Talent Show

I tried to upload a video of Kelsey and me performing at the talent show, but it took way too long. Hopefully I can get a recording up on here, at least. Here are some pictures of other acts:

Nathan, Ethan, And Nick with a pop and RnB song medley.

Julia and Murray singing "Ring of Fire." She's holding a kazoo up to his mouth. . .

Hans with the Tauernhof version of "My Way" by Frank Sinatra.

Today most of the school went to Salzburg because there was a Christmas market.

There were lots of vendors selling food and toys and clothes and decorations. I hung out with Benni, Jan and Adam (DE, DE, US-Idaho), and basically just walked and walked and walked, occasionally talking when we had nothing else to do. I told Kelsey later that the day was pretty quiet and she laughed and unbelieving laugh. She hung out with American girls, probably as opposite as you can get of hanging out with German guys. There was a cathedral and a children's choir. . . and then we came home. Salzburg I have to soak up; one day of walking around doesn't cut it.

(ABOVE: Benni and me; BELOW: Adam and... )

So, I can't remember if I wrote it in the last post, but EFG (Evangelical-Free "Gemeinde" [Fellowship], the church in Weimar, Germany where I'll be working after Tauernhof) has found me a place to live! Apparently I'll have my own room and entrance, but I'll be sharing a bathroom with a family. Sooo. . . I'll sort of have my own place. Wow, I just realized that this will be my first official "own place" . . . cool. :) Rent is totally covered, but I'm on my own otherwise. Hopefully I'll be traveling a tiny bit beforehand, possibly to Hungary, possibly to visit Tauernhof friends in Germany. For sure to visit Stephanie for New Year's Eve in Stuttgart. We'll see how things shape up.

Goodbye for now,

-Michael

Heyyyy Everybody. :D

Well, the hotel across the street from the school finally opened back up from their month-long vacation, so the internet is finally at my command. :D

Ok, first things first: the picture above is lying to you. See all the hair below about nose level? It's not there anymore. Now it's something more like this:

That's me at this very moment; that face comes from a sore throat. Lots of guys (and a few girls) are doing "No-shave November," but for me I guess it was "Shave November."

I'll start with recent events, and write till my computer battery runs out:

Tonight is a talent show; I'll be playing piano for my friend Kelsey who's singing "Chasing Pavements" by Adele. I fee like I should say a superlative or two about Kelsey's voice. It's AWESOME, really intimate but powerful, too. I didn't know people with voices like this came to Bible schools. Hopefully a video of that will end up on here. Also I'm leading worship Sunday evening. There are always two church services on Sunday, morning and evening, with music and a student's testimony and a speaker. Different worship teams and "family groups" lead the worship. (A family group is a small group that meets Monday nights for a more intimate Bible study led by a student.) Anyway, my worship team is leading it this Sunday evening, and we decided to do a "total praise" service, with songs basically focusing only on God Himself, not my own troubles or experiences. Obviously those songs aren't bad or anything, but we just wanted to do this one time idea.

This week everyone had a "secret angel" who would write them letters or give them (good) food or do their duties for them; whatever practical ideas that would bless and encourage their person, whose names we drew from a bag. I got a letter and some chocolate from my angel, and to my person I organized a scavenger hunt, using, of course, Bible verse as the clues. I am at Bible school, after all. It's nice to see some of the friendships that have formed here. Here are some of my friends:

From left to right: Kelsey (who I'm playing with in the talent show; she's from Oregon), Ruth (Britain), Robin (Germany), Samara (Canada), and Laura (Minnesota).

This was the group I went to Vienna with on travel weekend. Oh man, that's a whole other story, and I'm running out of time. Anyway, Robin and I hit it off from the beginning, and he's definitely my closest friend here. Maybe, maybe even my closest friend in a long, long time. I've been learning how to open up to people and take myself seriously since I've been here, and Robin's sort of been the test subject. Robin and I go on long walks sometimes, even though it's pretty cold nowadays (though I should mention, the snow has been hit-or-miss, and currently we have no snow to speak of). Anyway, Robin is 20 years old wants to be a teacher of government or geography, or something related. Kelsey is another one I talk with a bit. She's 21 and was studying to be a singer, but some things happened and she's abandoned that for now.

Benni (German, left) is one of my room mates, and he's another guy I treasure a bunch for a number of reasons. He's going to study medicine after Bible school, and wants to be a children's doctor.

Wow, okay, time's up - dinner's ready. I didn't write half of what I should've. This didn't even break the surface. Well, then you can probably be expecting at least one more of these soon.

Till then, farewell; I hope everyone had a nice thanksgiving.

-Michael