tears and travels

No, the tears are not mine. Nor am I certain what they were all about. Last Saturday I served as a chaperone to the Vilseck High School homecoming dance. For those counting at home, this is the same number of homecomings I went to while I was in High School myself. I am not a real big fan of dances. but I did enjoy this one. I worked in the coat check area, so I was able to talk to a lot of students who I didn't know before (some of whom I saw on Tuesday at school lunch who talked to me again there.) Throughout the night, one of the more common occurences were the high school girls coming out of the dance hall in tears. Not sure the exact number, but it was definitely enough to be noticed. Ah, the strong emotions of high school and the possible pain/feelings like it's the end of the world at having your heart broken.

The travels part is about me. I am heading out tomorrow to the other side of germany for a staff conference/training. I am at the same time both really looking forward to meeting all of my fellow staff members that I have not met yet and slightly apprehensive about the potential for this to be a touch overwhelming. More so the excited part. I am really looking forward to seeing the staff that I have already met at other trainings and seeing them for the first time since I have been in Europe. I would appreciate prayers for safe travels and a good experience and the opportunity to learn a lot during the trainings. I will be returning on the 5th of november, so do not expect an update to the blog before then.

New Place

I am movg into my permanent digs in the next few days, which I am excited for. It isa duplex in Kaltenbrunn, which is a town about 10 minutes from Graf and 20 minutes from Vilseck. It is a lot bigger than I was expecting to get, and also a ta more expensice than I was planning, but it is a great place for me to go. I am posting a video on facebook of a little tour if you care to take a look. Oh, I have a car also. A 2000 Ford Focus. Pretty decent car, and it was a lot cheaper than any other decent car I looked at. So I am pleased with it. Pics of that will be on facebook shortly as well.

My chow for the week would have to be club on Tuesday. I made up a game of zombies, werewolves and vampires. Sounds creepy and weird, but it went over really well. The kids got all dressed up and had a great time with it. We were doing a talk about how Jesus is a confronter of evil, and about the battle being raged between good and evil and we were able to use the cultural phenomenon of these creatures fighting to say there is a much bigger and much more real war being waged.

Ok, that's enough for this week. Hope all is well.

Funeral w/ the sound of gunfire as a backdrop

Last week, there was a funeral service held for two soldiers from here who were killed in Afghanistan. It was not the first funeral service here since I have been here, and it seems like it will definitely not be the last. The soldiers from here are involved in a lot of the action in Afghanistan. For this particular funeral service, I was in the office, whic is at the chapel it was held at, to pick something up. As I was leaving, they did a 21 gun salute, followed by taps. What was eerie/strange/chilling about this, was the gunfire in the background. This post is a huge training area for soldiers, and there is often gunfire and explosions going on. It just seemed very eerie to hear a 21 gun salute while machine gun fire was being heard, and the same during taps. To think those may have beenthe same sounds these two young men heard in their last moments, and the fact that the guys shooting in the training area are headed to Afghanistan to do it for real, struck me very hard. Such is life on a military base.

They call me sir

Sorry for missing last week. I will post a couple this week to make up for it. One of the biggest things I need to get used to is being called "sir". I get called sir all the time, and it's really weird for me. To be honest, I don't really like it. When a kid calls me that, or the dreaded "Mr. Josiah", I let them know that w/ me that's not necessary. Most miliary kids are brought up to cal everyone sir and ma'am, which I think is really good, but I just don't really like it for me just yet. Also, there are a few younger kids of a chaplain that I have been getting to know pretty well, and they call me Mr. Walcott. That is extremely weird to me. I guess I am an adult and an authority figure here, just is different for me.

Brief hello

Hi. Just a brief note this evening. Thursdays are generally my day off, but not today. We had a dessert banquet put on by the Club Beyond Booster Club here on post to raise some money for the teens and the upcoming trips. It went well, had a decent turnout, made a little cash, ate lots of desserts, etc. I am pleased w/ how it went. Had some really good conversations with the teens who were ther to work the event, which was about 30 of them.

In other news, I signed the lease for a new place this morning. It is a duplex, and when I move in I will put pictures on the internet for all to see. I will start moving in on Monday, and then over the next week start to stay there permanently. It has been great staying where I am at right now, but it will be nice to have my own place and get settled.

Ok, I am exhausted and in desperate need of sleep. I will write again on Saturday, which will be my day off for the week.