back to school...

today was my first day of school all over again. my mom always took a picture of my sister and i on our first day, so here it is - aren't i cute? i finally started german classes. whahoo! and now i know, "hallo, mein name ist taryn glidewell. ich komme aus den usa, und ich wohne in starnberg. ich bin neun und zwanzig jahre alt." or somethin like that... the teacher even said i was, and i quote, "advanced". yes. so, i am well on my way to vocalisin' with the locals. it's crazy how international it is here, there are 2 girls from kenya, 1 from poland, 1 from the ukraine, and 1 from bolivia in my class. i can't underestimate how blessed i am to have english as my first language, german is so similar in structure and most people speak it (english) over here.
i think i will have to do quite a bit of studying on my own however as this is only a short summer class and then next semester i will not have time to take another. perhaps i will in the spring - hopefully. it's slow going and i don't want to lose what i (will) have already learned. the best part of all is that it started completely pouring down rain afterwards and i had to ride my bike home in the lightning storm. i looked like a drowned rat.

Psalm 23

God, my shepherd!
I don't need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word, you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.
Even when the way goes through
Death Valley
I'm not afraid
when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd's crook
makes me feel secure.
You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.
Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I'm back home in the house of God
for the rest of my life.

taryn in action

this is what i do - a brief glimpse into mein welt here. this weekend i am helping out with the high musical doing hair and makeup. scary thought, i know. but it is so fun to have kids see you and yell out your name in exitement and fight over who gets to have me do their hair. but that is not the point, i am here to yell out their name and cheer them on. i want them to know they are supported and someone can't wait to talk with them and see them. at young life, we think kids are great. i spend my time trying to get into their world and walk through life with them. what a joy!

"soccer is our life"

need i say more? this is a store window all soccered out. a turf living room complete with tv screen so all good germans can catch up on the latest scores.
along with the influx of new foreigners here in munich, i have also noticed even more soccer paraphanelia: soccer toilet paper, soccer diamond jewelry, soccer chapstick, soccer soap, soccer shaving kits, aaaaahhhhhh!
i am hoping we can take some of the high schoolers down to the old olympic arena where they have a gigantor screen set up to watch the game friday.
am i nuts?!

dogs dogs dogs!

can i get a health inspector over here? completely normal that a massive saint bernard is helping out in the kitchen, right? i tell ya, these people LOVE their dogs. it's obsessive. you can take them a-n-y-w-h-e-r-e, for real. i will say that they are a lot better behaved than our american wild willy-nilly pups. so do not be surprised when you come here that there just might be a dog under your feet inside the restaurant.

church retreat in mittersil, austria

after it snowed on us on the drive there and i almost packed my bags and went home, the weekend was so refreshing and inviting. our pastor does a great job creating community when the congregation is so transient and in flux. we had a speaker from the states remind us of the bigger picture of god's grace and power (and he reminded me of my uncle who is a pastor and his wife, so i lived vicariously for a minute). it is so good to get to know these people i see every week at church so it feels like home and i think i am officially no longer a visitor. yes. every night we hung out in the "cellar" and talked and prayed into the wee hours of the night over a beer. not to mention the castle we stayed in has a crazy history of witch hunts in the 1500's and nazi experiments in the 1940's to name a couple. it is so very good to be in the company of others who are also aliens in this world with a shared goal in life. not that we are all the same, no sir. that's what makes it even more flavorful - this community is from the whole world, accents are flying, laughter is bubbling, and hearts are uniting. praise the lord.

German 101: Theft

luckily, i have no horrible story of theft to share with you, in fact, quite the opposite - it almost doesn't exist here. for real. these are people of their word and germany, especially munich, doesn't have a theft problem. case in point: 1 - small kids take the train to school or the city all by themselves 2 - when you leave something behind, germans will simply hang it up so that when you are looking for it, it's right there. i have seen jackets hanging on these lion's hands, a bike lock on a street sign, this shoe, and more 3 - you don't have the newspaper stands where you put the money in and the door unlocks, it's always open and just put your money in the slot on a trust basis 4 - when my boss' car was stolen the german insurance company didn't even have papers for that, so they had to fill out an accident report. in the 20 something years their agent worked there, she had never heard of a stolen car (by the way it happened in prague)!!!
crazy, huh?

world cup fever

no, i don't have it. sorry. but the germans do. the other night myself and my fellow passenger were assaulted by about 12 german inebriated teenagers running around the train chanting "auf die knee" and proceeding to hang like monkeys from the train handles and yell through their bullhorn. there is still much construction yet to be finished before millions of people crowd in here, but that isn't stopping all of the advertising: we have soccer grills, soccer shower heads, soccer sausages - you've gotta see these!, bedspreads, couches, placemats, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. i will try to post some pics of these amusements.
the first game in munich is june 9, germany v. costa rica. go deutschland!
by the way, did anyone notice that budweiser was the official beer of the world cup? is anyone else confused by this?

Romania service project

ever seen the movie children of the corn? that is how to best understand how many kids were running around at all hours of the day, doing whatever they dang well please in romania. crazy, man. no adults would tell them they should stop harrassing the girls, quit asking for money or food, clawing at us for any sort of attention they could get. this country has been wrecked by communism like no other i have seen. these people are poor with no hope of that ever changing. if something is broke, it stays broken, if a lightbulb goes out, they just plain don't have one, if you litter, it doesn't get picked up. i don't think we can comprehend this world that many romanians live in every day. they believe the only way to get ahead in life is to steal, cheat, and lie even when it comes to family members. doctors lie to pregnant mothers telling them that their baby will die unless they perform a certain surgery just to get more money. there is blood on the hospital walls, kids pee and spit on their school hallways, you have to carry toilet paper with you because if you leave it, it will be stolen - toilet paper! that's why dana and brandi bates moved there 7 years ago with Young Life to try to begin rebuilding hope and trust in the local community of Lupeni. it has taken years for the people there to even begin to trust them, in fact many businesses there have cheated and stolen from the bates. that is why we come - to help wherever we can and build trust. this year we built a ditch, taught english classes, put together playgrounds, and loved on kids. we were on the news, the mayor and many residents were very grateful, and young life romania shared Christ in service and deed.

May Day a la Germany

perhaps May Day is a German holiday that we just decided to absorb into the American goo, but here they do it up right. i remember as a kid making paper flower baskets and hanging them on doors, then ringing the bell and running. so simple, so cute. well take that times 500 and then you will get german "maidult". a good way to picture it is oktoberfest smaller scale meets the sound of music. tents, beer, lederhosen, dancing round the maypole, what have you... there was no more room for us in the tent, so we just went to a nearby restaurant and watched the young lederhosen clad men (with their adidas shoes) chase the dirndled ladies (plus purple hair). a little generational clash perhaps for our amusement. i am loving learning about this place!

my sweet ride

so here she is, i went from a white caddy with tinted windows care of ebay in kansas city to a bmw in munich! who am i? mind you, it is a bit different here in the land of bmw's, they are a dime a dozen - the taxi's are beemers! i bought her from a guy at our church moving back to the states in great condition and at an amazing price. the lord provides is again my motto. i even have young life plates. i shamelessly advertise.

the evolution of an ikea kitchen

at ikea they have every kitchen version with all moveable counters, hinges, shelves, doors, knobs... overwhelming, exausting, and let's face it - beautiful!

my bare-bones kitchen with a donated big fridge!

the kitchen has arrived in boxes for me to put together - who do they think i am?

actually, not to shabby...

time for the reinforcements

TAAADAAA! ain't she a beaut?

call me for free online!

you can call me for free anytime anywhere... ish. you can download skype to your computer and we can talk. totally free! remember though, that i am 7 hours ahead of central time...
go to the "call me" green bubble on the right side of the blog and click on it.

Fresh milk anyone?

well, i am turning out to be quite the bavarian (much to the dismay of my berliner friends)! the farm down the road has fresh cow milk where you just bring your bottles and fill them up from the container dealy and leave your 50 cent in the change jar... you have to be sure to drink it fast though as it has no preservatives. so we went ahead and embraced the perfect moment to make brownies and enjoy our fresh cold milk, coffee with milk, and even hot chocolate made with milk. i am dairied out!

Germany 101: Rolladens

eh? germans don't play when it comes to sleeping. they put the house on virtual "lock-down". most houses have these built-in outdoor blinds for lack of a better term. when these bad boys are closed, your room is now batcave-esque. no light is getting in. when you wake up, it could very well be next tuesday as you have no clue what time it really is and you just have to try to make out your clock (assuming it is a light-up one, which mine is not) to figure out whether it's time to join the rest of the world and it's goings on, or roll back over for another hour or three. i have to crack them a little or i would NEVER get up. i tell you, these people have their priorities straight...

Germany 101: Recycling

this is the part of the blog where i will share with you all as i learn the joys of recycling as a lifestyle. it is not an option and there are slightly more rules than when i lived in brookside and you simply threw all plastic, paper, and aluminum into a bin. no sir, there are specific days when you dispose of your plastic, other days for paper, another for "garbage" and the fun part is that they aren't the same from week to week or month to month. there are so many dang holidays around here so that messes up the whole schedule - one week it's on friday, then the next monday... who knows. it's all some big conspiracy filled with unspoken rules and loopholes so that when confronted by a four-holed trash container on the street, and i can't even read the words of what to put where, i just wait until i can safely assume no one is looking, and cram my bread wrapper into whatever hole is closest to me. the fine art of recycling is overwhelming and even with all of my visits here, i am still learning. some of your recycling is picked up, the glass you take yourself, beer bottles and plastic bottles you take back to the store where you purchased it for a refund, the food waste is separated into liquidy flushables and solid biodegradables (which stink up the kitchen) as they have no disposals... yes, this is normal and there is a very intricate system and i am silly for not knowing what goes where. if any of you happen to have any other tips on recycling here, please share them with me as i discover how to make the most of the limited resources and care for the environment. germans are very conscientious of this and i rather enjoy it, however dumbfounding it is to me currently...

Wilkommen aus Deutschland!

Hallo! i have now been here one week and two days - and it has snowed every one of those... but that's ok, i am adapting and becoming more and more german everyday. strolling around the frozen lake, enjoying the midday wine with lunch (outdoors), and opening wide the windows for the fresh air are a way of life here. and quite refreshing to be honest. i even have an apartment waiting for me in april, so in the meantime i am collecting furniture donations from generous people in the church and then, one glorious day i will head off to the one and only IKEA for all the rest of my stuff - including a kitchen! yes, you read correctly, i have to buy the whole deal: cabinets, sink, oven, stove, fridge, everything. there are hookups all ready. the germans just take it all with them when they move. homes do not even include closets, you have to purchase the wardrobe, or "shrank". wednesday is magic day, when i will be hopefully obtaining the all-important visa. my key to germany and what basically makes life here possible. i am especially enjoying the slower simpler pace before ministry comes in full force. i look forward to all that germany has in store for me.
"... if you run for God - you won't regret it" Psalm 2:11

March 1 - destination: Munich

we have a date! i am boarding the plane on the afternoon of wednesday march 1st. i will arrive in munich on the morning of the 2nd. my friendly staff will pick myself and the other intern, micheal, up about the same time. what a blessing to start this new position with someone else. it's rare that international interns start at the same time, as we are all fundraising and you never know when all of the funds will be in. so this is great news for both of us. i will be staying at my boss's apartment until i find my own apartment. i do have a car that has been donated awaiting my arrival there in munich - praise the lord. in the last two weeks i am packing and shipping a lot of my stuff, meeting with a few churches still, getting all of the paperwork finished off, and saying my goodbyes. thank you for doing this with me. the lord has gone before me and is preparing a place for me. i am a flurry of emotions, but i know this is so right. next time i write, i'll be in germania - the fulfillment of years of preparation. god is good, my friends.

80% and growing!

the latest update on the finances is that i have raised 80% of my first year's budget. i still need $1000 a month before i can leave. this is great, my friends. i have still been traveling around, talking to churches and missions boards hoping to get the last of it raised in the next couple weeks. it has been my pleasure to get to meet so many folks along the way who breathe new life and encouragement into me and this ministry. and to see how God has orchestrated every nuance of my life to get me to where i am now and how the whole big picture fits together.
i want you to know by giving, we are giving back to god his resources and he is using them to give kids hope and value. thank you immensely for this. i know that there are so many other wonderful organizations asking for help and there are many demands on you all. this is such a life-changing investment, that will not return void. you are a part of speaking love and truth into kids who have been hurt and overlooked. i couldn't want anything more. blessings.

thee committee

the committee. wow. what an amazing crew of supporters and servers. these are my people. they have been the backbone to this whole operation and will continue to do so while i am away in germania. since i have no one church that is backing me, i have a committee of committed friends and peers to send me off and help me in this process. if you think my brochures are super rad or that i have raised the funds all by myself or i know how to figure out all of the finances or just coasted through this, it is a great facade. it's all them. they have walked with me in this whole fundraising extravaganza and done everything they could to make this possible. they believe in this mission and these kids and that we are changing lives and giving hope to kids. i am honored to have them beside me and praying over me. with you all and them, together we are a mighty force for god's great kingdom. i am not alone and He goes before me.