Germany Pics

Paris Pics

Marseille Pics

Etude Score

Generous Germans

We're staying with Bryan's friend Hendrick and his family in Essen Germany. It's been a very nice experience staying with a family again. There's something to be said about both traveling independently as well as staying with a host. Of course you really get a better apreciation for the culture when staying with a resident.

The family with which we're staying is extremly generous. Giving us food, international phone time, internet, paying for bus tickets, concert tickets doing our laundry for us and the list goes on. Great people. I don't know if they're Christians or not. I hope we can get into a spiritual convo before we leave.

People in Europe seem to eat so much! At least they eat for a long period of time. I don't really like it because it seems like we could be getting a lot more done in the day if we'd just eat and get on with the day. But Europe's greater emphasis on family could be attributed to how long they spend with each other around the table.

Sorry for not posting more or sharing more thoughts but I just don't have time for doing much of anything on my own.

Happy Father's Day to my Dad. Sorry I can't be there to celebrate. Thanks for all you do.

Forgot to Mention

My bag arrived safely. Thank goodness.

Sick in Paris

Pretty much every day we've had activities with very little down time. As a result I haven't updated my blog and I'm a little sick. This is our last day in Paris. I've had to stay back at the hotel and rest while Sean and Bryan go to a modern art museum. It feels so nice to rest for awhile.

For the most part we're having a great time. I think I kind of hyped this trip up in my mind before I left, admittedly. I'm realizing that life is full of the same excitments and disappontments no matter where you are.

Yesterday, among other things, we visited Arc De Triomphe. It's that famous arch with a massive round about around it. It was an amazing scene! For some reason the traffic really fascinated me. Supposedly on average there's an accident every three minutes! Although we didn't see any.

If I'm feeling better we're going to try and eat at a nice resteraunt around the Eifle Tower. I really want normal food like a pizza or hamburger!

The guys just showed up. Gotta run.

Ciao!

Wifi on the plane??

shut up

...unfortunately I can't get it to work on my pod... shame

Connecting Flight

Frankfurt, Germany:

I couldn't figure out if my checked bag would automatically/magically end up in Marseille or if I had to claim it, take it through customs and drop it off again. The first guy I asked said I was supposed to have a reciept to claim it and recheck it. In a state of confusion and panic I looked through my papers to no avail. I asked two others who said they would go to Marseille automatically. OK! So here I am about to board hoping the last two people were right. But they lady who took it initially in KC said I would have to claim and recheck the bag. So now the chances my bag ends up in Marseille is 50-50?

Side note it's kinda cool

Waking up before breakfast

I slept very poorly last night in anticipation of my travels today. Just about died getting up at 4:15 to get on the road. But I did enjoy
leaving in the dark to head east to watch the sunrise. All while listening to Eric Whiticre. wow

The check-in counter ladies were pretty friendly. They explained that they can route my checked bag all the way to my destination. Except going through customs in Frankfurt. "Just make sure you don't follow the crowd on out of security." It didn't sound like all signs would be in English. Should be interesting!

Oh I forgot. Very cool clouds/lightning in the distance on the drive.
Went with Whiticre quite well.

STOKED!

So I've decided to start this thing up again. It may not last long but I think it'll be a cool way to remember this trip. As well as keep loved ones informed. As far as I know I'll mainly be updating this using my little iPod Touch keyboard. Kind of hard to write too much on.

I'm SO anxious to get going on this trip. All week I've been thinking about different things I need to prepare for. But I kind of wish I would have had a little more going on so I wouldn't have had so much time to think about things that I couldn't do until Saturday.

Bummer: Sean and Bryan won't be coming into Marseilles overnight Sunday night like we had planned. Instead they won't be there till Monday night. So I'll be with the Smiths all day Monday. Trying to stay awake. A little disappointing but as my Dad reminded me, my schedule and this trip is in God's hands. I pray I'll remember that if/when things go differently than planned on this trip.

Check one two...

...three four

There Goes the Summer

School never compares to home. Plus I've decided that I hate the first week of returning to school. It takes me awhile to get readjusted and the process is never fun. Hopefully things will be better soon. Life is rather boring and unfortunately this includes people.

I was talking with a friend who is also an animation concentration. He said he didn't think we had to take "Portfolio Development" which is a class I'm currently in. But my advisor was the one who set up my schedule this semester. It would be nice to not have to take it except for losing my "full time" status - insurance. But mostly I hope I'm not missing some class and not be able to graduate in Dec. I'm pretty sure I would sue John Brown if that happened. At least then I wouldn't need a degree.

I really like a lot of songs of course. But the one I'm listening to right now is particularly agreeable. "You're No Good" by Perder Pie a.k.a Joshua Piper. So give it a listen. Sure it's raw and slightly crude but I really like it.

My hall went to Lincoln Lake tonight to jump off some cliffs. It might have been fun but I didn't feel like making myself do it. I don't feel like doing much these days. In fact I'm completely unmotivated. Hopefully things change so I don't flunk my last semester.

David had a whole heart for God

Very interesting day today. Mostly because of the morning. I went to a church called Cornerstone Baptist. One of my male intern friends invited me. He's kind of a weird fellow. Very assertive. So being the follower that I am I agreed to go to church with him. Definitely a "fire and brimstone" type church. My first clue that I didn't fit in was when I say all males (even the very young) in full suites and ties and all women in dresses. I of course was wearing khakis and an un-tucked colored shirt. :) Everyone was very nice but I sensed their motives to be based on adding to their numbers of the "saved." People were yelling throughout the sunday school and service time. Both from up front and the crowd. During a congregational prayer time I was approached and asked if I was 100% sure I was going to heaven when I die and why God should let me in. I replied with Sunday school answers and he left me alone.

It was unlike any experience I'd ever had. It was very interesting and I don't regret it. It was sad how legalistic the church was. They were so set on following the rules. They kept using phrases like, you better be reading your scripture and following Jesus so that you don't backslide. Which doesn't sound that bad like I just said it, but they would say these cliche phrases over and over again. They would always talk about things with an us vs. them overtone. Us being the righteous and them being the sinners going to hell. Of course there is a lot of truth in all of this but they came across as arrogant. Not exactly the type of people to come along side of a crying prostitute or drunkard to see where they're at and show them God's love for a lost world. I don't believe their methods will have any success in today's society. People don't want to be yelled at for what they're doing wrong. How is that appealing?

Are they saved? It's hard to say and I can't know. But I would venture to guess that most are not. From what I saw they rely on their own efforts to save them from our fallen state.

Something occurred to me while sitting in the pew that I must mention. The pastor was saying how all these bad things had happened to their church. He mentioned several different vandalism occurrences including some from "satin worshipers." He said that on one occasion the damage had amounted to half a million dollars. I don't know if when he used the term "satin worshipers" he was merely exaggerating the state of the lost world in general or if he actually meant satin
worshipers. But I was thinking, it seems like evil would attack the strongest opposition to its cause. So why doesn't this type of attack happen to the less conservative less legalistic churches like mine? Even if it was just the general lost world which the pastor was speaking of, that's a lot of damage - a strong attack. This makes me think they might be on to something. If the devil is truly attacking this church they must be doing something good for the sake of the Kingdom.

So how will I sleep tonight? Three answers. First, these attacks really do happen to other churches (yes even mine now that I think about it) and so we must be on to something as well. Second, the pastor could have been exaggerating the damage - not too surprising, considering what they abandon to be "saved," our helpless eternal state, how hard is it to believe they would abandon the strict truth in relaying this vandalism story? Third, these guys probably do a
good job of ticking people off. If they relate to the lost world in a way which even remotely resembles their fervor within the church doors I can see people going to great lengths to hurt this church because of the lack of love shown to the outside world.

Today is Father's Day. I would like to honor my Father. He has shown a never ending supply of love to me. He even gave up his car for me to use for 6 weeks. Besides the direct benefits from such a Dad he is an example which has eternal significance. Thanks for everything Dad.

Forming the Ties

I've had such good times lately! Unfortunately good times usually means spending more time with friends which means not as much posting. Sorry to put you all through that.

Christi and I and a few other interns met with Kristin Wood (a friend from school who lives in town) the other night. We went to a pizza place and then downtown for ice cream. The greatest part was the ice cream afterwards when everyone but Christi, Kristin and I left. It was so much fun! It's hard to express. I just felt like because we had things in common (JBU) we were able to connect in a way I hadn't really experienced since I came here. And let me tell you, Kristin is absolutely halarious. She makes me genuinely laugh. We were all just being ourselves and completely relaxed. I heart that time.

Several other great experiences took place last week and this past week including a party/get together for all the interns and a viewage of End of the Spear with the group. Both times were excellent but I felt last night (End of the Spear) was particularly satisfying. This is because I felt even more connected to the group and comfortable. I talked with this girl named Mia who I found out was homeschooled. It was good to share common experiences. And this other girl named Stephanie who I thought was a complete control freak and far too forward for a girl, is actually turning out to be a cool person. I enjoy talking with her. Come to find out she's half Iraqi. Kinda interesting. Sorry, I don't mean to bore you with my social drama but I'm merely sharing this to show how I've connected with a good group of people. It will be sad to leave them next week. But I'm kind of thankful I haven't had a longer time with them so that my departing doesn't rip too much flesh.

I've definitely gotten a lot closer to Christi. She and I have really opened up to each other. I can joke around and almost completely be myself around her. I do and say many things around her that I never would have before this summer. You know when you see someone literally every day for five weeks you tend to get to know them. She's a great friend. It'll be weird when she leaves this Saturday.

It's been very hard to fight the natural tendencies of attraction but with only a few days left of seeing her for the summer I think it's safe to say God has allowed me to be successful in this area. By successful I mean not falling for her. She's not for me.

Last night while watching the End of the Spear I made a funny. Would
you like to hear it? OK! So there was this tribal people in the movie and they had different ways of life than us of course. It was really pretty confusing to try to understand the whole male/female and parents/children relationship. So Stephanie shared her frustration about this and I said in a Crow voice (from MST3K) "Where's the family structure??" They all laughed. And then Stephanie said, "They need Focus!" It was a great moment.

I worked on a Breakaway advertisement to promote a renewing of the subscription. It was really quite fun because I was given some creative freedom. I turned it in to Tracy (one of the senior designers) and he liked it. So he "routed" it which basically means he let the so called client give us feedback. (Even though Breakaway magazine is part of Focus, the creative department still considers everyone a separate "client" -- kinda weird) So it came back and they liked it! I was actually really surprised because the client almost always finds something wrong about the design. So I burned it and gave it back to Tracy. I wasn't extremely excited about the design, but they all liked it, so I was happy. Perhaps I'll email it to myself at work tomorrow so I can post it.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiIIII

I've started this post a couple times already. Both times trying to make a profound observation on life. When really it's just me, Jeremy. A normal guy who experiences the exact same emotions as every one else on this planet. So look at yourself and what you want out of life and project that on me.

Think the thoughts you did last night in bed before you fell asleep and place that ---->here<----.

Put your thoughts about your discontent for life without a lover ---->here<----.

Put your theatrical emotional highs ---->here<----.

There. There's your post for the evening.

This is me, sorry about the dirt

I am terrible. I've done such evil. Let me start from the beginning.

I couldn't sleep well last night. My mind was racing. I woke up in the middle and boom, something captivated me. And it didn't stop for quite awhile. When I woke up this morning I wasn't exactly feeling refreshed. I tried to sleep as long as I could but I can never make it past 7:30 because of my sleep routine. So I got up, ate breakfast, messed around on the computer, and went back to sleep. The service wasn't until 11. When the alarm went off I certainly wasn't ready to get up. I was of course sleeping soundly. So the entire time I was getting ready for church I was not in a good mood. I certainly had a bad attitude and let's just say wasn't afraid to express my frustrations verbally.

The plan was for Christi to come over at about 15 till and we would go to church. She didn't make it till a few minutes before the hour. Of my priorities I hold punctuality high. Christi is normally very disciplined and punctual. But not today. I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

I was slightly frustrated with Christi, but only as much as you can be with a good friend. I didn't talk much at all on the drive to church. Christi was chipper. A regular sleep pattern seems to be crucial to my right state of mind. Walking in late always kills me. Especially when I couldn't stop thinking about the last guy I heard preach at this church (two weeks ago) who commented on the rudeness of being tardy.

After church things became better. Probably because I woke up. Christi and I made Hamburger Helper® ( <---- I just had to do that because I remembered the hotkey from work.) for lunch and I taught her Backgammon. Randy had just taught me. She left and I ebayed. I then napped for half an hour till I had to get up to check on an auction (I know, it's a rough life). I called Sean and ebayed some more till, to my surprise, I scored a sweet deal on a Powerbook. Needless to say, I was heaps excited.

I then went to Pierced, which is a service for college age folk at Woodmen Valley Chapel. Very very excellent. Meaningful music, stellar message. The bloke talked about Jacob's manipulative perspective on life. Up until the point that Jacob wrestled with God he was a heal grabber or deceiver. But when he wrestled, he confronted God and let Him do His work in Jacob's life. There was clash, he showed God who he really was, but it was worth it because he became Israel - one who has wrestled with men and God. When Jacob made himself vulnerable God changed Him.

So what is this evil I have committed? I am selfish. I was grumpy and frustrated because of the way things weren't going this morning. Then I was so happy because I was able to chill with Christi and also buy a Powerbook. How pathetic is that? This temporary world has a hold on me!

But more than being shallow, I have not been honest with God. That is the evil which I have committed. I did things, said things and had thoughts without admitting it. I believe one of my greatest enemies is passivity. By that I mean doing things without acknowledging them and drifting along. I should at least! at least! complain to God about why I think I cannot not sin. Then I'll be one who wrestles with God. When you wrestle with God, you kinda lose ya know?

His Breath Lasts Longer

Why do I breathe?

I've never even been outside the Palace walls...

You know those days when nothing you do seems to bring fulfillment? This is one of those days. At least ever since I got off work at 2. Of course I took a nap which was pleasant. And I read a little. Nothing I can think of brings excitement. I realize this is of course a purely selfish state but nevertheless it is a state I find myself in. I find it easiest in this state to not care about what I do as much. In other words I have the potential of slipping into sin easier.

I would like to meet Paul from the Bible. He seemed to have things together. I love what he said about finding contentment in whatever situation he's in. It'd be great to have an attitude of disregard for this world and focused so fully on the greater cause of God's Kingdom. Maybe someday I'll have that attitude. Like when I die. hehe

So we were having BS this morning (Bible Study of course). We have one every morning. Sometimes just with our group and sometimes the whole department. Anyway, this guy was sharing a prayer request about he and his son going with a group to Alaska to go bear hunting. And we were discussing how dangerous bears are. And this lady spoke up and said something like, "Yeah that's why there's a law against bears having the right to bear arms." We all had a good laugh.

Oh I have to go! I just thought of something to do -- calibrate my monitor.

Don't worry, if I don't get help at Charter I'll get help somewhere. ; )

United We Stand (on what?)

I just came back from watching except for one the most terrifying and disturbing movie I've ever seen. I don't think a movie has ever upset me quite this much save the Passion of the Christ. By upset I don't necessarily mean anger, but moved. The movie was United 93. I believe the reason it effected me so is because of how close to reality it probably is. It's done in a way that is very similar to a documentary - without the narration of course. Everything that took place prior to the hijacking was so believable it was eery. All of a sudden the terrorists made their move. Things that took place before my eyes left my brain saying, "No, that's not supposed to happen" because of all that it went against. You can't help but sympathize with the characters playing your fellow Americans.

At one point the movie made an interesting connection. It showed passengers quoting the Lord's prayer contrasted with the prayers of the terrorists. Both prayers were calls in a time of distress. I realized that one will default to one's foundational beliefs when all is stripped away. This is why to those with firm belief in God and the Kingdom the evil intentions of others will not succeed no matter how great the offence. Their minds are made up. If America is foundationally firm on Good the terrorists might as well pack it up and go home. They have no hope of persuasion. Of course if we're not, we will naturally default to evil. They will have persuaded us to their evil beliefs (though they take a different form than islam). And they (or rather the greater evil) will have won.

We should all pray for America.