BEFORE READING THIS POST PLEASE READ JAKE'S POST ABOUT PARIS IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY. DANK U.
As the Patter to my Stein promised in his most recent blog (the one from about 10 min ago) this is the blog following our most recent wanderings into Berlin. To start off, Berlin is an old city and jam packed with good history and good tourism. There is loads of WWII and Cold War/communism history of which we experienced almost none. The extent of our tourism was a walk past the Reichstag, playing tag through a $27 million holocaust memorial, (you would have too if you saw how fun it was, don't judge) doing the "John Wall" dance in front of the Berlin Wall, and a tour through the Jewish Museum, which was pretty tight. But how fun is that touristy stuff anyway? Here's what Berlin was all about:
I carry around Rick Steves' "Best of Europe 2011" book as my own person tour guide. A shout out to Rick is essentially a shout out to my awesome sister, Rebecca, who taught me the works of Euro travel (galavanting as she most recently called it) and she was taught by Rick. She and I have an old saying, never leave home without Rick (Steves that is), slick (slicker rain coat), and the cam (for capturing beauty/comedy). Thank you Rebecca for providing so much joy in my life, and that includes Rick Steves'. Anyway, even though Rick's back hurts from carrying me and my friends around Europe for a month now, the boys in the group were still doubters. So when it came time to find a place to go out our first night in Berlin, I of course turned to Rick and found a popular pub in downtown East-Berlin called Aufsturz. It took 1 hour to find as we couldn't ask for directions because I was the only person who knew the name of the pub, and I could neither pronounce it or spell it..or remember the name at all. Somehow we found Aufsturz, and it was everything we could have dreamed a Berlin pub would be. It had over 120 different Beers, 40 different whiskeys, and nachos. Beer was about 3 Euro for a pint. Not only is that crazy cheap, but we're talking about premium quality German beer here. Looking at the menu we all felt like little kids in a candy shop. By the end of the night the boys of the group gave Rick Steves a nickname which we only refer to him now. He is now "the Deliverer" because he delivered that night, he delivered the next day by leading us to amazing German curry-wursts at a restaurant we dubbed "the Viteks of Berlin," and he will deliver again as he without fail always does.
The night did not end there, but for us felt like it was just getting started. As we were taking the U-Bahn back to our hostel around 1ish we hopped on a train and sat across from a more than drunk dude. His night was way past the point of fun and he was borderline passed out holding a grocery bag of throw up. This guy was at that point of drunkenness where if your friends tell you in the morning that you ate an entire onion and peed in the closet your response is, "oh thank goodness that's all." On top of that, he had a beautiful girl taking care of him, rubbing his back and wiping the drool from his lips, HA! They hit their stop and just as they head out the exit, another drunk dude is dragged in the opposite door by his two friends and sits in the exact same seat as the guy who just left. A guy sitting at the end of the train starts laughing and yells, "One in, one out!" Once again, we have amazing candid video, this time the credit is owed to Jake Patterson. For your viewing pleasure:
As soon as we got out of the U-Bahn and are laughing about what just happened, out of nowhere two fireworks fly over the sky and explode. We felt like it was for our personal entertainment and brought about wonderful confusion/laughter. Out of glee I jumped on top of a sidewalk pole almost murdering my rear end and Matt Dysart hurdled a sign that we were all hoping he wouldn't make. The night came to a close with 2 hours of pillow talk featuring a competition of who could name the most Disney Channel original movies, in which I dropped "Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-off" before losing to Dysart's "Motocrossed." We also exchanged "Hook" quotes, and impressions of R2D2's scream that he busts out when he malfunctions. Yeah, it was a good night.
A highlight from our next day came at the end of the night when our British hostel friends came in after a long night of partying while we were all asleep. As promised Kevin Beach woke up and yelled "The British are Coming!! The British are Coming!" which they did not find as funny as we did.
That almost made the KBMOTW, but my favorite Kevin Beach Moment of the Week was every time he tried to say anything that was in German. Rawspec to him for finding our train schedule to Berlin, but I couldn't help but laugh as he fearlessly tried to pronounce the names of every one of our stops. He would also say our U-Bahn stops and street names audibly, which usually looked like this: fredrouhdahlshafhaaabstraße, and clearly butcher the mess out of the German language. By the way, we never actually figured out what ß meant, thus the title of the blog entry. After Beach made a fool of himself trying to pronounce crazy German rubbish he would give his goofy laugh that follows pretty much any joke he makes. Love that man.
Favorite of our sayings from the week: "What a country" (usually referring to the incredibly cheap beer prices found throughout Germany)
Now that is some good galavanting.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
YOU CAN'T STOP HIM!
First and foremost, an apology is in order. We failed to post the happenings from an incredible weekend in Paris, and that is inexcusable. I'll give you an excuse anyway. Our Baylor professor here in Maastricht assigned a couple of sweet little essays for us to have fun with from Monday to Thursday. It served as a pleasant reminder that we are, in fact, not on vacation. For your attentiveness through this hardship, you'll receive two posts tonight. I'll blog about last weekend because I have the best memory of the team, and Michael will do his best to recall the events of the last three days in Berlin. Ready, set, go.
After we got out of class on Thursday, we embarked on what just might be the most expensive trip we take all semester. We ended up paying about three times as much as we usually pay for a hostel, but it was (almost) worth it. We shared a room with five kids from North Carolina who made you wonder if the Confederates had won the Civil War. They'll make an appearance later on in the blog.
Friday, we threw out the idea of a tour and decided to explore Paris on our own accord. We got to do some worship in Notre Dame, walk along the canals, see the sun (it's a rarity), and take pictures to flaunt the fact that we did those things. All in all, our first day in Paris was really simple, and that's what made it so great.
Some misconceptions about France: They really don't hate us as much as we think. I was ready to take some heat for being an American. Needless to say, I had my hometown of Ontario, Canada ready to fly on this particular weekend (See video in previous post for explanation). I tested the waters by ordering "freedom fries" at lunch. Remember that? Post-911, I distinctly remember my middle school serving freedom fries instead of french fries. How ridiculous was that? They were still serving fake potatoes. Freedom didn't make them taste any better.
Friday night. Kevin Beach is probably infamous at this point, but my grandmother just started following the blog, so I'll catch her up to speed.
Nonnie: Kevin Beach is one of our friends here from Baylor. He's from San Diego and he likes the Bolts, Barbara Streisand, Kappa Sig, and getting stuck in elevators. And if he ever jokes about getting girls, he's almost always kidding.
Alright, so Beach found a restaurant that he deemed "the best Mexican restaurant in Europe." France does a lot of things right, and Mexican food isn't one of them. Regardless, we had a great meal with our Waco friend Luci Meredith, who gave us a night tour of Paris in fluent French. Among the highlights of the night: listening to jazz music in a hallway of the Louvre, riding a ferris wheel, and, you guessed it, THE KEVIN BEACH MOMENT OF THE WEEK!
Alright guys, this KBMOTW is a contestant for the greatest KBMOTW of all time. Our group and Beach's group parted ways after the Mexican food. After a night of celebrating life in Paris, the five member Beach crew decide that the stairs are too daunting of a task. So they decided to test the elevator capacity. Pause. Earlier that day, Goldstein and I shared a ride downstairs in a similar French elevator. We were too close for comfort. The two of us. Alright, back to the story. The elevator inevitably gets stuck, and so ensues the hour and a half my five friends spent in a tiny elevator in Paris. After videoing his last will and testament to the group, Beach got a hold of our buddy, who then called the cops. I wasn't even there, but the reenactment that played in my head was the highlight of my weekend.
Speaking of the highlight to my weekend, here's the real one. Baylor played UT on our last night in Paris. So after spending the day in Versailles with the girls, Goldstein and I made our way to our favorite local Canadian hotspot. Our initial joy can only be encompassed by a picture:
This was one of those moments where you have to stop, collaborate, and listen. And praise God. We took part in a little bit of friendly competition with some fellow pub-goers, as well as the UT alum bartender. Small world. Here's where the title to the blog post comes in. LaceDarius Dunn goes on an absolute rampage, and near the end, when I thought I just couldn't take it any longer, I screamed, "YOU CAN'T STOP HIM!!!"
........(silence)....
.......(the sound of Goldstein's high-pitched laugh).....
....and back to the action. Greatest moment in Paris, bar none. Pun intended.
In summary, Paris is great. People make-out everywhere. You can't tell if it smells like really good food or really bad body odor. It goes down as one of the prettiest, classiest places I've ever seen.
Next week: Prague. Goldstein should have Berlin up soon enough.
lylas
After we got out of class on Thursday, we embarked on what just might be the most expensive trip we take all semester. We ended up paying about three times as much as we usually pay for a hostel, but it was (almost) worth it. We shared a room with five kids from North Carolina who made you wonder if the Confederates had won the Civil War. They'll make an appearance later on in the blog.
Friday, we threw out the idea of a tour and decided to explore Paris on our own accord. We got to do some worship in Notre Dame, walk along the canals, see the sun (it's a rarity), and take pictures to flaunt the fact that we did those things. All in all, our first day in Paris was really simple, and that's what made it so great.
Some misconceptions about France: They really don't hate us as much as we think. I was ready to take some heat for being an American. Needless to say, I had my hometown of Ontario, Canada ready to fly on this particular weekend (See video in previous post for explanation). I tested the waters by ordering "freedom fries" at lunch. Remember that? Post-911, I distinctly remember my middle school serving freedom fries instead of french fries. How ridiculous was that? They were still serving fake potatoes. Freedom didn't make them taste any better.
Friday night. Kevin Beach is probably infamous at this point, but my grandmother just started following the blog, so I'll catch her up to speed.
Nonnie: Kevin Beach is one of our friends here from Baylor. He's from San Diego and he likes the Bolts, Barbara Streisand, Kappa Sig, and getting stuck in elevators. And if he ever jokes about getting girls, he's almost always kidding.
Alright, so Beach found a restaurant that he deemed "the best Mexican restaurant in Europe." France does a lot of things right, and Mexican food isn't one of them. Regardless, we had a great meal with our Waco friend Luci Meredith, who gave us a night tour of Paris in fluent French. Among the highlights of the night: listening to jazz music in a hallway of the Louvre, riding a ferris wheel, and, you guessed it, THE KEVIN BEACH MOMENT OF THE WEEK!
Alright guys, this KBMOTW is a contestant for the greatest KBMOTW of all time. Our group and Beach's group parted ways after the Mexican food. After a night of celebrating life in Paris, the five member Beach crew decide that the stairs are too daunting of a task. So they decided to test the elevator capacity. Pause. Earlier that day, Goldstein and I shared a ride downstairs in a similar French elevator. We were too close for comfort. The two of us. Alright, back to the story. The elevator inevitably gets stuck, and so ensues the hour and a half my five friends spent in a tiny elevator in Paris. After videoing his last will and testament to the group, Beach got a hold of our buddy, who then called the cops. I wasn't even there, but the reenactment that played in my head was the highlight of my weekend.
Speaking of the highlight to my weekend, here's the real one. Baylor played UT on our last night in Paris. So after spending the day in Versailles with the girls, Goldstein and I made our way to our favorite local Canadian hotspot. Our initial joy can only be encompassed by a picture:
This was one of those moments where you have to stop, collaborate, and listen. And praise God. We took part in a little bit of friendly competition with some fellow pub-goers, as well as the UT alum bartender. Small world. Here's where the title to the blog post comes in. LaceDarius Dunn goes on an absolute rampage, and near the end, when I thought I just couldn't take it any longer, I screamed, "YOU CAN'T STOP HIM!!!"
........(silence)....
.......(the sound of Goldstein's high-pitched laugh).....
....and back to the action. Greatest moment in Paris, bar none. Pun intended.
In summary, Paris is great. People make-out everywhere. You can't tell if it smells like really good food or really bad body odor. It goes down as one of the prettiest, classiest places I've ever seen.
Next week: Prague. Goldstein should have Berlin up soon enough.
lylas
Sunday, February 6, 2011
European Death Hockey
The Red Bull Death Hockey event that I described earlier in a post was an absolute blast. It was definitely one of the craziest events I have ever been, too. Since it was the first time Crashed Ice had visited the Netherlands, people from the entire country trained in to experience the event. At the same time it was broadcast live across the entire continent, as I learned from my friend Tim Brown who was watching it in a bar in a tiny town in Italy. Death race ice skating definitely did not disappoint. I cut together a short video from our trip for your enjoyment.
Before you watch you should know that the song in the video is called Barbara Streisand and is an absolute sensation in Europe. According to one of our London friends from the Amsterdam pub crawl, it is a favorite at the clubs and topping the charts across the continent. America, be on the lookout for "Barbara Streisand" by Duck Sauce (not to be confused with Duck Butter).
Beach quote of the day: "pretty much anytime I talk about hooking up with a chick I'm joking."
Before you watch you should know that the song in the video is called Barbara Streisand and is an absolute sensation in Europe. According to one of our London friends from the Amsterdam pub crawl, it is a favorite at the clubs and topping the charts across the continent. America, be on the lookout for "Barbara Streisand" by Duck Sauce (not to be confused with Duck Butter).
Beach quote of the day: "pretty much anytime I talk about hooking up with a chick I'm joking."
Friday, February 4, 2011
A Dam good time
We had a saying this past weekend on our trip to the capital of The Netherlands, "When in Amsterdam, do as the damned do." This is not to suggest that we sought out great amounts of immorality that Amsterdam is best known for by any means. Rather we just kept finding ourselves in situations where we just had to laugh, wonder why on earth anyone would raise their kids in such a city, and continue on with our exploration.
We trained in around 16:30 (I'm using military time now, yup I'm cultured) and the four of us (Jake, Layne, Matt and I ((Matt is an English major, so I now have good grammar (((This parathenses thing I'm doing is definitely not good grammar though, oh well)))) immediately agreed that we loved the city. Within 10 minutes we had almost gotten hit by a tram, avoided about 6 bikers that were not about to stop, and stood on a tiny bridge while taking in a beautiful scene of the sun beginning to set behind an old church. The canals that run all through Amsterdam in a Venice-like fashion were almost like arrows leading our eyes to this amazing view. We all looked at each other passing along the unspoken, but shared view that this adventure is for real.
As we explore more Jake strikes up a conversation with a random guy about a pub crawl happening later that night, and for some reason we actually did it ("When in Dam"). It really was up in the air until the words "free t-shirt" were dropped, then it was a wrap.
Basically the night consisted of all of us hopping to a total of 6 pubs with a relatively small group. There was 5 of us, 4 crazy Irishmen, and 2 hilarious Englishmen. Earlier in the trip we developed a method of avoiding American prejudice and stereotyping in foreign countries by just saying we were from Canada. We decided in the rare event that we might run into Canadians we would quickly make up a province and University that we all attended, but we really did not have much behind that plan. Well, when we arrived at the first pub of the night we were all discussing our "Canadian roots" and having a good laugh about it. Just then a girl walks up and introduces herself to the group and asks where we are from. We all give slight smiles to each other and casually respond, "Canada, we are Canadians." She immediately freaks out, "NO WAY, I'M FROM CANADA! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS FROM!"
...silence...
For some reason everyone looked at me because I guess I'm designated B.S.er of the group, and they were all expecting some brilliant answer, to which I responded, "yeaaa we're from America." Credit Layne Hancock with this clutch, spontaneous, hidden camera footage:
Even though the night started a little shaky, and we added 'liar' to a list of American stereotypes, the ingredients of the night was a recipe for success. See picture below for proof.
The night also included a tour of the Red Light District, which I can use very few positive words to describe. It was easily the lowest part of my night, and I truly believe I have never been in a more worldly place in my life. "Heavy" is a great word to describe the feeling after walking through a small alley where men go to window shop for prostitues. I oddly felt that this is the exact place Jesus would be today, and quickly reminded myself that He is there, which led to continued prayer through the tour. I do not want to get any more into the Red Light District than I just described, I'll let JPatt talk more about it if he so chooses.
The next day we found a free walking tour around the entire city with a really knowledgeable and entertaining guide. Amsterdam is a beautiful city that is overshadowed by the "Coffee Shop" (weed) scene and the Red Light District. We ended at the Anne Frank house, which was 100% worth the quick tour, and was a very special place to see.
I will close with the Kevin Beach moment of Amsterdam: the Canadian girl from the pub asked if any of us were in fraternities, and Kevin Beach immediately responded, "yea Kappa Sig!" She then replied that she "LOVED Kappa Sig! and she knew a ton of Kappa Sigmas." This spawned a wonderful quote from Kevin Beach, "She had me at the letters."
Oh and for all you who are wondering who this Kevin Beach is and what he looks like, this next video will give you a visual.
By the way, he lost his passport on our first trip in London and got a temporary one from the U.S. embassy. He did end up finding this new one in Amsterdam, which was good.
We trained in around 16:30 (I'm using military time now, yup I'm cultured) and the four of us (Jake, Layne, Matt and I ((Matt is an English major, so I now have good grammar (((This parathenses thing I'm doing is definitely not good grammar though, oh well)))) immediately agreed that we loved the city. Within 10 minutes we had almost gotten hit by a tram, avoided about 6 bikers that were not about to stop, and stood on a tiny bridge while taking in a beautiful scene of the sun beginning to set behind an old church. The canals that run all through Amsterdam in a Venice-like fashion were almost like arrows leading our eyes to this amazing view. We all looked at each other passing along the unspoken, but shared view that this adventure is for real.
As we explore more Jake strikes up a conversation with a random guy about a pub crawl happening later that night, and for some reason we actually did it ("When in Dam"). It really was up in the air until the words "free t-shirt" were dropped, then it was a wrap.
Basically the night consisted of all of us hopping to a total of 6 pubs with a relatively small group. There was 5 of us, 4 crazy Irishmen, and 2 hilarious Englishmen. Earlier in the trip we developed a method of avoiding American prejudice and stereotyping in foreign countries by just saying we were from Canada. We decided in the rare event that we might run into Canadians we would quickly make up a province and University that we all attended, but we really did not have much behind that plan. Well, when we arrived at the first pub of the night we were all discussing our "Canadian roots" and having a good laugh about it. Just then a girl walks up and introduces herself to the group and asks where we are from. We all give slight smiles to each other and casually respond, "Canada, we are Canadians." She immediately freaks out, "NO WAY, I'M FROM CANADA! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS FROM!" ...silence...
For some reason everyone looked at me because I guess I'm designated B.S.er of the group, and they were all expecting some brilliant answer, to which I responded, "yeaaa we're from America." Credit Layne Hancock with this clutch, spontaneous, hidden camera footage:
Even though the night started a little shaky, and we added 'liar' to a list of American stereotypes, the ingredients of the night was a recipe for success. See picture below for proof.
The night also included a tour of the Red Light District, which I can use very few positive words to describe. It was easily the lowest part of my night, and I truly believe I have never been in a more worldly place in my life. "Heavy" is a great word to describe the feeling after walking through a small alley where men go to window shop for prostitues. I oddly felt that this is the exact place Jesus would be today, and quickly reminded myself that He is there, which led to continued prayer through the tour. I do not want to get any more into the Red Light District than I just described, I'll let JPatt talk more about it if he so chooses.
The next day we found a free walking tour around the entire city with a really knowledgeable and entertaining guide. Amsterdam is a beautiful city that is overshadowed by the "Coffee Shop" (weed) scene and the Red Light District. We ended at the Anne Frank house, which was 100% worth the quick tour, and was a very special place to see.
I will close with the Kevin Beach moment of Amsterdam: the Canadian girl from the pub asked if any of us were in fraternities, and Kevin Beach immediately responded, "yea Kappa Sig!" She then replied that she "LOVED Kappa Sig! and she knew a ton of Kappa Sigmas." This spawned a wonderful quote from Kevin Beach, "She had me at the letters."
Oh and for all you who are wondering who this Kevin Beach is and what he looks like, this next video will give you a visual.
By the way, he lost his passport on our first trip in London and got a temporary one from the U.S. embassy. He did end up finding this new one in Amsterdam, which was good.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Afternoon Delight/Dutch Doorman
This is the first time I've got my blog on before midnight. Hence the title. The majority of people reading this will shame me for waiting this long to make my own coffee. Londoners did it well, but the Dutch seem a little rusty in their coffee etiquette. After a late morning of classes being cancelled, a few friends and I went to pick up some essentials: coffee, chocolate, red meat..
That's something I really miss. I haven't had red meat in weeks. Our major food groups here consist of potatoes, bread, and potatoes. To put this into perspective, I've had potato salad at every single meal since I've been here. What I once hated, I somehow now enjoy.
That should be the theme of this whole trip.
Using that moment of depth, I will now segway into more serious matters. Last night, we packed most of our group into our little dorm room and worshiped. To catch you up to speed, I found a guitar while we were in England. However, it didn't end up being as cheap as I had hoped. I hate the British pound. A few days later, I got a message from an old friend who asked to support our group by paying for the guitar. I debated whether I should even write about it, but what I want you to read is that the Lord works in more ways than we can grasp. Back to last night, after we dedicated these pieces of steel and wood to His name, we sang of His goodness and His love for us. I was proud of Goldstein for stepping up to share some of his testimony with the group. He dissected the Trinity and spoke of its connections to his life and his faith. He had about fifteen minutes to prepare to share and killed it. Rawspec, Stein.
We started class today. We kind of started class today. We woke up at noon, had the daily dose of pasta, had our 1:30 class cancelled, and then laid around for a few hours.
Alright, confession. This blog post has been sitting at the bottom of my screen unfinished for about a day or two now. You could have never known. Good thing I'm a man of character. Let me catch you up to speed.
I won't bore you by talking about class. They're all the same, and no one sympathizes when it comes to school. It's true.
Bear with me as I flashback to our Sunday night worship. I dare you to check the grammar of bare/bear. While we were singing some worship songs here in our dorm, I looked up to find one of the staff members of our building standing in the doorway and smiling. We asked if he would join us, but I honestly can't tell you whether he stayed or went. He just kind of stood there for a while, smiling in the doorway. I didn't think much of it that night. Until tonight.
On our way out of the building, our friend from the other night was there working the front desk. After waving to him, I kept walking towards the door. He called for me to come back. I will now switch to dialogue to save us some time.
"The singing last night, what was it exactly that you were doing?"
"Oh..we were worshiping the Lord. "
"Yes, explain.."
"Oh..well, we were singing songs because were a community of believers."
"Oh. Tell me what you believe."
Here's where I kind of panicked.
"Well, I believe that God sent His son Jesus Christ to die on a cross for my sins so that I might live my life for Him and spend eternity in Heaven with Him."
"Oh," he said.
After waiting a few seconds, wondering if everything I had ever learned in church had just proven itself void, he said, "That's cool. I really like that. You know, in three years that I work here, I never see anyone do that."
This is where it hit me. It was that familiar moment when God uses a Dutch doorman to slap you in the face. That moment when you realize how much time you've been wasting. The thought of hitting my knees and praying for forgiveness was the first thing that crossed my mind, followed by the realization that I was standing in the middle of the lobby and could wait until tonight while blogging.
I've had the lyrics to an old Nickel Creek song ringing in my head all night. And that's how I'll end this post.
Can I be used to help others find truth,
When I'm scared I'll find proof that it's a lie,
Can I be led down a trail dropping breadcrumbs
that prove I'm not ready to die.
Please give me time to decipher the signs,
Please forgive me for time that I've wasted.
That's something I really miss. I haven't had red meat in weeks. Our major food groups here consist of potatoes, bread, and potatoes. To put this into perspective, I've had potato salad at every single meal since I've been here. What I once hated, I somehow now enjoy.
That should be the theme of this whole trip.
Using that moment of depth, I will now segway into more serious matters. Last night, we packed most of our group into our little dorm room and worshiped. To catch you up to speed, I found a guitar while we were in England. However, it didn't end up being as cheap as I had hoped. I hate the British pound. A few days later, I got a message from an old friend who asked to support our group by paying for the guitar. I debated whether I should even write about it, but what I want you to read is that the Lord works in more ways than we can grasp. Back to last night, after we dedicated these pieces of steel and wood to His name, we sang of His goodness and His love for us. I was proud of Goldstein for stepping up to share some of his testimony with the group. He dissected the Trinity and spoke of its connections to his life and his faith. He had about fifteen minutes to prepare to share and killed it. Rawspec, Stein.
We started class today. We kind of started class today. We woke up at noon, had the daily dose of pasta, had our 1:30 class cancelled, and then laid around for a few hours.
Alright, confession. This blog post has been sitting at the bottom of my screen unfinished for about a day or two now. You could have never known. Good thing I'm a man of character. Let me catch you up to speed.
I won't bore you by talking about class. They're all the same, and no one sympathizes when it comes to school. It's true.
Bear with me as I flashback to our Sunday night worship. I dare you to check the grammar of bare/bear. While we were singing some worship songs here in our dorm, I looked up to find one of the staff members of our building standing in the doorway and smiling. We asked if he would join us, but I honestly can't tell you whether he stayed or went. He just kind of stood there for a while, smiling in the doorway. I didn't think much of it that night. Until tonight.
On our way out of the building, our friend from the other night was there working the front desk. After waving to him, I kept walking towards the door. He called for me to come back. I will now switch to dialogue to save us some time.
"The singing last night, what was it exactly that you were doing?"
"Oh..we were worshiping the Lord. "
"Yes, explain.."
"Oh..well, we were singing songs because were a community of believers."
"Oh. Tell me what you believe."
Here's where I kind of panicked.
"Well, I believe that God sent His son Jesus Christ to die on a cross for my sins so that I might live my life for Him and spend eternity in Heaven with Him."
"Oh," he said.
After waiting a few seconds, wondering if everything I had ever learned in church had just proven itself void, he said, "That's cool. I really like that. You know, in three years that I work here, I never see anyone do that."
This is where it hit me. It was that familiar moment when God uses a Dutch doorman to slap you in the face. That moment when you realize how much time you've been wasting. The thought of hitting my knees and praying for forgiveness was the first thing that crossed my mind, followed by the realization that I was standing in the middle of the lobby and could wait until tonight while blogging.
I've had the lyrics to an old Nickel Creek song ringing in my head all night. And that's how I'll end this post.
Can I be used to help others find truth,
When I'm scared I'll find proof that it's a lie,
Can I be led down a trail dropping breadcrumbs
that prove I'm not ready to die.
Please give me time to decipher the signs,
Please forgive me for time that I've wasted.
It's the little moments...
Kevin Beach moment of the day: "I am one of the least Kappa Sig-like guys you will ever meet"
That is all.
That is all.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Sir, may I blog some more?
Well, I have been critiqued one too many times about how I need to blog more, here I go. I need to finish up about a couple shenanigans from London starting with my very favorite day I was there. Ironically this day was also 100% American and featured very little London culture, oh well. It started Tuesday night when Jpatt asked me on a man-date. He told me he found a special place on his iPhone that he wanted to take me and I couldn't know what it is. The video below shows exactly what the secret was, and even though it took us about 2 hours to find, it was definitely worth it.
We will now move to our Kevin Beach moment of the day brought to you by yours truly, Kevin Beach:
Hey guys, its Beach! So I am giving Michael Goldstein a celebrity shot on this one and passing my Beach moment of the day to him. Last night we were at a local bar called Highlander and a group of us met some girls who were from the UK. These girls were nice and were currently taking your standard, hold the phone out and try and capture a prof pic of ourselves picture. Michael walked up to me to ask me something and eventually offered his photography services to the girls. Extending his hand he took the girls camera phone with one hand while holding his beer with his other. As he fumbled the phone around to try and figure out which button to press he drops the phone into his beer. This awkward encounter worsens when Mike tried to get the phone out and then in doing so dropped the phone in the beer a second time. Michael hands the phone back to the girl as i lean in to tell him that the phone is complete toast. Having learned this obvious bit of info Michael begins to walk away, and then, leave the bar all together leaving me alone to deal with the soggy phone situation. I offer to pay her for my friends stupidity but she respectfully declines and then drops her phone at that very same moment and its battery and other pieces fall off all over the bar/dancefloor area. This is when I decided to remove myself from her area and vow to act like nothing ever happened.
Ok, I'm back. I want to extend a thank-you to Kevin Beach's wonderful authorship and detailed account of my awful mishap. Let it be known that I was going over to him to try to increase his favor with the girls, and in doing so could not have done more of the opposite. Oh well...wingmanin' aint easy.
Today featured a visit to a neighboring town, Valkenburg. It is a picturesque town with cobblestone streets and wooden shoes at every store. We visited a humbling World War II cemetery and did a bit of spelunking in a recreated Roman catacomb of buried martyrs. Valkenburg is also the host of a much anticipated RedBull sponsored event called "Crashed Ice" which will visit next Saturday. Crashed Ice is an international sport that is best described as a mix of hockey, downhill skating and boardercross. Skaters speed down a icy course at over 100 mph! This year Valkenburg expects 100,000 visitors, and we will be sure to take in the experience. For more information and a ton of laughs, possibly some envy, see the link of the video of last years World Championship of Crashed Ice.
Sorry I haven't posted a lot of pictures, more coming soon.
We will now move to our Kevin Beach moment of the day brought to you by yours truly, Kevin Beach:
Hey guys, its Beach! So I am giving Michael Goldstein a celebrity shot on this one and passing my Beach moment of the day to him. Last night we were at a local bar called Highlander and a group of us met some girls who were from the UK. These girls were nice and were currently taking your standard, hold the phone out and try and capture a prof pic of ourselves picture. Michael walked up to me to ask me something and eventually offered his photography services to the girls. Extending his hand he took the girls camera phone with one hand while holding his beer with his other. As he fumbled the phone around to try and figure out which button to press he drops the phone into his beer. This awkward encounter worsens when Mike tried to get the phone out and then in doing so dropped the phone in the beer a second time. Michael hands the phone back to the girl as i lean in to tell him that the phone is complete toast. Having learned this obvious bit of info Michael begins to walk away, and then, leave the bar all together leaving me alone to deal with the soggy phone situation. I offer to pay her for my friends stupidity but she respectfully declines and then drops her phone at that very same moment and its battery and other pieces fall off all over the bar/dancefloor area. This is when I decided to remove myself from her area and vow to act like nothing ever happened.
Ok, I'm back. I want to extend a thank-you to Kevin Beach's wonderful authorship and detailed account of my awful mishap. Let it be known that I was going over to him to try to increase his favor with the girls, and in doing so could not have done more of the opposite. Oh well...wingmanin' aint easy.
Today featured a visit to a neighboring town, Valkenburg. It is a picturesque town with cobblestone streets and wooden shoes at every store. We visited a humbling World War II cemetery and did a bit of spelunking in a recreated Roman catacomb of buried martyrs. Valkenburg is also the host of a much anticipated RedBull sponsored event called "Crashed Ice" which will visit next Saturday. Crashed Ice is an international sport that is best described as a mix of hockey, downhill skating and boardercross. Skaters speed down a icy course at over 100 mph! This year Valkenburg expects 100,000 visitors, and we will be sure to take in the experience. For more information and a ton of laughs, possibly some envy, see the link of the video of last years World Championship of Crashed Ice.
Sorry I haven't posted a lot of pictures, more coming soon.
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