9/26/11

The Monday Deluge

(<-- Of no relevance to the rest of this post, but excused because coffee is, naturally, the first order of business on any Monday morning.)

As of yesterday, we are officially members of the Roskilde Vineyard church.  I have actually never been an official member of any church before now, although joining this one was possibly as informal as you could get - we just had to promise them our firstborn son, and Isaac didn't mind seeing as they have an outdoor playground. ... No, basically we just had to say yes, we would like to be considered a part of this church.

Tim recently attended a work-related conference designed to help foreigners adapt to the Danish culture, and was told that it would be very difficult to find friends in Denmark (... something to do with how Danes relate to strangers?).  Yet here we are, just seven weeks since moving to a foreign country, and we have already found family in a church home.  To me, this is incredible.  A Christian can literally travel across the world and still find a place of belonging with other Christians, despite having never met them before.

Also, I'm really loving just how laid-back this church family is.  They meet in the middle of the day, dress however formal or informal they choose, break mid-meeting for coffee, and translate the service for those of us who fear they will forever remain baffled by the Danish language (me).  Plus, anyone who drinks coffee is okay in my book.

Speaking of the Danish language, I am hoping to order a program to teach myself while here.  Apparently the commune also offers free Danish classes so I will be looking into that as well.  In the meantime, I've been trying to pick up some useful phrases on Google Translate, and am now wondering if I should give up altogether. This language is nothing short of baffling.  I had a much easier time trying to learn Spanish, ASL, and Tolkien's Elvish language (don't ask).  Suffice it to say, I have made no progress whatsoever.  When I come home over the holidays, please do not ask me to speak Danish.  Nothing I say will be accurate.  Tim, however, will probably be fluent so you can ask him.

And now I'm going to awkwardly segue onto the topic of books ...

... but before I go, thank you for all the smoothie recipes!  Now we've got plenty to try out on Isaac (he's such a good little lab monkey).  Case in point, he has refused all solid foods since the introduction of the blender into this household (he'll do just great in a nursing home someday). This morning we had a mango-pineapple-strawberry-banana-apple-yogurt smoothie that wasn't exactly disgusting.  (Next time I won't use everything in the fridge.)




And onto Books ...

{ Source }


Also: The Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane mystery series by Dorothy Sayers. (A wonderful person gave me the entire set for Christmas.  I love you, you.)

Just arrived today: Homeland and Other Stories by Barbara Kingsolver.  I've been dying to get my hands on this one for weeks and now I HAVE IT!

Currently waiting on: The next Flavia de Luce novel by Alan Bradley, which is now available for pre-order and will be released over the holidays.

Next on the list (to be read before school starts in January and all pleasure-reading privileges are revoked): The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Also:  Got any non-fiction you’d like to recommend?  I usually read fiction, but I’d like to become better acquainted with non.  Particularly memoirs with strong historical backgrounds.  (Many thanks.)


… What have you been reading lately?

11 comments:

  1. I loved your post today. It inspired me to continue looking for a church. We have not joined one since we moved this last time.

    I'm reading a book that is filled with real life stories, regarding the Pioneer Years 1895-1914 (Barry Broadfoot).

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  2. We must have been in the same mood this morning. I am currently making my way through the Jodi Picoult library. I finished the Pact this weekend and if you haven't read it and feel like a good cry, this is a book for you. Her book 17....19? Minutes Scared the Poop right out of me. I made my teen read it for reference, but since she still thinks she is invincible it didn't quite hit home with her.

    ctny

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  3. i'm currently reading "how to avoid falling in love with a jerk" even though the one really good guy friend i have is FAR from being a jerk, let me tell you.
    it's got some really interesting observations on relationships and marriage, etc. so that's always good.
    also, a fiction sci-fi allegory book by Ted Dekker. :)

    er....simple smoothies are best. ;) that everything-but-the-fridge one didn't sound TOO appealing. heheh.

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  4. So glad you've found a great family in the church. <3 Wishing you guys the best :)

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  5. I'm really enjoying Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott. Non-fiction and well-written, though not particularly historical.

    I recently read one of Ken Follet's books that is historical fiction. It's a long one, but I feel that I learned more about WWI from that book than all of my history classes combined. Not particularly well-written, but the plot carries it through. I believe it's called Fall of Giants.

    Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is a long-time favorite, also non-fiction, but not historical.

    ___


    My experience with moving to WA was much the same-- my small group is definitely like my family. I've spent Thanksgiving with one of the families two years in a row now. Tonight I was sung "Happy Birthday" and Ami even made a gluten free cake.

    Church people can be pretty damn awesome, if I do say so.... :D

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  6. Kristina: hope you find a church home soon.
    Courtney: this sounds like the perfect book for my looooong plane flight home over the holidays. Can't sleep on the plane anyway, might as well be scared shitless.
    Beka: Happy to hear you're not actually falling in love with a jerk. :)
    Caitlin: Wishing you the best as well - I'm loving your daily blog posts!
    Ayla: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

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  7. one of my favorite is "Inside The Kingdom" It was written by Bin Ladens ex-sister in-law. I think every woman should read it and realize how very lucky we are to live in America. Its one you cant put down and will finish and it will always make you think how lucky you are. My favorite Christian author is Donald Miller, he is AWESOME! The first one i read was "blue Like Jazz:, then "searching For God Knows What" and i haven't had a chance to get to the other two yet. the first two start out kinda boring but push through the first few chapters and you will be hooked.
    i think I would stick with the-"Tolkien's Elvish language" giggle. Im glad you found a Home Church. That is so important!!

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  8. Ha, so many things in this post made me laugh. I love your sense of humor.

    that is so awesome you found a great church family...and laid back is always a plus! it sounds like you found a really neat group of people.

    good luck with your Danish language barrier; hopefully you can find a good class/program that will help you with that. I am taking a French class right now and Google translate has not always proved to be reliable. :)

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  9. The Help is amazing! I just finished it and was sad that it ended! I loved it!

    I have read halfway through Barbara Kingsolver's book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle". Very fascinating!

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  10. Oh yes, I haven't read that one yet but now I've got two recommendations so it's going on my "Order, Please" list.

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  11. I'm totally going to start talking about my books on my blog. Don't know why I don't already.....

    You should do a donation based Rosetta Stone for Danish thingy on your blog. I see lots of people do things like that. "I need to learn Danish and Rosetta stone is my only hope. Please give." Because it is super expensive.

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( hippies always welcome )