I've thought of two ways of explaining my thoughts on the language lessons. First, I feel like Hannibal Lector has cut open my head. But in a strange twist, he's been trying to cram information into my head instead of choosing the best bits for his dinner plate. The problem is, there just isn't room. Or the information keeps popping out.
The other analogy is a pond. My mind is like a pond and the information is a rock skipped across the surface. It feels like it takes 15 or 20 times for the information to finally stop and sink in. But I don't want to keep complaining about it. So I'll just leave it there. Yeah, it's tough. That's not going to change. Time to buckle down and just study.
Anyways, this past week has been mostly normal. I found out that I will have to do some interesting things for my visa requirements. Since I got here in July, I've been here on a tourist's visa. That is good for a maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period. So in just under 30 days, I'd have to leave a not come back for another 90. The good part is that there is another option. I can be here on a religious visa. That means that since I'm interning with a church here, I can stay for a lot longer. The catch is that I need to leave the country to get it endorsed/completed. So I'm going to Poland. I don't yet know all the details. I'll let you know when I know more.
Now on to other things. Saturday night I went for a walk to get some night photos of Kiev. I didn't get a lot. But Sasha Onishchenko pointed out that I have four more months. Plenty of time. Three other people tagged along. I announced it on the chat for Walking English.
Sunday was rainy and cold here. That meant a relaxing afternoon before the evening's activities. Tonight was planned as the reunion party for Liberty Camp. We played games, saw photos and videos from camp. We also ate (like at any good event). But it was also the night for announcing the new Bible study.
Starting this Thursday, I will be leading a Bible study for the students who were at the camp. I'll give more details after the first meeting. Basically, it's the last piece of the puzzle for my ministry here. I'll be using a study guide on Ecclesiastes from Intervarsity Press. I've heard several people voice interest but I'm not sure how many there will be. Hopefully it's a good number but not a huge crowd.
The other analogy is a pond. My mind is like a pond and the information is a rock skipped across the surface. It feels like it takes 15 or 20 times for the information to finally stop and sink in. But I don't want to keep complaining about it. So I'll just leave it there. Yeah, it's tough. That's not going to change. Time to buckle down and just study.
Anyways, this past week has been mostly normal. I found out that I will have to do some interesting things for my visa requirements. Since I got here in July, I've been here on a tourist's visa. That is good for a maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period. So in just under 30 days, I'd have to leave a not come back for another 90. The good part is that there is another option. I can be here on a religious visa. That means that since I'm interning with a church here, I can stay for a lot longer. The catch is that I need to leave the country to get it endorsed/completed. So I'm going to Poland. I don't yet know all the details. I'll let you know when I know more.
Now on to other things. Saturday night I went for a walk to get some night photos of Kiev. I didn't get a lot. But Sasha Onishchenko pointed out that I have four more months. Plenty of time. Three other people tagged along. I announced it on the chat for Walking English.
Sunday was rainy and cold here. That meant a relaxing afternoon before the evening's activities. Tonight was planned as the reunion party for Liberty Camp. We played games, saw photos and videos from camp. We also ate (like at any good event). But it was also the night for announcing the new Bible study.
Starting this Thursday, I will be leading a Bible study for the students who were at the camp. I'll give more details after the first meeting. Basically, it's the last piece of the puzzle for my ministry here. I'll be using a study guide on Ecclesiastes from Intervarsity Press. I've heard several people voice interest but I'm not sure how many there will be. Hopefully it's a good number but not a huge crowd.
So for concluding, enjoy some photos from Saturday and the reunion party.
Thanks for the photos! Another game - everyone has paper on their foreheads?! Tell them I said hello. We'll be praying for your Bible study. Mom
ReplyDeleteCool photos! The one of the church illuminated in the distance is neat.
ReplyDeleteEcclesiastes is a tough one! I'll be praying that it goes well.
Sounds like you're building some great relationships. Do you typically have the same people at walking English?
Yep, that's a new game for them. I had seen it in a movie but never before for real. It's kind of like 20 questions. You have the name of a famous person written on a piece of paper and it gets stuck to your forehead. The goal is to guess your name before anyone else. You can ask only yes/no questions and if you get a no answer, the next person gets to take their turn.
ReplyDeleteWe have a core group of people that come to Walking English. Not all of them will come at the same time. Prior commitments and such. This time wasn't an official meeting. Just a time for me to get out of the apartment. I thought it would be good to have some people go along. It turned out to be fun. One of the people was new. She and Yuri went to the same university for a little while.