god bless krispy kreme!

so we found krispy kreme here in london... we all made ourselves sick on the gooey glazed deliciousness. look at our sugar induced delerium taking hold! glorious... we couldn't hide the fact that we were loud american dorks very long in the face of these delectible treats.

intern training in london nov. 27-dec. 3

these are some of the other interns from around europe. we get together four times a year to learn more about how to do young life and learn from each other. these are blessed times to walk alongside others who know what it is like to do ministry in another culture with various obstacles and amazing people. they are really pioneering young life in new territories. i am so humbled to be a part of this team of folks. every time i walk away from our training times more in love with jesus and young life. wow! beautiful!

we were able to walk around downtown london on the last night after training. it was all decorated for christmas and so cute. here is the london bridge for your viewing pleasure.

thanksgiving goodies

i cooked my first official thanksgiving meal (or parts thereof). my friend, karen, and i cooked for about 5 or 6 hours making a turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, mac & cheese, and more. then we took them over to my boss' house for a young life thanksgiving meal with volunteers, staff, and family.
what a beautiful smell. and what a blessing to have family here to be a part of the body of christ.

advent poem

no one can celebrate

a genuine christmas

with being truly poor.

the self-sufficient, the proud,

those who, because they have

everything, look down on others,

those who have no need

even of God - for them there

will be no christmas.

only the poor, the hungry,

those who need someone

to come on their behalf,

will have that someone.

that someone is God.

Emmanuel. God-with-us.

without poverty of spirit

there can be no abundance of God.

-oscar romero

christmas is here!

i am still recovering from the fact that it snowed in kc before we got anything here, but nonetheless, christmas is in full germanic swing here. christkindkmarkts, gluewein (mulled spiced hot wine), roasted chestnuts, and carolers are abundant. the other day in the coffeshop, i was surprised to realize that the reason i was so elated was the american christmas music on the radio. aparantly, we americans kicked out some seriously good christmas music so they didn't feel the need to make their own. i am not sure how to feel about that. on one hand, maybe german traditional christmas music would be nice and unique, on the other there is nothing like bing crosby to make you feel all warm and cozy and nostalgic inside.
here they celebrate christmas on the 24th with a dinner, presents, and maybe even a church service. the houses are all decorated, similar to the states, but less clark griswold-esque... their trees are much more natural and some even put real candles on their trees (just on christmas day when they are all home)! i have heard of some pickle game where a pickle is hidden in the tree and whoever finds it gets a special gift?... don't really know about that one... my personal fav is the random santas. i guess santa can't get down the non-existent chimneys, so he climbs into windows. a little scary/amusing. see for yourself:

do i look any older?

so, i'm 30. so what? i had a grand weekend celebrating my third decade of life with my new munich friends. i can't wait to see what happens next...

i will have to admit, though, that a few weeks ago i realized i only had a short time left to legitimately say i was twenty - something, so i used and abused that priveledge.

Prost!

Oktoberfest, what can i say??? much to my surprise, it was quite fun. i have always been a sucker for state fairs and amusement parks. well, this place has it all, livestock shows right alongside 100,000 seater beer tents and literally 100's of a-ma-zing, overpriced rides. i am sure these would not be legal in the states. and it's bizarre to me that wasted people think it's still a good idea to put themselves on these spinny rides when they can't even stand up... nonetheless, it wasn't too crazy busy and i enjoyed my three visits to the world's largest beer fest.
this particular evening, (sorry the picture won't work) my mom and stepdad went with me. we were outside at the hofbrauhaus tent for hours, talking with complete strangers and having a grand time. we sat by a couple from england and australia, next to german boys, and the guys next to me are a group of spaniards who make an annual trip here. way too many languages all over the place, much laughing and prosting!
Cheers!

God Bless Technology!

i have a Kansas City phone number you can reach me on.
913.871.4444
note: we are 7 hours ahead of kansas city time. i.e. don't call after 5pm KC time... i love you all, but not that much.. he he
i don't know how i would survive over here without technology. seriously, i can watch tv online free (as i don't get any tv here in english), cook from recipes online, do all ministry homework and get ideas online, and now talk to you all. marvelous, wonderful, glorious.
thank you to my stepdad, tommy, who made this possible...

Germany 101: Auto Art

oh, how they love bon jovi over here!

dig it!

my friend, adam's, rolling stones-mobile...


weirdos...

Germany 101: Yin and Yang

Germany has its' dichotomys. Very extreme people, they are...
Example #1 - They have a separate radiator in every room so that you don't waste any energy if you aren't in there. They turn off every light that they don't use. They even have two buttons on the toilet so that you don't use more water than you need. And then there's this thing called Oktoberfest... ever heard of it? Right... 3 straight weeks of lights, music, whirly death machines, and debauchery. Maybe it's opposite week?

Example #2 - If you get tired and want to put your feet up whilst on the public trains, think again. These seats are sacred. And the Germans aren't afraid to tell you, either. Then you have people peeing in bushes, barfing all over the place at the biergartens and littering up the whole city... hmmm....

Example #3 - They smoke like chimneys while shopping at the whole foods market. They are very conscious of preservatives and added sugars, but appear to turn a blind eye to the layers of black tar lining the walls of their lungs...

Example #4 - The Autobahn. One minute you will have absolutely no speed limit, the next you could be down to 60 km/hour, which roughly translates to 35/40 miles and hour. Plus the speed limit in town is either 30 or 50 km/hour (18 or 30 m/hr.)! It kills me! The Autobahn is great and all, but any other place is a turtle's pace...

Germany 101: Street Musicians

one of the things i most enjoy about this place is the abundance and the talent of the street musicians here. i often am walking about in the city, when i come across music that i technically should be paying big bucks for. these people are amazing. they come with pianos, accordions, violins, cellos, bass(i) - plural for bass???, and more. how they get these things on the trains i'll never know. regardless, the other day i heard a four piece string ensemble entertaining the masses all for pennies. they captivated the crowds. i think i stood there about a half an hour. wow, how magically music can change your outlook and lift your spirits. you can't stand there and not smile or move. and how intriguing to watch my stoic german friends relax and interact with the performers. music breaks down our walls and lets us escape the ho-hum of now. i love it!!!
my other favorite evening i heard the accordion playing from far away and i followed the sounds to this man playing his heart out - rockin that thing. it reverberated off the walls of the plaza. he was so vulnerable. some people danced, some smiled, some sat and closed their eyes, some laughed and mocked, but there he was giving us everything he had. beautiful. beautiful. beautiful. i dig that guy. he transformed my evening.
another day while walking through our englischer garten (bigger than central park) another accordion player sweetly played classical while couples danced under the shell-decorated rotunda. i'm in a movie...

my first traditional bavarian breakfast

the other day i had my very first traditional bavarian weisswurst fruestueck. two boiled white sausages, pretzels, and a beer. guten apetit!
i was not even hungry for another 6 hours or so!! it will be a while before i do that again.

Germany 101: Sport

the germans love the outdoors. i cannot underestimate how many sports and activities i see daily. they are out there swimming in the freezing alpine runoff first thing in the morning, running, biking, canoeing, sailing, rafting, unicycling (seriously), hangliding, hiking, windsurfing, toboganning, boating, hot air ballooning, and then the winter ones; skiing, sledding, ice skating, snowboarding, snow shoeing, etc. when my sister came, she was blown away by the incredible numbers of bikers, it is uncanny. it is so refreshing to get out and enjoy nature here. everyone is out, taking in their vitamin D and smiling. if you want a sport, we seem to have it. perhaps my favorite is surfing. that's right, here in the middle of the continent in a big city, some die hards found that perfect spot for catching waves. you can see videos ">here.
then of course they have just about every game you could imagine: tennis, golf, volleyball, soccer, american football, rugby, australian footy, ultimate frisbee, and then there is badminton... you will see just about anything i tell you. they just want to be out there.

name that produce

is time for one of my favorite games, called "name that produce". fun game to play while at the market, grocery store, or out to dinner. curious...

MIS Back to School BBQ

our school, Munich International School, had its annual Back to School BBQ last weekend. this was such a great way to meet new parents and students as well as reconnect with old students i haven't seen all summer. the international expat community is a travelin' bunch, so in the summer, families migrate elsewhere and come back just in time for school to begin. we start our weekly meetings with high school and middle school kiddos friday, sept. 8 and from then on we are in full swing with weekly meetings, monthly acvitities, sporting events, spending time with kids, weekly Bible studies, and more. I had a great summer of refocusing and remembering the greater vision. please pray for our hearts and minds and bodies, that we will overflow with God's big big love and grace. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that.
"What matters most to me is to finish what God started: the job the Master Jesus gave me of letting everyone I meet know all about this incredibly extravagent generosity of God." Acts 20:24

my bizarro site

so i have a seinfeldian bizarro blog site: www.tarynglidewell.blogpsot.com. weird-o. this is not me. i don't even know what all they say on this site, but i wonder if people have gone there accidentally and thought i wrote it... what are the odds?

"A mega-site of Bible, Christian and religious information and studies; including, audio and written KJV Bible, churches, doctrine, links, news, prayer, prophecy, sermons, spiritual warfare, statistics & tracts. Features Chronological 4 Gospels, Prayer Book, Prophecy Bible, and a photo
tour of Israel. By God's mercy, one of the largest Bible-centered sites on the web (app. 6000 pgs). If it's in the Bible, it should be on this site."

Germany 101: Holidays

funny thing about germany, it completely shuts down in august. i was on my way into the city the other day and was doing some planning. i called my chiropractor to find out he was on vacation until september. then i called my haircutter, and guess what? also on vacation or "urlaub". germans are serious about their vacations. they automatically get 6 weeks a year - 6! this doesn't even count the many holidays sprinkled generously throughout the year. once school gets out in july, these people take their families on month-long excursions anywhere but germany. that's why they're everywhere. can i repeat, 6 weeks?! many companies simply do not operate in august. when my friend, tara, ordered her funiture from IKEA they told her it would be 2 months before she would get her furniture because it was august and there was no one to deliver it. crazy.
this all makes shopping a whole different experience. all shops are closed on sundays - period. quite a few shops close early on saturday. and all shops are definitely closed on holidays. the twist here is that, seeing as how i am not german, these holidays creep up on you and you don't even know it's a holiday and you are stuck at home with nothing. shopping must be a planned event. do not expect to drop by the price chopper for your dinner that night. and don't expect to do anything last minute because all stores will be closed by 8pm for sure, if not earlier; no 24 hour anything... you have to plan ahead so that you can go to the 3 or 4 different grocery stores that will have that one thing that no other store has in order to make your master creation. or some weeks we have speciality foods at the store so you have to capitalize that week on "asian foods" or "grilling". you may not see these items for another year. no pressure...
i will have to say, however, that germans know how to vacation. they are off. they are not so concerned with having everything so accesible or that the world will stop spinning if they don't go to work. it is okay to put it aside and breathe. ahh...

these boots weren't made for walkin...

so, feet and their appropriate coverings differ depending on where you reside. if you live in hawaii your standard flipflops will suffice, in russia a good pair of boots is a smart investment, and out to a club for a few hours cute heels will do... perhaps you might assume that we walk a lot here in europe, none of this straight from automobile to building business. and i was already a shoe weakling back home. i enjoy being comfortable. i couldn't do heels for very long before i wanted to throw them across the room. here, you could easily be out all day and comfort is key, thereby rendering many of my cute shoes useless... apparantly i do not have said appropriate coverings. case in point: i went to a street fair a few weeks ago and bore a few holes into my heels from the shoes i was wearing. awesome. these weren't your usual, "oh, poor baby" blisters. literally, holes and my heels are just now healing about one month later. so i walked around with bloody heels all over munich because i wore straight through several "plasters" as the brits refer to them (better known as bandaids). here is the culprit and the proof: (keeping in mind that this does not even look bad, i am slightly upset that you aren't getting the whole picture here)



second case in point: you take your shoes off when you go to someone's house here, so i forget and love to wear my favorite all-occasion shoes which stink to high heaven - it is embarrasing people - and i have to ask the host/ess if i can wash my feet in their tub everywhere i go when i arrive at their house. it's either that or evacuate the room... maybe one day i will remember that they don't do things the way we do them in the states...

Munich is mucho expensivo!

"It's official. Munich is the most expensive German city to live in. Frankfurt is the second most expensive city to live in. According to the UBS 2006 "Prices and Earnings" Study , Munich ranks top of Germany and on position 18 globally. The study took the price of a basket of 122 goods and services European consumers would favour as a base for their index. The figures do not include rent. If rent were included, Munich would probably be on position 10 or something. According to the study, Oslo is the most expensive city to live in. "

yummy!

ok, i give up, give me the sugar. give me the preservatives. i shall not tell a lie, i like american food. is that so wrong? being as that it is the 4th of july tomorrow, some of the grocery stores here have decided to import "american foods" and yes, the quotation marks are there for a reason. anyone ever heard of blueberry juice, or hot dogs in a jar, or red relish? according to the packaging, these folks would believe that we americans would snag these up in a second. silly germans. enough with the poo poo-ing, i am thrilled to have honey mustard, ranch, marshmallows, and bagels, and in their very own "american" packaging no less... he he. it's the little things...
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY, AMERICA!