Undervisning - Teaching

De sidste uger har været travel. Der er blevet undervist på fuld tryk! Og så har jeg haft besøg af Claske – en tidligere kursist, som har hjulpet mig i to uger med at undervise, rette lektier og evaluere kursisternes praktiske prøver. Hvilken velsignelse!
Det er en utrolig dejlig gruppe kursister, vi har. De har masser af erfaring i at arbejde med børn og har masser af gode idéer. Det er (næsten) helt sørgeligt at tage på ferie og være væk fra dem i tre uger.

The last weeks have been busy. There has been lots of teaching going on. And then I have had a wonderful visit from Claske – a former student. She came to help me teach, correct homework and evaluate practicals. What a blessing!
The students this summer are really wonderful. They have lots of experience in children’s work and are full of good ideas. It is (almost;-) ) too sad to leave them and go on holiday later today for three weeks.

Ledermareridts - Education nightmares

Jeg husker stadig den sommer, hvor jeg lige var blevet færdiguddannet som lærer. Hen over sommeren havde jeg nemlig flere skolelærer-mareridt. Jeg drømte, at jeg havde fået et job, men første dag på jobbet gik alting galt og jeg endte i besynderligere situationer.

Nu, hvor jeg har overtaget lederposten her med ansvar for vores europæiske uddannelsesafdeling, så gentager oplevelsen sig. Jeg har de mest besynderlige mareridt, hvor jeg står i totalt mærkelige situationer som leder og skal finde en tjuhej hurtig løsning.
Så selvom jeg egentlig har det godt, så påvirker mit nye ansvar mig åbenbart mere end som så. Det gode er, at jeg altid vågner op og opdager, at det var bare en drøm...

I still remember the summer when I had finished teacher’s college and were ready to find a job and start teaching. That summer I had teacher nighmares where I dreamt it was the first day at work and everything went wrong and I ended up in strange situations.

Now when I have recently taken over the responsibility for our Western European Education Department the same thing is happening all over: I have these totally crazy nightmares where strange things happen and I have to find a quick solution,

So even if everything is going fine, this whole new situation is apparently affecting me more than I think. The good thing is I always wake up and realize that it was just a dream…

Sommerundervisning - Teaching

For to uger siden startede vores sommerkursus for børnemedarbejdere, og det er nogle dejlige kursister.
I denne uge og næste underviser jeg om hvordan man holder børneklub og om forskellige undervisningsmetoder. I år er jeg så heldig, at en tidligere kursist, Claske, er på besøg og kan hjælpe mig. Dejligt!
På billedet ser I lidt sjov og ballade vi havde, da vi startede med at undervise igår.

Two weeks ago our Leadership Training Institute began and we are really enjoying the students!
This week and next I am teaching about how to run a Good News Club and about different teaching methods. This summer I am so fortunate that a former student, Claske, is visiting and helping me. Wonderful!
On the picture you see a little bit of fun we had yesterday as we began the teaching.

Engle eller irere? Angels or just Irish?

(To irske engle - Two Irish angels)

Havde lidt ondt af mig selv i formiddags…
Jeg har tålmodigt i månedsvis ventet på at kunne leje et ekstra værelse i vores lille lejlighed, som før er blevet brugt til at huse diverse gæster her på Kilchzimmer. Og endelig lykkedes det fra første juli, så jeg nu har to værelser. Så i torsdag var det bare af sted til IKEA for at købe seng, kommode m.m. Og så sidder jeg her lørdag formiddag og kan ikke få samlet tingene. Øv. Mandag ville vores sommer-altmuligmand sikkert have tid, men mandag virkede som meget langt ude i en fjern fremtid. Tænkte på mine brødre og min far og dagdrømte om, hvor hurtigt de ville kunne samle tingene. Meennn de er jo altså 1500 kilometre væk. Har også fået mig en ”adopteret storebror” her i Schweiz - min kollega Sarahs mand, Andy, men han var sikkert også langt væk.

Så i mit hjertes nød gjorde jeg, hvad min mor lærte mig fra jeg var helt lille: Give selv den mindste bekymring over til Gud: ”Kære Gud, kunne du sende nogen, der kunne samle mine møbler i dag?” Satte mig ud i solen for at spise frokost, og kort efter kommer en irsk gæst forbi, som er på ferie her i en uges tid. ”Hvordan går det med dine IKEA møbler? Har du fået dem samlet? Skal mig og Stephen komme forbi efter frokost og samle dem?”
Og der sad jeg så i chok. Hvordan viste han overhovedet, at jeg havde været i IKEA?

Vi tilbragte en hyggelig eftermiddag med at få samlet møblerne, og resten af dagen gik jeg og flyttede ting over i mit nye soveværelse og måtte gang på gang tænke over, at Gud hører selv det mindste suk. Utroligt, at han, som har styr på alle stjernernes baner også har tid til at tage sig af min lille lørdagsbekymring.

Tak Gud fordi du sendte to "engle" på min vej i dag.

(Et lille kig ind på mit nye soveværelse - A little peep at my new bedroom)

This morning I felt a bit sorry for myself…
I have patiently waited for months to begin renting another room in our apartment that has previously been used for guests of Kilchzimmer. And finally I was able to take it over first of July so that I now have two rooms. Off to IKEA I went on Thursday to buy a bed, a chest of drawers and other stuff. And then I am sitting here Saturday morning and can’t get the things assembled. Monday our volunteer maintenance guy would probably have time but at that point Monday seemed far out in a distant future. Started longing for my brothers and my dad. Was daydreaming about how fast they could assemble these things and felt a bit lonely and far away from them. Here in Switzerland I have an “adopted” brother – my colleagues Sarah’s husband, Andy – but he was probably also far away.

So from the distress of my heart I did what my mum taught me from a very young age: To bring even the smallest and silliest requests to God: “Dear God, could you please send someone today, who could assemble my furniture?”
I went out to eat my lunch in the sun and soon after a visiting guest sat down beside me and said, “So how is all your IKEA furniture coming along? Do you need help assembling them? Stephen and I could come by after lunch and help you.” I was in chock. How did he even know I had been to IKEA?

We spend some nice hours that afternoon getting the furniture assembled, and the rest of the day I spend organising everything in my new bedroom, and again and again I just had to marvel at the fact that God who is soo big and knows even the course of all the stars also has time to look after my silly Saturday requests.

Thank you God for sending two "angels" on my way today!

Kysset af en ko - Kissed by a cow

Her på billedet ser I en meget glad version af mig. MED MIN NYE BIL!!!!! Det er simpelthen en kæmpe frihed for mig endelig at have min egen bil. De sidste måneder har det været så kompliceret ikke at have bil, men nu ligger alt det i fortiden!!! En kollegas mand har hjulpet mig med at finde et godt køb, så nu har jeg en lille fornuftig bil, der kører godt og sikkert i sne.

Og så hører der endda en lille historie med til bilen: Mens den stod pænt og stille hos bilforhandleren og ventede på at blive opdaget af mig, kom en ko forbi. Koen havde været hjemme for at blive malket og var nu på vej tilbage til marken for at græsse (nogle gang kan man altså blive i tvivl om Schweiz er et uland eller et højindustrielt samfund, men det er en helt anden historie.) Hvor om alting er, så endte koen med at blive tiltrukket af min bil, og dens horn efterlod en ridse i min forskærm. Dette resulterede i en rabat på bilen, fordi min kollegas mand vidste, hvordan det kunne repareres.

Jeg har allerede været på et "længere" ture. Skønt! Jeg har fundet et friluftsbad med bjergvand, som jeg tror, at jeg bliver en flittig gæst hos denne sommer. Det er nemt at køre dertil – hvis man altså har en bil!!!

On the top picture you see a very happy version of me. WITH MY NEW CAR. It is such an extreme sence of freedom for me to have a car. The last half year without a car has been so complicated but now that is all in the past. The husband of one of my colleagues has helped me to find a good car that drives fine in the snow. And there is even a little story to my car:

While it was waiting patiently at the car dealer to be discovered by me, a cow came by. The cow had been home for milking and was now on it's way back to the field. (Some places in Switzerland seem very far away from Zürich; Basel or high tecnology). To cut a long story short, the cow took a special liking in my car and it's horn scratched the front of my car. This resulted in a discount because my colleagues' husband knew how to fix it.

So now I am enjoying my car BIG time! I have already been on a few longer trips. I have also found a nice big pool with mountain water that I think I will visit regularly this summer. It is easy to get there - if you have a car!!!!!

The Gilmore Girls girls

Ja, hygge skal man jo. Og den sidste måneds tid har Kirstinas og mine hyggeaftener udviklet sig, så nu er min stue simpelthen fyldt, når vi sætter os til rette og ser Gilmore Girls. Vi har stadig 3½ årgang tilbage, så mon det ender med, at vi må tage vores konferencesal i brug?

You gotta have a goooood time! And during the last month, Kristina's and my movienights has kind of developed so now my room is full of girls in all ages when it is time to watch another episode of the Gilmore Girls. And we still have 3½ seasons left so I wonder when we will need our conference room instead of my room?

23 - 17 - 12 - 5

Så er vores tremåneders sommerskole for børnemedarbejdere skudt igang. Vi har 23 elever fra 17 forskellige nationer. De medbringer i alt 12 børn. Og kommer fra 5 kontinenter. Herligt! De virker til at være en rigtig dejlig gruppe mennesker, og jeg glæder mig til at lære dem at kende og til at undervise dem. Børnene virker også rigtig søde. Der er rigtig mange drenge, og i mine øjne ser det ud som om, de løber konstant. Frem og tilbage, på løbehjul, ind i laden og rundt omkring på grunden. Tænk, hvis man selv havde sådan en energi! Wow.

Vi mangler i øvrigt en babysitter, så kender du en, der kender en, der kunne tænke sig at være et par uger eller måneder i Schweiz med kost, logi (og evt. lommepenge) hen over sommeren, så sig endelig til.

Finally our Summer Institute for children workers has begun. We have 23 students from 17 different nations. They bring with them the total of 12 children. And they come from 5 different continents. Wonderful! They seem to be a really nice group of people and I am looking forward to getting to know them and to teach them. The children also seem very nice. There is a good bunch of boys and to me it seems like they run constantly - back and forward, on their microscooters, into the barn and around the property. Wow - if only I had that kind of energy!

By the way - we are still in need of one more child minder for these children so if you know someone who knows someone who would love a few weeks or months in Switzerland over the summer with room, board (and maybe even pocket money) then please contact me.

Fodboldfeber - Football fever

I dag tog jeg en tur til Basel (min yndlingsby) for at hygge mig. Hvad jeg ikke havde forudset var de tusindvis af hollandske fodboldfans, som også var i byen for at feste før aftenens EM-semifinale. Alt var orange! De hyggede sig virkelig, og der var en fantastisk stemning i byen (og en frygtelig stank). Men det var lidt svært at komme frem.

Da jeg skulle hjem, havde en folkefest udviklet sig midt i bycentrum, og jeg gik derfor hen til et par schweizere for at spørge om en omvej til stationen. Sådan forløb samtalen:
D: Undskyld, men kan De fortælle mig, hvordan jeg kommer til stationen?
S: Ja, De tager bare sporvognen herfra om lidt.
D: Tror De, at sporvognen kan komme igennem dette mylder?
S: Der står I køreplanen, at sporvognen kommer, så det skal den jo gøre. (Typisk schweizer-tillid)
D: Tror De virkelig, at det er muligt?
S: Næ, egentlig ikke, følg efter os! (Atypisk schweizer-opførsel)

Og så gik vi gennem folkefesten og hyggede os med at kigge på alle de totalt gakkede mennesker med kreative kostymer.
Det var ret smittende, og jeg har derfor totalt overdraget min opbakning til det hollandske team (eftersom Sverige og Schweiz nu er ude af turneringen).

Today I went on a little trip to Basel (my favourite town) to have a cosy day. What I hadn’t anticipated was the thousands of Dutch football fans who also had made it to Basel before tonight’s Eurocup game. Everything was orange! There was a fantastic atmosphere in town (and a horrible smell) but it was a bit hard to come from one place to another.

When I decided to return, a big party had developed in the town centre and I approached a Swiss couple to ask if they knew an alternative route to the station. This is how our conversation went:
D: Sorry, could you tell me how to get to the station, please?
S: Yes, just take the tram that will arrive here in a few minutes.
D: Do you think the tram will be able to get past this gathering?
S: The timetable says that the tram will arrive here in a few minutes, so that is a given fact? (Typical Swiss trust)
D: Really?
S: You are right, let’s walk together! (Not so typical Swiss behaviour)

So we went through the big party gathering and we had a blast looking at all the crazy people in great costumes. The atmosphere was totally contagious so I am officially smitten and have transferred my football support to the Dutch team.

Overholtzer

For over 70 år siden blev Evangelisk Børnemission stiftet af J. Irvin Overholtzer. Hans familie stammede fra Schweiz, og for nylig var jeg på en hyggelig lille miniferie hos min kollega Sarah og hendes mand, Andy. Sarah kørte mig ud til den lillebitte landsby, hvor Overholtzers familie stammer fra og viste mig det ældgamle familiehus. Der var ikke meget at se, udover huset, men den omkringliggende natur var fabelagtig.

More than 70 years ago Child Evangelism Fellowship was founded by J. Irvin Overholtzer. His familiy originated from Switzerland and recently I went on a short holiday to visit a colleague Sarah and her husband Andy. Sarah drove me out to the tiny little village where the Overholtzer family came from (and some still live in today). I saw the originally family house. There wasn’t much to else to see, but it was worth it anyhow.

Kruset – The mug

I dag var en sørgelig dag. Det var dagen, hvor vi for alvor skulle sige farvel til Paul og Audrey, som har ledt Undervisningsafdelingen i15 år og nu flytter tilbage til Spanien, hvor de har været missionærer siden deres ungdom. Jeg kommer virkelig til at savne deres venskab og gode råd! Heldigvis kommer de tilbage i ny og næ for at undervise.

Det sidste halve år har Audrey igen og igen hintet, at den eneste afskedsgave, hun ønskede var et krus, som hun brugte hver dag i kaffepausen. Den har nemlig i følge Audrey flere uforlignelige kvaliteter hvoraf den hvide inderside er den mest fremtrædende. Så Sam og jeg dukkede op til deres sidste morgenmad her i Schweiz med koppen og et par farvelknus. Snøft!

Today was a rather sad day. It was the day when we had to say the final goodbye to Paul and Audrey who have been leading the Education Department for 15 years but now are moving back to Spain, where they have been missionaries since their youth. I am really going to miss their friendship and good council. Fortunately they will return from time to time to teach.

The last half year or so Audrey has been hinting that the only farewell gift she wanted was the mug she always chose to drink from at our coffee breaks. According to Audrey it has several invaluable qualities of which the most important is the white glazing on the inside. So Sam and I showed up at their last breakfast with the mug and a few hugs. (Sniff!)

Dage med teamet – Team days

I denne uge samlede vi hele Kilchzimmer-teamet til et par dage med undervisning og fællesskab. Det var dejligt! Børn og ægtefæller dukkede også op, og det var rigtig hyggeligt at udbygge venskaber med folk. Jeg nød især at synge sammen, grille sammen, fejre Sam’s 30 års fødselsdag (billede herunder) og tage på tur (billede herover) til et lokalt vandfald. Vandfaldet kunne vi ikke finde, men på en eller anden måde fik Claudia lokket mig til at tage turen ned fra bjerget på en cykelscooter (billede herunder). Og efter et par kilometre midt inde mellem de krogede, kringlede bjergstier, dukkede vandfaldet pludselig op.

This week more or less the whole Kilchzimmer-team was gathered for two days of teaching and fellowship. It was a really nice time. Children and some spouses also showed up and it was nice to get to know people a bit more. I especially enjoyed singing, barbequeing, celebrating Sam’s 30th birthday (picture), and go on a hike to a local waterfall (picture). We searched and searched but couldn’t find the waterfall. Somehow Claudia convinced me to go down the mountain on a scooter bike (picture) and after a few kilometres in the midst of a crooked mountain path the waterfall suddenly appeared. Nice!

Så er teamet samlet! - The team is together!

Så er vores lille nye team her i uddannelsesafdelingen ved at være samlet, og det fejrede vi med en middag på min lokale yndlingsrestaurant Hotel Eirca (ikke at jeg har været der så tit meeennn maden er helt fantatisk og alt for billig). På første billede ser I Samantha (Sam) og jeg. Sam er vores længe ventede administrative assistent, som ankom sidste fredag (Velkommen!! Vi er så glade for at have DIG her). På næste billede ser I Kristina (venstre) og Martha (højre). Kristina har udfyldt en del af Samanthas job, mens vi ventede på hende, og nu overgår hun så til andre jobs i huset (snøft), men vi få lov at låne hende fra tid til anden. Marta er "Institute Supervisor", hvilket vil sige, at hun tager sig af den daglige drift med lærere og kursister, når vi har skoleophold her - de tre måneders kurser for børnemedarbejdere.

Vi glæder os til at arbejde sammen og finde kursen sammen. Bed gerne for os at vi må få nogle gode rutiner og fordele opgaverne imellem os på den rigtige måde.

Now our new little team here in the Education Department is finally together and we celebrated that at my favourite local restaurant, Hotel Erica (not that I have been there very often but the food is extremely good and too cheap to be true.) On the first picture you see Samantha (Sam) and I. Sam is our long longed for administrative assistant who arrived last week (Welcome, we are so happy to have YOU here). On the next picture you see Kristina (left) and Martha (right). Kristina has been doing part of Sam's job while we waited for her but now she will be helping in other departments in the house (sniff), but we will borrow her from time to time. Martha is the Institute Supervisor which is responsible for the daily life of teachers and students during institutes.

We are really looking forward to working together and to embrace the future together. Please pray that we will quickly find a good working relationship and divide the tasks amongst us in the best way.

Sortere - sorting

Som sagt overtog jeg jo lederstolen her forleden og i den anledning også en hel del papirer, mapper med mere. Det krævede en del flere hylder, kasser etc. og derfor har jeg de senere uger været en flittig gæst i den lokale IKEA. Halvdelen af resultatet ses her.

Bagved skimter man Philippe's skrivebord. Han er her stadig et par uger mere, men han har fundet sig i at blive presset ind i et hjørne af kontoret :-) Jeg har dog også store planer for dette hjørne, så måske kommer der en dag også en blogpost om dette hjørne!

As previously mentioned, the leadership of our department was passed over to me this Monday. But that was not the only thing passed over - a lot of files and other things also slipped into my office. That demanded so much more shelf space and therefore I have been a frequent customer in the local IKEA these past weeks. Part of the result is on this photo.

In the background you see Philippe's desk. He is still here for a few more weeks but I managed to put him in a corner of the office :-) However, I have great plans for this corner also, so who knows - maybe some day you will see another blogpost about this corner too.

Skræmmende - Scary

Forleden fik jeg en skræmmende gave fra de schweiziske myndigheder. To pakker piller, som skal tages i tilfælde af et udslip fra atomkraftværket, der ligger få kilometre herfra. Det var ærlig talt ikke en særlig betryggende gave, men Suzanne (min tidligere roomate) forsikrede mig om, at det skal opfattes på en helt anden måde - nemlig i lyset af den schweiziske mentalitet, hvor man er overpåpasselig og derfor vil være sikker på, at man har gjort alt, hvad man overhovedet kan forestille sig, at man burde gøre - og altså i det her tilfælde have uddelt piller på forhånd. Det beroligede mig en del. Og egentlig kan jeg vildt godt lide den mentalitet - bare spørg Buholo eller Maj, som jeg har arrangeret mange lejre med. Jeg må dog tilføje at som de fleste andre danskere er mit forhold til atomkraftværker nok ikke det mest positive. Jeg foretrækker de danske vindmøller!

Some days ago I received a rather scary gift from the Swiss authorities. To packs of pills to be used in case of a leakage at the local nuclear power station which is situated not many kilometres from us. It was not a very comforting gift, I must confess. But Suzanne (my former flatmate) convinced me to look at it from another point of view - taking into account the Swiss mentality of always making sure you have prepared for the worst case senario. That actually comforted me a great deal - and actually I like this mentality a lot - just ask Maj or Buholo whith whom I have planned many camps. I must add though, that my personal opinion of nuclear power is a whole other story!!! I prefer the Danish windmills!

Sightseeing

Da jeg tømte mit kamera igår for billeder fandt jeg disse fra sidste uge. Vi havde besøg af 63 Rumænske kolleger (inkl. børn, forældre og et par irere). Og da jeg havde lidt ferie, benyttede jeg lejligheden til at tage på sightseeing med dem en dag. Wow!

When I emptied my camera yesterday for pictures I found these from last week. We had the priviledged visit of 63 Romanian colleagues (including children, parents and a few Irish). And since I had holiday I joined them one day going sightseeing. Wow!

En fantastisk email - A fantastic email

Fik en fantastisk email idag fra to kursister, vi havde her på skolen sidste sommer og igen i januar på IOT kursus! Det første EBU-kursus er netop blevet afholdt i Tyrkiet. Læs gerne vidnesbyrdet herunder (kun på engelsk).

Got a fantastic email today from two students from last summer's institute and this years IOT course in January. The first TCE course has just been held in Turkey. Read the following testimony:

Our very first TCE-1 (Teaching Children Effectively – Level 1) course went very well. We rented our friends summer house for Friday through to Monday, taking advantage of a public holiday which fell on a Monday this year. There were 4 teachers attending from 2 different churches of İzmir. It was a very full programme with 22 sessions, including two practicals. All the teachers worked and concentrated hard to receive all the things which were taught. Then the following Friday we met again for their Bible lesson practicals and now we are looking for a suitable Saturday to complete the remaining 8 sessions. Please pray that the teachers will have opportunities to use what they learn and they will be diligent to use these opportunities.

Hvor er ballonerne? - Where are the balloons?

Igär overtog jeg officielt ledelsen af vores undervisningsafdeling, men jeg glemte helt at fejre det, for overgangen har vaeret saa gradvis at den stort set ikke föles.
Min förste beslutning var at tage en fridag idag :-), saa det gjorde jeg! Gjorde rent hele dagen og ordnede ting og sager i lejligheden. Suzanne flyttede ud (til Nordirland) i fredags, og Samantha flytter ind denne fredag.

Yesterday I officially took over the leadership of our Education Department but I totally forgot to celebrate it because the handing over process has been so gradually that I hardly felt it at all.
My first decision was to take a day off today :-) and so I did! I cleaned the whole day and made things ready for my new roomate (Samantha) that is moving in on Friday. Suzanne left last Friday to return to Northern Ireland.

Hvem er hvem? - Who is who?

Linda, Iris og Dorthe - men hvem er hvem?

Linda, Iris and Dorthe - but who is who?

I disse dage har vi besøg fra Rumænien/Nordirland. Det betyder blandt andet et gensyn med Linda, som leder vores undervisningsafdeling i Centraleuropa.

Hun påtog sig den tvivlsomme ære at navngive tre af mine nyligt indkøbte hånddukker efter de tre nye ledere for vores undervisningsafdelinger i Europa. Men hvem er hvem? Kig på billedet herunder, som blev taget sidste år, da vi mødte hinanden første gang og se om du give mig et kvalificeret bud på, hvem der er hvem.

Iris, Dorthe, Linda

At the moment we have visiters from Romania and Northern Ireland. This include a visit from Linda who is the Coordinator of Education in Central Europe. She took on the questionable honour of naming some of my new puppets after the three new Education Coordinators in Europe. But who is who? Check out the picture of the three of us when we first meet last year and see if you can give me a qualified quess as to who is who...

Eksamen - Exam

Nu tror du nok, at jeg vil skrive om min eksamen i fredags, men det var egentlig ikke meningen. Den gik fint, tror jeg.

I stedet vil jeg fortælle om en lille eksamen, jeg arrangerede i sidste uge for mine kolleger. Fem kolleger forlader os i løbet af de næste måneder, og i den anledning ville jeg teste dem og se, hvem der kunne huske flest af de 48 lande i Europa, hvor EB arbejder i øjeblikket. Nogle af de andre kolleger deltog også. Brent blev den ultimative vinder med 46 rigtige svar skarpt forfulgt at Suzanne, som havde 44½.

Now you might think that I want to write about my exam last Friday but that was actually not my intention. I think it went all right.

Instead I want to tell about a little test I made last week for my colleagues. Five of them will leave us within the next months and therefore I wanted to see which of them could remember most of the 48 countries that CEF work in in Europe. Some of the other colleagues also joined in the test. Brent turned out to be the ultimate winner with 46 correct answers. But he had Suzanne following right after with 44½.

Tonsvis af kopier - tons of copies

I disse dage ligger der stakke af kopier, ringbind og faneblade på borde i vores konferencesal. Kristina er igang med at kopiere alle de bøger, som skal bruges på vores tremåneders sommerkursus for børnemedarbejdere.

Kurset starter i slutningen af juni, og lige nu er der ca. 24 tilmeldt. Sommerkurset er altid mindre end efterårskurset, så vi er rigtig glade for 24 kursister plus alle deres børn.

Kristina er i øvrigt svensker og hjælper til i nogle måneder hen over sommeren. Næsten hver aften sætter vi os og ser Gilmore Girls sammen. Vi har et mål om at se hele serien fra første episode til sidste. Kristina smækker altid fødderne op på mit sofabord, så snart hun kommer ind ad døren og det føles faktisk skønt at have nogen omkring sig, som man kan smidde fødderne op på sofabordet sammen med.

At present we have stacks of copies lying on tables around our conference room. Kristina is in the process of copying all the books to be used by the students at our summer institute.

The institute begins in the end of June and will last 3 months and at the moment we have ca. 24 students. Our summer institute is always a bit smaller than the autumn institute, so we are really happy about 24 students plus all their children.

By the way, Kristina is Swedish and is helping some months over the summer. Almost every night we watch a few episodes of Gilmore Girls together since we have made it a goal to watch all the seasons from first to last episode. As soon as Kristina comes into my room, she puts her feet on my coffee table and it actually feels really nice to have someone around with whom I can put my feet on the table.

1½

Min lille lillebror Marcus (6) er lige startet på sin kommende skole i denne uge, og så var storesøsteren (mig) jo lidt bekymret. Men jeg er lige blevet beroliget: Drengen har allerede fået en og en halv ven. Hvad betyder det??? Og bør jeg virkelig være beroliget af det???

P.s. På billedet drikker Marcus "rengøringsmiddel" som Miriam (7) kaldte den amerikanske blå saftevand...


My little littlebrother Marcus (6) has just started in his new school this week so the big sister (me) was a bit worried. But the family has just tried to comfort me: The boy has already got one and a half friend. What does that mean?? And should I really be comforted by that information???

P.s. On the picture you see Marcus drinking "cleaning supplies" as Miriam (7) named the American blue lemonade.

Et skønt øjeblik - A wonderful moment

Sidder her i en halvsen aftentime (har stadig jetlag…) og er lige blevet færdig med det ene bibelkursus (Hermeneutics), jeg har taget her i foråret. Den sidste opgave er lige mailet videre til bedømmelse. Det er en helt fantastisk følelse.

Den næste uge står dog stadig i intense studiers tegn, da jeg skal færdiggøre et andet kursus (De gammeltestamentlige profeter), som jeg har taget i Tyskland. Næste fredag 16/5 har vi afslutningseksamen og fremlæggelser. Jeg skal fremlægge en opgave om ”frelsesforkyndelsen hos profeterne”. (Sig det ikke til nogen, men pga. sygdom for et par uger siden og tur til USA er jeg næsten ikke startet på opgaven…)
Så det bliver en intens uge med målet for øje. Jeg vil sætte stor pris på jeres forbøn!

Herefter kan jeg skrue lidt ned for studietempoet og forsætte de næste måneder i et lidt roligere tempo.

Am sitting here rather late at night (still affected by the jetlag) and have just finished one of the Bible courses I have taken this spring (Hermeneutics). The last assignment has just been mailed for correction. It is a wonderful feeling.

The next week is however still concecrated to intense studies as I have to finish another course (The OT prophets) that I have taken in Germany. Next Friday 16/5 we have our final exam and some of us have to do a presentation on a subject we have been given to study. I will have to speak about the OT prophets’ message of salvation. (Don’t tell anyone but due to illness a few weeks ago and my trip to US I have hardly started preparing for the presentation yet…)
So it will be an intense week with a few goals to reach. I would appreciate your prayers a lot!

After this I can slow down on the study speed and continue the next months at a more pleasant pace.

Nye medlemmer i vores uddannelsesteam - New members of the Education Department

Siden jeg forlod Danmark er der noget (eller nogen), der har manglet i min hverdag. Og her taler vi ikke om venner, familie, rugbrød og leverposteg. Her taler vi om Molly, Viggo, Sally og de andre dukker, som jeg så ofte har haft med mig til dukkemøder. De blev efterladt i Danmark og jeg har flere gange savnet dem.

I USA mødte jeg imidlertid nogle af deres slægtninge og skyndte mig at gennemgå en del ansættelsessamtaler. Det viste sig, at de var villige til at blive proppet ned i min kuffert og blive forflyttet til Schweiz. Så herover ser I mine nye kolleger. Jeg glæder mig til at vise jer i løbet af et par måneder, hvordan de skal gøre nytte.

Since I left Denmark there is something (or someone) that has been missing in my life. And I am not talking about friends, family, Danish brown rye bread or liver pate. I am talking about Molly, Viggo, Sally and all the rest of my puppet friends who have joined me in so many children meetings. They are still serving in Denmark. I have been yarning for them several times.

However, in US I met some of their relatives and I quickly performed a bunch of job interviews and asked them to be stuffed down in my suitcase and join me in Switzerland. They all accepted and I am proud to present these new colleagues. I look forward to showing you within a few months what they will be doing here.

Konference - Conference

Efter dagene med møder blev det tid til at være på EB's internationale konference. Og hvilken velsignelse: Min far, hans kone, min danske kollega Hanne og mine to mindste søskende Miriam og Marcus (se billede herover) var også med. Hvor dejligt at have masser af tid sammen med dem alle sammen - og med andre venner fra hele verden.

Jeg nød rigtig meget at lytte til vores internationale leder, Reese Kaufmann, dele EB's visioner og mål for de næste år. Vores mål er, at der må være EB arbejde i alle verdens 207 lande inden 2017, hvor vi skal fejre vores 80 års jubilæum. I øjeblikket rækker vi ud til over 8 millioner børn om året på verdensplan. Hvor er det fantastisk at være en del af verdens største børnemission.

Det var også fantastisk at høre rapporter fra hele verden om de spændende ting, der foregår hist og pist.

Hver eneste dag blev der uddelt gratis ting til møderne og i udstillingslokalerne. Det er amerikanerne vist ret vilde med (men både Hanne og jeg blev hurtigt ret begejstrede for denne kulturelle forskel). Herunder er et billede af min samling gaver efter fem dages konference.

After the days of meetings it was time to attend the international conference of CEF. And what a blessing: My dad, his wife, my Danish colleague Hanne and my two youngest siblings Miriam and Marcus (first picture) also attended. How wonderful it was to have lots of time with all of them - and with other friends from around the world.

I really enjoyed listening to our international leader, Reese Kauffman who was sharing about the visions and goals of CEF for the next years. Our goal is that CEF will be working in all the 207 countries in the world before 2017 where we celebrate our 80 years anniversary. At present we are reaching out to more than 8 million children around the world every year. How awesome to be part of the world's largest children mission!

It was also fantastic to hear reports from all over the world about how things are going in all the corners of the world.

The Americans seems to be crazy about giving out free stuff and we quickly started to enjoy that. At the second picture you see my collection of free stuff after five days at conference.

Kolleger fra hele verden - Colleagues from the whole wide world

Det var spændende at være i USA. De første to dage blev tilbragt i møder med de andre uddannelseskoordinatorer i EB fra hele verden. Hvor var det spændende at høre om kurser, der blev holdt i små hytter oppe i bjergene eller om en rigtig stor flok fra mellemøsten, som denne sommer må tage om på den anden side af jorden for at få den træning, de har brug for.

Jeg fik mange nye tanker med hjem, som jeg glæder mig til at dele med de to andre ledere for Central- og Østeuropa.

It was very exciting to be in US. The first two days were spend in meetings with other Education coordinators in CEF around the world. It was really interesting to hear about training going on in little huts in the middle of nowhere or about a group of people from the Middle East going around the world this summer to receive the training they need.

I got a bunch of new thoughts with me back and I look forward to share them with the two other coordinators in Central and Eastern Europe.

Flere skræmmende desserter - More scary desserts

Hmmmm... Jeg må vist hellere til at få stoppet denne følgeton. Jeg rendte kun ind i en skræmmende dessert, mens jeg var i USA. I en lufthavn. En slags kanelsnegl fyldt med al muligt guf. Den var til gengæld så klistret, at det var helt umuligt at få fat på kameraet, da jeg først var gået igang med at spise den. Men god - det var den. Skræmmende god.

Hmmmmm. I'll better put an end to this stupid continuation of scary desserts. I only ran into one scary dessert in US. In an airport. A kind of ginger roll full of yummy things. However it was so sticky that it was impossible to get a hold of my camera while in the process of eating the roll. But it was gooood! So good. Scaringly good!

Skræmmende desserter - Scary desserts

Det ser ud til, at jeg har et tema kørende. I sidste uge viste jeg et forskræmt billede af mig selv som følge af en kæmpe uhyggelig schweizisk is.

I denne uge vil jeg introducere jer til "Grötterspeise mit Waldmeister Gesmack". Det fik vi på bibelskolen igår. Her er det ikke så meget størrelsen men mere farven, der er skræmmende. Mine medstuderende oplyst mig om, at denne dessert kun findes i Tyskland (tak og lov), og så var der jo ingen vej udenom.

Kan bare sige: Følg med på denne hjemmeside. I næste uge tager jeg til USA. Måske har de også skræmmende desserter der!

It seems like I have a theme going at the moment. Last week I showed you a picture of me and a frigtening big Swiss icecream.

This week I would like to introduce you to "Grötterspeise mit Waldmeister Gesmack" which I was exposed to at the Bible school in Germany yesterday. Here it is not so much the size as the colour that is frigtening. But since my fellow students enlightened me with the fact that you only get this taste in Germany, there was no way around it.

So all I can say is: Keep reading this blog. Next week I am going to US. Maybe they also have scary desserts!

Hvordan? - How?

Jeg har ligget i sengen i en uge med en ond halsbetændelse og har været til lægen to gange. Og en ting kan man ihvertfald sige om schweizerne: De kan medicinere! Jeg har haft fire forskellige slags medicin kørende rundt i mig. Nu er jeg nede på 2-3 - og de matcher endda i de schweiziske nationalfarver.

Der følger jo altid lange indlægssedler med, som jeg med min personlighed føler at jeg må studere til bunds førend jeg sætter tænderne i medicinen. (Noget af et besvær, da de jo er på tysk. Jeg får lært en masse totalt ubrugelige ord.)

Indlægssedlerne er inddelt i en masse afsnit, der hver har et spørgsmål som overskrift: Hvad skal jeg være opmærksom på ved denne medicin? Hvordan skal denne medicin tages? Osv.
Ofte vil man i et af afsnittene læse følgende: Hvis De besvimer eller Deres krop går i shok over medicinen, skal De opsøger Deres læge hurtigst muligt.

Og det efterlader mig så bare med ét spørgsmål, som jeg endnu ikke har set besvaret i en eneste indlægsseddel: Hvordan skal jeg kunne opsøge min læge, hvis jeg er besvimet eller ligger i shok?

I have been ill for a week with a nasty throat thing and have been to the doctor twice. And one thing can surely be said about the Swiss: They know how to medicate you. I have had four different types of medicine rolling around my body. Now I am down to 2-3 and they even match in the national colours of Switzerland.

Along with the medicine you always receive those long explanations about the medicine and with my personally type just have to study these thoroughly before I dare to take the medicine. (Quite a hassle studying those in German, I must say. I learn a lot of really unneccecary words.)

These explanations are normally divided in lots of paragraphs each with a heading formed as a question: What should I be aware about in regards to this medicine, How should I take this medicine etc.
Often in one of the paragraphs it says: If you faint or your body goes into shock because of the medicine you should go see your doctor immidiately.

That only leaves me with one question which I have never seen answered in any of those explanations: How am I supposed to go to the doctor if I am unconsious or have gone into shock?

At give stafetten videre - To pass on the torch

This week some very important meetings took place. It was the final passing on of the torch from the old part of the Education department to us three new coordinators.
One the picture above you see Linda and Iris. Linda will be the coordination of education for Central Europe and Iris for Eastern Europe.

Actually I had went through most of this training last year but it was nice to get a little refreshers course.

A lot of important information and a bunch of anecdotes were shared.


In June Paul and Audrey are heading for Spain while Philippe and his family are heading for Paris. (Now that I think of it - I should ask them all if I can come and visit if I have important questions - both Spain and Paris sounds wonderful! Hehe. Just joking.)


Anyways, as you can see on the pictures, we also had time to celebrate Paul's 70 year's birthday.

If you wonder why I look so scared on the picture - take a look at the size of my icecream!


But the really scary part of this blogspot is: I started to write it in English instead of Danish! It has been a problem all week: I think in English even if I think about something I should say to a Dane.


I denne uge havde vi en del vigtige møder her i Schweiz. Det var den endelige overgivelse af stafetten fra den gamle del af vores uddannelsesafdeling til os tre nye uddannelsesledere.

På det første billede ser I Linda og Iris, som skal have samme job som mig bare i Centraleuropa og Østeuropa.


Selv havde jeg været igennem det meste af denne træning i slutningen af sidste år, men det var nu rart med et lille genopfriskningskursus. En hel del vigtig information blev overdraget - og en del anekdoter fra de sidste 15 år sneg sig også ind.


I juni rejser Paul og Audrey til Spanien og Philippe og hans familie til Paris. (Nu når jeg tænker over det, så skulle jeg måske lave den aftale med dem, at jeg kan komme og besøge dem, hvis jeg har nogle virkelig vigtige spørgsmål. Både Spanien og Paris lyder som nogle lækre steder at besøge. hehe.)


Nå men anyways - som I kan se på billederne, fik vi da også lige tid til at fejre Paul's 70 års fødselsdag. Hvis du spekulerer over, hvorfor jeg ser så forskrækket ud på billedet, så kig nærmere på størrelsen af min is!


Men den mest skræmmende del af denne blogpost er, at jeg helt automatisk startede med at skrive på engelsk og ikke på dansk. Det har været et problem hele ugen: Jeg tænker på engelsk også selv om jeg tænker på noget, jeg skal sige til en dansker. Uf.

Paul & Audrey who have leaded the Education Department for 15 years.

Paul og Audrey som har ledet undervisningsafdelingen i 15 år.

Philippe who has leaded the Education Department the last year.

And Martha who is the Institute Supervisor and fortunately stays on!

Philippe som har ledet undervisningsafdelingen det sidste år.

Martha - som er ansvarlig for kursisterne - bliver heldigvis når de andre tager afsted.

Scary icecream!

Skræmmende is!

Lehrreich

Ja, altså. Nu går jeg jo på bibelskole hver fredag i Stuttgart og lærer en helt masse. For eksempel lærte jeg i fredags min første joke på tysk. Den følger herunder.
Yeahh! Now when I am attending Bible school every Friday I am learning a lot. Last Friday I learned my first joke in German. It goes like this:

Ein Scheriff in Wilden Westen kam in eine Bar aber die Bar war geslossen.
Scheriff: Warum?
Gastwirt: Falschspillerei!
Scheriff: Karte?
Gastwirt: Nein, klavier!

... er, sie, es ist

Torsdag aften ankom jeg til Korntal, som er en lille forstad til Stuttgart, hvor min bibelskole ligger. Det var underligt, at jeg kun var 13 minutter udenfor centrum af Stuttgart, og så alligevel var endt i en lille uskyldig by med smukke, hyggelige huse og helt forfærdelige modebutikker.

Fredag var en intensiv dag med studier fra 8 til 16. Alle var virkelig hjælpsomme overfor mig, og jeg tog hjem meget opmuntret, for selv om der bliver masser af arbejde, så er det ikke umuligt at gennemføre. Og så kom min grundbog på engelsk her i fredags (langt om længe), og det er jo også et ekstra plus.

Jeg var hjemme igen sent fredag aften, og følte mig noget karkludsagtig både lørdag og søndag.

Kurset fortsætter de næste seks fredage.

Thursday night I arrived in Korntal which is a small suburb to Stuttgart where my Bible school is situated. It was weird to only be 13 minutes away from downtown Stuttgart and yet be in a small innocent town with cosy houses and horrible fashion shops.

Friday was a very intens day with studies from 8 to 16. Everyone was really helpfull towards me and I left rather tired but encouraged because even if this is going to be really hard work then it is not impossible to do. And to add to my encouragement, our main course book which I had ordered in English, finally arrived Friday.

I was home rather late Fridy night and felt like a dishrag (Danish expression) most of Saturday and Sunday.

The course continues the next six Fridays.

Ich bin, du bist...

OK. Hvad i al verden har jeg rodet mig ud i???
I morgen fortsætter mine bibelstudier - men denne gang i Tyskland - PÅ TYSK!!!
Kurset løber over de næste syv fredage.
Jeg synes, at det virker ekstremt skræmmende.
Øver mig på ord, jeg muligvis kunne få brug for. Hmmm....
Tja, hvis du har en lille bøn til overs, må du meget gerne bede for, at jeg må forstå alt og kunne kommunikere fint.

OK. What on earth have I gotten myself into???
Tomorrow I continue my Bible studies - but this time in Germany - IN GERMAN!!!
The course run over the next seven Fridays.
I am terrified.
Have been practising words, I might need. Hmmmm....
So well, if you have a spare prayer, I would really appriciate prayers for a good understanding of what is going on and the ability to communicate fine. Thanks.

Gammel? - Old?

Fik to meget interessante breve idag med posten.

Det første var en invitation fra et forhenværende børneklubbarn, der nu skal giftes. Følte mig pludselig meget gammel. Er jeg virkelig så gammel, at jeg allerede har børneklubbørn, der skal giftes? Kan det virkelig være rigtig, at Maj, der sad og spillede blokfløjte i børneklubben til en hjemmelavet sang, skal giftes? Allerede? (Er rigtig glad på dine vegne, Maj!)

Det andet brev var egentlig en pakke med min yndlingsøjencreme, der nærmest udretter mirakler. Så kan man vel bekæmpe ældningsprocessen lidt endnu :-)

Received two very interesting letters with the mail today.

The first was an invitation from a former Good News Club child to attend her wedding. Suddenly felt very old. Am I really so old that my former Good News Club children are getting married? Can that really be true? Can it really be that Maj, who was so shortly ago sitting in the club playing flute to a homemade song, is now getting married? Already? (Am really happy for you though, Maj!)

Well, the other letter was actually a parcel containing my favourite eye lotion which almost does miracles, so I guess I can fight the agening process still for a while :-)

Forår? - Spring?

Igår vandt solen over sneen.

Min yndlingssti blev forvandlet til en bæk af rislende smeltevand.

Forårsjakken blev fundet frem.

Tør man håbe?

Yesterday the sun won over the snow.

My favourite path got transformed into a little brook of trickleing melting water

I put on my spring coat.

Do we dare to hope?

Udsigt fra mit vindue - View from my window

Så er jeg tilbage i Schweiz igen til masser af sne. Her er udsigten fra mit kontorvindue.

Det var fantastisk at være i Danmark og fantastisk at være hjemme i Schweiz igen.

Back in Switzerland again to lots of snow. Here is the view from my office window.

It was fantastic being in Denmark and also fantastic to be home in Die Schweiz again.

Et anderledes TTC - A different TTC

I sidste uge havde vi TTC - Teens To Children, og det blev lidt anderledes for mig, end det plejer.

Vi ankom lørdag og gik fluks igang med at undervise teenagerne i, hvad de skulle undervise børnene i til vores påskehyggefester for kirkefremmede børn. Jeg havde lidt ondt i halsen, og det blev værre og værre, og til sidst måtte jeg tage hjem. Her lå jeg så i et par dage med høj feber og streptokokker! Øv - når nu den primære grund til, at jeg tog til Danmark netop var TTC. Jeg var dog glad for, at jeg nåede at undervise teenagerne, for det havde været krævende for de andre ledere.

Nå, men den sidste dag med påskefester opdager jeg pludselig otte ubesvarede opkald fra TTC-gruppen. Maj ligger og kaster op, så jeg må springe til og lede det ene team. Fint nok. Hurtigt i bad og en lille bøn opad. Og så ellers ind i en bil fuld af friske teenagere og til Nordsjælland.

Vi er lidt sent på den, og det bliver ikke bedre af, at politiet har lukket den vej af, som vi skal ned af, for at komme til den første påskehyggefest, og så må vi igang med at køre efter tilfældighederne. Alt imens en af teenagerne begynder at kaste op på bagsædet. Det viser sig dog, at han er den eneste, der ved, hvor det er, at vi skal hen, så ligbleg sidder han og dirigerer os det rette sted hen. Jeg spørger, om vi skal ringe efter hans forældre, "ligemeget", svarer han.


Der kommer ingen børn til den første fest, så vi sætter os ned og spørger Gud, om hans planer for næste påskefest. Med det samme, jeg lukker øjnene, føler jeg, at der vil komme tolv børn (siger selvfølgelig til teenagerne, at jeg virkelig ikke ved, om det er Gud, der siger dette). En af teenagerne føler, at vi skal gå ud og indbyde og blive ved og ved med at indbyde, så vi skynder os videre til det næste sted og går igang med at indbyde. (Se billedet)


I første omgang kommer der kun tre piger til festen, men pludselig kommer der seks mere og så lige før, vi skal dele evangeliet, kommer der tre til. 12 i alt. Og de sidste ni børn, var nogle vi havde mødt, da vi gik rundt og delte ud lige før mødet.


Vi har en fantastisk påskefest med stor interesse fra børnene. En ret gammel dreng, kan svare på alt. Han har været til vores arrangementer før, så det er fedt for os at se, at det nytter noget.

Bagefter er vi virkelig glade for dagen - over en dejlig påskefest og at Gud talte tydeligt til os om hans planer for eftermiddagen. Han havde planer på trods af streptokokker og opkast.

I alt på de to dages outreach har vores to teams holdt påskefest for 61 børn. Jydeteamet har haft 46 børn. I alt fik 107 børn altså påskens fantatiske budskab på denne måde.

Last week we had our Easter TTC - Teens To Children - and it turned out a bit different for me than I expected.

After arriving Saturday we quickly started training the teens for the Easter clubs that we were having Monday and Tuesday. I had a sore throat and it got worse and worse to the point where I had to go home. At home I were lying with a terrible fever and Streptococci. So annoying since the primarily reason for going to DK was to attend TTC. I am just very happy that I were able to teach the teens before I left since that would have been very difficult for the other staff members.


Anyways, the last days of outreach I suddenly notice 8 unaswered phone calls on my cell phone from the TTC team and it turns out that Maj is throwing up and they need me urgently to lead one of the teams. A quick shower and a little prayer and it is time to go. I am driving a car full of enthusiastic teenagers.


We are a bit late and then we realise that the police has closed our road so now we have to drive on instincts (and I have never been there before). Then one of the teens starts to throw up too on the back seat while also trying to communicate to us that somehow he knows the way.

When we finally arrives at the place for the Easter club, no children shows up. Not a very encouraging day so far!

Therefore we sit down and pray and ask God about his plans for the rest of the day (we have one more club left). As soon as I close my eyes I get a feeling that we will get 12 children at the next club. I share this with the teens - off course stating that I don't know if it was God speaking to me or not. One of the teens had the feeling that when we go out to invite children we should continue to do so and not give up. Therfore we hurry off to the next place and start to invite children and continue to do so in spite of the cold weather. (See picture.)


At first only three children show up but suddenly six more arrives and right before we share the Gospel another three slips in. And those last nine children were some we meet when we invited the children right before the club began.


We have a fantastic Easter club with very attentive children. A rather old boy can answer all of our questions. He has been to our outreaches before so that is really encouraging to hear.

Afterwards we are really happy about the day - the Easter club - the children - and how God was leading us despite illness.

During the two days of outreach our two teams reaches out to 61 children. Our sister team in Jutland (another part of DK) reaches 46 children. So 107 children hear the wonderful message of Easter this way!

Kulturchokkets ABC - The ABC on how to handle culture shock

Nu er det ved at være et halvt år siden, jeg rykkede teltpælene op og flyttede til Schweiz. Og hvad har jeg så lært af det? Indtil videre. Jeg har før rejst i kortere perioder op til et halvt år, men det her med at flytte permanent til et andet land, sætter gang i nogle helt andre indre processer.

Efter et par måneder i Schweiz begyndte jeg at søge på nettet efter informationer om kulturchok, og det var i sig selv et chok. Der var nemlig ikke særlig meget. Stort set alle de artikler, jeg fandt handlede om, hvordan man havde det og hvad man kunne få ud af at gå igennem et kulturchok. Jeg kunne nikke bekræftende til, hvordan man har det, og det glædede mig, at stort set alle, der har prøvet det, ender med at sige, at det var en virkelig stor personlighedsudvikling. Men det spørgsmål, jeg sad tilbage med var: Men hvordan kommer jeg igennem det? Er der nogle gode råd eller strategier, der kan hjælpe mig? Men her hørte man kun et hult ekko.

En anden ting, der virkelig har chokeret mig i denne proces har været de utrolig dårlige råd, jeg har fået fra folk. Undskyld jeg er ærlig – men jeg er altså dansker... Tre gange forsøgte jeg at tale med nogle missionærer, der havde været længe i mission i andre lande og som jeg tilfældigvis rendte ind i. Alle tre gange fik jeg nærmest en opsang om bare at elske alle disse ”giraffer” omkring mig og acceptere dem, som de var. Ja, det var også hvad jeg ønskede at gøre, men hvordan? Hvorfor var de så forskrækkede over, at jeg viste dem lidt tillid og ærlighed om, hvordan jeg havde det? Havde de virkelig selv glemt alle de følelser, som kogte rundt i dem, da de selv første gang kom til et nyt land? Eller ville de bare ikke indrømme det? Hvor var det befriende, da jeg kom hjem til jul og talte med Lea, der selv har rejst ud som missionær, og hun bare sagde: ”Ja, sådan er det! Sådan føles det. Lige præcis!”

Så inden, jeg selv glemmer al min hårdt tillærte ”visdom”, vil jeg skynde mig at skrive den ned.

For det første hang en sætning fast, som jeg læste om kulturchok, og det var, at det første år, efter man har forladt sit hjemland, er man i en choktilstand. Det synes jeg er godt at vide. Det er OK, at jeg er i chok, at jeg ikke fatter, hvad der foregår omkring mig, at jeg ikke forstår andre kulturers reaktionsmønstre og normer. At mine egne grundværdier gang på gang bliver udfordret og at det er svært. (Jeg har jo så haft den ekstra udfordring, at jeg ikke bare skal forholde mig til Schweiz (for det er egentlig ikke så svært) men til en masse nationaliteter, fordi jeg jo er en del af et multikulturelt team hvor min kultur er en minoritet.)

For det andet er det OK, at jeg ikke har haft det samme overskud. Det er i orden, at jeg ikke med det samme har fået etableret et netværk eller fundet en ny kirke at komme i (selv om det ikke altid virker helt accepteret, når jeg fortæller det til folk i Danmark). Det er i orden, at jeg smækker benene op og ser en DVD næsten hver aften efter arbejdstid, fordi det var det eneste, jeg havde overskud til, de første måneder. Eller tog karbad hver anden aften hele vinteren (bare rolig – Schweiz har ikke vandmangel og vi få vand fra vores egen kilde.)

For det tredje er det vigtigt at have noget at grine af. Der var ærlig talt ikke meget at grine af de første måneder i Schweiz, så jeg begyndte at se et par afsnit af Friends næsten hver aften. Her var der noget bekendt og sjovt. Jeg fik vist set de fleste sæsoner i løbet af et par måneder.

For det fjerde, så må man forkæle sig selv, for det er der nærmest ingen andre, der gør. Der er jo ingen, der elsker en eller ved, hvad der glæder en.

For det femte, så må man have en, der forstår en. Hvis man er gift eller har en ven eller landsmand i nærheden, så har man allerede et vældigt forspring, men hvis man ikke har det, så kan man måske ringe til nogen eller Skype. Men efter et stykke tid, så går det op for en, at hovedparten af ens gamle omgangskreds simpelthen ikke forstår det, man prøver at fortælle dem, og det har nærmest været det allersværeste. Hvis du er ven til en, der gennemgår et kulturchok, så bare lyt eller stil gode spørgsmål! Lad være med at komme med alle de gode råd. De dur ikke! Jeg er ked af at sige det, men sådan er det.
Heldigvis er der jo nogle, som enten forstår en eller lader som om de forstår en. Tak for det!
I denne proces er Gud for mig blevet en endnu vigtigere del af mit liv. Hver eneste dag kan jeg fortælle ham, hvad der går mig på og hvad jeg ikke forstår. Han fordømmer mig ikke. Og hvis han belærer mig, så gør han det med humor og stor visdom. Hurra for Gud.

Jeg har også opdaget, at mine internationale venner, som også har prøvet at flytte land, er blevet af større betydning. Det kan godt være, at de ikke er en del af min hverdag, men det er en glæde, når de kommer forbi vores hovedkvarter, hvilket heldigvis sker jævnligt.

For det syvende så har det været utrolig vigtig for mig at min hjemlige base var i orden. Hvor var det dejligt, at min bror Jacob tog med mig, da jeg flyttede og hjalp mig med at indrette mit lille værelse hurtigt og omhyggeligt. Næsten alle, der kommer ind på mit værelse siger: ”Har du været i IKEA?” Jeg har kun få IKEA ting, men mit værelse er nordisk. Det er mig. Det er de 16 kvadratmetre i hele verden, hvor jeg kan lukke døren og være helt mig selv.

En ottende ting, som jeg står midt i lige nu og ikke har fundet svar på, er, hvordan jeg kan være mig selv, hvis jeg ved at være mig selv, træder andre folk over tæerne. Vi danskere er ligefremme, ærlige, kyniske, fremskridtsfokuserede og analyserende. Jeg føler, at jeg konstant er på vagt, så jeg ikke fornærmer folk omkring mig eller mister deres respekt men med det resultat, at jeg ofte føler mig falsk. Jeg håber, at jeg de næste måneder kan finde en måde at vise respekt for de andre omgangsformer og stadig være mig selv.

Her til slut vil jeg sige, at det hele lyder måske lidt nedtrykkende. Det er det ikke. Det er ren og skær realisme. Jeg er på vej igennem kulturchokket, og jeg glæder mig over de udfordringer, det har givet mig og sikkert også vil give mig fortsat. Jeg føler, at jeg allerede har lært så meget, som jeg ikke ville være foruden, og jeg har stor appetit på at lære mere.


Now it is almost half a year since I left Denmark and moved to Switzerland. And what have I learned so far? I have been travelling before for shorter or longer periods of time but to actually make a permanent move to another country is something completely different.

A few months after my move I began to search the internet for information about culture shock and that was a shock in itself. There wasn’t very much. Almost any article I found told me how I would feel and what I had the potential to learn. I agreed with how I was supposed to feel and it was a joy to know that almost everyone who had gone through a culture shock seemed to be happy about what it had brought them. But the question, I was left with was: How do I get through it? Are there any good advice or strategies that could help me? But all I heard was an empty echo.

Something else that has really shocked me has been the extremely bad advice people have given me. Sorry I am honest – can’t help it – I am Danish J Three times I tried to talk to people who had been abroad in mission for many, many years and all three times I was told off for feeling the way I felt. They all told me to love the “strangers” around me and accept them as they were. Yes, this was exactly what I wanted to do but how? Why were these older people so afraid of a bit of honesty? Had they really all forgotten how they felt themselves moving abroad or did they not want to admit it? I was very puzzled. What a relief it was to get home at Christmas and meet with an old friend, Lea, who has been abroad as a missionary too and she just answered me,”Yes, that is how it is. That is how you feel. Spot on!”

So before I also forget all my new “learned-it-the-hard-way wisdom” I will hurry and write it down.

First of all – one sentence that I read about culture shock seemed to stay with me and encourage me. And that was that the first year after leaving we are in shock. That is good to know. It is OK to feel what I am feeling, it is OK that I have no idea what is going on around me and that I don’t understand the reactions and values from the other nationalities. It is OK that my own core values are challenged and that this is hard! (On top of this I have had the extra challenge of not only dealing with one culture but plenty since I am part of a multi cultural team. And my culture is a minority in this team.)

Second of all it is OK that I don’t have the same strength at hand. It is OK that I have not got new friends so far and haven’t found a church (even if it doesn’t always seem OK when I tell this to people back home in Denmark) It is OK to put the legs up on the coffee table and watch a DVD almost every night the first months after work was finished because that was all I could handle. Or that I took a bath every second night during the whole winter.

Thirdly it is important to have something to laugh about. Honestly, there wasn’t much to laugh about the first months so I got into the habit of watching a few episodes of Friends almost every night. I think I got through most of the seasons in a couple of months.

Fourthly, you have to spoil yourself since no one else knows you well enough to do that.

Fifthly, you need someone who understands you. If you are married or have a friend with you or a fellow countryman around, then you already have a lot of advantages that I didn’t have. But I still had the phone around and Skype. However, after some time I realised that some of my old friends couldn’t really understand what I was going through and that was actually the hardest of it all. If you are a friend of someone who is going through a culture shock then just listen and ask good questions. Don’t give all those advice – they are useless. Sorry to tell you but that’s how it is. Fortunately some people kept on understanding me or pretended to understand me. Thanks a lot! That has made a world of a difference to me!
In this process God has become increasingly important to me. Every day I can come to him and tell him how I feel and what I don’t understand. He doesn’t tell me off and if he corrects me, he does it with such gentleness and humour. Hi is awesome!

I have also discovered the importance of my international colleagues who has also experienced to move country. Even if they are not a part of my everyday life then it is a big privilege when they visit our headquarter.

Seventhly, it has also been extremely important for me that my home was a home. I am so grateful that my brother Jacob went with me when I moved and helped me to fix everything in my room and in our kitchen. Almost everyone who visits my room says, “So you have been to IKEA?” Actually I only have very few things from IKEA but my style is Scandinavian. It’s me! These are the 16 square meters in the whole world where I can close the door and be ME 100 % unlimited.

One last thing that I still don’t know how to handle is the fact I don’t know how to be me without stepping on other peoples cultures. Danes are very direct, honest, cynical, non-traditional and analytic. I feel that I am constantly alert trying not to insult anyone (because I know I would if I would just be me) but the result is that from time to time a feel a bit fake (deceitful seem too strong a word to use). I hope that within the next months I can find a way where I can be myself and still show respect for other cultures.

Finally I want to say that this might sound a bit depressing but it is not. I have just tried to describe with honesty how it is and what I have learned. And I am super exited about the challenges this culture shock has given me and will give me. I feel I have already learned so much and developed myself so much that I am eager to learn more.

TTC eller halsbetændelse – TTC or a sore throat

Lige nu løber vores Teens To Children påskefester af stablen. Men jeg er hjemme med en grim halsbetændelse. Det lykkedes mig at deltage den første dag, og det var godt, for så fik jeg lært et par teenagere at holde bibeltekst. Men derefter måtte jeg kast håndklædet i ringen og tage hjem med høj feber. Øv øv øv.
Mandag og tirsdag tager de ud og holder påskefester for kirkefremmede børn og jeg håber stadig,a t jeg kan nå at være lidt med tirsdag, men nu må vi se, hvad lægen siger senere i dag.

At the moment we have our teen training and Easter club outreach but here I am home with an extremely sore throat. I managed to be there the first day which was good so I could teach some of teens how to have a Bible lesson but then I had to give up and go home.
Monday and Tuesday they hold Easter clubs and I still hope to go and join them tomorrow. Let’s see what the doctor says later today.

De gode gamle børneklubbørn - The old GNC children

Her i torsdags mødtes jeg med nogle af mine gamle børneklubbørn. Det var helt fantastisk og helt sikkert et af dette besøgs højdepunkter. Jeg havde fået sponsoreret bibler til dem, der kom, og det var fantastisk at se deres glæde. En pige sagde, at hun ville begynde på Lukasevangeliet, med det samme hun kom hjem. En anden pige skrev senere på aftenen en SMS og fortalte, at hun nu havde læst fem kapitler i Matthæusevangeliet.
Det var godt at høre, at de fleste af pigerne tager på sommerlejr igen I år og jeg lovede, at jeg ville sende dem en pakke fra Schweiz, mens de var på lejr.

Last Thursday I met with some of my old Good News Club children. It was fantastic and really one of the highlights of this visit. I had got someone to sponsor Bibles to them and it was fantastic to see there joy. One girl said, that she would begin with the Gospel of Luke as soon as she came home. Another girl send me an SMS later that night and said that she had now read five chapters of Matthew.
It was good to hear that most of the girls will go to camp this summer and I promised to send them a parcel from Switzerland to enjoy at camp.

Danmark i marts - Denmark in March

X-factor med familien

Hjemme hos Clara og Jens
Løbeture om søerne
Masser af dejlige mennesker i Vineyard
Kareoke med Kathrine og Miriam
Ansigtsbehandling hos Eileen
Hygge hos Henry
Kurbad med Kathrine
Nærvær i netværksgruppen
Pjatteri og alvor med Anna
Aftensnak med farmand
Storesøsterdag med Miriam og Marcus
Helt alene på Kontoret
Besøg hos Kisser og John
Afsted til Jylland og EBU-kursus
Snakke tekst og tolkning med Maj til vi falder i søvn
Mere EBU og hjem med toget igen

Og så er der kun gået én uge. Der er to igen. Dejligt at være tilbage!

Watching the Friday television show witht family
Visiting Clara and Jens
Running around the lakes of Copenhagen
Lots of lovely people in church
Kareoke with Kathrine and Miriam
A facial at Eileen's
Chatting with Henry
Visiting the spa with Kathrine
Fellowship in the cell group
Fun and seriousness with Anna
Late night talking with Daddy
Big sister day with Miriam and Marcus
All alone at the Office
Visisting Kirsten and John
Off to Jutland and a TCE course
Talking hermeneutics with Maj until we fall asleep
More TCE and back again with the train

and all this in just one week. I have two more left. It is good to back in town!