Ducktales!

Hvordan genopliver man en 30 årig tv-serie succesfuldt? Det har Disney forsøgt med deres reboot af Ducktales.

Jeg har fulgt med i serien siden dens pilotafsnit blev vist i august sidste år, og kan positivt sige at det er en god reboot, hvori de ting der gjorde den oprindelige Ducktales serie en succes er blevet opdateret til en mere moderne fortællerstil. Derfor synes jeg også at det er ærgerligt når den eneste klage over serien jeg har hørt, er den visuelle stil Disney valgte at bruge, og har udtrykt det som årsag for ikke at ville se serien.

Det er ellers en naturlig udvikling af tegnefilmsserier, og stilen passer perfekt med moderne tegnefilm. Man må selvfølgelig gerne bryde sig så meget om en visuel stil som man vil, men det er som at nægte at ville give en bog en chance fordi man ikke kunne lide dens indbinding.

Jeg vil bare sige at man bør give serien en chance, måske gror stilen på en, måske gør den ikke. Men serien er så meget mere end bare den visuelle stil.

Det mest fremtrædende punkt der blev ændret var trillingerne Rip, Rap og Rup. Med en enkelt undtagelse, er dette første gang siden deres skabelse tilbage i 30’erne at de tre trillinger ikke er hinandens kloner, men i stedet hver deres egen karakter, som hver har fået en af Onkel Joakims attributter som personlighed. Rip er den smarte der kan tænke nogle træk frem i spillet, Rap er den eventyrlystne og Rup er den der elsker skatte, omend han er en dovenkrop der forventer at alt bliver serveret for ham.

Onkel Joakim minder mere om den Joakim Von And vi kender fra tegneserierne, end ham vi mødte i Ducktales fra 1987, ligeledes har andre figurer fra tegneserierne flere kendetegn fra tegneserierne end deres oprindelige Ducktales versioner havde, f.eks. Guldiver Flintesten som i tegneserierne er Boa fra Sydafrika, men i 1987 Ducktales var han en skotte ligesom Onkel Joakim. Den ændring skyldtes selvfølgelig på grund af Arpartheiden på det tidspunkt, og gav dem en mulighed før at gøre ham til et modstykke til Joakim. Flintesten i den nye Ducktales har beholdt det skotske design fra 1987 versionen, men det viste sig i anden sæson at være en facade, da han som lille dreng i Sydafrika følte sig snydt af Onkel Joakim og derfor skabte en falsk skotsk identitet som kun har til opgave i livet at ødelægge livet for Onkel Joakim.

En ting jeg altid savnede da jeg så den gamle serie ”Rip, Rap og Rup på Eventyr” var Anders And. Han har altid været min yndlings – og jeg læste tegneserierne, han var altid med på eventyr – så det var altid en skuffelse at han ikke var med i serien den gang. Han bliver værget til flåden i det første afsnit, og dukker op en håndfuld gange i resten af seriens 100 afsnit. Her i rebooten er han en fast del af showet, bare i første sæsons ca. 24 afsnit dukkede Anders And op flere gange end han gjorde i hele 1987-serien.

Hvor den gamle serie godt nok havde nogle enkelte 3-4 afsnits storylines, var det ellers kun stand-alone afsnit der aldrig havde noget med andre afsnit at gøre. Det var normalt for tegnefilmsserier i 80’erne og 90’erne, men fra midt-00’erne har det mere været normen end undtagelsen at en serie har en lang overhistorie der bliver fortalt gennem serien, enten over hele serien, eller gennem en sæson. Derfor har Ducktales 2017 også en lang overordnet historie, som lige skulle teases i slutningen af et ellers fantastisk introduktionsafsnit:

Bare lige hvis du ikke var fanget af dette fantastiske afsnit selv, så kom der lige en årsag til hvorfor du skulle blive ved med at følge serien. Jeg vil ikke afsløre for meget med hvad der er lært siden hen, men et af seriens absolutte højdepunkter hidtil var da sandheden kom ud. Her kan man se hvor meget arbejde producenterne har lagt i karakterisering af figurerne, historieskrivningen til afsnittene, og energien stemmeskuespillerne lægger i deres figurer.

Jeg kan godt lide Ducktales 2017, og kan ikke tvinge andre til også at kunne lide den, men hvis den eneste klage du har over serien er den visuelle stil, så synes jeg virkelig man går glip af en god serie, og måske burde den gives en chance.

Farvel Riiskov

Fællesklang Aarhus holdt torsdag den 15. november koncert på psykiatrisk hospital i Riiskov.
Det har været en tradition at vi kom på besøg og sang i hospitalskirken dér i nu seks sæsoner (fem for mig).

Det er dog slut nu.
Cirka.


Regeringen, og regionerne har jo besluttet at lukke mange hospitalsafdelinger i landet og flytte dem til et såkaldt Supersygehus, i Aarhus er dette supersygehus i Skejby.

Da vi kom på besøg i sidste uge, havde præsterne allerede holdt deres afslutningsgudstjeneste, så vi fik æren af at være det sidste arrangement til at blive holdt på det psykiatriske hospital i Riiskov.
Vi har altid været glade for at komme forbi og udsprede en velsignet glæde hos folk på Psyk, og hvis muligheden viser sig, vil vi sikkert også gerne komme i de nye lokaler i Skejby.


Dog!
Efter koncerten blev nogle af os lige fanget af en af Psyk's bestyrer som lige ville fortælle om (et af) problemet(erne) ved udflytningen.
Da kontrakten om bygning af de nye arealer i Skejby blev underskrevet af Psyk og Regionsrådet, undersøgte entreprenører priserne på de to grunde. Riiskovgrunden blev vurderet til 2 milliarder kroner, og Skejbygrunden vurderet til 800 million, altså ved at sælge Riiskov og købe Skejby ville Psyk få en fortjeneste på 1,2 milliarder kroner.

Med byggeriet i Skejby færdig, sagde entreprenørerne stadig de samme priser, men foreningen som ejede den grund i Skejby som der nu er bygget på nægtede at acceptere den pris, og ville ikke sælge for mindre end 2,2 milliarder, og ligeledes ville de heller ikke købe Riiskovgrunden for mere end 500 millioner, dvs. at Psyk nu i stedet får et tab på 1,7 milliarder kroner.

Situationen var blevet bragt til Klagenævnet som har dømt situationen ulovlig, men Regionen agerer bare laissez-faire ved situationen.
Bestyrelsesmedlemmet fra Psyk fortalte os at foreningen som tjener de 1,7 milliader på det her er en pensionistforening, som Midtjyllands Regionsrådsformand Bent Hansen er medlem i, så fortjenesten vil gå direkte i hans lommer.

Nu skal man selvfølgelig være forsigtig med at smide al skylden på Regionsrådsformanden, når man kun har fået historien fortalt fra én side, men det Regionsrådsmedlem der var med til at underskrive kontrakten i sin tid, har meldt ud at hun ikke havde nogen idé om hvad denne kontrakt har haft af konsekvenser, og det bestemt ikke var det hun gik med på. Såehh, sådan er situationen. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


Hvad siger du John?

Han er i dig, Han er i mig

Så i denne sæson af Fællesklang synger vi lidt Løvernes Konge.
Det er ingen hemmelighed at jeg ikke kan lide Løvernes Konge, men det er heldigvis 2'eren vi synger fra (en lille smule bedre end originalen). Hvis jeg skal sige noget godt om 1'eren, så vil det være at åbningen er et cinematografisk mesterværk. Solopgangen der bryder mørket, og Lebo M's ikoniske "Nants igonyama bagithibaba" og frem til 'Circle of Life'/'En Verden af Liv'. Men så starter selve filmen, og alt er ned af bakke derfra...

Sangen vi synger er 'He lives in You' fra 2'erens åbning, et halvhjertet forsøg på at genskabe 1'erens glorværdige åbning. Og bare så I ikke kan sige at den titel jeg gav dette opslag var falsk reklame, får I sangen på dansk:

Jeg har dog et problem med sangen, når vi synger den...

Jeg ved ikke helt hvorfor, men vores korarrangement fanger mig bare ikke helt.
Der er et eller andet som forhindrer mig i at nyde sangen i vort arrangement.
Når jeg lytter til album versionen, så får jeg bare kuldegysninger hver gang, men jeg føler næsten intet ved korversionen.
Hvis det skyldes den afrikanske percussion i originalen, så er der jo ikke noget at gøre ved det, men albumversionen er også anderledes på anden facon.
Når jeg lytter til filmversionen føler jeg næsten heller ikke noget, på trods af at det er den samme version som på albummet. Med den forskel at albumversionen er en extended version.


Og det er måske deri at jeg føler sangen har sin rigtige styrke.


Albumversionen bygger langsomt op til det store klimaks til sidst hvor de sidste to omkvæd næsten råbes ud. Med tre "vers" før det første omkvæd, og et reprise af tredje vers før de store omkvæd.
Filmversionen har to "vers" før den springer ud i det første og dernæst det sidste omkvæd. Den føles næsten som om den er afsluttet inden sangen for alvor er nået at komme i gang.
Korarrangementet har alle tre "vers" før det første omkvæd, så en 3-4 takters pause, og så lige på 1½ stort omkvæd.

Hvert "vers" bygger stille op i styrke, så korarrengementet fortjener de store omkvæd, mere end filmversionen gør, men det føles stadig som om vi har sprunget et trin over.
Jeg ved ikke hvordan jeg skal forklare det.
Som hvis Magellan og hans besætning var rejst til Argentina, og så vendt om, men alligevel havde påstået at de var rejst hele jorden rundt. Næsten som at skære hjørner for at komme hurtigere i måls.

Jeg glædede mig til at synge sangen, for det er en jeg godt kan lide, og den er også rar at synge tag ikke fejl af det, men korarrangementet mangler lige et eller andet. "The icing on the cake" som man siger.


Om det så er den afrikanske percussion, den ekstra opbygning i styrke eller en blanding af de to, kan jeg ikke sige med sikkerhed, der er bare et eller andet.





Albumversionen og korversionen, så man selv kan bedømme.

En hypotese

Påstand: Oluf 1. Hunger var ikke i modstand med Knud 4. Hellige og Erik 1. Ejegod, det var en kirkelig konstruktion.

Kilderne om kong Oluf Hunger er så sparsomme at der ikke er nogen som helst belæg for denne hypotese (mig bekendt).

Ifølge traditionen var Oluf, søn af Svend Estridsen, og mellemste bror (af de fem der blev konge) imod Knud den Helliges regering, og blev derfor smidt i fængsel. Han var en af bagmændene for det oprør der startede i Nordjylland, og myrdede Knud i Skt. Albani kirke i Odense. Efter at være blevet kronet har han forvist(?) Erik fra hans rige. Som ”ond” konge imod kirken, og leder af oprøret der myrdede en kirkevenlig konge, kom Guds straf nu over Oluf og Danmark i form af hungersnød (deraf hans tilnavn ’Hunger’). Efter Olufs død kom Erik tilbage og blev konge og fortsatte Knuds kirkevenlige dømme.

Jeg ved ikke om vi har nogle dokumenter fra Olufs regeringstid, ligesom vi har Knud den Helliges gavebrev til kirken i Lund, men ellers er de eneste samtidige kilder vi har til Olufs regeringstid den såkaldte ”Odenselitteratur”, helgenbeskrivelserne om kong Knud, som havde til formål at skildre Knud som den sande gudstro konge der ville blive nødvendig for at han kunne kanoniseres som helgen.

Roskildekrøniken blev skrevet ca. 40 år senere, men er, hvis jeg husker korrekt, forholdsvist positiv overfor Oluf. Så er der Saxo som, over hundrede år efter Knuds død, bestemt tilhører traditionen om at Knud var en god konge og Oluf en ond en.

Denne egentlige mangel på kilder, både samtidige og af andre holdninger, har vækket min mistro. Igen jeg har ikke noget belæg for denne hypotese, men jeg hælder så småt til at der ikke var nogen stor konflikt mellem Knud og Oluf.

Der er mange beviser der peger hen på at Knud den Hellige var en meget ivrig kirkereformer i den tidlige danske middelalder. Det ældste danske dokument overleveret til vore dage er et gavebrev fra Knud til kirken i Lund (nogle mener at det virkelig var kirken i Dalby, men det er en længere historie) dvs. donationer til kirken, Odenselitteraturen, dvs. fortællinger om Knud skrevet i kirken i Odense, skriver kun godt om ham som en glad giver til kirken.

Samtidig er der også belæg for at han var mindre god mod det verdslige samfund; i Lundebrevet står der bl.a. at en mand der bliver fredløs vil miste sin hele formue til kirken (eller noget i den retning), og arkæologiske fund viser også at de mønter han lod slå i Jylland havde 1/3 mindre sølvindhold end de mønter slået i resten af landet, og derfor de facto var 1/3 mindre værd, og priserne derfor var 1/3 højere for jyderne end resten af danskerne. Dette svarer i overensstemmelsen med at oprøret mod Knud efter sigende begyndte i Nordjylland, som fortalt i Odenselitteraturen. De jyske stormænd må have følt sig udnyttet at de skulle betale mere for varer end resten af danskerne, og så opleve at alle de penge kongen havde sparet fra dem ved at klippe sølvet blive givet til kirken, det giver mening at de var sure på kongen.

Min hypotese om Oluf ligger så ved at han så hvordan Knuds kirkereformiver ledte til hans død, og derfor valgte ikke at fortsætte med den samme iver, men i stedet forsøge at mægle en fred mellem kongetitlen og de sure stormandsslægter. Ved at fokusere mere på den verdslige side af samfundet frem for den gejstlige har kirken så kunnet opfatte Olufs regering som mindre kirketro end Knuds, ja nogle gejstlige magter har måske endda set det som en direkte tilbagerulning af Knuds reformer. Dette har så skabt anledning til historien om Knud som den sande gudstro konge der led martyrdød for sin tro på kirken, og Oluf som hans hovedmodstander. Det kan bestemt ikke have hjulpet for Olufs sag at ”Guds straf” ramte landet i form af hungernød, hvilket sandsynligvis gav mere kredit til Odensekirkens spirende Knudskult.

Efter Olufs død blev Erik Ejegod valgt til konge, og det at han valgte at støtte Knudskulten, såvel som at han var den konge det endelig lykkedes for at skille Danmark ud af Hamburgs greb ved at få pavelig tilladelse til at få et selvstændigt dansk ærkebispesæde, har givet ham det billede i eftertiden at han var en kirkevenlig konge, og derfor har han måttet være på Knuds side frem for Olufs.

Dette er så min belægsløse hypotese

SMT-Dagbog

Under min missionstur til USA over sommeren holdt jeg dagbog sår’n at jeg altid ville kunne gå tilbage og genopleve oplevelserne selv engang om 50 år hvor det meste muligvis bare vil være fjerne minder. Fordi hele sommeren foregik på engelsk, skrev jeg også min dagbog på engelsk. Efter nogle dage har jeg indskudt nogle ekstra tanker, som jeg har skrevet på dansk, kan måske blive lidt forvirrende, men det var mere naturligt i øjeblikket. Når jeg skriver (Yesterday) eller lignende efter en dato, så er det fordi at jeg på selve den dag enten glemte eller ikke fik tid til at skrive, og derfor skrev dagen efter.

Det skal lige siges at der blev holdt to dagbøger. Min med mine oplevelser, og så en holddagbog, vi hver især skulle skrive i efter tur. Holddagbogen blev afleveret på det Territoriale Hovedkvarter (THQ) som så vil kopiere den og, på et eller andet tidspunkt, sende kopierne til alle på holdet i fysisk form.

Billederne jeg har valgt her, har jeg specifikt forsøgt at fravælge billeder jeg allerede brugte til foredraget i mit forige opslag om SMT-turen, men nogle steder var de bare de eneste billeder jeg havde, så de går igen.

Jeg kan vel ligeså godt begynde ved begyndelsen. Jeg fik invitationen til at deltage i Salvation Army US Central Territory’s årlige Summer Mission Team, eller SMT, tilbage i slutningen af februar. I første omgang takkede jeg nej. Hvorfor skulle jeg tage til USA? Men Gud ville ikke lade mig glemme invitationen, og bad mig om at tænke lidt mere over det, og jeg fortalte mine klassekammerater om muligheden, for at få deres input. Endelig sagde jeg okay, og skrev en ansøgning. I slutningen af marts mødtes SMT deltagerne til orientering på hovedkvarteret, og samtidig med det fik jeg endelig svar på min ansøgning; nemlig at jeg var blevet udvalgt til at komme med.

Oprindeligt skulle jeg rejse med en fyr ved navn Mark, som jeg egentlig ikke kender. Jeg har fået at vide hvem er, men jeg kender ham ikke, så jeg var lidt nervøs for hvor’n det ville gå at skulle holde en hel sommer med seks vildt fremmede, så jeg var ærlig talt lidt lettet over at han måtte springe fra da han fik et nyt arbejde og Sabine blev udpeget til at være min rejsemakker i stedet.

04-06-18

Poserer for opdateringsfoto i lufthavnen

Woke up at 3 am left for CPH airport at little over 5 am Anne Westmoreland came an said goodbye to us, and gave us some souvenirs to give our team.

After 13 hours, with a little pit stop in Zürich, we finally arrived at O’hare airport in Chicago. Then followed an hour and a half of security checks, and then at 11:45 pm we were finally out of the airport – so 4:45 pm local time – and we were picked up by Viki who took us to dinner at a “Steak ‘n Shake”, before checking us in to the inn where we will stay the first week. Almost 2 am at home, and I have barely slept at all these last 60 hours.

“Hopefully it will be a nice, long sleep, before we meet the teams tomorrow.

-          60 timer? Det kan jeg ikke huske. Enten har jeg sovet dårligt dagene op til at jeg skulle af sted, eller også var jeg alt for træt til at rentjekke min matematik. Jeg havde selvfølgelig en skriftlig opgave for som skulle afleveres den fjerde, så den har nok holdt mig vågen indtil at jeg kunne aflevere den.

05-06-18 (Yesterday)

Sabine og jeg hjalp med at pakke T-shirts og jakker i de nye tasker

We were brought to THQ, and was shown around the place before set to help Kristin fill the SMT back-packs with T-shirts and jackets. Around 7 pm the teams gathered together and “Central” had our group photo taken.

Afterwards we gathered in our teams to discuss some things, make a Team Covenant, and play a bonding game – Shutes and Ladders.

In chat most of the group has nicknames: Madison -> Mom; Sean -> Swedish Fish; Jonathan -> Papí Jr. and Yeong-Haw -> Young Money. Austin was given Tarzan and Sabine wanted Mormor. Then they all looked at me. Am I going to get one too now? I really don’t want to.

After getting back to the hotel we all decided to go to Walmart, and so it was past 11 pm when we returned. I went to bed whilst the others played a game of some sort.

På en lille gåtur rundt om hotellet

Central Team Covenant

Central Vibes commit to each other:

-          To always communicate in an honest direct and respectful way

-          Respect one another and our boundaries. However, be open-minded and willing to step out of our comfort zones together

-          We will challenge and encourage one another daily to grow spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally

-          We will support one another in our struggles and build each other up and rejoice as well as in the good times

Central Vibes commits to God and our host locations:

-          To keep God at the centre of everything we do

-          To go to God first, pray with Him before going to each other

-          Have a servant’s heart in all that we do and try to live as Jesus lived

-          Be open-minded to what God shows us and what our locations asks us to do

-          We will be intentional in our actions to serve the Lord

-          Viki og Chris tog os med på THQ, men jeg blev faktisk lidt forarget da vi ankom til bagdøren. Der sad en lille mærkat med en pistol krydset over. ”No guns allowed here!” Jeg haar aldrig før i mit liv set en mærkat som den. Hvor’n i alverden kan det være nødvendigt at skulle hænge sår’n nogle op på sine døre? ”Hvad er det for et mærkeligt land jeg har sagt ja til at besøge?” tænkte jeg.

06-06-18 (Yesterday)

Første Team-møde

We had team discussions on what to do as a team in certain situations, we also talked about the personality tests we had taken before we came here, and how important it is to be balanced - not too passive or too reactive – but have a great relationship with God to lead your way.

In the teams we discussed games, camp-songs and object lessons to use throughout the Summer. Afterwards we all played a couple of these games outside. We were also given a folder with Vacation Bible School (VBS) Bible Lessons to come up with ideas for a lesson to show the class.

After leaving THQ we visited a hunting store called “Cabella’s”, and all the way in the back all the guns were at display. It was such a foreign sight. Then we went to Target, sorry “Tarshay” and looked around.

They have both “Target” and a “Super Target”!? Regular Target was already more massive than a Bilka, how can they be bigger still?

-          Under en af pauserne fra orienteringsundervisningen gik jeg ud til kantinen for at få lidt vand at drikke. Da jeg kom tilbage til klasselokalet råbte Austin højt: ”Daniel, vi har fundet det perfekte kælenavn til dig!” Jeg frøs og ordet ”Nej!” fløj ud af mig, måske med lidt vrede og foragt i stemmen. Austin fortsatte ”Hvad mener du med ’Nej’, du kan da ikke afvise uden at have hørt hvad det er.” Jeg blev nødt til at gå ud af lokalet igen et par minutter for mig selv. Var det det hold jeg skulle til at spendere min sommer sammen med? Et hold som gik bag min ryg og fandt på et kælenavn til mig, hvilket jeg ikke var særlig meget for, uden overhovedet at fortælle mig hvad dette kælenavn var for et navn. Jeg blev nødt til at konfrontere Madison og spørge hende om de var seriøse med det om at give mig et kælenavn, og hun sagde at hvis jeg virkelig ikke havde lyst, så behøvede jeg ikke. Tak.

07-06-18 (Yesterday)

Ja, det er hvad der sker når man løfter sengen mens folk sidder på den

We packed supplies for the Road trip and brainstormed ideas for craft materials for each VBS location.

Each team member was pulled aside for group briefings based on our role for the team this summer. As the team photographer it is important that I am a team member first and foremost, and all should be velar on that. I can take as many or as few photos as possible, but remember to be on some of the photos as well, and not just official team group photos.

Edward hygger sig i pausen under orientering

At Walmart we had to scour for the supplies we were still missing. Sean & Austin both advocated for matching T-shirts to help cement the team, but we hadn’t been able to find cool shirts in all our sizes.

Back at the hotel, Madison and Amanda, from CAST, got stuck in the couch/bed, and it took forever to free them again.

-          Amanda og Nikki fra CAST-holdet (Creative Arts & Service Team) tilbragte meget af orienteringen sammen med os fra Central, eftersom at de to andre fra deres hold, Erin og Sandy begge havde travlt med musicalen til kongressen i Milwaukee.

08-06-18

Sean og Austin ville lige fremvise deres matchende T-shirts

Welcome to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The day started with packing the vans & cars as we left the hotel for the final time. We finished packing our suitcases and marked them our teams.

Then we left for Commissioning at Milwaukee. The Hyatt hotel is the tallest building I’ve seen so far, of course we still haven’t been to the big cities yet, so all the buildings are reminiscent of home in height.

After the final meeting in the chapel at THQ last night, Sabine and I truly feel like we are a part of the whole SMT-team. Likewise for Amanda from Florida.

We are supposed to have a full team dinner whilst we are still for commissioning, to talk about our expectations as a team. We already signed our covenant earlier today.

I foyeren. Fra venstre: Mai Khou, Austinf, Sean, Amanda, Lauren

-          Mødet I kapellet jeg her nævner var at vi alle fra SMT sad I en kæmpe rundkreds og skulle fortælle om vores historier. Hvorfor valgte jeg at tage med på SMT? Hvad er mine forventninger for sommeren? Etc.

Jeg ved ikke hvor meget af Sabines historie jeg kan fortælle, men vi havde begge været nervøse for hvordan to udlændinge ville blive modtaget. Man ved egentlig godt at folk vil være flinke når man møder dem, men hvad nu hvis. Nu kunne vi føle os sikre på at vi havde fundet en familie på den anden side af Atlanten, og det efter kun tre dages orientering.

09-06-18

På gåtur i Milwaukee fandt vi et vejskilt der bare lå på jorden

How big is your table?

Almost came too late for SMT-meeting since some on the team thought we didn’t meet until 9 am.

We stood on stage and recited the Scripture for today in Multilanguage. Revelation 7:9-16. Then we were all presented on stage. Hung out  bit at the hotel, and had lunch at a Subway Café, as well as had a small walk around nearby blocks to see if we could find anything interesting in town.

13:30-15:05 og 42:56-47:03 er SMT på scenen

“A Long Way Off”, the musical that premiered tonight was based off of “The Prodigal Son”. It was set in 1930, shortly after the Stock Market crash of ’29. I liked it. J

The musical 'A Long Way Off' from a re-broadcast in December (it takes 15 minutes for the show to start)

Back to the hotel. We went to the girl’s room, where Jonathan had bought Dunkin Donuts’ as a birthday cake. Then I was sung birthday songs in Spanish, Swedish, English and Korean. As a gift, I was given a book on WWII POW’s.

Sightseeing

Fødselsdagshygge på pigernes værelse

10-06-18

The cadets of the “Messengers of the Gospel” session was commissioned & ordained this morning. We all had to leave before the final meeting ended, so the teams could make it back to THQ and do final touches on their packing, before leaving for the airport. The seatings had to be switched up a little, so I drove back with the Japan team, and after a delayed start to our drive, we all, for lack of better term, skrålede along to Disney music. They all fell in love with me enough to all want me along to Japan. However, when we arrived at the hotel Team Japan didn’t have a reservation, & had to be relocated to another hotel. Team Central all did their first round of laundry tonight, and some of us relaxed at, by or in the pool for a bit. We went to Ihop for a late night dinner.

11-06-18 (Yesterday)

Fællesfoto i Janesville

And so, our road trip began.

We received we are going to drive around all summer from CFOT (College For Officer Training), and so we had to say goodbye to the CAST-team who had been an unofficial part of our team all week. We propably will not see them again, as they won’t be joining us at CBLI, but instead be at CMI the following week, and so: “Farewell Nikki, Amanda and Erin, it was nice to get to know you”.

In Janesville, WI, we gathered at the corps in Sutherland. Major Ruth gave us a little tour of the corps, and then dinner with the Janesville corps’ work partner, Father Earl of the “All Saint’s” Anglican church, with whom we are going to be working all through the week.

At the hotel, we held our evening meeting in the pool, and some went to get ice cream. We held a movie night, and I painted a couple of jigsaw puzzles white.

Erin og Nikki konverserer med Kristin om de sidste forberedelser før vi tager af sted

12-06-18

Hygge om aftenen på hotellet

We arrived at All Saint’s Church at 9 am and set up preparations for the VBS, but since it was, supposedly, the last day of school, no one showed up. Instead we drove to Sutherland corps, where we helped sort things and candies in preparation for a camp some of the children associated with ‘Sally Ann’ were going on today.

After lunch we went back to All Saint’s church, and marked some 200 candies with advertisement about the VBS to hand out at a block-party in the neighbourhood. I really felt like I was misplaced and didn’t belong there. At least I got a good amount of time at the keyboard in the church basement.

I FORGOT MY CAMERA TODAY! AAAHH!!!

13-06-18

Austin prædiker om at lade sig transformere

Four children came to VBS at All Saint’s today. Played a handful of games like “Banke banke bøf”, “Grab the Bacon” & “Football”. Austin held his bible lesson on the broken egg that will be used for transformation.

From the corps we had to hand out flyers for the Freedom Fest in the neighbourhood. Major Ruth wanted us to meet and converse with the people in their doorway, but the uncomfortable feeling of walking up the carway to the door was nerve wrecking enough, that the added pressure of talking to them nearly gave me a panic-attack.

In the evening we were taken to see a water skiing event, it was a high-point of joy after the nigh panic enducing midday.

-          Det knuste æg kan måske bruge lidt uddybning. Rom 12; 2 taler om at vi ikke skal tilpasse os verdenen, men lade os transformere gennem sindets fornyelse, så vi kan værdsætte det gode Gud har skabt.

Austin brugte hér ægget som en illustration. I sin hele skal ligger æggeblommen og –hviden sikkert fra udefrakommende trusler. Men efter at ægget er blevet knust har ægget mistet sin gamle status. Det kan nu enten smides ud – gå tabt i forsyndelsen – eller lade sig transformere som en æggekage, og få en ny mening/placering i livet.

Senere til samme bibeltekst brugte vi også et stykke A4 papir. Du kan folde det, krølle det, eller rive det i stykker lige så meget du vil. Værsgo’ at samle papiret som et helt nyt friskt papir. Kan ikke lade sig gøre, men måske du kan bruge papiret til noget andet? Det foldede til origami? Det revne til at flette? Papiret har nu gennemgået en Forvandling.

Til håndarbejde lavede vi små sommerfugle, eftersom at larver "transformerer sig" til sommerfugle

14-06-18

SMT-dansen

Happy Birthday Madison!

For VBS this morning Yeong-Haw used our jigsaw puzzle man and talked about how each of us has a specific purpose and need each other to succeed in God’s plan for us. I helped Madeleine (Father Earl’s daughter) learn a little on the piano in the basement, and she said goodbye to Madison by playing “Happy Birthday”.

Major Ruth wanted a group photo of us in front of ‘Betsy’ the cow in front of Arby’s.

For our free day off, we took a drive to the capital, Madison, so that Madison could celebrate her birthday in Madison. We visited the museum for contemporary art before going to the restaurant “The Old Fashioned” for dinner. Madison received a pair of earrings depicting Obama & Biden by Austin, a mug saying “Go jump in a lake” by Jonathan, a Chinese scroll* by Yeong-Haw and a greeting card with an Aarhus refrigerator magnet by me.

* “It’s easy to find a hundred good soldiers, but it’s hard to find one good General”.

-          Til morgenmaden havde vi lavet sjov med hvad vi skulle give Madison i gave, for hun bryder sig ikke meget om at få ting. Det kom frem at hun godt kunne lide Chris Pratt, så hvis vi kunne give hende ham i fødselsdagsgave, måtte vi gerne give hende noget. Okay, så opkaldte jeg bare vores puslespilsmand jeg havde designet efter Chris Pratt. Men da Yeong-Haw begyndte bibellektionen med puslespillet havde jeg ikke fået det sagt endnu, så han døbte ham for Bob. Resten af sommeren kom han til at hedde; Bob Chris.

Gruppebillede foran Kongresshuset i Madison

15-06-18

Tja, det går jo ikke at går undt i beskidt tøj, vel?

Today was our final day of VBS in Janesville, as we head towards the Twin Cities tomorrow. We gave our parting gifts to Father Earl before the children arrived, and after we had finished the VBS and packed up we headed to the corps to finish up some cleaning around the corps.

The candy we sorted previously, we had to move to the garage/Social Service Centre. Throw out some cardboard boxes, and clean the music room. Majors Ruth & Bob were both given the presents for the corps.

We went to a laundromat to all do some laundry cleaning, and then we ate at the laundromat. Back at the hotel we decided to pack the van, “Bertha”, immediately. Afterwards I decided to try and draw the second puzzle person, this time a woman. Her name is Stephanie.

Vi legede "Ninja". Man må kun bevæge sig på sin egen tur, og det handler om at slå modstandernes hænder (deres liv).

16-06-18

Venter på parkeringspladsen udenfor korpsets hovedindgang

We checked out of the Baymont hotel a little past 10 am and then we went on the road towards Minnesota.

After nearly four hours on the freeway, we were still in Wisconsin, and so we pulled over for some gasoline at Menomonie. From there it was just another hour before we reached St. Paul. When we arrived at the Citadel Corps we found it locked, and no one to greet us. After calling Viki, Madison got the phone number for our officer. They were busy packing at home to move next week and so they had forgotten we were coming today. Major Leti showed us around the corps, which looks small on the outside but is a genuine labyrinth on the inside.

-          Korpset I St. Paul var det største vi besøgte hele sommeren, og jeg taler ikke kun om bygningen, men også forsamlingen. Mai Khou, fra Japan-holdet, stammer fra dette korps, så vi hilste på hendes familie. Men en af de ting der sidder længst fremme på hukommelsen herfra, er at vi sov på gulvet i korpset. Der var godt nok gulvtæpper i de to rum, og vi fandt nogle puder til at ligge vores soveposer ovenpå, men det var stadigt et meget hårdt gulv. Jeg springer lidt frem, men da vi kom til Mason City sov jeg også på gulvet, men det gulv var meget blødere at ligge på.

På vej til restaurant, fik vi et pænt syn på domkirken i St. Paul

17-06-18

I gang med at gøre os klar til gudstjeneste

I got up and took a shower in the men’s locker room around 6:30 am. After getting dressed I sat down in the chapel and played some piano. Suddenly someone knocked on the window. It was Major Geff who had forgotten his keys in the car, and thus locked himself out.

For church we did the SMT-dance, and apparently it was livestreamed on Facebook. Austin and I were admitted to play in the worship band, him on his guitar, me on a bass. After church majors Leti & Geff took us out for dinner, after which we headed out for grocery shopping so Sabine could make some Danish food. Frikadeller. Whilst she, Sean and Jonathan were cooking, I worked on my devo as it was my turn tonight.

After dinner we took to Woodbury where we saw “Incredibles 2”, and that ended our day before meeting and devo.

Efter gudstjeneste tog majorerne os med ud at spise

18-06-18

Vi blev sat til at rydde op i fitnesscentret

At 9 am we met with Major Leti who introduced us to Dazzle, who might be the one responsible to give us assignments for the day. Then we were brought to the nursery to help take care of the children, either 2-3 years of age (Madison, Sabine & Yeong-Haw) or 4-5 years of age (Austin, Jonathan, Sean & I).

Vanessa, majors Leti & Geff’s adopted granddaughter spent most of her day before going to the gym with me. Once everyone was back from the gym, they had lunch and then five minutes before naptime for book reading. After naptime had begun, we went for lunch in the cantina and afterwards we were sent with the janitor to clean up the fitness room and the library.

At our team meeting tonight, “Mom”, “Tarzan”, “Young Money” & “Swedish Fish” all shared their testimonies. Tomorrow the rest of us will too.

Major Leti ville møde os i børnerummet inden vi fik vores opgaver for dagen

19-06-18

Sean og Jonathan i gang med at rydder op i et skab i garagen

After breakfast we headed for the nursery, and sat with the children for around 15-30 minutes before Dazzle came by with the other group of volunteer workers who would be with the kids today, whilst we helped the other half of their group with cleaning the garage.

We moved Christmas stuff up on top of their 3 meter tall shelves, cleaned and moved around some refrigerators, emptied some shelves, and filled them up with other stuff, disassembled some tables and put some “light” boxes on top of the shelves. After lunch we were going to move some kitchen utensils from the garage to the stage in the gym, but some people were already using the gym playing Basket, so we couldn’t do it yet, an instead we helped sort out some “fresh” food that was just delivered to the corps.

We took a 15 minute break before we headed to the Mall of America in the Minneapolis part of the Twin Cities. Three stories tall, with a mini Legoland, and an amusement park in the middle of the mall, rollercoasters and everything.

On the way back to the corps, we did some grocery shopping in Cub Food, and when we got back we transferred the stuff from the garage to the stage, and my SMT jacket was left locked in the garage. X\ I got it back, so it’s all good. Sean & Jonathan, with some help from Sabine, made Sloppy Joes, with rice, for dinner.

I created a Flickr account to upload all the photos from my camera, for the team to see.

Helt alvorligt! Der VAR en forlystelsespark midt i storcentret!

20-06-18

Alle korps havde sådanne inspirerende beskeder

Today we went to St. Paul East side where Major Leti had asked if we could help with their camp program, but when we got there we were expected to lead the day’s program, even though we hadn’t prepared for that.

We played some games, taught the SMT-dance and Madison quickly talked about the Gospel Lesson. When the children were sent to their classrooms, we were asked to stay behind and talk with some intern leaders about SMT and why we applied this summer. In the classrooms we were split into two teams, in my room we drew some hearts and coloured our prayers in them. In the other room they played some board games.

We went back to the corps for lunch and afterwards we, minus Yeong-Haw, went to the Como Zoo and Conservation. The zoo was a bit of a let-down for me – like they didn’t even have a Prehensile-Tailed Porcupine (Kek). But seriously though, I was much more engaged in the botanical garden section than the animals. Probably as the only one in the group.

We were invited to supper in Oak Dale, a suburb, by Chip & Dawn. The meal was Meatball Marinara in Burger Buns.

For team meeting Madison had us write some things on a piece of paper for all of our teammates, based on what we have felt inspired by through either their actions or their testimonies.

Foran den botaniske have i Zoologisk have

-          Chip & Dawn et par af soldaterne i korpset, som ville sige tak for den hjælp vi havde givet inden vi skulle videre til næste by. Chip holdt andagt for os baseret på hvad Jeremias skriver om ungdom.

Jeg blev udspurgt om Danmark, og om hvor jeg kom fra. Jeg svarede at jeg kom fra Aarhus. ”Den by har jeg ikke hørt om”, ”Nej, det er jo også kun den næststørste by i Danmark” sagde jeg med et smil, hvad de blev overraskede over at høre. ”Nå ja, han har jo næppe heller hørt om St. Paul”, hvortil jeg svarede, ”Jo, St. Paul er hovedstaden i staten Minnesota, så den har jeg hørt om.” Så blev jeg spurgt om hvor’n jeg kendte så meget til amerikansk geografi, men foruden de byer jeg besøgte over sommeren kan jeg ikke placere hvor byer ligger. Jeg kender bare til navnene på hovedstæderne i staterne på grund af en sang fra animationsserien Animaniacs.

Derefter drejede diskussionen ud på et sidespor, som lavede lidt sjov med Jonathan, fordi han et par dage tidligere havde fremvist at han ikke var den bedste til amerikansk geografi. Han troede oprigtigt at St. Paul var navnet på korpset vi var i, og at det lå i byen Minnesota i staten Indianapolis. Åh det stakkels forvirrede pus. I første omgang smed vi skylden over på at han havde slået hovedet mens vi ryddede op i garagen den anden dag, men baseret på ting han ville sige senere, var det ikke noget vi bare kunne skyde skylden over på, han sagde virkelig sådanne nogle ”Jonathanismer” hvis han ikke tænkte før han sagde noget.

21-06-18

Flittigt i gang med at lægge vores puslespil

I spent my free time yesterday by colouring Stephanie, so that today we could use both her and Bob Chris in our puzzle lesson. The colours we have though are not permanent and can be smudged out or erased even if dried for a week.

In the classroom today we played hangman, and Madison, Sabine & I were all allowed to come up with a word. We had lunch with the kids at East Side today, unlike yesterday, but when they had to go swim we were unneeded and went back to St. Paul Citadel corps. We headed to the garage to finish up the cleaning; it is much prettier to look at now. Then we tried to move a refrigerator from the garage to the kitchen, but the doors were too small and the fridge didn’t fit.

For free time I called my mother on Skype and wished her an “innuini pilluarit” & talked for over 2 hours. For dinner the guys made Mac & Cheez and Hotdogs, I just ate hotdogs, because cheese.

Then Madison, Sabine & I baked a cake and prepared popcorn for movie night after devo, though since tonight’s movie is “It” I’m not watching it.

Vort obligatoriske gruppebillede i St. Paul East Side

22-06-18 (Yesterday)

Forberedelser til maduddeling

We participated in the corps’ food distribution program. The Dining Hall had over a dozen tables placed in a “U”-shape from one door to the other and the tables were filled  with, in order of entrance: Sandwiches, Meat – mostly chicken – Dairy products, Salads, Fruit, Pastry and finally Bread. Together with Sean & Jonathan and two Mormon missionaries, I handed out the chicken.

We gave some parting gifts to Major Leti, then I, Madison, Jonathan, Sean & Yeong-Haw walked around in some thriftshops looking around. Sean got a PS2 and was ecstatic of joy. Dazzle volunteered to take our group photo from St. Paul, and then we departed to meet Macy, one of Madison’s friends from last year. We visited Minnehaha falls and had Chinese buffet for dinner.

En (svag) regnbue manifesterede ved vandfaldet

23-06-18

I gang med at tømme bilen i Black Hills

We left a little gift for Dazzle in her office, and then we left St. Paul Citadel around 9:30 am. Austin took the wheels, with Madison as co-pilot, for the first half of the drive to Rapid City. After lunch at 3 pm, or 2 South Dakota time, Yeong took the wheel with me as navigator. As we approached our destination, it started to rain rapdly, which wasn’t too fun for narrow roads up a mountain. We got situated in the cabins and went shopping in Target, and had Sonic for dinner. It was already 8:30 pm when we arrived, and we missed a turn at the end even. I’m so tired right now.

På de amerikanske Interstates (motorveje) er der mange reklameskilte. I South Dakota var en tredjedel om Mount Rushmore

24-06-18

Søndagsskole

Spent some of the morning’s waiting time by walking around taking scenery photos. We were asked to do Sunday School, though by following a program and video learning. For Junior church Austin told the creation story and Madison built upon it with the Gospel Story and we made the bead bracelet craft. Then Major Nate & Auxiliary Captain Michelle took us out for buffet dinner at Golden Coralle and afterwards we split up in two groups, one to go with the Major to camp to get things ready there, and the other group with the Captain to the corps for signing kids in for the camp.

At camp everyone* got their shirts & Sweaters and a sleeping bag, afterwards we grilled sausages and had hotdogs. We were supposed to go to Mt. Rushmore, but since it rained the entire first half of the day, the Major & Captain dared not go out there and took everyone to the movies to watch “Avengers Infinity War”.

Austin held a short (30 mins) Bible lesson based on Matt 5, 43 – Love thy enemy. Afterwards it was shower time and the bedtime for the campers. No team meeting, is that going to be the norm for the entire week?

* There has been a mishap with the order, so every XL or higher will be delayed a couple of days.

Major Donna (ret.), Major Nate, Madison, Sabine og Auxilliary Captain Michelle foran en tændt grill

25-06-18

"Colour Guard" skal til at hejse flaget

The boys were mostly awake by 6 when Jonathan and I got out of bed, but aside from the three that still needed a shower since yesterday everyone stayed in their beds until the other cabin left around 7:25.

We drove to “Bear Country”, a safari-in-your-vehicle. There were deer, wolves and bears, because if not it wouldn’t be Bear Country. Now would it? I felt just as bored, if not more, as when we visited the zoo last week. Then we drove to “Evan’s Plunge” in Hot Springs some 40+ miles from Rapid City.

Home at 6:42 pm. I feel like it has been a pretty boring day, too much driving and a lot of things on the schedule that I had no interest in… The rest of the evening did feel better, though why do teenagers think it’s fun to tell everyone they hate them?

Frokost i Bear Country

-          Hver dag og aften skulle vi hejse/sænke flaget. Foruden synet af de hundredevis af pistoler i butikken i børnehøjde var flaghejsningen nok det største kulturchok jeg fik på rejsen.

Det ikke nok at man skulle have hånden på hjertet og kigge på flaget som det blev hejst (eller sænket), men der skulle være en kommandør som råbte militærlingua for hvert skridt der skulle tages i hejsningen. ”Colour Guard face left! Colour Guard prepare to raise the Flag!” og så videre. Jeg fik det ret dårligt af at se på det. USA proklamerer jo at være ”Land of the Free”, og så indoktrinerer de børnene på en så militæragtig façon, at tankerne fløj over på militærdiktaturer. Det clashede virkelig med min forestilling, og jeg begyndte her, ikke just at få hjemve, men at savne mit eget kære Dannebrog som ”almindelige” mennesker kunne ære uden militærformaliteter.

26-06-18

Første ridehold gør klar til at trave

Today was the day of horseback-riding and hiking, this ought to be fun… oh, there’s a weight limit for riding the horses at 230 lb = 100 kg? Guess I cannot do that then. Well at least there’s hiking… 4$ fee for the hiking trail? Per person? Welp, that’s out of the question too.

At least I can see the Crazy Horse memorial from the horse stables… Several miles in the distance… Wow, this day. The “hiking” group would drive to Hill City where we walked around for some time. They had a train museum with train rides on a train from 1880. Too bad we didn’t have the time for actually visiting the museum.

On the way back to camp, we crossed Pactola Lake, and we got some tourist photos of the lake from a viewing point. Free time at the camp included some of the boys try out some fishing in the creek, but several of the fishing lines got stuck, and were unable to get loose again, and thus we had to cut the lines. Madison, Yeong-Haw, Sean & Jonathan were playing a card game called “Skip-Bo”.

During the lowering of the flag, the rope broke and our hearts skipped a beat as the flag fell halfway down the pole. After dinner, Sean held a bible lesson based on verses 1&2, then it was craft time, making bird feeders of pine cones painted with peanut butter. We took a hiking stroll in the area around the camp, and Captain Michelle showed me the view of the creek from atop the hill of the camp.

Jesse swung a stick around, and I got a scratch below my eye.

Hill City Main St.

27-06-18 (Yesterday)

Yeong-Haw købte en pose med mineralsten og kunne så skylle dem i ægte guldgraverstil

Today was the going home day for the boys. We packed all of our stuff and said goodbye to the boys, cleaned the mattresses and the cabin & then we boys moved into the lodge, whilst Madison & Sabine moved into the cabins.

The rest of the day we spent by going to Hill City and spend a couple of hours walking around the main street. I got souvenirs from the Train & Railroad museum, and got a photo of the locomotive. We had dinner at the Bumpin’ Buffalo, Sean ordered some “Rocky Mountain Oysters” for appetizers, and everyone but Austin* tried them out. They tasted a bit like chicken, but the texture was almost like rubber, and whilst edible not worth more than a single try, let alone the 16$ Sean spent on them.

* Jonathan cut off a tiny piece only so he barely tried them out either.

På vej tilbage til lejren fra Hill City tog vi et svinkeærinde forbi en slikbutik

28-06-18

Får en omgang is ved Mount Rushmore

We drove to the corps, most of the team wanted to go around Rapid City and look around, Yeong-Haw and I stayed back at the corps, him to do some Powerpointing, and me to upload for our first days’ worth of photos.

Girls’ camp started, and we actually got to go to Mt. Rushmore today. We asked a passerby to take a group photo but… 1) Sean, Sabine and Jonathan weren’t in the picture & 2) we didn’t even get the faces of the mountain in frame. Total rip-off :P

It got pretty late; it was 11 pm when we got back to camp. I sat in Captain Michelle’s car with Madison and Jonathan, with Sean driving. Because it was dark out, everyone kept a scary mood >-)

-          Der havde været ti drenge under hele drengelejren, men nu da det blev tid til pigelejren dukkede næsten 20 piger op. Til udflugter blev det besluttet at vi skulle lave ”stammer” – to voksne med hver to piger – som altid skulle være sammen når vi tog på udflugter.

Skal lige kigge sidste uges billeder igennem ;)

29-06-18

Nogle af pigerne på den anden lejr

It was the girls’ turn to go to Bear Country & Evan’s Plunge. Some of the older girls, who have been on camp before, didn’t really want to go to Bear Country as they had gone the last three years. We walked around in our “tribes” from yesterday, so Madison & I together with Aliana, Royale, Shaleah & Zale.

At Evan’s Plunge Austin tried out the rings again, and whilst he made it across on first try, he stopped afterwards, and instead another guy took his spotlight by making it across 3 continuous times.

Back at the camp, Jonathan held a bible lesson and then he went with Sean to do laundry. For free time many of the girls played games, Austin played his guitar, and several of the girls walked around with my camera and took photos. For goodnight, Captain Michelle wanted Austin to play a song, and he wanted me to lead in song, so we sang “Here I am to worship”. We then proceeded to give the Captain her and Major Nate’s gifts.

Madison has talked a bit with Chris Shay, and she said that if Captain Melissa in Mason City approves, then we can stay tomorrow as well. The laundry closed at 9 pm for new laundry, so not all of our laundry has made it in in time. We’ll see whose were lucky and whose not, when Sean & Papí Jr. gets back.

Venter på at tage af sted til Bear Country

-          Det Territoriale Hovedkvarter havde rykket rundt på en lejr, så Divisionshovedkvarteret også matte rykke rundt på sin lejr, og derfor matte Major Nate og Kaptajn Michelle også rykke rundt på deres lejre. På grund af alt dette gik det ikke i spænd med vores rejseplan at kunne blive i Black Hills fra drengenes første lejrdag til pigernes sidste, og vi blev derfor nødt til at rejse af sted dagen før pigernes lejr afsluttede. Hvilket bare føltes forkert, næsten som om vi bare vendte ryggen til dem. Kaptajn Michelle forsikrede os at det ikke var tilfældet, ud af alle de år de har fået SMT op på lejren, forsikrede hun os at vores hold var det tættest sammenknyttede og mest som en familie, og dermed havde kunnet hjælpe børnene bedre end tidligere hold. Øhm… tak J. Jeg havde accepteret at vi skulle af sted en dag tidligere, men de andre kæmpede alligevel for at kunne blive denne ekstra dag, og til sidst gav Chris Shay altså tilladelse til det, hvis vores næste destination også gjorde.

30-06-18

Et farvelgruppebillede

Madison did not get the okay from Melissa, since she is afraid we were going to be too tired for Monday, so we said our goodbyes to the girls. Captain Michelle took our official team photo, & her & Major Nate gave us all coasters as a parting gift, with the camp’s logo.

We did the final laundry at “Laundry World”, filled the gasoline tank to full, and then we set off on the I-90. We arrived at the hotel in Mason City at 11:20 pm, so nearly 12 hours after we left camp. When we arrived, we were told that there had been a mistake with the booking, only 2 rooms, one for the two girls, and one for all five boys. Wow. So now some of us has to sleep on the floor.

-          Til gudstjenesten den næste dag, ville Kaptajn Kenyon gerne fortælle himmeriget, og ville give folk en forsmag på nogle af de ting vi vil opleve når vi engang skal forlade Jorden. Blandt andet ved at have elementer i gudstjenesten, som bøn og bibellæsningen, på forskellige sprog. Sabine var blevet spurgt om hun kunne bede på dansk, men hun har aldrig været særlig tryg ved at bede højt, så hun skrev sin bøn ned i sin blok. Under bilturen mod Iowa, spurgte hun om hun kunne læse den højt for os på engelsk, så alle ville have en idé om hvad hun ville bede om, og som træning til at føle sig lidt mere tryg til når hun skulle bede til gudstjenesten. ”Dear Heavenly Father…” begyndte hun, og fortsatte. Da hun afsluttede sin bøn kom Jonathan og sagde: ”Yo, Was that Danish? I Understood all that, I can speak Danish now!” Vi knækkede alle af grin ”Øhmm… Jonathan… Det var altså på engelsk” Lol. Bare endnu én af de klassiske Jonathanismer. :D

01-07-18

Kenyon og Melissa inviterede os til hygge og grill hjemme hos dem

Slept on the floor last night, might even do it the rest of the week, IDK yet. Got into our uniforms and came to the corps where we met Captains Kenyon & Melissa, as well as their daughter Trinity. Sabine prayed in Danish, Sean in Swedish & Jonathan read scripture in Spanish, meanwhile the corps regulars did in English. It was “a small showcase of the many languages in Heaven” as Capt. Kenyon preached.

Back at the hotel we got changed, whilst the receptionist tried to fix the room situation with Expedia. The captains invited us to their home to hang out. We played “Codenames” & Watched “Remember the Titans”. Grilled burgers & hotdogs/bratwürsts for dinner. Back at the hotel, it was my turn to hold devo – after a whole week with only a single devo, by Sean, all through camp last week.

Hos kaptajnerne så vi Danmark >< Kroatien i VM

02-07-18

I det nye Ungdomscenter var der nogle ret majestætiske stole. En mulighed Madison ikke lod gå fra sig

Thirteen kids showed up today for VBS at the corps. Jonathan was responsible for the introduction and games today. Sean had the bible lesson (Transform not Conform), Madison had both craft and dancing & Austin closed off the VBS for today. There’ll be a prize to anyone who can memorize Romans 12; 9-10 before Friday, and captain Melissa promised an extra prize to the person that could bring/invite the most friends to VBS by Friday. Ooohhh, two prizes.

We were brought to the old Thrift Store to be converted into a Youth Centre, preferably before autumn, and started cleaning that up. We had two wagons full of clothes and other stuff often categorized as trash, and tossed it all in the dumpster. Sabine & Sean were both “attacked” by discarded furniture and they got to repay by smashing them with a, for a lack of better term, Sledge Axe.

Afterwards we went to Super Target, and bought some TV-dinners for the week, and went back to the hotel to chill out. Both Jonathan & Sean had forgotten their keycards and we had to get extra keys for them in the lobby. (facepalm)

Yeong-Haw demonstrerede at man stadig kunne bruge iturevet papir til at forme nye ting - her en flettet kurv

03-07-18

Køkkendamerne i Mason City Korps

We decided to meet at the lobby/breakfast table at 9:15 today instead of at 8:50. Sean & Sabine went for a “date”; as they themselves called it – don’t worry, Madison will pull some strings – to the visitor’s centre. Madison left a few minutes earlier to pick up kids with Captain Melissa.

For introduction Sabine had planned two activities: “Name bingo” & “Banke banke bøf”. Austin had the bible lesson today about the One Body, Many Members. I was in charge of the dance for today; we did it twice, and the second time we persuaded some of the kids to come up and dance with me in front of the rest.

For craft Sabine had us make our little felt ginger bread men, that we were supposed to cut out of the felt, but a few of the girls didn’t want theirs cut out, so we didn’t. Lunch was spaghetti & marinara meatballs, and then Sean was in charge of games, they played “Line Football”, similar to that “Steal the Bacon” game, only when your team member is called you have to play Football. At closing Madison handed out the Romans 12: 9-10 verses, attached to some M&M’s for them to help memorize the verses for Friday. Avery actually almost had the full thing memorized, only a few bits at the end tripped her up.

At the “Youth Centre”, we carried four doors outside to be cleaned, and we pulled out some dead grass and tossed it out, then we started to put up some of the walls for the new classrooms that are going to be there. We got to set up eight walls and two doors before we called it a day. Captain Kenyon mentioned how he was sceptical about the process at first – would it ever be done? – but now everyone could finally see some progress in the building, it is finally beginning to take shape as intended.

Madison skyllede de "nye" døre så Sabine kunne vaske dem med sæbe

Back at the hotel, Austin was ecstatic because his friend Tony was on his way. He lives in Iowa, and when he heard that Austin was in Iowa he decided to come visit him. Austin brought him to the room for a quick introduction, and then grabbed his guitar & left.

Yeong-Haw & I rested in our room, whilst the others went to some thrift stores. The captains had invited us out for some ice cream, and afterwards we went to their yard and played some games – Frisbee toss and Baggo. Kenyon tried to start a bonfire but the tiny twigs he found were burnt out in no time. At 9:30 pm the captains took us out to an open field in their neighbourhood to watch some fireworks show.

When we left, went to refill Bertha’s tank with some gasoline, and then we went to Walmart to get some Tie-dye so we could make some matching shirts for “Central Vibes”, which meant it was already 12:20 am when we came back to the hotel. That didn’t stop Yeong-Haw though, who still went to spend time with the others instead of going to sleep.

Hos Kenyon og Melissa. Spiller lidt "Baggo"

-          Denne dag var også dagen hvor jeg fejlede. Jeg ved ikke hvad der var skyld i det; kulturchok? Stress af at være blevet bedt om at gøre det samme tre gange indenfor 5 minutter? Hvad det inden var, så kan jeg kun komme med undskyldninger som forsøg på at skubbe skylden væk fra mig selv. Jeg blev overvældet af synd.

Efter at vi var blevet færdige med arbejdet i Ungdomscentret var Austin ellevild og udbrød sin glæde til den efterfølgende dag, 4th July. Jeg endte med at sige nogle ting som i bund og grund gjorde grin med dagen og amerikanernes hyldest af dagen…

Under aftenens fyrværkerishow begyndte jeg at skrive nogle tanker i min journal for at finde en årsag om hvorfor jeg reagerede som jeg gjorde, og da vi kom tilbage til hotellet satte jeg mig ned med Austin for at sige undskyld, og forklare alle de mulige årsager jeg kom frem til, men først og fremmest for at undskylde og sige at jeg ikke mente noget.

Det var et mørkt øjeblik under rejsen, og jeg fortryder fuldt ud alt jeg sagde i det øjeblik…

04-07-18 (Yesterday)

Kaptajner Kenyon og Melissa med lille Trinity

This was mostly a slow and inactive day. It became a free day off for us as there were no jobs to do on 4^th of July. So we, for the most part, just sat in our hotel rooms, waiting for the day to pass. The captains had to participate in a parade, but none of us participated. At noon Austin and I tried to visit a music store for him to pick up some new gear, but they were closed. TJMax didn’t have the vacuum bags I’d need for my luggage, and so we returned to the hotel empty handed. When the rest wanted to take a walk around town later, it started to pour down.

Fyrværkerishow nede ved havnen

Finally past 6 pm the captains picked us up for a common dinner at a Chinese buffet, and afterwards they took us to Clear Lake to see the fireworks show at the fair there. Back at the hotel we started to tie-dye our white shirts.

05-07-18 

En hvid due (med flammer) symboliserer Helligånden, der kommer med nådegaver til os

“Only” ten kids for VBS today, it seems the number of kids decreases daily, although we did have one new girl today. Yeong-Haw talked for the bible lesson, as a continuation of Austin’s teachings last time, about the spiritual gifts in Romans 12, he briefly mentioned that there were more in 1 Corinthians, for craft, which I was in charge of, we made white doves out of paper plates.

After VBS we split up in three groups – Sean, Jonathan & Sabine with Adam in the Youth Centre, Madison and Austin went to the Thrift store, and Yeong-Haw & I went to the Adult Day Care Centre. I was asked to play piano for the elders during their sing-along/devotional, and then we sang birthday song for Dave and had roulade, after which we played Baggo. One of the adults in there was a Guatemalan woman, Wendy, who became very infatuated with me, gave me two hugs, and she could be pretty sassy. She preferred not to talk in English, but she understands it. After just two rounds of Baggo, Captain Kenyon passed by and asked one of us to help him for a bit. I volunteered and had to help him drive two children home, Lilyana and Timothy. Lilyana thought that I pronounced her name in a special way, and said she actually like that way.

When we returned to the Adult Care Centre, half of them were gone, and they were just waiting for the bus for the remaining ones. When they were picked up, Yeong & I went to the thrift store to help there. Not much to do though, just sorting some things here & there. We were given a box of toys to place on the shelves – Madison & Austin were veering some masks, bobbing their heads to the sounds of the toys. On our way out we bought “Coyote Ugly” for Sabine, who wants that to be the next movie watched. We spent the evening with Kenyon & Melissa at their house.

Sidste gang vi besøgte "Ungdomcentret"

06-07-18

Madison løb rundt med kameraet her til morgen

Final day of VBS here in Mason City. I was in charge of intro/icebreaker, so we played Stopball. Jonathan did today’s bible lesson about creation & the gospel. Sean had craft, and Yeong-Haw held a little competition to see which of two teams remembered the dance the best. After VBS we were all at the thrift store to do various sorting tasks.

We gave Adam one of our spare white shirts, and he took our group photo in front of the corps. Ruth took an extra group photo at the thrift store. Dinner & games at the Sibell’s again tonight, they really do act like everyday normal people inviting great friends over. Lastly Kenyon lit a bonfire for us to sit around in the dark. Also they let us do our laundry in their house.

I packed most of my stuff before going to bed, even though we don’t leave tomorrow until noonish.

Vi havde egentlig aftalt tilbage i St. Paul at hvem vi end møste i Mason City skulle have resterne af vores gaver - Hvad spændende kunne der være i Iowa? - men alle her var fantastiske mennesker, og især tak til Kenyon og Melissa for at have, bogstaveligt, inviteret os ind i deres hjem. Så da vi skulle finde gaver til Mason City skrabede vi hvad ekstra vi kunne finde sammen og forærede dem det.

07 & 08-07-18

Pakker på hotellet i Hoffman Estates, henimod klokken 01

We left the hotel at noonish, and even though we only stopped once for gasoline & no lunch, it was an overall calm drive. (East) Iowa & (West) Illinois are so much more interesting to look at when driving than South Dakota is. We emptied as much out of Bertha as we could before we left for THQ for a briefing with Chris. There’s a carnival just outside THQ?!!

We stayed up during the night to pack everything before we left for the airport at 02:30 am our flight was at 5:36 am. We boarded on time, I fell asleep for a bit, when I woke up we were still not airborne . Turns out that there was a problem with the aircraft’s computer communication, and everyone had to disembark. Whilst they found a new plane to carry all 150 odd passengers, the flight from Miami to Eleuthera departed, so we were stuck in Miami – maybe all the was to Tuesday (the 10^th).

Elines (*Clap*EL-LY *Clap*), Amanda & Chris have all joined Central Vibes as “ringers” – partners/buddies – for this final stage of the SMT-summer.

Chris tog et gruppebillede af os alle. Fra V:
Amanda, Madison, Elly, Sabine, Yeong-Haw, Sean, Daniel, Jonathan, Austin

09-07-18

Vi oplever solen gå ned over Miami lufthavn for anden dag i træk

Chris escorted Amanda to the hospital to see a doctor about her kidney stone, meanwhile the eight of us went to the airport to see if we could get seats for today. We were given boarding passes so we could get on board if they had the seats, we sprinted through airport security, and all the way to the gate, but they only had two sets available, so we’ll stay an extra day in Miami.

After approximately 5 hours in the airport we could finally get room reservations at the hotel & our boarding passes pre-printed out for tomorrow. We had dinner at the restaurant on the 9^th floor, and had one of the waiters take a group photo of the nine of us. Yes, NINE. Amanda apparently had multiple kidney stones, and therefor had to fly home due to too much pain. Fare thee well Amanda, it was a way too short of an acquaintance.

Jeg er blevet spurgt et par gange om det virkelig kunne passe at vi var fanget i selve lufthavnen. Selvfølgelig sørgede flyselskabet for at vi kom på hotel, men vi var gennem Airport Security om morgenen før vi kunne få afslag. Her tager Madison en middagslur ved Gate D37, hvor informationsskranken holdt til. De kunne ikke behandle vores sag og sørge for nye hotelreservationer før kl. 14, så vi sad fra kl. 10:30 (da vi fik afslag om at komme med på flyet) til eftermiddagen i lufthavnen.
PS. Hvis du vil have Starbucks, kan det findes ved Gates D10 og D31

10-07-18

Efter at have spist på restauranten tog Chris et nyt gruppebillede.
Jeg følte mig inspireret af Tilbage til Fremtiden, og løftede let mine solbriller som homage

We finally got on the plane to Eleuthera. I got to sit next to the window at seat 3A. Our luggage seems to have been sent yesterday, so we found them in the Customs & Immigration building waiting for us. Amanda’s suitcase was there too…

All our luggage was placed on the back of a Ford pick-up truck, and we were picked up in a Jitney (bus), and the drive to Atlantic Suites was around an hour long, and we were given five minutes for photos of both the Atlantic and the Caribbean seas where Eleuthera island was the slimmest.

The girls sleep downstairs in a room that is smaller than the boys’ room upstairs, but there is only AC in the bedroom & that is not enough to cool down the entire flat, so the others are complaining about the heat. We took a trip to the beach, Sean and I were the only ones who didn’t swim, though we did go out and stepped in the water. Some of the waves were extra high and my clothes got soaked – I can still taste the salt water – phew!

We had dinner at the restaurant of the neighbouring hotel, and it was a bodaciously delicious meal. Jonathan came up with a new slogan (Jonathanism). His feet accidently touched Madison’s leg, and she doesn’t like feet so she refused to speak to him or even look at Jonathan during the dinner, as he haphazardly attempted to come up with different ways to apologize until she accepted one. He got up to walk over to her, to look her in the eyes, I jokingly told him to get down on his knees in front of her, and I believe he actually would have done that, if Madison didn’t stop him from coming around the table. “I’m looking at you okay! I’m looking, I’m looking!” Jonathan sat down again, took her hands in his and said: “Madison, look at how calm the sea is. Just like that, I want my love to flow into you.” The whole table cracked up at that. Oh Jonathan, please don’t ever change. J

At team meeting we made a schedule for the rest of the week, then Austin, Sean & I went upstairs to watch a Football-movie, when suddenly, out of the corner of our eyes, we all saw a dark shadow flow across the kitchen floor. A rat? Maybe? The hunt has begun!!!

Eleutheras berømte "pink" sandstrande.

-          Det var en øgle af en art som havde fundet en vej ind i lejligheden, så det var ikke noget at være bange for i det store og hele. Da jeg skrev at jagten var gået i gang, var det en lille henvisning til hvordan både Sean og Austin gik ud i køkkenet og fandt store køkkenknive som brug til at spidde dette indvaderende kreatur hvis de fandt det.

11-07-18

VBS started today, at first it was a little slow with the number of kids, but it grew steadily to the mid-thirties – I counted 37 at one time. Sure by kids, I mean people who were registered and paid for the day, as there were a couple of fourteen to sixteen year olds, who can hardly be considered kids in the same vein as three year olds.

We split them in three groups; and rotated them around us. Sabine and I had games, Yeong-Haw & Jonathan had the bible lesson and Madison was in charge of craft. Sean and Astin, I think, were helping wherever needed. Elly mostly helped Chris out with the administrative side of things, but she did go around to take a few photos. After we were done, we had ten minutes to change, and Chris took us to the “south side”-beach, where we’ll take them after VBS tomorrow, so we could get accustomed to the waters, before we go there. Afterwards, some of us stayed in our rooms, whilst the others were at the other beach where we were yesterday.

We had dinner in the girls’ room – Mac & Cheese, Crisps and Beef Jerkey. Quite a fancy dinner compared to yesterday. We played a card game (Five Crowns) about getting rid of all your cards.

Madison instruerer i Sommerfulgen

12-07-18

Chris og Elly stod for registreringen af børn når de ankom

“I just saw a majestic beast pass by.” – Yeong-Haw, when Jonathan came out from the shower. Speaking of Papí Jr. he decided to sleep in the bed next to Austin last night.

VBS came and went without problems. Sabine and I did the gingerbread man – for the older teens we had them make persons out of popsicle sticks, and for the youngest Sabine made balloon animals. After VBS, we went to the beach with all the young folks, and saw some tornado-looking water pumps over the horizon. Nothing to worry about, but when we saw a giant lightning flash across the sky, we pulled everyone out of the water and brought them back to the corps. The water was much higher than yesterday. We then went to Governor’s Harbour to look for souvenirs, but aside from T-shirts or coffee mugs, there really wasn’t anything.

Jeg kan godt lide kontrasten i dette billede:
Fra lys til mørk. En lav bølge til en stor. Tre personer (liv) til tomhed.
Midt i det hele er der så lidt rødt fra solnedgangen for at give lidt mere farve,

13-07-18

Venter pænt på at komme i gang med VBS

My turn for Bible lesson today. Sabine had switched places with Yeong, so he would be with me, and she would do miscellaneous with Jonathan. The topic of today’s lesson was Spiritual Gifts, so for the older groups, we had them take the simple 28 question survey on spiritual gifts. For the youngest group I told the story of Jesus and Peter walking on water, and told of how similar in function Peter’s incredible feat was to our spiritual gifts, when he was focused on Jesus he could do anything, but as soon as he got distracted he lost his faith.

We went back to Governor’s Harbour today, and visited the other main gift shop. Here were a few goodies. Dinner was pizza, yay -_- , with ice cream for dessert. Back again we had our team meeting and decided roles for anyone for the church sermon on Sunday. We also made goodie bags for the kids tomorrow.

Elly var fantastisk til at arbejde med børn. Hun var så sandeligt en himmelsendt hjælp

14-07-18

Taget i betragtning at jeg kun havde taget én selfie i mit liv før denne rejse, og at man ikke kunne se hvad man lavede, synes jeg selv at jeg blev ret ferm til at tage selfies over sommeren.

Quite a fewer number of participants today. Jonathan has had a rough day yesterday, and he was still not up to full this morning, so Chris took him to the clinic, and he was brought back to the hotel to rest up. Fewer kids meant that there was no miscellaneous group and so Sabine & I became floaters who helped out where needed. At first I was with Yeong-Haw, whom was now alone in craft, but then suddenly Sabine came barging in as she was now alone to play with the youngest children, so I had to help her & Elly do games. When it came time for the middle aged kids it started to pour down all at once now, and I had to help Elly bring a cooler filled with water balloons in some cooled aqua up from the quarters, so I got soaked. Lunch was Ham (& cheese) sandwiches, so I actually got to eat lunch today – Yay \o/. Afterwards was the beach – I didn’t go further than just below the knees today – and since the water was very high today, that means I only stepped three steps out.

Our Corps sergeants had invited all helpers throughout the week for a giant dinner, with cake for dessert, that we brought back to the hotel in Burger Boxes to eat later. Elly had devo tonight, and she wanted us to write a little something about everyone, like we did at St. Paul. So sweet (cry smiley).

Sabine, Madison og Chris poserede med et par af børnene, mens vi ventede på at resten ankom

-          Tidligere dage havde vi til frokost fået tunsandwiches hvorfor jeg ikke fik frokost de dage.

15-07-18

Chris tog et stort fællesfoto med forsamlingen. Jeg tog også et hvor hun var på billedet.

Our last day here at Eleuthera, Bahamas. Tho think I would get to see this tropical paradise in person. I still have a hard time believing in it. The wonderful lush colours on the various trees, the joyful smiles of every inhabitant who crosses our path waving at us, even though we are total strangers. Everyone has been so nice to us, and accepted us into their little community. Andrew, Greg, Sergeants Joseph and Frida, and all the others, this short week has left as big a mark on me, as we as a group has, hopefully, left on your community. May God forever bestow his Grace on this Island.

We led church today. Chris had welcome, Madison, Elly & Austin held testimonies, Sabine & Yeong-Haw held prayers, Sean did Scripture reading – or Scripture recital as it was Romans 12; 9-10 – Jonathan held the sermon. As for me, I led the SMT-dance & played piano, with Austin accompanying on guitar,  as we, or mainly me I guess, sang “What a Beautiful Name”. We said our goodbye and Chris took us, sans Austin, to a different beach, so we got to see a little more of this wonderful island. “Ten Bay” was the name.

For dinner we had a mismatch of whatever was left over. Chris had devotional tonight, and instead of doing highs and lows, she wanted us to think of the moment of this week that has stood out to us the most. I feel like my moment was telling the “walking on water” story for the little kids – it really felt like I had free reins to do whatever I wanted and felt like. Afterwards some of us did have a few words to share, & I finally gave the team the fridge magnets I brought from home – Madison did get hers on her birthday last month. Chris took one too, so Sabine & Elly didn’t get one. I’m sorry – I didn’t know we would be nine in the Bahamas.    ,-_-,

Et sidste, officielt, farvel til North Palmetto Point, Eleuthera, Bahamas

16 & 17-07-18 (Yesterday)

Så gør vi sår'n når vi vasker vort tøj

In the morning, I went down to the girls’ room and gave Elly my homemade pipe cleaner Dannebrog so she too could get a Danish souvenir. We didn’t get to stop at the post office for Sabine, but I think they left the postcards with Corps Sergeant Major Jospeh to send them once we were on our way. Back in MIA, and what a surprise our flight is delayed, so we are staying here at our dear “home” a little while longer.

Da vi kom tilbage til THQ, tog vi et gruppebillede i samme stil som vores første

Finally back in the Chicago area, Viki picked half of us up in CAST’s van, whilst Kristin picked up the rest in Big Bertha. The next day we did a major team laundry, before going to THQ to sort out the team suitcases, and for Madison to work the team money with Chris. We put back the missing seats for both vans, and then we headed for dinner at “Noodle Company”, a new place we haven’t tried. Hmm… How does this menu work? “Choose with meat or Tofu”? What does tha…OMG!! They have Japanese noodles? UDON Noodles!? This is the best place ever!!! やった!!

Intet under at de ikke havde plads på flyet fra Miami til Eleuthera tidligere.

18-07-18

Pariserhjulet i Chicago - Centennial Wheel - tager officielle gruppebilleder, gratis, for besøgende

Chris & Kristin took us to Metropolitan Chicago today. We wanted to avoid traffic but still hit some both ways, though it was manageable. On the way there Kristin asked Sabine and I what we knew about Chicago. Me, I knew: Tall buildings – Sears Tower, Chicago Bears/Cubs, Great Chicago Fire (1871 according to Chris), and that the city lies somewhere in the middle of the US.

We couldn’t really find a parking spot so Chris stayed in the van, driving around whilst Kristin showed us Millennium Park, took our group photo in front of “The Bean”, and a fountain/weeping mural. Afterwards we went to a parking lot by the coast and had a ride on the “Centennial Wheel” Ferris wheel with a nice view of the skyline & the Great Lake Michigan. Back in Hoffman Estates we did a little shopping spree – I got a few souvenirs and a new 3-piece suitcase, that can hold all my stuff.

Wrigly Square i Millennium Park. Vi blev ikke vist dette ellers flotte monument,
men gik bare forbi det, så jeg måtte tage billedet i farten

19-07-18

I gang med at hjælpe med at sætte op i Teen Track.
Lederen Barbara så jeg havde kameraet fremme, og poserede så

Today we were escorted by Kristin to Camp Wonderland for CBLI (Central Bible Leadership Institute). Whilst waiting for the other teams to arrive we were sent to the lodge where we helped to set up for the nursery & the 2-3 as well as 4-5 year olds. In the middle of work we were called to help set up the teen track or something, building a stage, setting up prayer room and games outside.

When all teams were here we went to “Famous Dave’s” for the big SMT-Dinner. Afterwards it was just hang-out-together time before going to sleep. Stephen from Team Japan handed out various different Japanese snacks. どもありがとう.

Hytten Spruce hvor alle SMT-fyrene skulle sove.

Team Japan havde ikke nået at bosætte sig på lejren endnu, inden at vi tog til restauranten, så vi hjalp dem derefter med at bære deres bagage til deres hytte. Jeg spurgte for sjovt om "楽しかったですか" (Har det været godt/sjovt?) og bag mig hørte jeg så "え? 日本語を話してるか?" (Du taler japansk?). Det var så kaptajn Chris som lige var vendhjemt til USA efter 7 års tjeneste i Japan. "少し話せます" (Jeg kan snakke en smule japansk) "スプルースはどこですか?" (Kan du vise mig i retning af Spruce?) "あそこに" (Derovre) "それはスプルースか" (Er den bygning Spruce?) "いいえ、ええと、あとで" (Nej, øhmm, på den anden side) "はい、ありがとう" (Jeg forstår, tak). Det var første gang i fire år at jeg rigtigt fik udfordret mit japanske, og måtte så prøve at finde de rigtige ord frem fra gemakkerne. Men god repitition.

20-07-18

Mens Jake og jeg hjalp med at hænge de sorte gardiner op, arbejdede Shannon på at klistre et gulvtæppe fast

Camp doesn’t start until tomorrow, so today was an overall quiet day. Last night at dinner we were all given a schedule for the whole camp, and this morning I, with Jake & Shannon for Team Sportugal, were helping set up the Jr. High track at Ottawa Gym – on the opposite side of camp.

After lunch I haven’t had anything to do. At 7 pm we could finally be registered and then some went out to watch Incredibles 2 whilst others played the card game “Avalan/Resistance” – another variant of Mafia. We also caught a little up with each others’ summer travels throughout the day.

Venter på at der åbnes til morgenmad. Kaptajn Chris, Mai Khou, Lindsey,
Austin, Jonathan, Stephen, José, Edward, Jake og Sam

21-07-18

Mens turneringen foregik hyggede resten af SMT sig.
Fra V: Liam, José Kaylee, Stephen og Edward

Another mostly quiet day. All SMT’s (minus Costa Rica, as they had more work yesterday than the rest of us) were to help out with the registration process, so we split into two ten man teams. After dinner José tried to wrestle with me, but he was unable to really move me, so when I lifted him up and carried him to a bed, I just sat on him and he couldn’t move so after a minute or two of tiring himself out he finally yielded.

At 7:15 pm we had the camp’s opening congregation. The sermon was based on James 1: 19-21. “Always be quick to listen and slow to speak”, those were the main points and the words we should remember. For Afterglow there was a 4 Square tournament and Andrew (Costa Rica) won the tournament. In the cabin José tried once again, and this time there was an audience who recorded his humiliation.

Mere hygge. Lauren, Rebecca, Abigail, Edward, Madison, José, Stephen,
Lindsay, Jonathan, Caleb*, Mai Khou, Kelsey, Sabine & Sean

* Caleb var ikke en del af SMT i år, men han er venner med mange der var. Han spillede bas i lovsangsbandet på lejren.

22-07-18

Camp has started, but I still ended up with a 4 hour long break-time spent lying in bed listening to music.

For church in the Chapel, I thought it had been random SMT’ers chosen to be Ushers doing the offering, but it was just Central Vibes doing it. From lunch to dinner was only free time – really exciting… After dinner SMT had a debriefing, which we will have all days of camp, to help us readjust to the normal daily lives we shall return to next Sunday (or Monday, for me and Sabine).

Tonight the Young Adult track had a prayer night, all dedicated to receiving the Holy Spirit, & repent for the sins the Holy Spirit has told us tonight. Lord Forgive us, have Mercy.

23-07-18

Vores kartonbåd holdt sig flydende, men det lykkedes den ikke at sejle særlig hurtigt

Today’s morning worship was the first lecture on “Peace” by Fulton Hawk, talking about the vice of “Pride” vs the virtue of “Humiliation”. Reading through Scripture it is very clear that God hates pride in humans. So what when we are proud of our kids, is that really because we are proud of the way that we OURSELVES have raised our kids? In our small groups discussion we reflected on the lesson. I am in a group with Justin (Japan), so I followed him up to our group.

For SMT-Debriefing we had to draw a word that we felt God had made a change in us. Afterwards there was a concert with “Joseph Solomon”. For Afterglow we were in our small groups to make cardboard boats and had them race in the pool. At free time I had a lovely, long, conversation with Lauren (Costa Rica) at the docks, but all evening she kept bugging me about going in the pool with her. It really annoyed me, which is a shame after that lovely talk earlier.

24-07-18

This morning Fulton talked about Entitlement and Gratitude. “I deserve more” and as such, I forget to show gratitude for what I already have. For Leadership Soapbox we were asked the question “who are the violently unloved where you will go back to after camp, and what do you intend to do about their situation?”

During Free time Edward (Sportugal) & I went to search for David Tooley who is to do our individual SMT-Interviews. At SMT-Debriefing each team had to look over their covenant from the beginning of summer and reflect over how well they followed it.

Afterglow was a Kubb/Viking Game tournament, end Eric Himes wanted as many national anthems as possible. Okay, I sang for Denmark, Japan, Sweden and Germany. Others presented were US – of course – with sign language, Korean, Bahamian, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (Black National Anthem), Chile and Mexico. I was on a team with Jonathan and Mai Khou. We won four matches and made it to the final. I’m quite content with that. J

-          Jeg mødte en kvinde, Victoria, som gik i Young Adult Track, selvom hun var over de 30 og faktisk burde høre til Adult Track. Hun spurgte om hvor jeg var fra: Danmark. Er det første gang du er i USA? Ja. Hvor længe har du været her? Lidt over 7 uger. Er du så klar til at bo her i USA? Øhhh…

Jeg syntes det var lidt af et stort spring i spørgsmål. Det var de samme spørgsmål jeg havde svaret på 50+ gange i løbet af sommeren, men så pludselig: ”Er du klar til at sige farvel til alt du holder af derhjemme for at komme og bo i det bedre land?”

Det var ikke ment på den måde, hun spurgte uskyldigt et spørgsmål som kunne interessere hende; men det føltes virkelig som et angreb på min identitet som dansker. Men inden jeg begyndte at blive vred følte jeg en stemme der sagde: ”Du gjorde grin med deres nationaldag, og du har forsøgt at angre og søge tilgivelse, men kan du selv tilgive andre når de sårer dig?” Jeg forsøgte derfor at komme på den mest respektfulde måde at svare nej på. ”Øhm, hvis du spørger mig om jeg er klar til at give afkald på min familie og mine venner for at starte et helt nyt liv op i et land jeg kun har besøgt som turist i 7 uger, så er jeg desværre ikke rede til det, hvis du forstår.” ”Ja, det kan jeg godt forstå. Måske en dag. Hyggeligt at møde dig Daniel.” 

25-07-18

Fulton’s topic this morning was “Greed & Generosity”. What constitutes as greed? Is having a hobby as a collector being greedy? After Bible we got in line to order a shirt or cap with an airbrush design of our own wanting. I got a cap with a paraphrased version of Philippians 2; 1-2.

Family Day – or “Community Day”, as it was also called – was like a small fair. Little shops were set up outside the offices beneath the chapel, archery and boat rides were open, and the grass field was full of various games like Baggo, Horseshoe toss, Connect 4 and Django (Klodsmajor). Dinner was out in the field today, and then we packed everything away before “Xtreme Obedience” – a dog show with Christian messages – in the Chapel. I was almost put to sleep of boredom, and had to go back to the cabin, as fireworks were fired off down by the lake. I washed my Tie-dye shirt in the bathroom sink, but it’s still seeping colours…

26-07-18

Morning’s study subject was “Fear & Faith”. At Leadership Soapbox, the main topic/discussion was inspired by a question from Tuesday’s Soapbox: How should we – The Salvation Army – as Christians deal with the LGBTQ-community? The official IHQ statement on it says “It’s okay to be attracted to someone of the same gender, but sexual conduct is against Scripture, and should therefore live a life of celibacy.” But that statement hasn’t been updated since 2002. Hebrews talk about how the old law of Moses was a failure, and all that matters is the word Jesus – that is, love EVERYONE, including people who are homosexuals.

Both Edward and I went to do our individual SMT-interviews today, but David Tooley was a no-show. We have until tomorrow to do it… :s For SMT-Debriefing we had to write down some goals for the foreseeable future, that we’ll work on to accomplish. Oh yeah, I won a “Lucky Seats” this morning and gave the gift basket as SMT-snacks.

Then there was the Afterglow, the “No-Talent show”. I was sooo confused as to what was happening. So you bring/hire someone as a “Hype man” to hype the crowd up for your introduction, and then you try to be as awkwardly atrocious as possible. Kris & Joel (Both from my small group) won second and first place respectively. Joel is tall, and literally won bending over touching his own feet.

27-07-18

Nogle gange har man brug for en at kilde, hva' José?

Anger and Forgiveness was the subject of this morning’s Bible lesson. Fulton brought up Matt. 6; 14-15 which I usually quote whenever I quote the Lord’s Prayer. If we don’t forgive those who wronged us then God won’t forgive us either.

David approached me & Edward at lunch to set up a meeting time, but when time came he was gone again, to the hospital this time. On the plus side Team CAST arrived today, good to see them all again, and glad that Erin is fine, and up and running after her panic attack earlier in the summer.

Tonight was SMT-Night, I was part of the Scripture recital: verses 7-9 (good thing I had just learned 6-8 a few days earlier, huh). It was wonderful to see a little of the life experiences everyone had during the summer. Team 日本 ended the service with a thought provoking presentation よかったです. Final prayer -> Group photos -> selfies. You know the drill.

28-07-18

Final Bible study of camp was about Laziness vs Discipline. In the small group I told the story of me learning to play the guitar as an example of 8 years of laziness crushed by 2 months of discipline, it really is that powerful.

For SMT-Debriefing we all shared one major thing God taught us this summer. Afterwards I had a small talk with Viki about the Grant and how I didn’t feel like I’ll ever need that amount of money, so maybe it could be donated to Eleuthera and the Guatemalan Library project. She was moved to tears by my suggestion – I don’t need them, so why not give them to someone who does?

Edward and I finally got our interviews with David today. It was award night for tonight’s meeting. I’ve been packing for tomorrow, ready to go to sleep, and then suddenly five “Jyde”-size family pizzas are brought to the cabin. It’s gonna smell of Pizza tonight… X-(

Den sidste dag fik jeg åbenbart ikke skrevet ned hvad foregik, men i det store og hele var der nok ikke så meget andet der egentligt skete. Hvad jeg skriver nu er jo foregået for en hel måned siden.

Farvel Erin :)

Vi havde en Farvelgudstjeneste på lejren, og så sagde vi de sidste par farveller til alle de venner vi havde skabt over sommeren, og lejren her. Sabine lånte lidt rum i mine nye kufferter så hendes ikke kom til at overskride vægtgrænsen, og vi sagde farvel til Erin som den sidste på lejren, og mit sidste billede med kameraet var en selfie med hende og Sabine. Nu da jeg taler om Erin, jeg ved ikke hvor’n det begyndte, men hver gang vi så hinanden lavede vi nogle mærkelige ansigtsudtryk og kæmpe armfaktor, så skøre var vi de få gange vi var sammen. Viki kørte os til middag på en Diner hvor jeg fik en steak og Sabine fik en milkshake. Det sidste hun viste os inden hun kørte os til lufthavnen var et nyt storcenter vi ikke havde besøgt. I lufthavnen skulle vi selvfølgelig lige have et sidste billede med hende, som hun kunne bruge til at give en statusopdatering. Så var det et farvel til USA, og hallo til Europa igen. I mellemlandingen i Zürich kunne jeg mærke at jeg mentalt ikke havde forladt USA endnu, da jeg syntes jeg så flere af vores SMT-venner gå rundt i lufthavnen. Jeg faldt i søvn ved gaten mens vi ventede på flyet, Sabine beskrev mig som en zombie, så jeg har været helt slået ud. I lufthavnen i Kastrup ventede vores familier på os, såvel som Anne der ville hilse os og sikre at vi var kommet sikkert hjem. Anne sagde farvel til os i lufthavnen i begyndelsen af vores rejse mens Viki samlede os op i Chicago, og her på rejsen afslutning sagde Viki farvel til os i lufthavnen mens Anne var der for at møde os da vi kom hjem. Det kan man da kalde en ramme over vores rejse.

-          Daniel