mardi 13 septembre 2005

Mid-month musings

I just received an email from a close friend in Montréal, and it is unbelievable how much this form of communication has soothed my soul and brought encouragement (merci!). This reminds me, I should update on how things are going for January in Montréal. Well, plans are going steadily for my practicum next semester, but it's difficult because I don't know many of the details yet and I think a lot of the things I may end up having to arrange myself. This on top of everything else right now is going to be hard but I know that all the pieces will come together. At this point, the biggest pieces are accommodation and work. Where I will be living and where I will be interning, those sort of things pretty much. Still waiting on Him!

I'm having a blast in my semester so far getting to know my cohort better. It is so affirming being with a group of people who are like-mindedly passionate about missions! One of the difficulties in just knowing that other people are in your major but not having all of your classes with them is that you don't get a deeper look at what makes their heart beat and how God has wired them for a specific culture. It is great that among us, we have people working with ethnic groups that cover Asia, Western Europe, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, North America, and Africa!

Another benefit to being in a cohort this semester is that we all get so much time to interact personally with our profs. I mean, I actually have to bring in a copy of my schedule for class next week so that they can critique it and advise me on better time management (yes!). I love that it's not just academic material that is emphasized, but rather how we're integrating this with our field experience and our own daily lives. It's challenging because this program is stretching me in every which way - mentally, spiritually, and pretty soon physically.

Right now, my language learning is starting to get exciting. It's strange, but I'm at the point where I need to be watching French TV almost daily now. I caught a documentary on the Québécois view of churches the other night, and today I heard someone sing "Jean Batailleur" on some soap opera. I've been watching my movies in French (I love Warner Brothers because they dub in Québec!) and listening to my accumulating collection of French worship music and songs that my friends have recorded. I don't have any formal guidelines in structuring the way I'm learning so it's great that I get to add whatever I think will help. I've never had this much freedom before in tailor-making my college courses, but I hope I end up tailoring it right! :)

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