jill.musick

This Christmas break I made a lot of memories, but I also had several things that triggered memories from the past year.

This year, we first visited the Kelly family in northern Germany (close to Wolfsburg). Last year, that was our last stop before Brussels, where I did my student teaching. When I stepped into their home, I remembered the warmth of their hospitality and the way it just felt like home. I also remembered my anxiousness as my student teaching approached – so many uncertainties looming in my future. I love the warmth of being in a family. I miss that.

After the Kellys, we went to Prague and stayed with Kate and Garret Parker (teachers at CISP; I met them at PFO this summer). Seeing the Parkers brought back memories of PFO and the preparations for teaching overseas. Now we’re here, and we are experiencing situations that PFO helped us prepare to face. I also had a chance to redeem myself in a game of Settlers of Catan. At PFO, the Parkers developed a conspiracy to keep me from winning the game by taking away my longest road. In Prague, I won the game with the longest road ever!

The Longest Road wins! Yay, I have redeemed myself now.

After Prague, David and I went to visit Katka in Ostrava. She took us back to Malenovice. Wow, the memories really started flowing there! Malenovice was the site of the English camps I went to in 2005 and 2006. It looked different covered in snow, but walking inside it looked just the same. I remembered card games on the black leather couches, worship services in the conference room downstairs, English lessons in the big rooms upstairs, and spiritual discussions with Czech teenagers in the hallways and rooms. These memories brought me back to Europe. If I hadn’t gone to Czech for those English camps, I probably wouldn’t have done my student teaching overseas, and I probably wouldn’t be here in Germany right now. It was weird to be back without the students; the people make the places.

Malenovice in snowy weather

After visiting Malenovice and going back to the youth group in Česky Těsin, David and I traveled to Vienna and met up with lots of other people. Rachel had come by train a couple days earlier, and Katrina arrived the same day we did from visiting her home in Spittal. I met up with Reesa from PFO (now teaching at VCS), and Rachel was able to see some friends from her PFO (a year earlier when she thought she was going to be teaching at VCS). It was a fun time of hanging out with friends and seeing the sights of Vienna. One of the memories we created: The Centimeter Restaurant. This amazing place served food in wheelbarrows and on swords!

Schnitzel on a sword!

After Vienna, we went to Innsbruck. We stayed in the same Bed & Breakfast as last year – they have great breakfasts! Last year, Innsbruck was just a stop on the way from Kandern to Vienna, but this year we wanted to actually get into the mountains and play in the snow. David and I hiked up a mountain (2 hours) and tobogganed down. It was probably the most amazing sledding experience I have ever had in my life, and part of that was the incredible view of the Alps. We had beautiful weather!

I got this picture while climbing up the sledding trail. Gorgeous!

After Innsbruck, we drove back to Kandern. Last year, Kandern was the first stop on our adventure. This year, it is home.

One year ago, I was just starting my student teaching in Brussels. Now I am starting my second semester as string teacher at BFA. Last year, everything was new and I was nervous. This year, I know the way the school works, so I know better how to plan for the semester. Everything feels more settled. I have been transitioning to various places for the last year, and now I am here in Kandern to stay.

Last year I said goodbye to my brother David after traveling around Europe, and I knew I would see him again in April. This morning, I said goodbye to David again, only this time I won’t be home for Easter. Kandern may be home now, but my home in West Chicago still feels more like home. I feel more homesick now than I did all semester, and it’s because I cannot look at my house without seeing my brother. Before, the house was new and did not have its own memories. Now, my memories of David are embedded in this place, and it aches of the emptiness.

I’m starting to identify with the TCKs (Third Culture Kids). Home is not a physical place; it is found instead with the people you love. Part of my home just left this morning, and it hurt more than I realized it would.

²⁹And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰who will not receive many times more  in this time, and in  the age to come eternal life.” – Luke 18:29-30

Pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044019&id=187701865&l=b2002a92e9

I was reading Isaiah 7 this morning, and it puzzled me. Here is the passage:

¹⁴Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. ¹⁵He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. ¹⁶ For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.¹⁷ The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.”

¹⁸In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.

²⁰In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

²¹ In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, ²²and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat curds and honey.

²³In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns. ²⁴ With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns.²⁵ And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

At first, I wondered how this whole passage could be a messianic prophecy. I mean the part about the virgin conceiving makes sense because of Mary, but what about the rest of it? Why isn’t it just a prophecy for the time it was written? What do curds and honey have to do with Jesus in a manger?

Then I started seeing connections to Jesus. I’m no expert on this passage, so I may be bringing some really wrong ideas to the passage, but here they are:

Immanuel, God with us, is more than just “God is on our side.” That was the affirmation needed at the time when it seemed like God had abandoned His people. In Jesus, this is fulfilled because Jesus Himself is God, made flesh, dwelling among us.

Verse 16 talks about land of the two dreaded kings being deserted. If the enemy land is deserted, it means they are no longer a threat. Your enemies are gone; you are free! “For freedom Christ has set us free.”

The curds and honey (v. 15) make a little more sense if you read down to verse 21-22. When there is prosperity in the land, everyone gets to eat curds and honey because they have their own cows. With this, I think of Jesus providing bread and fish for the 5000, Jesus being the Bread of Life, and the coming Wedding Feast of the Lamb. Because Jesus came to earth, we have spiritual food and we have a feast awaiting us in Heaven.

What about v. 18-19? Why are we talking about bees and flies? The bees and flies are provided a home. They are taken from every corner of the world and are given safety, security, and a place to live. Is it not the same with Jesus? He calls people from all nations (Great Commission) and brings them into His flock. In the New Jerusalem in Revelation, we see people of every nation, tribe and tongue praising God. He gives us a place to live. “In my Father’s house are many mansions…I go to prepare a place for you.”

What about the beard-shaving (v.20)? What’s wrong with facial hair? I’m guessing that this has something to do with cleanliness. If you have lice, you shave your head to get rid of it. We are purified and cleansed by identifying with Christ’s sufferings.

The part about the briars and thorns overtaking the vineyard is interesting. Why would this prophecy be talking about good things, then talk about the thorns winning out? Vinyards produce wine. Wine makes me think of communion. Jesus’ blood was spilled out for us. There may be a connection with the crown of thorns and the wine. The thorns and the crucifixion took life from Jesus’ body (thorns overtaking the vineyard), but the sheep benefit from this. They get to use the field for grazing. Through Jesus’ death, we are able to graze in safe pastures.

Again, I may be reading this passage in the wrong way, but there are some ideas of how the whole thing could be a Messianic prophecy.

The last few days have been fun and relaxing.

Monday we got our Christmas tree. It’s small, but cute!

There's our little tree!

We also did some shopping around town.

On Tuesday, we went to the Recyclinghof in the morning (a new and exciting experience for David), hiked through Wolfschlucht, ate Döner Kebap for lunch, and did some more hiking in the afternoon. We went through Sitzenkirch up to Schloss Burgeln. All the snow had melted by this point.

Llamas on the way to Sitzenkirch

We ate dinner with a group of RAs and teachers, then went to a fondue party (Katrina melted a bunch of giant  St. Nikolas chocolates for the fondue). We played lots of games as a group, including Fish Bowl, Telephone Pictionary, and Four on a Couch. The RAs kept saying how exciting it was to have the freedom to actually stay out and do something fun!

Wednesday morning, David and I ate at Heitzmann’s bakery for breakfast. We did some grocery shopping, wrapped gifts, and relaxed.

Thursday morning (Christmas Eve) we woke up and went for a run to Hammerstein. We baked pumpkin bread in the afternoon, and went to the 4:00 Heiligabend Gottesdienst (Christmas Eve service). I played a few violin trios with Peggy and Kara Stuckey. After the service, we made Curry Wurst for dinner, and baked Christmas cookies all evening. Rachel came home from Paris, and we were all a bit slap happy. David and I made some really funny cookies. My favorite:

The Walrus!

Also good:

Moosen! Meese! Brian Regan anyone?

No, those cookies are not green. It’s just the lighting.

We Skyped home and watched Up. A fun Christmas Eve!

Since David’s arrival, we have done everything possible to avoid jet lag. I think it has worked.

Rachel, Katrina, and I picked him up from the Basel train station on Friday at 3:40. I fed him crackers, cheese, turkey meat, and Clementine oranges. We visited the dorms Maugenhard and Palmgarten, cooked some chicken soup and grilled cheese for dinner, settled in, and slept.

Saturday morning we woke up and discovered that it had snowed overnight! We ran to HBR and I showed David around. We went up into the woods and saw the Dome that the HBR boys have been building.

The Dome, named for the arching tree, is a work in progress.

After our run, we went to a Christmas market in Colmar, France with Katrina, Rachel, and Amanda. It was very cold, but fun to see everything.

It was strange to see a market with everything in French instead of German!

We were pretty exhausted after being outside in the cold all day! We ate Flammkuchen for dinner, skyped Erich and Ellen, then went to bed.

On Sunday we went to church (early because I was playing violin). We came home and had lunch with Rachel and two RAs, Chris and Stephanie. We ate Weihnachtsnudeln (Christmas noodles in the shape of stars and Santas) with sauce and meatballs. Then we played Dutch Blitz all afternoon! David and I played soccer in the evening and skyped home. Then, since we were wide awake from playing soccer and all the chocolate we had eaten all day, we walked around Kandern at midnight and took pictures of the sleeping town covered in snow.

This lonely tree watches over the street in the middle of the night

Nights in Germany are very quiet. After 10:00 it is rude to make any sort of loud noises, even in your own house. As we walked through the snow, our swishing pants and shoes crunching in the snow sounded unnaturally loud. All sounds seemed muffled by the snow falling gently around us. What a peaceful night!

It was cold yesterday – cold enough to snow! I was excited to see snow, but it made for an interesting time in the evening.

Stadtmusik Kandern played Christmas carols in the Blumenplatz at 8pm. I hadn’t been feeling that great all day, and sitting outside in the cold did not help. Sitting in the cold with a large, cold piece of metal in my lap did not help either. Tubas do not warm up, even if you breathe warm air into them.

We performed some traditional German carols as well as "International" carols (English, American, and French)

After playing I recovered some heat by sitting at a fire. One of the booths sold dough on a stick to roast in the fires! I thawed while watching people roast their toast.

Yum.... bread on a stick!

(Rachel actually took these pictures – I was at a different fire)

There were some animals in the Blumenplatz, too. Rachel made friends with them.

The calf apparently liked Rachel

When I scurried home with my tuba, all the animals jumped to the other side of their pens. That big instrument is kind of scary!

I wish David had been here for this. He would have liked the fire.

He’s coming today, though!!! His plane has landed (late, but it’s in Frankfurt). He should be here in a couple hours!!!!!!!

Yesterday was the last day of school for the high school. Since we had just had the Christmas concert, I decided that the last day of orchestra should be a Christmas party!

We brought in food and juice, wore slippers, and cut out paper snowflakes. I showed them how to fold the paper to get the 6 sided snowflakes.

Wearing slippers and cheerfully making snowflakes

Both of them were creative and made some really fun snowflakes! My cellist had taken an origami class in Korea, so she quickly picked up on the folding part of the snowflakes.

Folding with precision

We decorated the windows, music stands, and my mirrors with snowflakes and the scraps left behind.

My office turned into a winter wonderland

It was a fun ending to a great semester with lots of learning, improvement, and enjoyment of music.

In the evening, Rachel and I went to a Charlie Brown Christmas party.

We read through the script (with the help of a few props)

Linus and his blanket

There was food, fun, and friendship, so it was a good time.

The group studies the script

We tried to get the Charlie Brown Christmas from iTunes, but there were some issues with the computer, so we ended up watching parts of it on YouTube. Oh, the irony – we try to get away from commercializing Christmas, and we get frustrated because we can’t get a movie onto the computer!