esmaspäev, august 02, 2004
Auntie's Last Day
Four weeks ago today, we left America on our way to Estonia. It has felt a bit surreal to be finally doing things which we had planned for so long.
This is Tim's last week of full-time language classes. We will hire a tutor to study with privately, and he will continue this class with a web-based course in the fall, but he won't be getting up every morning and going to school as he has been doing. And we don't get up every morning and go to an office, because we have no office to go to!
So what do we do when we get up every morning? As with every move, even just moving to another state within America, there has been a lot of little practical things. Finding the grocery stores. Opening a bank account. But everything takes us longer because we do it with dictionary in hand and asking, "Do you speak English?" Most young people here do, and many in the service sector do.
We had to have someone from Elion (the phone company) come to our apartment to get our ADSL up and running. We had the computer, had the modem, the ADSL was turned on from their office, but it just wasn't working. This man spent a long time at our place trying to figure out the problem, and then gave us his modem and took our modem with him because it had to be configured just so (I have no idea what all this means, but this is what I was told!). Anyway, this man who was so helpful to us was actually apologetic because he didn't speak better English! This is often the case. And of course we are embarrassed and apologize for our lack of Estonian language skills.
I am SO aware that what we're going through and most of the thoughts we have are not at all unique. Yesterday, sitting in church, I started thinking about Jesus being willing to cross cultures and learn to speak human language. Imagine what it must have been like to leave heaven and come here! No wonder He spent so much time in prayer -- He must have been quite homesick!
I was praying that God would show us OUR people (with echoes of William Booth taking Bramwell to a saloon and saying, "These are our people."). I remember being in Training and feeling like a shepherd without sheep. And now we have this same feeling again. But we're absolutely surrounded by lost sheep; we just have to bring them into the fold!
Today is the last full day for Tädi Mary-Kay to be here with us. It has been so good for the kids to have her here spoiling them and showing her excitement for Tartu. It is hard to believe that we actually live in the same time zone she does! (She is the director of an international school in Moldova.) Today she is taking the kids to what we've been calling "Splashtown Estonia" -- http://www.aurakeskus.ee/en.html
Evelyn
This is Tim's last week of full-time language classes. We will hire a tutor to study with privately, and he will continue this class with a web-based course in the fall, but he won't be getting up every morning and going to school as he has been doing. And we don't get up every morning and go to an office, because we have no office to go to!
So what do we do when we get up every morning? As with every move, even just moving to another state within America, there has been a lot of little practical things. Finding the grocery stores. Opening a bank account. But everything takes us longer because we do it with dictionary in hand and asking, "Do you speak English?" Most young people here do, and many in the service sector do.
We had to have someone from Elion (the phone company) come to our apartment to get our ADSL up and running. We had the computer, had the modem, the ADSL was turned on from their office, but it just wasn't working. This man spent a long time at our place trying to figure out the problem, and then gave us his modem and took our modem with him because it had to be configured just so (I have no idea what all this means, but this is what I was told!). Anyway, this man who was so helpful to us was actually apologetic because he didn't speak better English! This is often the case. And of course we are embarrassed and apologize for our lack of Estonian language skills.
I am SO aware that what we're going through and most of the thoughts we have are not at all unique. Yesterday, sitting in church, I started thinking about Jesus being willing to cross cultures and learn to speak human language. Imagine what it must have been like to leave heaven and come here! No wonder He spent so much time in prayer -- He must have been quite homesick!
I was praying that God would show us OUR people (with echoes of William Booth taking Bramwell to a saloon and saying, "These are our people."). I remember being in Training and feeling like a shepherd without sheep. And now we have this same feeling again. But we're absolutely surrounded by lost sheep; we just have to bring them into the fold!
Today is the last full day for Tädi Mary-Kay to be here with us. It has been so good for the kids to have her here spoiling them and showing her excitement for Tartu. It is hard to believe that we actually live in the same time zone she does! (She is the director of an international school in Moldova.) Today she is taking the kids to what we've been calling "Splashtown Estonia" -- http://www.aurakeskus.ee/en.html
Evelyn
