Wednesday, April 15, 2009

I have seen the sun!

So let's see here--last week. I have finally discovered that Germany DOES see the sun and oh what a beauty the country is when it is covered by a blue sky and adorned by flowers of all colors. My main picture at the top is one taken (in my opinion) on the first day of spring. I forgot what a joy it is to walk outside without a coat, scarf, and gloves. My how I've missed warmth! A plus about the warm weather here is the humidity is about 1/2 of the humidity at home, so now I know what normal temperatures are supposed to feel like!

Moving onto activities of last week: We had a retreat of sorts at a city about an hour and a half from here. The town is extremely small and with a name almost impossible to pronounce. Through the trip we learned a lot about ourselves, our teammates, and how we work together as a team. There were several other missionaries from Germany at the retreat, so it was also nice to meet others serving God in Germany! I wish everyone I knew could take this test. It's called Grip-Birkman, and it's one of the most elaborate tests I've ever taken. It describes you when you're just jim dandy, and what happens to you when you get stressed out. It shows your highest levels of interest (my top two were artistic and scientific..hint hint) which help people learn how to help you out when they see your stress signs. I believe in this test so much that I'm just going to save it in my email and hand it over to my future husband one day (who knows if email will even exist by that point). I think this test is so beneficial for teammates to have--I know it's already helped my fellow hands-on teammates and I!

Outside of the Grip-Birkman discussion times, we had a lot of free time in the late afternoon and evening. I was lucky enough to participate in my first ultimate frisbee game and show Team Dresden, as well as the rest of Germany, how truly competitive I am. The team I was on won both times, so I walked off the field happy. We also visited a local waterfall, as well as an Alpine slide. I've been on an Alpine slide once before, so I felt confident enough in the tracks to put my speed level on full steam ahead. All in all, last week was an amazing trip! We're hoping to see more of Germany in our last two months here!

German word:
niesen--to sneeze




Team Hands-on Dresden in front of the waterfall


On the way down on the alpine slide


The whole Alpine slide

1 comment:

Spring said...

Those pics are gorgeous!! You're my photographer's heart insanely jealous!! =)