Toto, I'm pretty sure we're still not in Kansas.

   For all of you that were around for the first round of this year full of adventures, you may remember a post entitled "We're Not in Kansas Anymore, Toto..." It was just a few observations about differences between Argentina and Mexico.  Basically, it was my way of telling you all about the greeting-with-a-kiss in Argentina.
   This post is a little different. I almost entitled it "We're Not in Latin America Anymore, Toto,"  but one of the Grace students here is from Kansas, so I thought it was appropriate.
   Enough intro: Most of my life has been spent in Latin America.  I view that as an advantage in my life, and I think that it gives me a unique perspective.  However, I find that in my mind there are two regions of the world: The US and non-US.  One reason that I think I do this is that I like to spend time with MKs.  We share our experiences from around the world and realize that we have a ton in common.  We joke about bribing government officials and terrible roads and other things about the third world.
  One thing that I am realizing, is that I haven't had a lot of interaction with people from Europe.  Obviously, France is not the third world, but it is non-US. So, I wasn't worried about this trip very much because it's Round 2 of study abroad, the only difference is that I have to learn French.  Obviously, that is oversimplified.
  The cultural differences are sometimes hard for me to notice.  There are the obvious ones: clean streets, posted bus schedules, and little clocks at the bus stops to tell you when your bus will arrive.  But sometimes, you have to dig a little deeper, think a little harder.  For example in church today, the pastor began with a defense of God and why he didn't create evil.  I didn't think to much of it, it was a decent argument with solid illustrations.  But the cultural implications are much higher: In France, being able to debate and argue your point is very, very important.  The idea of just "talking" about something is somewhat unheard of.  Lots of discussions are more than just the interchanging of words.
   Another difference is the age of things here.  Dijon is an old town, I have been in catholic churches that were begun in the 11th or 12th century.  Honestly, it's mind-blowing.  It's strange for me to be in a place where the history from basically a thousand years ago is known and documented.  It makes me realize that that must be a factor in a culture's profile.  I haven't done the research, but I'm aching to learn about it.

"This is where character counts."

  In November of 2010, I had the privilege of being the host manager to Head Coach Winston Bennett and the Cougars of Mid-Continent University. Coach Bennett is probably the only coach that I have met that is classier than Coach Kessler. The previous season (09-10), Mid-Con had beaten Grace pretty badly, but last year, the tides had changed. Mid-Con had lost several starters and Grace was almost a different team with Bruce Grimm at point guard.

  The Cougars played well, but in the second half it became more and more evident that the Lancers had the upper hand. It came to a fairly critical point in the game, Mid-Con was behind by several scores, but the games wasn't out of reach yet. Then, the center missed a Lancer driving down the lane to score. It wasn't entirely his fault, but he was partially to blame, and I didn't judge him for the profanity that escaped his lips. What surprised me was Coach Bennet's actions. He proceeded to sub out the young man, sit him on the bench, and say in a stern voice, "This is where character counts." He didn't play again for the rest of the game.

   Needless to say, I was shocked. The coach had just taken out his team's best shot at making a comeback in that game, just for saying "damn." I'm not sure if they could have won even with this player, but in no way could they win without him. It was a gutsy, but admirable move by Coach Bennett.

Coach Winston Bennett 

  I thought that story was worth sharing, seeing as it came to mind. Yesterday, I had the opportunity of being humbled a couple of times, and Coach Bennett's words were ringing in my ears "This is where character counts." To say that I handled these situations with flawless integrity would be a lie, but that story was a good reminder of the importances of character.
  So the question probably stands, "What happened yesterday?" Nothing earth-shattering, I just didn't get the results I wanted on my placement test and didn't get a job I had applied for. Frustrating? yes. Disappointing? absolutely. End of the world? not in the slightest. God has reasons for the stuff that happens, not to mention that fact that He puts people in your life who care.  He is good and in control, but, apparently, I have short term memory loss.

Dijon, mon nouveau ville

As you may know, I currently live in the city of Dijon, France.  It is located less than 200 miles from Paris, but only an hour and half by train.  The ride is picturesque, the little towns reminded me of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.  (This is appropriate because that movie is set in France.)
  My first description of the city: A fierce collision of the new and the old. The buildings are ancient, especially where I live downtown.  However, new businesses are everywhere. By "new", I mean McDonald's and other internationally renowned companies.  Near the house, there are a ton of places to shop for clothes of all kinds, just because it looks like a medieval city, doesn't mean that it not downtown of a fairly important European city.  
  The streets are narrow and if you don't live in downtown, you aren't allowed to navigate your vehicle down the slender alleys.  Dijon is known for it's churches, Roman Catholic churches of course.  There are at least 18 cathedrals and chapels worth listing on Wikipedia.  I saw about 4 in my excursion today.
  My excursion today consisted of my going to the train station to a photo-booth to get pictures for my student ID.  Needless to say, I left the house, so I got lost.  Not that I didn't enjoy seeing the city, but one gets cold in 25º F weather, especially when one wonders around for more than a couple of hours.
  And to add insult to injury, I left the camera at the house.  It's right here by my computer.  For that I beg your apologies, I know some of you have requested documentation.  To make up for the lack of photographical images, I shall include the logo and coat of arms of Dijon.

Logo

Coat of Arms 

Saaafe!!

Well guys, I made it.  I got to Dijon, France, even better, I got to the house I'm going to be staying at.  There were some doubts along the way, and some things I would do differently the next time, but Praise the Lord, I am here.
  5 cities, 4 airports, 4 countries, 4  train stations, countless hours of waiting, way too much money spent, all in about 28 hours.  I think it's time for sleep.  

This is a quick laptop snapshot of the bedroom.
(I'll get the camera out when I'm not so tired.)

Just So You Know

Hello y'all, I realize that I haven't posted in a while.  So here's the scoop:
  Lord willing, I'm going to leave for France at the end of this month.  I will be living in the city of Dijon, in western-central part of the country. (Check out the map). I will be there for about four months, returning in early June. I have applied for a student visa and should have it approved within the next several days.  There will 2 other Grace students there with me, and, needless to say, I'm looking forward to it.  
  To be honest, I'm a little scared about going, the language barrier has a lot to do with it. Also, the spiritual climate is of a species that I have not really faced before.  So we'll just have to see.  In short, I appreciate your prayers.  
  Hopefully, my posts will get more creative.  I'll do my best to keep you posted on developments regarding this experience.

From the Ground Floor Up

 I suppose I could use this post to talk about my return to the US of A, but I shan't.  I have made this kind of transition many times, and I don't really know what to say about it.
  What I will talk about is my job.  This week, I have been part of a small crew working on refinishing a wooden floor.  I couldn't help but see some parallels to real life.  This project has been an interesting one from the start.  The biggest reason for this is I have never done anything like this before.
  When one thinks of refinishing a floor, the first thing that probably comes to mind is shiny lacquer and a brilliant, shimmering coat of finish.  However, first, we had to take off the old finish.  We literally had to sand the old veneer off.  For a moment, I thought that, if I were the floor, that would hurt pretty bad.  You thought you were gonna get a new skin, but instead, your current skin was torn off.  How many times does that happen in your life?  And you pray, "Lord, I thought you were gonna make me better." And He just smiles and says, "You can't see what's next."
  We ran into some unexpected problems in this project too.  Things that made for a lot of work that we had not expected.  These problems lead to changes in our schedule.  We had originally planned for three to four days to finish, and tomorrow we start the fifth day of the assignment.   Not to mention going back to work in the evening to stay within this altered timeframe.  I'm permanently reminded that His times are not ours.
  I guess in all this, I'm really reminded of God's sovereignty. His control and presence have been evident in the workplace.  We have had days that made us want to pull our hair out, but on Wednesday, I honestly didn't want to stop working because things were clicking so well.
   In conclusion, before perfection and the final product, the object in question must be broken down in order to be rebuilt, and that object has absolutely no say in the length of time it will take. We could compare me to the floor, to tell you the the truth, the floor has yet to complain.  

McDonaldomics

This post is a little late, but I've been busy these last several days.  

  So, we're in the mall on Sunday night, after church, wondering what to eat.  As usual, I was trying to spend very little money, so I started to try to figure out what's cheap.  I was informed by Flor, that the Big Mac combo at McDonald's is cheap.  She proceeded to tell me why: 

  The McDonald's Big Mac is one of the products that is used to measure global inflation.  They compare the prices of Big Macs in every country in which they are available, which is almost every country.  As I have mentioned before, inflation is ridiculously high in Argentina.  So, the Argentine government takes care of the situation in the same way that it usually does, by providing a subsidy.  So, the Big Mac is partially subsidized by the government to hide the Argentine inflation rate from the rest of the world.  The Big Mac combo costs 21.90 pesos argentinos while other combos list between 35-45 pesos.  Of course, the Big Mac isn't listed on the big signs, it's on a little one off to the side, or not even listed at all.  

  This would be the appointed time where I rip on the government for all the stuff it does, but I shan't.  I just thought the whole situation was kind of fascinating. The problem, the solution, and how it related to me. 

  Just some interesting observations from a hungry, broke, international, college student.  

PS I know that some of you may be disappointed, but I'm pretty sure that was the first Big Mac I'd ever eaten.  What can I say? I'm just a Quarter Pounder kind of guy.