Vadstena

The weekend after Jenny's visit I got to go to a village called Vadstena with Courtney. We took a train and then a bus down (through beautiful and very green Swedish countryside) around lunchtime and walked around the cathedral, nunnery, town center, lake, and...castle. It was a beautiful area overlooking the deepest lake in Sweden. Houses in town had rose bushes two stories high, the streets were all cobblestone, and it was a holiday weekend so lots of people were out and about. Caroline met us there in time for a fancy but late dinner and then, because we missed our first train by about 2 minutes, we didn't get home until around 11:30 that night. It was a long day but definitely worThe castle:
A building in town:The cathedral:

In the dungeon with some not so friendly looking statues:

Later that week Courtney and I planted flowers outside the church with the kids. (Add gardening and weeding to the list of summer intern tasks...) They were excited to "help" and it was a great way to keep them occupied outside.

Last weekend apt. 8A (Courtney, Caroline and I) hosted a lady from our sister church in Holland. The only thing my boss told me was that there was a lady coming who would stay with us, she was probably between 20 and 60 years old, and that Dutch people are "very clean." Needless to say, we took him seriously and got on a deep-cleaning kick and the apartment looks better than it probably has in years. I especially enjoyed having her with us because she's doing what I hope to do - business administration for mission organizations. I also enjoyed hearing about some past mission trips she's taken, one of which included smuggling Bibles across borders.

We celebrated the 4th of July on the 3rd of July with a cookout and a beautiful flag cake. Courtney, Caroline and I made a white sheet cake with homemade whipped cream and used strawberries and blueberries that the kids picked to decorate them. All the kids wore red, white and blue and we also celebrated 5 kids' birthdays.

Besides cleaning and baking I've also been busy taking attendance at sports camps that have been going on for two weeks, cleaning out a closet at the church, babysitting some on the weekends, and finishing up both church and intern finances. I'm here for less than three weeks now, but fortunately several of my biggest projects are almost finished. Pray that I won't "come home early" in my mind, so to speak, but that I'll enjoy and wisely use the rest of my time here. Also, our last week Courtney and I will be moving in with 5 kids (under 10) for 6 days while their parents are out of the country. Pray for safety, patience, wisdom...whatever you think we might need :) We refer to a week from Monday, when the parents leave, as D-Day but are hopeful that the babysitting and cooking experience gained in the past few weeks has prepared us for this.


Thank you for your prayers!

Midsummer and More

I knew it had been too long since my last update when I couldn't remember my password to sign into my blog account. The last two weeks have been very full with a wide variety of activities and haven't left a lot of time for blogging.

Jenny came two weeks ago! Her train arrived at exactly the same time American Girls Club started. My team leader picked her up and she walked into a room of 17 girls between 9 and 13 and helped us with craft day. Other American Girls Club activities included a tea party, a talent show, and a makeover day. (I wish I had known about 6 years ago that Jenny was so good at doing hair!) This picture is of my co-intern, Courtney, our wonderful Swedish roommate, Caroline, and Jenny the day of the tea party.


We made chocolate chip cookies (a very American dessert here because they don't have chocolate chips) and scones - not so American but the girls didn't mind. Courtney, Caroline and I have spent a lot of time in our big kitchen having fika together, drinking hot tea with honey at night, planning dinners and making grocery lists, cooking together, and doing dishes. It never ceases to amaze me how many times the dishes need to be done in one day.



Jenny gave a piano concert at the church on Thursday. The program included Bach's Italian Concerto, Fur Elise, Ravel's "Ondine," a Chopin Etude, and Vocalise with me. It was the first time we had played together since my senior recital. She performed beautifully and spoke a little about each piece before she played. I'm always jealous when I'm in Waco and can't make her concerts at Rice, so it was nice of her to come to Sweden and let me hear her play here instead. I also thought it was neat that I got to play with her at her church in Germany, and now she has played with me at my church in Sweden. We're quite the international duo.


The next day was Midsummer, the biggest holiday in Sweden after Christmas. We had a cookout at the church which included pickled herring. You eat it with potatoes, sour cream, and lingonberry jam and it's not nearly as bad as it sounds. Afterwards, a couple of the moms made Midsummer wreaths from wildflowers Courtney picked with the kids that morning. In the afternoon we went to a beautiful little village called Säby to watch traditional Swedish folk dancing. The church there was built in the 1100's and had a register of priests dating back to 1300. We also danced around the maypole with the kids and tried to stay dry from the summer rainshowers.



















Monday-Thursday Jenny and I put on a music camp for two violinists and 3 cellists. Jenny taught theory and then helped me arrange some hymns so even our youngest 2 cellists could play in church on Sunday - all six of us. We had rehearsals last week as well and will all play together in church again before I leave.

I have some more blogging to catch up on (including a trip to a castle!) but for now, please pray for the sports camps going on this week and next week - energy for the interns leading them and that the boys attending the camps would get to know the Christians here and keep coming around. Please continue to pray for my piano playing on Sundays. Also, the church finances are almost finished but I need to start focusing on the mission team's finances and that will be a challenge.

Praise God for Jenny's visit, for 2 great roommates who are a lot of fun and a big encouragement, and, as always, for the wonderful summer weather here in Sweden!


Happy Birthday, Gran-O and Happy 1st Anniversary Walt and Chandra!

Take Two

It's nice to start out another week with an idea of what to expect. Last weekend I finished the finances for 2007 - a big relief and my first completed project. I've never been so glad to see a number as I was when the net balance in the computer finally matched the net balance on the bank statement.

Here I am at my desk about to wrap up the year. Notice the pack of gummy bears on the right - they really kept me going towards the end!























That Saturday I got to be outside in the "heat" helping with a cookout after the home baseball game and running errands. Sunday was busy with two services and some practicing in between (and then finishing the finances afterwards) but everything got done. On the way to the grocery store for the cookout the "Long Van" (i.e. work van usually filled with things from concrete to wheelbarrows to instruments or baseball gear, and the hot rod we interns occasionally get to take to the grocery store...) ran out of gas. While we waited for the pastor to bring us gas from town I got the other intern to take a picture of me with the firehoses. It hasn't started raining here yet so the interns make it rain (so to speak) on the baseball field. Using a firehose is not a lifeskill I had previously developed, but I feel confident in my watering skills at this point.




























This weekend I got a lot of work done on the library and I finished shelving the books this afternoon. Once I label the shelves that will be my second project finished. I've been downloading sermons on my iPod to listen to while I do more mindless tasks like weeding, cleaning, and shelving books. Now, whenever I go into the library I think about the book of Ruth because I spent enough time in there last week that I was able to finish an entire sermon series on it.

Life here is anything but monotonous. For example, earlier this week I just got started weeding outside the church when one of the other interns called. "I'm on my way to go watch a helicopter land on the baseball field...wanna come?"

I also got to go visit a popular vacation spot, just a few minutes drive from our apartment complex. I went with one of the kids here and we ran around, and then later that weekend I got to go again for a city-wide youth group event. This picture was taken close to 10 PM. I gave up trying to tell time by how dark it is...or isn't, rather.
















At this point most of the kids have warmed up to me and my favorite memories so far are playing with them, cuddling with them while watching movies, or having picnics with them outside. The church services are pretty loud because even the babies are there and the pastors just tune out the noise and keep going. Gustav is almost two years old and he makes me laugh every Sunday. "Titta" ("look") is about the only word he says. He's still a little shy of me and usually won't talk to me, but then when it gets really quiet during the service - like in the middle of the Lord's Supper when no one is talking - he'll suddenly start saying "Titta - Amy!" really loudly. It's so hard to keep a straight face when he starts that up.

This weekend was slower than last, and a nice change of pace. Caroline, a college student who's moving in with me this week, was here and I enjoyed having someone else at the apartment. After living with 4-6 other people for a year, an empty apartment is pretty boring. In just a few days we bonded over really important things like a mutual love for hot tea, Jane Austen novels, and Sunday afternoon naps. We had the guy interns over Sunday night and managed to go through 2 cartons of ice cream with them. She's going to teach me to make cinnamon rolls from scratch.

Jenny comes a week from tomorrow. We'll be putting on a music camp together and as of right now I have no idea what that's going to look like. Please pray that I'll have lots of good ideas in the next few days! Our musicians range quite a bit in age and ability, but hopefully I can put together at least one piece they can all play together. Jenny will be giving a concert after Prayer on Thursday night. I'm excited to hear her and to get to play with her on that.

Have a good week,

Amy Lane

Information Overload

These first few days in Sweden feel long enough to be two weeks! I have learned so much - from really simple things like names and how you're supposed to bag things at the grocery store, to more complicated things like computer programs. Dealing with a new culture, a new job, and all new people at once keeps my mind busy all day long so the morning sun (rising at 4:30) hasn't bothered me at all.

My first realization (and the best thing about Sweden) was that the people here are going to be both a blessing and a lot of fun. With people ranging from grandparents to infants,I am glad I have 2 more months to get to know them. The kids are especially welcoming and I've had a lot of fun with the other interns.

The next best thing about Sweden is fika. Fika just means coffee but it's really so much more than that. It represents a culture where you get to eat at least 4 or 5 times a day. Fika happens between breakfast and lunch, between lunch and dinner, or after dinner, or a combination of the two, or maybe all three times. There's always coffee (strong and black for most, but with milk and sugar for beginners like me), tea, and saft (some kind of sweet juice for the kids.) In the first fika of the day there will often be sweet rolls, cookies, pound cake, etc. In the afternoon or at night there might also be bread, butter, cheese (really really good cheese,) vegetables, jam, etc. Good thing we walk and bike so much.

I've gotten to start right in on helping with the finances and I've really enjoyed it. I'm still at the stage where I have a lot of questions, but I think that within the next few days I'll be able to relieve the guy who's been doing it (and hating every minute of it.) Most of the people here enjoy working with big-picture ideas and projects, but don't enjoy the details.

My other jobs will include organizing music for the kids, playing on Sundays, finishing setting up the library, keeping track of receipts, and helping with younger interns when they get here.

Please pray that I will balance my different projects well. Projects are getting handed off to me and I have quite a bit of independence with how/when I get them done, so I need to stay on top of things. Also, that I will quickly adjust to normal living things here so that I can use more energy for work instead of for figuring out ordinary tasks.

Have a great weekend,
Amy Lane

Amsterdam

I'm writing from the Amsterdam airport. A three hour delay leaving Houston gave me an unexpected eight hour layover in Amsterdam. At the suggestion of my team leader, I decided to get out of the airport. A 15 minute train ride landed me in downtown and I asked for directions to a cafe Thomas told me about. There is a trend in how people give directions here. This for example, was, "when you go out, go straight (yes, Michelle, go straight) and you'll find the main road and walk that direction about 10-15 minutes and it will be there.” Somehow, I stumbled on the history museum before I got to where I was trying to go, so I left my heavy satchel there and ventured off in pursuit of lunch at La Place. I walked through the main shopping area, along a canal bordered by cafes and a few art galleries, and through the flower market. I got back to the Amsterdam History Museum by 4 (when I could get in for half price) and walked around until it closed at 5. Now I’m back at the airport, enjoying some Starbucks (comped by my airline), and glad to have my feet up.

Few people here dress as casually as Americans and almost everyone my age wears skinny jeans a nice jacket, and rides a bike. Traffic is pretty different as well. From what I gathered, the pecking order is trams, bikes, pedestrians, and then cars, but there are times when I’m pretty sure it’s just a free-for-all.

All in all, it’s been a good day (great weather here!), and I got another stamp in my passport. Hopefully my next post will be from Sweden!

I'm off to Sweden tomorrow! I have only had about three days in Houston since I got home from school, but feel ready and excited to go. Here is a brief synopsis of what I think I'll be doing while I'm there, as well as a few specific prayer requests.

My internship has two main parts – business administration and music. I will be managing receipts and expenses for the other four interns and possibly helping the missionaries and church with their financial affairs as well. I will also help with administration for the various sports camp ministries the team will be putting on throughout the summer. This aspect of my work will fulfill an internship requirement for my management degree at Baylor.

My parents told me years ago that they started us in music with the hopes that we could use our training to serve the church. I have enjoyed being able to play cello at my church in Houston all through high school, at church in Waco during the school year, and look forward to playing both cello and piano in a Swedish church this summer. I will accompany the hymns, lead weekly practices with other string players, and teach and tutor several kids on piano, cello, and violin. I will also lead a week-long string ensemble camp with the help of Jenny Oliver, an excellent pianist and good friend from Houston.

For now, please pray for…

- T Traveling safety for myself and my cello - we leave Monday, May 19. While I’m not afraid of flying, it’s a little harder on instruments.

Creativity in teaching - I will have students ranging in age from 4-14. It is difficult to prepare music and teaching tools without specific knowledge of their skill levels and abilities.

A quick learning curve about the team’s finances – so I can understand what needs to be done and relieve the missionaries of that time constraint.

Thank you for your prayers!