Dutch is trucking along. Here's a picture of my book and dictionary... my close friends these days. I spent a while at a great little coffee shop 2 blocks from my apartment today. It's been so fun being able to get the gist of newspaper articles and understand some of the things people say around me! Speaking of articles, here are a couple I read (skimmed with the help of my dictionary!) today. I thought the article's accompanying images communicate well:
The first is about Ramadan and the debate over whether the next two days (Eid Ul-Fitr) should be considered an official holiday in the Netherlands. I've been thinking about this idea a lot. In a city like Amsterdam where half the people are internationals; sensitivity to religious and cultural traditions is a hot topic. My class had a big test on Rosh Hashanah and a class party was planned during Ramadan (which ruled out more the half the class). I'm not saying we need to tiptoe around everyone's traditions but I do think in a place like this where there's a sort of "war" of misunderstanding, especially between Muslims and the secular culture, effort needs to be made. I'm not talking about just tolerance... I think it's something more toward appreciation and celebration. It reminds me of a video my pastor showed one time, "Celebrate What's Right With the World." I think holidays and special occasions are something to appreciate; and to celebrate their importance to a group of people, even if you believe radically different things. Plus at a very simplistic level it means tasty new foods to try and words to learn!
The second article visually depicts what's happening economically in America... perhaps the world. It's been strange to watch CNN at night, hear people talking in cafes, and skype with folks who are wondering what to do with their money... and feel so far away from it all. I woke up Monday and was scared thinking about what could happen. I plunged into the fear for about 5 minutes and then I felt the Lord check my spirit, and almost say "hey" and point my chin back up toward him. Fear is not from me [God]. Never. And so I took a deep breath and tried to pray instead. This is no surprise to God. The banks have lost control, the government doesn't know what to do, but God is in control, and even if everything tumbles, that fact gives me amazing comfort. He's in control of me, my parent's retirement, my time here, the church etc...
[new train of thought]
Every morning I wake up at 7am, spend some time with the Lord, eat, get ready and leave the house at 8:30 for a 20 min bike ride down to class. The ride is beautiful... along a bustling market, through Vondelpark, the fancy neighborhoods surrounding the park, under (literally) an old school, and under the A10 freeway to the Vrije University. The 10 min. that it takes to cycle from the park to VU smells like parsley. Strange but so beautiful.. I want to bottle up the smell.
On Saturday I was invited to a little cottage that P & C from small group own/live in most of the year. P invited me for lunch and I had a sweet time getting to know her, playing with her pets, enjoying the garden, and learning new dutch phrases. She taught me some great ones:
Ik houd van jou (I love you)
Oh, jongen jongen... (oh boy oh boy...)
Precise (exactly!) For some reason this is one of my favorites!
I also wonder if one day I'll be able to look back to this time and clearly comprehend all that's happening. It's all going so fast. I don't feel like I can process enough or think enough or remember enough. I want to save everything. All the details. All the good conversations. Even the moments of confusion and embarrassment (they may make sense later!)
