BE KOREAN!!!:)
MULTI-CULTURAL DAY
Children of Hope
Last Friday I went to chapel. I always go to chapel, but this one was beautiful. Possibly one of the most memorable chapels of my time at Bethel. The chapel centered around the “Children of the World” choir and their presentation. They sang, danced, smiled so huge, and praised God with all their little hearts. It was a blessing and a half just to watch them sing so joyfully. I was almost in tears the entire time. I just kept thinking: “My God is their God! How cool is it that we can praise together? These kids are literally from all around the world and God has brought them through so many crazy things I can’t even imagine and yet they’re here, praising! How beautiful is it that our God’s love and faithfulness crosses all boundaries of culture, language and geography? God’s love endures forever and knows no limits! That alone is enough to blow my mind…but there’s more…
….Along with singing, the children helped present the whole issue of AIDS. Every time this global pandemic is brought up, my heart breaks again and again. If my heart breaks this much, can you imagine what God’s heart does when He watches what’s happening? He sees millions of His children die because of extreme poverty and AIDS. He sees millions of children that He created in His own and loves so much become orphans because of AIDS. Can you imagine the pain in God’s heart when He sees this happening? This crisis is so huge it seems like we can’t do anything, but the truth is exactly the opposite. Any huge crisis is solved one step at a time. I truly believe that’s God’s call for the church today: to step up and realize that we can do something and that we MUST do something. The call of God is not just to sit back and watch the painfully true message of AIDS and feel our hearts breaking. The call of God is to do something about it. I’ll admit, I’m as guilty as anyone of sitting back and not doing anything, but I truly believe that the problem of AIDS is one that the church can solve if we allow God to work through us and show His love to the world. Too often we forget that we really are the body of Christ. Christ can show His love of the world through us, if we let Him use our hands and our lives. There is hope!
Hi!!! So it’s currently 25 Degrees F. with a wind chill of 19. I’m thrilled. No not really, but I do like it better than yucky slush stuff. Plus….I got my earmuffs back! I left them at Western Union on Sunday when I changed money. But today I took Brent there and got up the guts to try my Russian. I said (in Russian) “The other day, Sunday, I forgot my..” Then I gestured like I was putting on earmuffs because I don’t know that word. I know hat, and scarf and coat, but not earmuffs, so. She knew exactly what I was talking about and thankfully she had them stashed away. I was so happy!
I was worried that I was going to have to buy something before I left tonight because is supposed to be from 8-21 degrees in Moscow while we are there. At least that’s what Janyne told us and we will of course be walking around a lot. So…I wanted to not freeze. But praise the Lord I got my earmuffs and don’t have to spend more money. I’m taking 7000 rubles to Moscow for souviniers (I can never spell that word right) and hope to spend every last kopeck. My main problem is that we will only have 2 hours at the souvinier market and I’m one of those people who goes to every booth comparing prices.
Hey! (change of subject) has anyone see the “Bee Movie”? I think it looks really cute, and I think I want to see it when I get back.
Tonight I’m cooking for the boys again. I wanted to make pancakes but I can’t figure out what baking powder in in Russian and I need some for the recipe I have. Plus, there’s no syrup as far as I’ve seen here. My mom gave me a recipe for that too, but Janyne told me it’s hard to find brown sugar here. So instead of pancakes, we are having bacon, eggs, and hash browns. Why are they called hash browns? Why not just fried potatoes? Or hashed potatoes. Oh well.
Let’s see, what other random information can I bore you with. Well…the Russian language is hard. Right now we are learning perfect and imperfect past tense. So one form of the word means ” I read” and the other form of the word means “I read (and I finished it)” or “I cooked” or “I cooked (and finished)” it’s strange and not completely translatable to English which makes it really hard to learn. Learning something like this you’d think that we have the more simple stuff down, but we don’t. Our language teacher is one of those who thinks that you should learn all the grammar rules from the beginning. So we aren’t learning stuff that we use right away really fast. She is teaching us stuff we need, it’s just that there’s so much grammar things in there too that we still can’t speak a lot. So it’s frustrating. I know that I need to learn grammar too, but I think I’d rather learn the phrases that I need to know even if I don’t know why they say them that way.
Russian is also very emotionally expressive. You can change almost any word to be more or less loving or angry or indicate that it’s small and cute. Whatever. Names especially can be said with different endings that can mean various levels of affection or meaness (whatever the opposite of affection is). I explained that although in English we don’t change our names with different endings that we do often have lots of nicknames. My teacher was fascinated at my nicknames like “Squeaky” from my parents, “Shorty” from my brother Mike, Amy Lou, Ames, or my personal favorite from Brett “Amy face” Haha! I didn’t tell my teacher about Amy face because I don’t think I could explain that although in English it sounds a little strange and kind of rude, that it’s actually an affectionate name (Right Brett!! it’s affectionate not mean). So anyway. Our teacher said that English is very good for expressing concise thoughts, but not as good for expressing emotions. Maybe it’s true, I don’t know.
Well, I leave for Moscow tonight. Our train leaves at 11pm and we get there at 7am. Tom. we go to the Kremlin and also we are going to try to go on a city bus tour. Saturday we are going to try go to St. Basils (the Russian looking Cathedral that you see in all the pictures) and Lenin’s tomb. We will also go to the Souvinier park, KGB Headquarters, Novidichevney Convent (where several tsars wives were sent and many artist are buried), and maybe to Trechekovka Art Gallery. We hope to be able to fit it all in but we are not for sure. Of course there will be meals and the metro that will take up time as well. Hopefully we won’t freeze to death.
I’ll try to get you some nice pictures after I get back.
