8 bags of Christmas

I spent much of my day surrounded by what you see pictured on the left. Matthias and Anita suggested that something I could do while I was here would be to buy a "tour ticket" for 40 CHF (about $25 - this is a good deal seeing as the train ticket I had to buy from Geneva to Bern and will have to buy again when I fly to Edinburgh on Saturday [this might be the first time on this trip I don't want to leave where I am!] was 51 CHF!) and take a train tour of Switzerland. This ticket is good for any train anywhere in Switzerland, any bus in any city in Switzerland and even, as I'll find out on Wednesday, BOATS! Matthias outlined some routes I could take, and Anita suggested some towns for me to tour so today, around 9:30 I left Bern for Domodossola (via Brig) - Domodossola is actually in ITLAY! There were several stops the train made between Domodossola and Lucarno that were flying the Italian flag! From Domodossola, I went to Lucarno - which is the (very) Italian part of Switzerland - and hopped a bus to Ascona, which was my favorite part of this whole day. I sat by Lake Maggiore for a long while, reading (this book, "TrueFaced" is absolutely incredible...it's about trusting God - for REAL), felt moved to pray, and genuinely felt some sort of lifting of the otherwise relentless "issues" I've got going on. And, I really felt like I was in Italy - I LOVED it!
I got a bit lost/was unable to find the bus back to Locarno (which is where I needed to catch a train to Zu(e)rich via Bellinzona, so I didn't get to Zu(e)rich until about 9pm, which wasn't enough time for me to really see the city and explore (especially since the train ride back to Bern is about an hour). It's ok though, because I've got a ticket for Wednesday where I will travel through a different part of the country - and get to take some BOATS according to Matthias and Anita; I'll probably go to Zu(e)rich, too, since I'll be in the area (and how many times does one get to go to Switzerland?). Train riding is very good time for....well, lots of time. And, if you're in a country like Switzerland, you can't help but praise God for the glory (read: goodness) of the wonders wrought by His hand. I mean, every view was like opening a Christmas present - I'm grateful for this earth, and am grateful for being able to feel gratitude for it, too, instead of taking the extravegent beauty created for us to enjoy along with God for granted.

(I also learned that Swiss women didn't get the right to vote until 1971 and was told by an Englishman (as in, someone who's first language is English) that I spoke very fast) :-P.

Gnade: The Other Scale

Today, the Stu(e)rmer's and I left around 10:30 to go to a baptism of a beautiful little girl, Enya. It was a Catholic ceremony that lasted about two hours, all in Swiss German. I understood only the slightest bit because of the movements and motions from people, and possibly a bit from the Holy Spirit. Then, we all went to the little girl's family's house for a wonderful barbeque and I got to talk American politics, political geography, US mentality and Swiss government with an Englishman, a Swiss man (the father of the girl), and a Licktenstein (spelled like I would pronounce it) man. I learned a lot about who people from England consider British (as in, NOT Northern Irish people), how the Swiss government works (as the English guy said, "Most things in Swiss are forbidden. If it's not forbidden, it's obligatory") and what people think of Americans ("blissfully unaware, but we can understand how it's not REALLY their fault").
Then, we went to the Bern Vineyard, which is the largest church in Bern (with over 1,000 people; they have three services every Sunday). Worship was in German, sermon was in German and announce - ments were in German, but there was English translation. I ran into the two guys from Bern I met in Dublin at the Dublin Vineyard last month! I also got connected with a girl who is going to take me to a group doing some social and community service in Bern on Tuesday. During worship, I felt such a sense of peace - peace and faith like I'd never felt before in my life. The sermon was incredible, too. It was all about grace: It is hard to define grace, but one we can go about it is to imagine a world without grace. I immediately had the thought that "the world" wouldn't exist because LIFE at all is grace and grace is LIFE. Then, he went on to talk about how if we see absolutely everything in our lives as grace we will not grasp, we will not hurt as much and we will be....FREE. The world does not owe us anything, life does not owe us anything, we didn't ask to be here...and those are some different scales by which to measure life, ja? He compared it to forgiveness and gave the best definition of forgiveness I've ever heard: "Forgiveness is trusting God."
I am learning "release" here - things don't happen on my watch, but they still happen. Matthias takes care of me and his family and it doesn't need to happen any faster than it is happening. People here in general are SO laid back, and they are true to their word. Just because something doesn't happen right away doesn't mean it won't happen. I'm getting it, Lord: "Megan, relax."
Oh, and the CD that the Bern Vineyard gave me has my favorite song on it - I have been unable to find it ever since I heard it about two years ago at my Vineyard (we haven't sung it since)....as the first song.

...Creator God He is Yahweh
Lord of all He is Yahweh
Three in One He is Yahweh...

Danke, Herr Jesus, fu(e)r gnade.

Now, we are watching a movie in English with German subtitles - "The Bank Job" (previews in German). "We" as in the adults. :-). With wine and popcorn. Fellowship is AWESOME.
Speaking of adults, I LOVE Anita. She is a petite, gorgeous Swiss lady who is so soft, so sweet and actually kinda spunky, too. Her and Matthias are so gentle with their kids, singing when they cry and are upset, laughing when they laugh, tickling to have fun - I've never heard them once their voices at either of them. Matthias says, "Our kids learn to forgive each other early. You forgive your kids early, too. And then, the day begins." That and how he treats his wife reveals something of the deep-heart of God to me. God bless Matthias and his beautiful family.

(P.S. Sorry about the picture quality - they were taken on the run a bit...mostly because I forgot for a second that I was traveler and not just at home...).

En Lacheln in the City of Bern

So, for my first full day in Switzerland, it rained until about noon. Not "rain" like Seattle rain, rain like torrential downpour. So, the Vineyard Festival they were going to have today has been moved to next week - sad day since this time next week, I will be in Edinburgh (so not really "sad"). But, Matthias, his oldest son Lionel (pronounced Lee-oh-NELL), who is about three, walked around the city of Bern, a farmer's market, and an African festival where we got some wonderful African food. Everything in Switzerland is really expensive, so it's a good thing the Swiss Franc is not as strong against the dollar right now. I learned that Switzerland still uses Swiss Francs (CHF) because they are not part of the EU. The reason, at least according to Matthias - who is really involved in political lobbying and other really awesome stuff - this incredibly diplomatic nation is not part of the EU is because, although it would be a good political move, it would not be a good financial move. Switzerland is a very wealthy country and would probably end up supporting a lot of Europe that isn't as well off...
We walked around the city centre of Bern and found an African music troop - 3 guys and two gals in awesome costumes in a little niche between a few shops in this really outdoor mall. Their music actually made me cry a little bit (I've always really enjoyed African music) but then, they began to sing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" and I realized that the reason I was crying was because this was worship music. We stayed and listened to about 4 songs - Matthias was ready to go, but Lionel wanted to stay!
We also saw a guy whose English gave him away as "American" (technically, it's can be offense to say you're from "America" and assume that everyone knows that that means "the US" because Canadians, Mexicans, Costa Ricans, Brazilians, Chileans, etc. can all say they are Americans but, unfortunately, if you say you're from America, everyone will assume you mean the United States). He did speak some Swiss German, but his English accent was the same as mine. He was playing the guitar, making balloons for children and making marianettes perform to his own music (it was rather amazing). Actually, this guy sort of made me cry, too. I could tell that he REALLY loved what he was doing - and that went beyond "street performing"; he loved interacting with people. He would tell stories while he was making the balloons, mostly in English - I laughed a lot because he was really funny; I'm not sure how many people understood him. He did speak to the kids in Swiss German, though, as he was making balloons for them. At one point, Lionel goes up to him because he wanted a balloon, and, after the guy shaped into a parrot, he asked him what it was; Lionel said, "A balloon" (in Swiss German, balloon = balon). He would ask the kids for a smile before he made a balloon: "En lacheln normal es en balon; en lacheln largente (Sp?) es man balon!" (A normal smile is a normal balloon, a brilliant smile is a better balloon! - One girl gave a smile that caught in my chest, and she got two balloons twisted into a huge daisy flower!). The sign on his guitar case translated into "A smile makes the world go 'round." That's when I realized that that is one thing I could definitely do more of on my trip!
Then, after dinner (Anita is SUCH a good cook and the round-the-table fellowship is something my heart deeply desires: they offered wine and really good food and they even sang grace in English (for me)!), Anita and I went out to the once-a-year(!) street music festival in Bern (that didn't start until after 8:30 - which is very different from all the other countries I've been. Usually, things don't wait so late to start...). She said, "A Female Evening for us out and a male evening for them in!" I nearly cried - female fellowship is something I've been largely without. We walked around, saw performers, bands, people balancing rocks (which really was quite incredible)
This place feels SO different than Northern Ireland, it's hard to describe, but I am really a lot happier here. I'm not sure if it's just because I'm staying with a Christian family or what. This family is incredible - Matthias is SUCH a good man - gentle, patient father, loving, devoted husband, caring, considerate friend, lavish host (he's coming up with all these incredible things for me to do and people to do them with!). Anita doesn't speak as much English and their children do not speak any English at all (their youngest - Kai (like "sky" without the S") is only one and a half so he doesn't really speak and I definitely feel like I'm about on his level!), so it's a good brain stretcher to learn how to communicate nonverbally (especially since "verbal" is where my strength is). It's not like Amsterdam where everyone speaks English, either - so it's difficult, but a REALLY good experience. Matthias has to translate a lot, and also, I have to guess. It's awesome. And I love having people with me doing stuff. It makes me wonder if my being alone for a lot of the first part of my trip heightened the weight of the things I was struggling with...
**picture of swiss francs**
Speaking of strength and experience, I'm picking up a BIT of Swiss German. Swiss German ins to German as the English they speak in Scotland is to the English I speak (of all the English accents, I find Scottish people rather difficult to understand) - it's a strong accent with a few different words. So, platz = plaza, strass = street, bibliothek =library, musik - (obviously) music, nie (a very important word for children) = no, lacheln = smile (en = one/a) and bloema (?) = flower. Danke is thank you but people also say "merci" (which is french for thank you).
Also, the money here is different, too. In the UK, they have coins for 1 and 2 pounds (in the US, they switch to paper after 25 cents) but here in Switzerland, they don't start using paper until I think 10 CHF. They've got coins for 1, 2 and 5 CHF (as well as 10, 20 cents and 1/2 franc (50 cents I believe)). The denominations of money are fascinating, it really shows you how people think, at least for me. And, the way things are priced here, it doesn't seem like you get random amounts of change - that is, the divisions are "clean": so no pennies or even 5 cents, as far as I can tell.

"Just so we're clear, I have no interest in flying a plane without any brakes"

Switzerland is one hour ahead of the UK so plus one to the time posted below.

This morning, I woke up after 3 hours of sleep (there was a lot to do to get ready and I was out all day) and said goodbye to Sally and Northern Ireland. I got on a plane to Heathrow and then, hung out a bit in London, again, before boarding the plane to Geneva.
So, we false-started on a take off. Apparently, the computers were acting up. So, they "called the engineers" and, after an hour, we tried taking off again. This time, the computers indicated total brake failure (it's good that they can tell stuff like this before leaving the ground, I think, so instead of getting all huffy-impatient, I was relieved that we didn't find out that we couldn't stop by...well, not stopping...). So, they called the engineers again and, after about a(nother) hour or so, we were off. Then, after an hour plus the time change, we arrived in the most beautiful country in the world.
The two-hour train ride from Geneva to Bern (the capitol) broke my heart with its beauty. I don't know...I fell in love with Switzerland (a little mountain town called Grindewold, where I got my Swiss Army knife with my name on it) when I came here six years ago, too. Now, I'm with a friend - Matthias - who I met at the Seattle Vineyard (he goes to the Bern Vineyard) a year ago when he was doing doctoral research at the University near my church. He was on the same flight me and my ex-boyfriend were on to PA where we were going for a wedding in his family and Matthias was going back to Switzerland. Today is his 5 year anniversary with his beautiful wife and they just left to celebrate it. His two cute little boys don't speak English so it looks like our common language is charades. Oh, and if I could, I would move to Switzerland. Tomorrow.
(Quality's not great but this picture was taken from a fast-moving train's window! Fore-fore-ground: reflection of my hand in the window, foreground: beautiful Swiss villages, background: Lake Leman, farther-back-ground: Swiss Alps!!)

Being Part of Something Giant

Today, to celebrate my last day in Northern Ireland, I went on an all-day tour of the northern coast. It was fabulous and beautiful. We started in downtown Belfast - where, just 15 years ago, armed guards and police , then drove north up the coast and saw some heart-piercingly beautiful scenery. We drove through five "glens" - little villages whose name each had a story, like "Glenarm" is short for "The gathering place of the army" and it was some protestant vs. catholic thing I'm sure. The drive was beautiful - so green, so much ocean and sky it was heartbreaking. We then went to a rope bridge - I didn't think I'd be scared because I'm not usually afraid of heights - but I have to say, about halfway across this thing, I about freaked out. I'm not sure how high it is, but whoa hey...and it makes it worse that it swings and creaks like it's not going to hold you...and they don't regulate how many people can cross at time - they do regulate the direction though, and they take turns letting people go one way to the "island" and back the other direction. I met a nice English couple that was on the same tour bus as me standing in line to cross back the other way.
Then, we went to the Giants Causeway - apparently, a NATURAL construction of rocks and stones that used to cross all the way over to Scotland. These octagon-like stacks of rocks came up from the center of the earth and were cooled in the formation they are in (they look man-made, honestly) and then, over time, the sea swallowed the connection to Scotland. There is an Irish pub near my church in Seattle with the name "Fin MacCool's" and now I know a story behind it: So, when the Causeway connected Scotland and Ireland, the Scottish king wanted to come take over Ireland. Fin MacCool was in charge of Northern Ireland at the time and knew he could not beat the Scottish Army so, when he heard that the Scottish king was coming, he ran home to his wife and newborn baby and hid the baby. He crawled into the crib himself and pretended to be the baby. When the Scottish king came by Fin MacCool's house, his wife was pushing her "baby" around in the stroller and the Scottish king thought, "Wow, if this is Fin MacCool's BABY, then HE himself must be a giant." He got scared and sent his army back the other way, destroying the Causeway after crossing it so Fin MacCool's troops wouldn't have the chance to come back and retaliate.
The Causeway was beautiful, though, and I'm glad we got about two hours to hang out there. I clibmed around, seeing how sure-footed I was (I did not wrench my ankle!), and sat and let the sea breeze blow my hair all around, and just WAS with God. It was awesome.
Then, we drove through a few more adorable, heart-breakingly beautiful villages and then, to the oldest distillery in the world: Bushmill's Distillery, built in 1608. Then, we stopped at Dunlusce Castle - another stunning beauty - before driving home. All in all, the tour (about 50 people on a bus) took about 8 hours. I was gone 12 hours because the bus ride to Belfast from Saintfield takes 40 minutes, and the walk from the bus stop to Sally's house takes half an hour, etc.
So, I permanently leave Sally's home in about 6 hours. I'll fly from Belfast to London Heathrow, wait two hours then fly to Geneva where I'll have to call Matthias (the friend I'm staying with in Switzerland) and let him know what train I'll be taking to Bern (and Swiss people are always on time because they, of course, invented time). I've spent the last three hours fighting with my suitcase, organizing, cleaning, cooking (now that I know you can get food through airport security, I don't have to buy airport food anymore) and, of course, writing this blog!
The next time you "see" me here, I'll probably be in the capitol of Switzerland!