I was right when I wrote at the end of my last post that there was a lot to look forward to. The past month has been a whirlwind of events. With few exceptions, everything has been going wonderfully. It may not be going the way I planned it, but it's all still going according to The Plan, and that's all that matters.
My last days in Calgary were fun, although it was a busy time for most of my friends there, so I wasn't able to say goodbye to most of them. On the flight to Toronto, I sat next to a girl who was nervous about flying alone. She talked to me the entire flight, to keep her mind off being in an airplane I think, and when we landed, she followed me around until she needed to catch her connecting flight. It felt really good to be able to make someone feel safe for a while.
My flight home was spent watching Cars. That movie is well-made. I loved the bloopers. When I arrived in St. John's, I was overjoyed to find my mom, my brother, Zach, Steph, and Cathy waiting in the airport to greet me. It was especially good to have Zach and Stephanie there because I've never had friends waiting for me in the airport before. It was a beautiful gift.
The week that followed was a busy and enjoyable one. It was filled mainly with buying, making, giving, and receiving gifts for birthdays and for Christmas. I went to see Night at the Museum with a group of old high school friends I make a point of seeing at least once a semester. It was especially good to spend time with Timothy. It was a short oasis when neither of us had commitments, we were both in the same province, and we could just play video games together. Life should be filled with more of those times.
Christmas day was a lot of fun. I think we received enough DVD box sets to last us until the Second Coming. I discovered that my family has been sucked into two more television series while I was in Calgary - Jericho and NUMB3RS. Apparently, I need to watch eleven episodes of Jericho and six episodes of Lost before February in order to maintain my membership in the family (or at least my freedom to eat supper with them).
Two days after Christmas, I headed off to St. Louis to attend Urbana. I had never been to Missouri before, but I attended Urbana back in 2003. My experience this time around was much different than my first. When Urbana started in the 1940's, it was held in Toronto, but it has been held in Urbana, Illinois ever since then. In 2003, the conference outgrew the location, and so the conference was moved to St. Louis this year. They decided to keep the name "Urbana", even though it's not held in that town anymore. It's too well-known a conference to change the name, I suppose.
All in all, I liked the new location better. There was much more room in the stadium, it was easier to get around, and the Gateway Arch is within walking distance. Zach and I took an afternoon to admire the Arch and pretend to be photographers. Our results were fairly convincing, if I do say so myself. The only two negative aspects I could discover that resulted from the location change were the price and the housing. The price went up because the stadium cost more to rent. This was not so much reflected in the cost of attending the conference but rather in the quality and quantity of meals. Lunches were not provided and suppers were scanty (except the last one). The housing was in hotels, which was only a negative in the sense that they cost extra and that the breakfasts consisted solely of donuts and greasy muffins. Almost all the Salvationists were in the same hotel. It was wonderful to be a part of that brief community. I met a lot of great people.
There were only six Canadian male Salvationists attending the conference, so we pretty much stuck together the entire time. Of the six, two of us were from Newfoundland (Zach Hynes and I), three were from Ontario (Matt Kean, Dave Ivany, and Nathanael Homewood), and one was from Winnipeg (Edi Mutambo). Zach is an even better soundboard than he is soundtech, and that's saying something. He's also a super close friend, so it was amazing to have him there. As soon as I saw Matt, I knew he was Daniel's brother. They look, talk, and act more similarly than any two people I know. Their mannerisms are identical. Even their sense of humour is the same. I really appreciated his openness throughout the week. It was good to connect with Dave again (he likes the word 'connect'). Dave makes a point of getting to know people and bringing people together, and he does a lot more than he admits to. It was very interesting and enjoyable to hang out with Nathanael. He's the first lay DY in the country, and it seems like he's doing a great job... when he's not throwing random objects at girls, that is. He has some good ideas and awesome interpersonal skills. Seriously. Last but not least, Edi "the man" Thanksgiving. His last name means thanksgiving, and it's obvious to anyone who meets him that he's the man. Such tact and style! It must be a Nigerian thing. Anyway, the six of us held a small group each night to discuss what we'd been learning and how we'd been growing. I've never had such an amazing bond with such amazing guys before. It was a huge componant of my week.
During Urbana, all the Salvationists got together at a local corps for a kindred session. It ran all morning, and it was awesome and awe-filled. Collette Webster organized the session, and she did a really good job. I have a feeling that had she not gotten involved, I would have had a very different experience at Urbana (thanks, Collette!). The worship team that performed was called "The Singing Company", and it was a really cool group. They were a bunch of teens and tweens with guitars, a drumkit, and a tambourine. They sang songs from the red song book, but as if they were contemporary worship choruses. I had never realized that there was so much great poetry and depth of insight in the song book before! We all got free CD's called "The Red Book Sessions" that were made by the band. That CD has become one of my favorites. We also all got sweet scarves with "Sally Ann" embroydered on them. They were made by former prostitutes and recovering alcoholics in Bangladesh.
The worship at Urbana was beyond words, the community was beautiful, the Bible studies were intense, and the messages were poignant. The drama wasn't nearly as funny as three years ago, but it was ten times as thought-provoking. A lot of important and difficult issues were discussed, and I was given a lot of information that I hope will be useful. I attended sessions on French Africa and the African diaspora. I bought and received books about Islam, postmodernism, and anti-Americanism. It was a thick week, consisting of a whole lot of good experiences but very little time to process it. Leanne told me it would be overload.
On my way back from Urbana, I didn't watch movies. I slept solid the entire time.
My original plan was to visit Leanne and Dallas in Ontario on the way back from Urbana. I was supposed to stay with them for five days, and I was really looking forward to the time to catch up. On the last day of Urbana, I got a phone call from my mom. She told me that Leanne was pregnant! Unfortunately, it runs in her family to get sick during the first trimester, so she was in no shape to be entertaining guests. There was a bit of a scramble, but in the end, the flights were rearranged so that I could go straight to Newfoundland. I was sad to miss out on visiting Leanne and Dallas, but I'm excited for their baby. Please pray that the baby will be born healthy and good.
Since I have been back, university has started up again. My courses look good so far, and my professor line-up is looking good too. I'm glad to have a 'regular' semester again. I haven't been at the university for a year except for the summer semester when very few people are around. Now, I see so many friends around it's crazy. That's an aspect of this semester I'm really enjoying. I have also started going to a Bible study led by Betty Cunningham that I'm quite excited about.
If you've stayed with me thus far, I must say I'm impressed. I was starting to think that this blog post was like the document about which Winston Churchill once said "This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of ever being read." There is so much more I could say about what I have been doing, learning, and thinking about, but at some point writing about life gets in the way of living it. I'll be back next month.
My last days in Calgary were fun, although it was a busy time for most of my friends there, so I wasn't able to say goodbye to most of them. On the flight to Toronto, I sat next to a girl who was nervous about flying alone. She talked to me the entire flight, to keep her mind off being in an airplane I think, and when we landed, she followed me around until she needed to catch her connecting flight. It felt really good to be able to make someone feel safe for a while.
My flight home was spent watching Cars. That movie is well-made. I loved the bloopers. When I arrived in St. John's, I was overjoyed to find my mom, my brother, Zach, Steph, and Cathy waiting in the airport to greet me. It was especially good to have Zach and Stephanie there because I've never had friends waiting for me in the airport before. It was a beautiful gift.
The week that followed was a busy and enjoyable one. It was filled mainly with buying, making, giving, and receiving gifts for birthdays and for Christmas. I went to see Night at the Museum with a group of old high school friends I make a point of seeing at least once a semester. It was especially good to spend time with Timothy. It was a short oasis when neither of us had commitments, we were both in the same province, and we could just play video games together. Life should be filled with more of those times.
Christmas day was a lot of fun. I think we received enough DVD box sets to last us until the Second Coming. I discovered that my family has been sucked into two more television series while I was in Calgary - Jericho and NUMB3RS. Apparently, I need to watch eleven episodes of Jericho and six episodes of Lost before February in order to maintain my membership in the family (or at least my freedom to eat supper with them).
Two days after Christmas, I headed off to St. Louis to attend Urbana. I had never been to Missouri before, but I attended Urbana back in 2003. My experience this time around was much different than my first. When Urbana started in the 1940's, it was held in Toronto, but it has been held in Urbana, Illinois ever since then. In 2003, the conference outgrew the location, and so the conference was moved to St. Louis this year. They decided to keep the name "Urbana", even though it's not held in that town anymore. It's too well-known a conference to change the name, I suppose.
All in all, I liked the new location better. There was much more room in the stadium, it was easier to get around, and the Gateway Arch is within walking distance. Zach and I took an afternoon to admire the Arch and pretend to be photographers. Our results were fairly convincing, if I do say so myself. The only two negative aspects I could discover that resulted from the location change were the price and the housing. The price went up because the stadium cost more to rent. This was not so much reflected in the cost of attending the conference but rather in the quality and quantity of meals. Lunches were not provided and suppers were scanty (except the last one). The housing was in hotels, which was only a negative in the sense that they cost extra and that the breakfasts consisted solely of donuts and greasy muffins. Almost all the Salvationists were in the same hotel. It was wonderful to be a part of that brief community. I met a lot of great people.
There were only six Canadian male Salvationists attending the conference, so we pretty much stuck together the entire time. Of the six, two of us were from Newfoundland (Zach Hynes and I), three were from Ontario (Matt Kean, Dave Ivany, and Nathanael Homewood), and one was from Winnipeg (Edi Mutambo). Zach is an even better soundboard than he is soundtech, and that's saying something. He's also a super close friend, so it was amazing to have him there. As soon as I saw Matt, I knew he was Daniel's brother. They look, talk, and act more similarly than any two people I know. Their mannerisms are identical. Even their sense of humour is the same. I really appreciated his openness throughout the week. It was good to connect with Dave again (he likes the word 'connect'). Dave makes a point of getting to know people and bringing people together, and he does a lot more than he admits to. It was very interesting and enjoyable to hang out with Nathanael. He's the first lay DY in the country, and it seems like he's doing a great job... when he's not throwing random objects at girls, that is. He has some good ideas and awesome interpersonal skills. Seriously. Last but not least, Edi "the man" Thanksgiving. His last name means thanksgiving, and it's obvious to anyone who meets him that he's the man. Such tact and style! It must be a Nigerian thing. Anyway, the six of us held a small group each night to discuss what we'd been learning and how we'd been growing. I've never had such an amazing bond with such amazing guys before. It was a huge componant of my week.
During Urbana, all the Salvationists got together at a local corps for a kindred session. It ran all morning, and it was awesome and awe-filled. Collette Webster organized the session, and she did a really good job. I have a feeling that had she not gotten involved, I would have had a very different experience at Urbana (thanks, Collette!). The worship team that performed was called "The Singing Company", and it was a really cool group. They were a bunch of teens and tweens with guitars, a drumkit, and a tambourine. They sang songs from the red song book, but as if they were contemporary worship choruses. I had never realized that there was so much great poetry and depth of insight in the song book before! We all got free CD's called "The Red Book Sessions" that were made by the band. That CD has become one of my favorites. We also all got sweet scarves with "Sally Ann" embroydered on them. They were made by former prostitutes and recovering alcoholics in Bangladesh.
The worship at Urbana was beyond words, the community was beautiful, the Bible studies were intense, and the messages were poignant. The drama wasn't nearly as funny as three years ago, but it was ten times as thought-provoking. A lot of important and difficult issues were discussed, and I was given a lot of information that I hope will be useful. I attended sessions on French Africa and the African diaspora. I bought and received books about Islam, postmodernism, and anti-Americanism. It was a thick week, consisting of a whole lot of good experiences but very little time to process it. Leanne told me it would be overload.
On my way back from Urbana, I didn't watch movies. I slept solid the entire time.
My original plan was to visit Leanne and Dallas in Ontario on the way back from Urbana. I was supposed to stay with them for five days, and I was really looking forward to the time to catch up. On the last day of Urbana, I got a phone call from my mom. She told me that Leanne was pregnant! Unfortunately, it runs in her family to get sick during the first trimester, so she was in no shape to be entertaining guests. There was a bit of a scramble, but in the end, the flights were rearranged so that I could go straight to Newfoundland. I was sad to miss out on visiting Leanne and Dallas, but I'm excited for their baby. Please pray that the baby will be born healthy and good.
Since I have been back, university has started up again. My courses look good so far, and my professor line-up is looking good too. I'm glad to have a 'regular' semester again. I haven't been at the university for a year except for the summer semester when very few people are around. Now, I see so many friends around it's crazy. That's an aspect of this semester I'm really enjoying. I have also started going to a Bible study led by Betty Cunningham that I'm quite excited about.
If you've stayed with me thus far, I must say I'm impressed. I was starting to think that this blog post was like the document about which Winston Churchill once said "This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of ever being read." There is so much more I could say about what I have been doing, learning, and thinking about, but at some point writing about life gets in the way of living it. I'll be back next month.
