A Glimpse of Community in Potters Bar
After a busy, and somewhat stressful, week at Act 4 I started flipping through some of the information I received in Chicago at orientation. I came across a sheet of paper titled "Thoughts to consider throughout the year." One of the points that really struck me was this:
"Invest your energies in people. Don't try to perfect 'the machine.'"
My week is filled with school assemblies, designing the new website, working on the newsletter and the 2008 Holiday Club application and so many other technical things.
Those of you who know me, know that I LOVE routines, schedules and lists. Sometimes I love these planning tools so much that it captivates my life. I become trapped in them. I think we, as humans, all get trapped into our schedules and routines.
When I read this point, I started to worry a little that I wasn't focusing my energies on people but on my lists, agendas and the Act 4 "Machine."
On Fridays, I help out at a youth club which is run at St. John's Methodists Church in Potters Bar. This club is for secondary age kids, mainly middle school and high school.
I started working at this club in September and only worked it every other week. The first four months I sat behind the tuck table (candy table). I didn't communicate that much with the kids. I would walk around for a bit but then always returned to the tuck table. I don't know what stopped me from talking with the kids at the club but I just didn't seem to find my niche.
In February I said to myself "Right, Kristin you are not going to sit at the tuck table and instead you are going to hang out with some of the girls."
And that week I sat and talked to some of the girls. And after that week and the week after that I talked to more kids. Now, I hang out with the same group of kids every week at the club. I stopped going every other week and started going every week because I wanted to go and I needed to go.
I went from sitting at the tuck table and not conversing to giving out my mobile number and telling them to call me with questions throughout the week, getting hugs from them as they leave the club and more importantly, listening to them.
I do get caught in my agenda throughout the week as I spend time taking pictures of puppets, dressing up as a mermaid in front of 200 primary school kids, working on a media list and preparing Holiday Club.
But on Friday nights I'm at St. John's Youth Club listening to Joe's music on his i-Pod, hearing about Olivia's new boyfriend, talking to Emma about stupid teachers and just laughing with a great group of kids!
Adventures in March & April
I got to see one of my sorority sisters, Kate Labriola in London with two of her friends. I hadn't seen Kate for about three years and it was wonderful to reunite with her and hear her crazy laugh! We had dinner and a great evening walking around London!
I saw Les Miserables with my friend Kelly, another YAGM volunteer. We met in London and had a picnic near the London Eye before seeing the show. Les Mis was amazing and I had the music in my head for like a week after seeing it. After the show we met up with our friend Amanda (YAGM volunteer) for Mexican food… something I've missed a lot while in England!
I went over to my supervisor's house for dinner one night. His son Ruari, who is 2 years old, finally said my name and was obsessed with me the entire evening. He even wanted me to put him to bed so I had to sit with him for 30 minutes until he went to sleep. My supervisor said it was good training for any future little Kristins– that's not going to happen anytime soon though!
I hung out with my friend Anthony (YAGM volunteer) one Saturday in London. We went to Canary Warf and did some other sightseeing. On Sunday we attended St. Anne's Lutheran Church in London with our friends Kelly and Amanda (YAGMs). Having not gone to a Lutheran service for eight months I was so excited to sing the liturgy, "Crown Him with Many Crowns," and "Take O Take Me As I Am." I really felt that the Lutheran part of my soul was filled by attending the service!
My Sense of Salzburg, Austria
In March I traveled to Salzburg, Austria for a holiday with my friend Maren, another YAGM volunteer. We had a great time and here are some memories from our trip!
I saw breathtaking views from the top of the Untersberg Mountain. Maren and I took the cable car ride up to the top. I was a little nervous about this but Maren said I had to do it– and I'm so glad I did! There was so much snow up at the top and Maren and I had a fabulous time taking in the mountains!
I smelled pretzels and sausages every day as we walked through the market during lunch time! Not only did I smell them but I tasted them too!
I tasted the Salzburger Nockerl! This dessert was mentioned in my Salzburg book and I was so excited to try one. Little did I know that you could seriously spilt this sweet soufflé with about 10 people! When it came to our table Maren and I lost it because it was so big! We could barely finish half of it. The soufflé is whipped into three large peaks, signifying the three Salzburg mountains.
I touched hand painted eggs. One of the stores in Salzburg had at least 2,000 different kinds of hand painted eggs. They were all beautiful and I wanted to buy them all while Maren felt tempted to smash them!
I heard the Sound of Music being played as we drove through the hills on our Sound of Music tour! We did the tour on our first day in Salzburg and I'm so glad we did. It was absolutely amazing and we got to see a lot of the sites from the movie. My favorite part was seeing the gazebo where Leisel sings "I Am Sixteen Going on Seventeen." We returned to this site during our trip and even got to go inside it (it's normally kept locked)- Maren and I were thrilled!
-- ~Kristin
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