Since December

I shall have to update on last semester at another time. Right now, I'm just going to let you all know where I am and what I'm doing right now.

Not much, really.

I graduated from College of the Ozarks with a major in International Business and minors in French and Philosophy & Religion. I did actually make Summa Cum Laude, but there were a few moments of stress and doubt. CofO doesn't have a ceremony in December, so mid-term graduates walk with the May graduates. Right now, I plan to head back up to Branson for graduation in May.

Because of my awkward graduation date and my exceptionally heavy class load last semester (22 hrs.), I did not have a job or any other plans lined out for January. I made it through Christmas with little problems and headed back up to Branson for a weekend to turn in applications and look for an apartment. This is what I really wanted to do: get a job, live in Branson, hang out with my friends, audit a few classes at CofO, and wait around until September when I plan to move to France to teach English.

What really happened is that no jobs to my liking have come open in Branson. I headed south to visit my grandmother in Texas. My grandfather passed away two summers ago, and she's been living on her farm alone ever since (with abundant visits from family close enough to do so). I asked her if she would be interested in me moving down to live with her for a few months before I move to France, and she said she'd love to have me if I could do it. I decided to shop around for jobs in Texas and see what came up. I currently have 2-4 leads and have not exhausted the opportunities yet. Though it's not quite what I had in mind after graduating, I'm excited for this opportunity for many reasons.

My grandmother is a very loving, generous, and caring woman. She's also very wise but at the same time "up-to-date" with the real world. Her mind is sharp and she's in great physical condition too (especially considering her age). She just makes life so very comfortable to be around. This makes it sound like I'm letting her wait on me hand and foot, but that really isn't true either. She's more than happy to make me dinner or wash my clothes, but in reality we do a lot of things together, and I do a lot of things for her. That's not because she needs me to but because she's the type of person that makes just being around her relaxing and comfortable. It feels like a holiday even though I'm doing a fair amount of work. For example, getting up and helping her get breakfast ready at 7:00 isn't really as hard as mornings have always been for me (my former roommates and siblings can all acount to the fact that I am NOT a morning person), though I would still rather wait for breakfast until 10:00.... ;)

Last semester, I also got interested in pursuing a Master's Degree in Psychology or Counseling. Right now I'm leaning to Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling/Therapy. I had planned to do this online via Capella University, but the program is significantly more expensive than I originally thought ($40,700) versus much more reasonably priced Christian universities (Liberty University online or Southwest Baptist Seminary in Fort Worth which both cost less than half of Capella's tuition). I wanted to avoid Christian institutions because I want to be able to work in secular counseling situations, but right now I'm starting to think that maybe I should go for it. I have a fairly pushy recruiting agent at Capella who won't like me to withdraw. I'm already accepted and he's been badgering me to start in Februrary, but I've finally told him that I won't start until March at the earliest. Now I'm reconsidering again, but I'll have to decide by the end of February. Hopefully I'll have a job by then.

C.S. Lewis has also been a nice companion since Christmas. Some friends of mine gave me an Amazon.com giftcard, so I used it buy some of his books. So far I'm enjoying them immensely. I've always liked Lewis; he has a brilliant way of outlining Truth in a way that makes it graspable. Certainly he isn't right on everything, but who is? I've been mostly reading his fiction works: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength (The Cosmic/Space Trilogy), and a collection of short and unfinished stories entitled The Dark Tower and Other Stories. Some are strange, but most are excellent. I'll review the Cosmic Trilogy later. Now I'm out of his fiction (I left Till We Have Face at home) so I'm reading The Four Love again (so far my favorite Lewis book) and random essays from God in the Dock and Christian Reflections.

So here I am in Texas, looking for a job, doing research on Master's, enjoying Mr. Lewis's well-written literature, and thinking about what I want to do with my life. Pray for direction for me, if you think about it.

Pathetic

The semester is over, and the new one is well on its way. I'm not taking classes right now so it makes little difference to me. Graduating from college has proven to be one of the most complex changes in awhile, but I'll write another post on that sometime. This is really just a note to say how sorry I am that I've procrastinated and failed to write anything for soooo long. I'm pathetic. I have no excuses right now, since I'm not taking classes and I'm unemployed. More on that later too. Anyway, hopefully this is the start of more habitual posting.

Two Months!!!

Can it really have been two months since I've posted? I suppose it has been, give or take a few days. If there is anyone who still bothers to come and check out any updates, I'd like to say that I do apologize for such rudeness. There really isn't any reason for it, but my excuse is that I've been severely busy with school. As most of you probably know, this is my last semester, and I've got a full load (22 hours), plus I'm working on trying to figure out my plans for next semester. I have a lot to say about my semester, but I think I had better keep things in chronological order and wait until I finish posting the rest of my summer adventures (seems so long ago...). So please consider this note a quick "we're back on the air" notice, and I hope to be more faithful in the next two months.

Points of History (Berlin, III)

The Brandenburg Gate was a sign of national pride and strength. The main central gate was reserved only for the coaches of the Kaiser. After WWII when the city of Berlin was divided into four different sections (American, British, French, and Soviet), the gate served as the border between the West and East. The Russians, Europeans, and Americans agreed that the gate must be repaired and reopened after suffering massive damage during the bombing of Berlin. New statues were ordered repairs were done by both sides. However, before the gate could be unveiled, the Soviets began work on the Berlin Wall. Since the Gate officially belonged on the Soviet side but much too close to the allied side, it ended up in No Man’s Land, the area between the Berlin Wall and another, smaller wall that kept the Eastern Berliners (not jelly doughnuts as one famous U.S. President said) from trying to get to the Wall.

There was a cool Russian guy who sold visa stamps and post cards. I got a visa stamp from the American, British, French, and Soviet sides, as well West Germany and East Germany. Behind him were these two guys with the British and American flag. I asked, in French, where the French flag was, and they said they only spoke English and German. I thought this was strange since most Europeans speak at least three different languages and probably four or five. But oh well. I asked in English. They looked at me with a stupefied expression and pointed toward the French embassy as if they were shocked that I had spoken English. I asked them, since Western Berlin was originally split between the three countries, why they didn’t have a compatriot to represent the French. They answered, in halting English, that three people was too many. I finally figured out they weren’t actually American or British. In fact I don’t think they were even German. I’m pretty sure they were Turkish. Oh well. Makes for a cool photo, eh?

But I did find the French at Checkpoint Charlie, the main (only?) border passing between Eastern and Western Berlin. I was again pretty sure he wasn’t really French, but I didn't get a chance to ask him. Oh, and that American had some sort of foreign accent.

I’m pretty sure Checkpoint Charlie was the only checkpoint because, even though it was located in the American section, the signs were written in English, Russian, French, and German. Why French? It would have made more sense for them to use the French crossing if there had been one.

I love this picture of the four flags. Strange to me that neither German flag is included.

So that was my trip to Berlin, a city of rich but tragic history. And I see nothing but equal amounts of pain and tragedy for the city in the future. Though the city and the country have only be reunified for less than 20 years, Germany faces again losing its identify on two fronts: The EU and the massive amounts of immigration who bring, and are slowly replacing Christianity/Secularism/Atheism with, Islam. If Germany is still existing as a free independent democracy in 25 years it will be a miracle. Or it will be because they have, once again, had a bloody civil war.

Exploring Berlin (Berlin, II)

After my visit to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s house, I still had about ten hours before my train was to leave. I decided to explore a bit of the city. First I took a river boat and got a view of the center of the city. There’s an island in the middle of the main river of Berlin that has five different museums and little, if any, else. It’s called, appropriately enough, Museum Island.

This is the oldest chapel in Berlin.

The Reichstag is the building of the national parliament, the Baumstang (sp?). Also close by are the Chancellor’s offices, the Parliamentary library, and other national offices. I did actually go up into the glass globe later on. From the top you can see almost all of Berlin.

The golden dome is the rebuilt National Jewish Synagogue. This was an interesting photo to me with the smoke stack to the right and front of the Synagogue. As most know, the smoke stack was a horrifying symbol of Nazi murder and torture of the Jews.