I've been waiting to use a horrible pun about Glasgow for awhile now. Just humor me and think it's clever as well. Haha.
By now, with either some posts via Facebook, or with the title of this post, I'm sure you're catching onto the fact that I've been in Glasgow. It's a bit more than just "being" in Glasgow. On the 9th of May, I officially moved from Leuven, Belgium to Scotland. Because of many circumstances matched with generous hospitality and a great opportunity, I shall be finishing up the majority of my year here. I don't think I can fully explain how delighted I am for this.
I've been here now for almost 3 weeks, and I have been so loved and cared for that it's crazy! So many families have opened up their arms to me, had me over for dinner, or invited me to join part of their family life. It's felt almost like a seamless transition. It feels like home. (I type this as I'm watching Space Jam with the kids of the family with which I'm currently staying. Even if I wasn't watching something so blatantly American, I'd say the same. But the movie sure isn't impeding the feeling. Hahah.)
So, my Gap year isn't over. That means I've got more service I'm doing! Here, I'm mainly helping out with young families. It's more mothers helper stuff like I did in January. Except, it's much easier to relate to children who speak the same language. I've even slipped up and spoken to a couple of children in Flemish as a first reaction! It's not a surprise that they don't respond well to "Kijk!" or "Dat moet je niet doen!"
Another part of my service is to help out with Sentry. Sentry is an outreach youth group that the Community of the Risen Christ puts on at the local parish. It's a Saturday morning program for kids from the age of 8 to around 13. It's run by people my age in CRC, and headed by a young couple in the community as well. It's impressive to me the amount of responsibility given to people my age, by giving them the opportunity to explain different aspects of faith to kids as well as keeping them engaged and entertained.
A third piece of service for me is now Summer Mission Households. This is one of the Kairos summer programs for which I signed up. Yesterday was our first official meeting with the team for the program, and I am PUMPED for what is to come through this program. I'll be working on more of an administrative side of the project as well as serving musically.
Lots of exciting things have happened this month, that's for certain. One of the most surprising things being the fact that I got a SUNBURN IN SCOTLAND! The weather this past week has been fantastic. I've heard that it's about one week of summer, so a few girls and I decided to make the most of the weather and went to the beach. I've been assured that I got to experience a very rare occasion of going to the beach with nice weather. That's where the burn occurred, but luckily for me, my burns turn to tan. Between 7 days of shorts and sunglasses, I've definitely been spoiled weather-wise here.
However, by far, the most exciting news is that my dad is going to visit me here in Scotland in July!
By that time, I'll have not seen anyone in my immediate family for 11 months. ELEVEN MONTHS. It'll be good, I'm positive.
So, that's me. That's just a rough picture of what's happened. These past three weeks have been so good, that I think I'm Glasglowing...
I'm done with bad puns for now. Promise.
