When it rains it pours...

...really, it does. Just before supper this evening I headed out for a walk and I wasn't half way around the walking path that meanders around the perimeter of the campus when it started drizzling. Something that I've noticed around here is that it doesn't just rain lightly--it's either just a mist or it's a downpour... so within a few seconds the rain started coming down harder and harder until I was running across campus towards my apartment. By the time I got inside I was soaked! I enjoy a good walk in the rain from time to time but today it was a run through the downpour...but I was laughing all the way!

Glad to be Mennonite

This evening I took in the Michiana MCC Relief Sale. I had been to the relief sales in Winnipeg, but I don't think anything compares to the one here in Michiana. It is rumoured to be the largest relief sale. I just read on their website that 1300 chairs are set up for the quilt auction alone! They had an international food court where Mennonite churches from the area served up a variety of ethnic foods but I noticed that something was missing--the Mennonite food! Their traditional Mennonite food booth consisted of what they call "Haystacks" which seems to me to be a layered dish of potatoes, meat, and veggies (sounds like my mom's 7-layer dinner). What I was expecting was the farmer sausage, verenki, and rollkucken like they serve at the Manitoba sales but no such luck. Though this sale was a whole lot larger and I didn't get my fill of verenki the spirit seemed to be the same. When I first arrived on the fairgrounds I didn't really expect to see anyone I knew but whenever you put enough Mennonites in one place there are bound to be connections and you're more than likely going to run into people you know. In this case I came across many people there that I know from AMBS and a few from church. And even with those people there whom I didn't know, there just seemed to be a familiarity that I felt comfortable with.

Michiana Relief Sale: http://www.mennonitesale.org/

A funny story about getting there: I was given directions as to how to get to the fairgrounds but as I was going along I ended up in a long lineup of traffic. There must have been over 100 cars lined up along the street. I learned, after about 30 minutes of waiting, that the main route into the fairgrounds was being blocked by a train that had actually broken down. So I turned around and started following other vehicles since I figured they must know where they were going. The cars ahead of me started turning off here and there until I was the only one on the road and I was heading into the countryside. I pulled off onto a country road so that I could turn around to ask for directions when I saw a sign on the road on which I had pulled off that said relief sale that way. I weaved around the country side and finally made it there completely by fluke.

Orthodox Church Field Trip

This afternoon the Theology of the Church class took a trip to St. Andrew's Greek Orthodox Church in South Bend, IN (about 40min from campus). The Father told us all about the Orthodox tradition which was really quite interesting. From what I understand and learned today (correct me if I'm wrong),

• They place a lot of emphasis on Christian history as they believe they are the mother church, the true New Testament chuch (ie. they did not "branch off" as all other faith groups have).
• The great consciousness: they do not change anything about their belief or practice and anyone who tries is removed from the church. There is no flexibility. There are no grey areas. In fact "orthodox" means "right belief."
• They do not worship their icons, rather they venerate them. The church is filled with paintings depicting Jesus Christ, prophets, apostles, and saints.
• The Eucharist is what unites the church as one body and that body to Christ.
• They are a Trinitarian tradition; everything is done in threes.

The more I look at other faith traditions the more I appreciate things about those traditions, but I also have a greater appreciation for my own.

A Saturday at the Farmers Market

Seeing as how I'm now residing in Amish country I couldn't let myself get too far into the fall season without checking out a local farmers market. This morning I actually went to two.

I had to share this picture of the American Countryside Farmers Market, located just outside of Elkhart. It's a year round market housed in a huge red barn and it's absolutely beautiful inside. There are hundreds of vendors displaying their goods on the two floors inside as well as a few set up outside. I enjoyed picking up some local produce, tasting fresh cheese, and admiring the many handcrafted items including some of the most beautiful hardwood furniture you'll ever see. Apparently they were holding zucchini car races and a zucchini recipe contest today but I missed out on those festivities. I finished off by indulging in some homemade black cherry ice cream.

My roommate and I commiserated that one of the most difficult things about being far from friends and family is not being able to share experiences, such as we had today, with them. So if any of you decide to come and visit, we'd be happy to share with you a few of the treasures that we've found in Elkhart county, but for those of you who won't make it out here hopefully I will be able to share a few of those experiences with you here on my blog.

Holland, Michigan

Two weeks ago Carrie and I took a brief trip up to Holland, Michigan. It's a neat place located approximately two hours north of Elkhart on Lake Michigan. Along the main street there are lots of neat shops to check out and we couldn't believe the number of ice cream places. It does somewhat resemble Holland, the country, with a Dutch village tourist attraction and a tulip festival in spring.

Getting into the swing of things...

I started my job in the AMBS admissions office today. There's a lot to learn but I think it will be a fun environment to learn in. I'll be working the office approximately 15 hours/week and I did drop one class in order to accomodate. I don't know how people can be full-time students plus work full-time or even half-time plus have a family...all I can say is kudos to them.

I have now been to all of my classes once now and have survived that moment of panic when the professor hands you the syllabus and you think there's is absolutely no way that this is going to be possible. I think every one of my professors said, "Remember, only one step at a time." I do count myself as one of the fortunate, though, because I am not required to take a biblical language course. Carrie, my roommate, was not so lucky. I think the mantra in our apartment in regards to what we affectionately call "Horkin' Hears a Hebrew"* this semester will be "This too shall pass."

I am particularly excited about my Principles of Pastoral Care class this semester. In addition to the readings and lectures we are going to have a few guest speakers come to our class and we will even be taking a field trip to a funeral home. It's one class that I can see being very useful in the future. Well, I think I can hear my homework calling my name from the other room so I better sign off for now.

*name derived from the aweful sounds that have to come out of one's mouth in order to pronounce Hebrew words

Carrie's Hebrew Homework

(don't you all envy her?)

Community Solidarity Day

Today I took part in community solidarity day, an event aimed at speaking out against racism. To find out more about this event, check out http://www.ambs.edu/solidarity-day

Want to know more about studying at AMBS?

I just wanted to let you all know that I have just been invited to join the admissions/enrollment team at AMBS. I will be working approximately 15 hours per week during the school year doing data entry, answering phones, helping to plan and host admissions-related events, etc. I'll probably be starting on Monday and I'm really looking forward to working with and getting to know some fantastic staff here at AMBS.

The differences are in the details...

Things are different here. I knew that in moving to the US that things would be slightly different than Canada but I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. None of these are huge culture-shock type items, just things that I've noticed:

• Apparently I have a "Canadian accent"
• Trying to figure out the equivalent km/h for the posted miles/h because our car doesn't have the miles/h well marked and when you're wearing sunglasses you can't see them at all
• Along the same lines, I never know what temperature it is here but for the most part I go with hot, hot and humid, or cool evening classifications
• Given the warmer climate there's a whole new array of bug life, especially the spiders that spin webs daily across our kitchen window and the weird little bugs that come out at night and invade our kitchen - but no mosquitoes, at least not this year
• The flour here is different - apparently because their winters aren't as cold it doesn't have as high a gluten content. Yesterday we attempted to bake brownies and cookies but both flopped - my roommate even let me use the brownie as a frisbee and chuck it across the room (well, she didn't give me permission, I just did it because the brownie chunk looked exactly like a frisbee)
• Junk food here is cheap - the chicken fingers and french fries that used to be a luxury are now a cheap meal
• The ketchup here is watery and bland...who would have thought?
• There are no Coffee Crisp or Aero bars to be found
• I realized that I had actually become used to the wind in Winnipeg; it's so calm here
• Cruizing along the interstate is not like navigating the highways in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. And I'm oh so glad for foreign plates - people are a little more forgiving.

So these are a few of the things that I've noted about being a stranger in a foreign land.

Campus Pictures

I went out this evening and took a few pictures of the campus...

Welcome to AMBS

In the background you will see the brand new part of the main building that houses the library.

Chapel of the Sermon on the Mount
One of the main buildings on campus.
Reflection of the chapel.
My on-campus apartment block. It may look modest but the apartment itself is actually larger than my last two!

First Class Jitters

I've made it through my first week here. This week has been busy with orientation and the beginning of classes. A lot of really helpful information was passed along to us at orientation and I feel like I could use a week to just let it sink in but I don't have the luxury of that kind of time. Yesterday evening was my first class - History of Christianity in Global Perspective. I left the class a little bewildered (I think that might be an understatement). The professor is an incredibly intelligent man, so much so I would say that I only caught about 10% of what he said during the 3 hours class! On the one hand I felt honored to be in such a presence but on the other hand I felt completely out of place. Either I'm going to learn a lot or nothing at all - it's a toss up at this point. I've only had one class yet but my other classes include Principles of Pastoral Care, Reading the Bible, Theology of the Church, and Theological Education and Ministry Formation Seminar.

Tomorrow our opening week concludes with an outing to Camp Friedenswald, about a 40 minute drive from our campus. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to spend some time getting to know the staff, faculty, and students in a setting other than a crowded dining hall.

What are you doing there?

...that's a question I've heart a lot in the last few months from various individuals when they would hear that I'd be moving to Indiana. Sure, it's not the first state most people would chose to live when moving to the US (I can't say it rivals California) but thus far I like it. AMBS is located in Elkhart, Indiana which is Amish country. Horse and buggies are not uncommon sights, or so I've heard because I haven't actually seen any yet. This area is home to some amazing farmers markets which I am hoping to take advantage of.

So what will I be doing at AMBS? Apparently studying and lots of it! As many of you know, I took a few courses on a part-time basis from Providence Theological Seminary which is a school located in southern Manitoba. I decided that I was ready to go back to school full-time and that I was also ready to make a move to another school. AMBS became the obvious choice when my roommate, Carrie, said she was thinking about going to AMBS. I had considered attending here after my graduation from CMU but wasn't quite ready to make the leap across the border at that time. So now after months of planning and waivering back and forth between going and not, I suddenly find myself at the "Crossroads of America." I'll be studying in the Masters of Divinity program with a concentration in Pastoral Care and Counselling. All of my credits from Prov. are transferring into this program so I have a bit of a head start. Most of my courses will be in theology since the ones I'm transferring in were mostly in counselling. The M.Div. program, from what I understand thus far, is very much a balance between academic work and practical experience.

So, in a nutshell, that's what I'm doing here in Indiana. I've got to run because I'm supposed to be leaving on a tour of Elkhart in 10 minutes.

And so the adventure begins...

Well, the adventure actually began a while back as thoughts about going to Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (from here on in referred to as AMBS) began to form, inquiries were made, and the preparation began. This week it feels as though months of dreaming have finally transformed into reality, even though I'm not sure if it's really hit me yet.

I've created this blog in an attempt to keep everyone updated on my life as a seminary student. Although I'm in the midst of orientation week and do not have time at this very moment to get into any great storytelling, I will start off by giving all of my readers a summary of the events of the last days:

• Friday 08.22.08 - goodbye Winnipeg
• Saturday 08.23.08 - scheduled day of departure BUT where is my visa?
• Sunday 08.24.08 - waiting...
• Monday 08.25.08 - waiting becomes more anxious...
• Tuesday 08.26.08 - this must be a test of patience...
• Wednesday 08.27.08 - becoming well aquainted with certain Canada Post employees, mad dash around Winnipeg, and finally relief
• Thursday 08.28.08 8:00am- ready for departure BUT...
• Thursday 08.28.08 11:15am - ok, new trailer and we're off
• Thursday 08.28.08 12:00pm - SUCCESSFUL BORDER CROSSING! - now we're really free and clear, I don't know if my grin could have been any bigger - I probably looked like a dork
• Thursday 08.28.08 - drive............................................... 10 hours
• Friday 08.29.08 - continue driving................................................. 8 hours
• Friday 08.29.08 early afternoon - drove through Chicago, what a rush!
• Friday 08.29.08 - arrive at AMBS 5 minutes before offices close!
• Long Weekend - unpacking, settling in, etc.
• Tuesday 09.02.08 - information overload at orientation but the excitement builds!
• more good stuff to come

I invite you to check back and read future reflections from a Mennonite Seminarian. Hopefully next time I'll be slightly less exhausted and be able to offer a more creative post (is that too much to ask from a full-time seminary student? I guess time will tell). So long for now.