résultats

So...

How was the talk?
It was okay. To be honest I can't remember it. But I don't remember what I said, I do remember that I didn't feel awful once it had finished, and a few people said nice things about it. I stuck to my points pretty much, and although I was aware I ran over time I think it was the right amount and the right tone.

I am listening at the moment to Franz Ferdinand's new album which I downloaded off iTunes. It's pretty funky, I am quite enjoying it.

Tomorrow I am doing something AGAIN at short notice (argh) - leading a Bible study in the holiday SMD Bible study group on Philippians 1:1-11. I love Philippians! It's definitely my favourite book of the Bible. I'm excited, but apprehensive, as this will be with all the Big Cheeses and there will be lots of people there as they haven't really left Berlin yet to go on holiday. Great. Will try and think how to make it fun without making it too British in style... long gone are the "turn to your neighbour" questions and the "let's write some mildly connected ideas on a piece of paper" kind of thing. Argh.

It was funny how this all came about though. I was at the Mitarbeitertreffen for my SMD group which is a planning meeting for how we will do things in the semester to come, and amongst other things it came up about what we should do in our holiday SMD Bible study group. I didn't think what had been suggested was practical, and so I suggested Philippians, they asked why and I said "because it's my favourite book" and so the girl leading it said "okay, fine, let's do that then." It got me slightly irritated because that is not a good reason, but I was luckily able to convince them of the other good reasons for it as well, and I remain convinced it's a good choice.

Philippians is such a visionary letter: written by Paul to a very small and diverse church with such passion and love, showing how Christians are to count everything as a loss in comparison to knowing Jesus better (through all different sorts of means) ... and how that does not call for anything but involved, productive and enjoyable lives, even though often the enjoyment is learnt: being mixed with suffering the enjoyment comes from the surety that God is working through all our actions to make us more like the people he created us to be.

In school today, this was amusing, I told my new class (7th class - 12 and 13 year olds) how old I was and it obviously massively surprised the teacher, with whom I've been working alongside all year, and she must have gone into the staffroom and told the rest of the teachers there because later when I bumbled in about four came up to me and said meine Güte (my goodness) Emily we had no idea you were only twenty one. I wasn't quite sure how to take it, a fact which I articulated, not sure I really want to look 26 which was what someone took me for ... it's mainly because if you are this stage in Germany you have left school a year later than the Brits (aged 18/19), possibly done a year out (necessary for boys) and then studied for aaaaaaaaaages, so most of the trainees are 26/27. But it's funny, because normally people think I'm younger than I am, not five or six years older.

I am also really excited about moving house, but it's mixed with sadness because whenever I get excited I also remember that Ellen is leaving before I move. Sob.

And finally I couldn't be bothered to cook so I had some thai take out at the station and now I feel properly SICK. Eurgh.