Wednesday, November 28, 2007

The Swing of Things


Life lately...


One of my new favourite things to do is stream my favourite Seattle radio to Switzerland.


Spirit1053.com


It is easy to find the streaming button.


Now I have so much Chritmas music!


Here, Christmas music isn`t really a big thing. There aren`t even 10% of the songs we have in Englisch. Quite sad actually. A huge part of my Christmas life is, well, musik. So I stream the music and it makes me happier.






Today was quite laid back.


In the school aspect, today is my "late day." That merely means I get to sleep in longer every Wednesday because I have the first class free.


Well, I went to class to find out that I had two more hours free. The teacher was sick. And when the teacher isn`t there, they just let you do whatever.


Next I went to Englisch which is always culturally interesting for me. In fact today we were discussing cultural differences between Americans and Europe.


Biology... well, the teacher is quite nice. But nothing eventful.


Lunch was Alpler Magronen! Ask anyone in Switzerland I know, that is my favourite food here! It is like cheese and noodles on steroids. And my host mom grills up some garlic to go on top and that really tastes good.


History.


I got to open and close our history presentations.


That was fun.


I was told I could say whatever, so I practiced with some random crap and was told. "Yes Maggie, all of it. The more you talk the less we have to talk." Naturally that was said originally in German.


Anyways... I spoke like I would. Whatever I wanted to say...


"One photo is one, and one is two!"


"One photo has the king. The king is fat."


In the end, I ended up wishing them a beautiful vacation... goes back to the Ukulele Band Days.






Then there was the entire cofusion of languages (nach verses nacht and ohr verses eier)...


After that, some of the girls in my class said some stuff that made me super duper happy and settled.


I don`t feel like typign it here.. but trust me, it stil makes me smile...


And realize that God totally knows what he is doing with me! He knows where I belong.


A little look into what happened:



*group looks at poster that says nachhilfe or something like that.. really means tutoring but I didn`t know that"


Maggie: Nachhilfe? Night help?

*laughing*

Person: Not night.. after...

Maggie: OooOhhh... not Night Help

*talking and explaining.. then talking about what night help would be*

Person: Bring bring. Maggie... I need help with this night.

Maggie: Well, first you must close your eggs...



That there was the problem, I confused the word for eyes and eggs... which made the whol conversation take another turn... and you can imagine the rest of what we talked about.


I guess you had to be there. But we were laughing quite quite hard. And keep talking about shutting those eggs.


Also.. the conversation was in German, not English, to the translation is a bit iffy.





Today Jorge and I hung out.


Just one of those times where you don`t really have to do anything.. so all goes well. Just sort of relaxing.


We went to the Weienachmarkt (Christmas Market) in Sarnen.. that was cool, but soo cold.


There were some 100 booths (I checked online) with all sorts of Swiss stuff... hats, scarfs, lots of gift items and home decor.


It was outdoor and so cold.


What was cool is how they shut down all the major streets in the city for this market. It was really snazzy. All festive and crowded. Everyone was there.


There was a live nativity with a choir singing, "Aint no mountain high enough.." and real sheep that come from my school.


Then we went to a church and then to a trampoline.


Jumped.

Jumped.

Jumped.


That`s life there. Jumping to Hakuna Matata, Bare Neccessities, and You Gotta Friend in Me while jumping.. life doesn`t get much better. You know me. I like the simple stuff. That`s what makes me happy.


We watched some Teen Girl Squad... cause they are cool.







Anyways.. that is life.


Life is just going on... better than ever.


I could not ask for anything more, I truly couldnt.


I have been blessed.

Thanksgiving in Switzerland


Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving went quite better than I thought it would.


First thing... the Swiss naturally don`t even acknowledge the day. Why should they? But for me, it has been an important day to me. A family day. And, well... there was no family this year.

First class I had was Italien, and that was probably the saddest part of my day.. perhaps I almost cried? No. Not really. I just sat there.

But then I went to the next class to be almost knocked over with a big hug from Connie. And she had made me a Happy Thanksgiving card! That made so amazingly happy. I had this stupid Maggie grin on my face I was so happy.

From there, the day was quite better.

It was a Thursday... so I got out of school earlier than normal.

We had lunch at my host grandparents.

Then I went to Nicoles.

That girl went all out for Thanksgiving.

I was there while she prepared some of the food, but I can`t really say I made it. Neigh. I stirred a couple items... ah! Gravey and Macaroni and Cheese.

On her thanksgiving menue was...

Turkey, Ham, Mashed Potatoes, Cranberry Sauce, Pumpkin Pie, Deviled Eggs, Stuffing, and something else?

Anyways.. cooking in Switzerland is not easy. The food turned out amazing though. I was quite impressed.

To cook the ham we had to go to my house cause we had no more room in her oven.

But how to cook it? Frau Bucher saved us there...

And I got my Thanksgiving hug from Mrs. Bucher also. I don`t think I could have made it through the day without that. You all know me... hugs are pretty essentail to life.

And Iate with Nicole and her family and that was pretty awesome.

Nicole is another exchange student from America living in my town.

Anyways.. the eating was interesting.. and interesting conversations.

I even got to call home and talk to my entire family! and Emily L. too cause she had no family for Thanksgiving either. And that made me feel goood.

And that was Thanksgiving in Switzerland.

Instant Smiles Guaranteed

I remember back when I was 9 or so.

The African Childrens Choir came to my church.

It was amazing... touching.

Those kids, wow.

They sing with their soul.. no shame. Just singing out.

And I found them on YouTube.

Found that I remember this song from when they came.

They sing with happiness... they like what they do.

I remember how three of them even came to stay at my house! That was so cool! The smallest of the choir stayed with us. I remember Aunt Peace (their guardean) came too from a really hard place to say. I could find it on a map though. They were just joyful kids. They loved chai tea and oranges.

Just watch this video.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5jXxnr-FzQU

And smile...

These kids are beautiful to watch.

(www.africanchildrenschoir.com/)

Friday, November 9, 2007

Well... I My Head Was Right


Today, I was translating a paper, minding my own business when....

Teacher: Maggie
Maggie: *translates paper happily*
Teacher: Maggie
Maggie: AIDS!?

(note: I do pay attention in class. But they were reading out loud the same paper and I, well, understand at a slower pace)


I guess I misheard him.

Anyways... he was just smiling about something. Sort of a smile? And I looked, and my class was looking at me.

I thought they were talking about America again.

Then he said that magic word.

"Schnee"

A HUGE grin spread over my face, I looked out... and just sort of stared.

Then I went to the window, opened it (it had already been open half the morning, one more minute woldn`t hurt) and stuck my hand out. Staring. Smiling like an idiot... itwas just too excited.

Snow!

And it stopped.

Then in my special German class, we got more snow! More than ever.

Huge flakes!

I was soo happy.

And it stopped before I could touch it.

Grr.

On the entire bike ride home, I blasted Christmas songs from my pocket.

The problem with me and snow is that:

Snow = Christmas

No doubt about it.

You can`t have it snow till around Christmas time... or Valentines day.

Anyways.. all of a sudden my entire mind is thinking about Christmas and singing the songs.

This could be a long two months...

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Excerpt from My Journal - March 28, 2007


Here is an excerpt from my journal.

I wrote it on March 28, 2007.

Funny thing is I randomly pulled out my journal on the same day that this entry refers to (October 28, 2007). Ok, so I looked at it one day early. But it was so random. What are the chances of seeing this.

Enjoy a look into my, er, personal thoughts.

So it`s pretty cheesy, but whatever. Still kind of fun to read right after I wrote it.

I meant to put it up the day of.. but my host sister had the computer. So here it is a bit late.

There are so many questions I have about my exchange.

Funny how in some 7 months (October 28, 2007) I will be able to look and read this article and see my questions. My wonders. I`ll realize that I had nothing to worry about. That I am so unprepared. Or that my worries are true.

I wonder about my future host family. Will they accept me for who I am? I ahve so many awkward ways and insecurities. I like to play my music loudish and jump. I like to express myself. I hope they let me alone in the house occasionally, so I can do this.

What about school? I`ve never gone to a school where I am all alone. Will they like that funny little American girl with horrible German? I`ve heard that no matter where you go, you can always find a friend.. but it`ll be a unique friendship.

Will I have any host brothers or sisters? Will they like me? Tlak to me? Help me? Reject me? Be annoyed by me?

Will I get my own personal space? I need space. Space to relax. Space to be me.

Everyday, it seems I encounter situations where I find items I need to remember to bring. I`ll probably start a list soon. How can I bring my entire life with me to Europe? I can`t. I need to let my old life go. I need to move on. To grow. To change.

God,
Be with me this next year and for all my life. I pray that I will rely on you for my strength. I want to be like you. Show me your will for my life. I trust you.

Maggie Hubert

Happy Headache

I heard it might snow tomarrow.


I am excited [into oblivions].


(really really really excited... maybe a bit too excited)


I have had a headache for some *looks at watch* five hours.


Finally I figured it was time to take some action... besides resting.


Told my host mom.


She smiled...


Apparently.. having a headache means a change in the weather is coming or something.


So here I am.. my very own weatherman.


My head is like the weatherforcaster.. it knows when snow is coming.


How cool is that?


Photos from today are here:


http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9977&l=b0a4e&id=504513649

Sunday, November 4, 2007

GLOW 2007

[G L O W 2 0 0 7]
No Shame.

I admit, I am currently morning the loss of CCBY (my life revolved around you) but God is really using this year. I think a lot about what this year is is not being dependent on other people for my faith. Not being dependent on the weekly sermon to fire me up or fellow Christians.

Cause my faith is between me and Christ. That relationship there. And I think this year is cool cause it is becoming more so that. Where I don`t have someone checking up on me weekly.
Well, I do... sort of. But no sermon I can completely understand.

(I write this all out because it gets confusing in my head... and it feels good to finally step back and look at what is happening)

Glow 2007.

It was a pretty amazing weekend.

(naturally I miss CCBY especially... jumping for Jesus, the after glow, crying our eyes out, really feeling the presence of the Lord, fired up for Christ).

A general overview of the weekend... and skip to the end if you want to read about, well, what I think God is showing me. Ok, what he IS showing me.

I went up to the weekend with Ruth, Emmanuel, and Eveline in Ruth`s car... we went to Murtun or something like that. I forget, honestly, as usual. Swiss names are quite difficult for me to remember.

Obwalden.Freiburg.Safenwil.

Anyways...

On the way up, listened to some Christian music and that was refreshing beyond belief. And the fact I had someone else singing with me made it all the better.

We reached the FEG Murton church, parked, went out for a bagette sandwhich lunch, met up with two other folks whose names I can not spell who go to my church as well and we headed back.

It was really well put together, the weekend.

Quite a bit of down time, but I liked that. Time to just hang out.

The opened with some amazing worship. I loved it.. I really did. Reminded me of home a bit. A band called Narroway from Thun. They sang both English, German, and Swiss German songs. And often, I knew the German songs... just the English version.

They sang some of our favourites (History Maker... wow, I almost cried to that one, "we sing glory, honour, power and strength to the Lord", "Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord") and I got some new favourites. (Click here.. and wait to hear a bit of You Shine). I will get up some sounds clips.. I recorded a bit so you guys could hear.

And the messages were of course all in German... so I had a difficult time there. But it was still worth my time. I think I misunderstood a few times... a lot. Especially when I thought he was talking about "flying tuna fish".

And they had something called the Idea Market... and that was pretty much a bunch of boothes and so forth where you could discus ways to bring others to Christ or ministries for Christ at school, sports, missions, and so forht.

My favourite was the missions.. they had a girl from England there representing OM. It was so refreshing to talk to her. I am going to visit her soon in Zurich. Rosie! She has been here for pretty much two years.

It made me realize that God could have a lot of plans for me that I haven`t even thought of. She is here on missions to Switzerland... not exactly the first place you would think of going for a missions trip. I am looking into that now. Who knows what God has in store.


Lets see...

We slept in a bomb shelter underneath a school... and that made me smile.. a lot. Although I was a bit, er, anxious sleeping after I was warned that the mattresses were... dirty? So yeah, I defnitly was in my sleeping bag that night.. and George (my monkey) wore an extra shirt to keep him clean. I think I fell asleep around 1:15.. but who knows.


Now what was God showing me there...

I honestly don`t know if it was just me or if God was speaking to me... but here is what happened.

We were singing and I got a hug and then sat on the ground. That is how I am used to worshiping God, either standing or on the ground hugging my knees or something.


Anyways.

The entire weekend I had sort of felt, well, distant from God. And it was really scary. Like I saw him there but I couldn`t reach him. And I know, draw near to God and he will draw to you, but something wasn`t working. I was even scared. I tried to figure out what the boundaries were.. something keeping me from him. And slowly began to work things through and pray. Sins. And even forgetting to trust in him with my future more.

And then there I was on the ground. And I stated to think of CCBY and family. And I pictured myself hugging people (Mom, Dad, Ian, Jenny, Caitie, Emily, Sarah and so forth). And, well, it wasn`t working. I couldn`t hug them. They disapeared or something. It was like hugging air. And so I cried.

And then, I turned around (in my mind) and there behind me was God. Shining. Smiling. Right beside me. Behind me. Dressed in white. So gentle. (before, I had been trying to go to a God in front of me and he was really far away).

And, well, stuff happened.

He pulled me onto his lap (I stopped crying then) and he wrapped his arms around me.

And he told me I am his little girl and he will be with me through this year. Always right beside me.

And then... we danced.

We ran around dancing, having fun, laughing, together. Reminding me he is not just a serious God... he is a God of joy! And so that was amazing. Just dancing with the Father. Him looking down on me with this amazing loving face. Well.. his face wasn`t clear. But you could just feel it.

And he wants me to be a light for him. Smiling. Joyful. I can`t really discribe, explain it.

We were in a big open whiteness sort of room...

And yeah.

I don`t know if it is bad for me to post this. Am I supposed to keep stuff like this to myself? I just never want to forget it... ever. Ever. Did I make it up? Was it all in my head and me wanting to see that or was God.. well. I don`t know. I am really confused. Did I make that up? Was it just me? Was it God. Wonderign... But also so joyful. I mean, God is with me! That is SO cool. I am not alone! I am not alone!

He has given me an amazing church family to watch out for me this year.. and another one back home who is praying for me every step of the way.

God is soo good.

God is so good.

God is so good.

And things get rough... but that cool guy up there is looking down on me.

Yep.

That was pretty much my weekend.

Ooohyes, the ride home.

We listened to some, er, interesting music. Not sure how to describe it. Well.. there is one word for it.

Swiss.

I admit it grew on me... a bit.

Something about a wild rabbit?

And OoooooOOooOOOh Cathy? in the country?

Yeah.

I enjoyed my time a LOT though in the car.

(Emmanuel... you drive fast... I think? I just converted in the KM to Miles... and no wonder the car made cool noises...)

Anyways, Eveline had some Christian CDs and wow. That could have been the highlight of my weekend right there. It was sooo cool hearing Christian music being played really loud. And not singing on my own. Having someone else there to share in the excitement of each song. Goodness, it was like each song was a present. Just going to Switzerland in fall. Those are the memories I want to, well, remember.

Until later...

Margaret
(not Maggie)