Goethe

This morning I said goodbye to my team and Tübingen. Don't worry, I didn't quit or get kicked off the team. And shame on you if you think I would be asked to leave this soon. I traveled to Schwabisch Hall today to start a month long, intensive session of language school. I took the 9:37 train from Tübingen to Stuttgart of which I made with 4 minutes to spare. Once I arrived in Stuttgart, I hopped off the train (literally, it's a daughnting step) and quickly checked out the train schedule. Found Schwabisch Hall. That train departs at 10:40. Looked at my watch. It's 10:40. Hmmm... I was on platform 1 and the train I needed departed from track 16. Pickle. I race across the station and obviously because Germans are always on time, the train had already left. I panicked. I'm just kidding. I went to a coffee shop, bought a fruit cup, and watched some podcasts on my mac for a while.

The train ride to Schwabisch Hall, like every other train ride in Germany was gorgeous. Lot's of snow covered fields and forests with snow-filled branches. If only I had some hot chocolate and James Taylor's Christmas album play, I'd have been set. Guess I'll save that one for later.
Funny thing is that I capture a backhoe without knowing it. The train was moving rather quickly.

Thanks to Stef's instructions, I made it safely to the Goethe Institute. I scored an A2.2 on my oral, A2.1 on my multiple choice test, and A2.2 on my written exam. The instruction decided to place me in B1. (language school starts with A1 and ends at C2. C2 being the conquoring of the German language) We will see how that goes. Right after that, I went to get my housing assignment and this girl asks me my name. I replied with the appropriate response. This is how I met Andy. The rest of the Globalscope team spent two month here in Schwabisch Hall. Andy became one of their good friends and they had told her to look for me today and to make me feel welcome. And that she did. She along with her friend Tammy, who are both from Nebraske, helped me find my dorm and then we got a Doner Kebab, the traditional European food for poor American students.
Mein Zimmer

On a more serious note, adjustment to German life has not and still is not an easy one. I came from so many great friends, family members, and mentors in the US to my world coming down to my 3 teammates. It's weired. It's like jumping off a ship into the ocean when you're used to hanging out on the ship with tons of people and watching the ship float away. So, you look around. You see 3 others that you aren't that close to and suddenly you realize God's waiting with a safety boat just waiting for you to hop in.

So that's what I did. I started praying more, listening more, and not just reading my Bible, but contemplating over the text over and over. God is amazing. On the first night, which was the hardest so far, I started reading Psalms from the beginning and I stopped at 2:12 "Blessed are all who take refuge in Him." Perfect. I have been dreading coming to Schwabisch Hall alone and away from the team and I've been praying about it. I haven't even started class yet and I have met Semone, my CV (language school equivelant to RA), Andy and Tammy from Nebraska, and we are all going to breakfast tomorrow.

God has provided me an outlet to glorify him in Germany. God provided so many wonderful supporters to help me get here. And now that I am here, His provisions continue.
Read More 1 Comment | Posted by Chandler P. Creel | edit post

1 Comment

  1. Miriam on November 25, 2008 at 6:55 PM

    Sounds like your adventures have begun!!! :)