The group is awesome and it's pretty cool how tight we are getting. It'll be weird what it's going to be like in 2 months from now.
Here's the rundown:
Our director/principle, Dale Epp, is awesome. He grew up in Alberta and BC, he was in an indie-metal band in Vancouver called Getshamane in the 80s and he had the uber long hair (along with his band mates) and now he's... well, a very changed person. On Wednesday (work day), I had the pleasure of working with him, and Jonas, one of my classmates, dismantling an old trailer, gardening, and loading firewood. He'd say supportive things like “You are the man!” or “Sweet” all the time, it was kind of funny hearing it from him.
His kids, Isabel (8-years) and Justus (5-year old boy) are both very involved in the ministry (they were so enthusiastic about work day) and love playing cards and eating meals with us.
His wife, Patti is also pretty involved. We worked with her in the garden on Wednesday and she told us about how weird Christmas' are in New Zealand (after experiencing them in the north) and various other things.
Our class at the Crossing is the biggest that's ever been here. Last year there were only 2 people but since they changed the start of the school to the North American system, there's a much bigger class.
Breaking down the class with as much information as I know about their whereabouts:
Guys (10*)
Me
Joel, from Saskatchewan
Jonas, from Germany
Ben, from Alaska
Robert, from Alaska
Michael, from Alaska
Jordan, from Salt Spring Island, BC
Bryan, from Alberta
Colin (intern), from Abbotsford
*There's one other guy coming from Wisconsin called Joel, but he's waiting on his visa.
Girls (5)
Amber, from Saskatoon
Angela, from Quebec
Cameron, from Colorado
Cara, from Saskatoon
Kelsey, from Calgary
Staff
Dale Epp: director, principle
Patti Epp: assistant director
Joseph: from Colorado, maintenance, ministry, driver, assistant
Sheryl: from New Zealand, head cook, assistant
Hanna: from Germany, ministry director, house manager
Hopefully I'll finish the character profiles I'm working on for each classmate and get that on the blog.
So far Jonas seems to be the one we all pick on. “We don't make fun of you because you're German, we make fun of you because you're in the minority..”
He's a pretty confident guy and he's always telling us how Germany is the best at everything, but we get back at him quite a bit.
I'm by far the quietest person of the group, which isn't saying a whole lot since the group has some pretty rowdy (and very funny) characters. We all get along so far, which is good.
There's usually always someone playing guitar, which is nice, especially in the mornings before breakfast. A lot of talented people here, it's crazy.
Jordan is great with Justus. He plays with him like an uncle would, picking him up and putting him in headlocks, etc. Dale appreciates it.
Location
The Crossing is an unbelivable place. Besides for the cottage/house, there's a HUGE property. There's a cool little pond out back with trees, a campfire spot (which we've used once, which was awesome) and tons of trees and mini walkways to various parts of the property.
About the town we're in:
Name: Geraldine
Population: 2,200
Notes: A farming town it seems. Lots of open land with sheep, cattle. Lots of people drive through here because it's the route to popular spots in New Zealand. We never see them in the area we are in though.
There's a high school here and three “rest homes” (senior homes). There's a library which we've used for wi-fi and higher speed connections that are here (we can't use Facebook or anything that takes up more memory here) and some cool coffee shops/bakeries and a post office, barber shop, grocery store, and some other cool little stores.
Weather has been cold. We've been wearing layers all day everyday. It helps that there's no central heating inside (electricity/hydro is 3 times as much in New Zealand) so we've got two fires going on inside at all times, but that only heats up certain areas. It's been pretty wet too, but right now the sun is shining.
Meals
For breakfast there's toast and porridge. I usually take the porridge (with canned fruits on top(!) and cinnamon and sometimes brown sugar.)
At 10:30 we have “morning tea” which is pretty awesome. I don't actually have tea though, I just have cookies, err, biscuits.
Lunch and afternoon tea (dinner) are both portioned pretty much the same. For lunch there's usually one main dish and one green dish. For afternoon tea we have one or two main dishes and then a green.
Not much dairy or meat here.
Yesterday we had chili with rice and really good Mexican chips. Because of this, we all spoke in the little Spanish we knew how to speak around the table. It got pretty boistrous, as it usually does with our group. We've also had spaghetti, chiken+rice, pasta and burgers. I'm definitely eating less here because of the portions, but it's not a bad thing, I'm probably eating the perfect amount every day.
School
We're reading a book called Revolution Within by Dwight Edwards. It's really good, I'd recommend it to everyone. In two weeks we're splitting into two groups and going to camps to councel some kids. Please pray for us during this time of preparation, and for the ministries that are putting these camps on.
We've only had one official lecture so far, done by Dale, and it was really cool. We're learning how to get FAT for God:
Faithful
Available
Teachable
“My life is not mine, it's for God to use (through me).” - Dale
I've learned so much about God and we haven't really started any real study yet, so it's pretty exciting.
Events
Today we went into a bigger city, called Timaru. Its population is 40,000. We walked the streets and saw various shops. We saw the ocean from the other side too, it was pretty sweet. I actually wondered most of the time alone, which was cool, I always manage to wander off and lose the group. I just couldn't stand shopping.
Some weird New Zealand spellings I've noticed:
Tyres = tires
Yoghurt = yogurt
There's others that I forget now.
Yesterday we went to Dale and Patti's house for the night. Their house is really nicely decorated and it's got a really cool atmosphere. We all crammed into their living room for hot drinks and cookies (that Isabel made). I actually had a hot drink (for the first time in NZ) and it was probably the best hot chocolate I've ever had. Patti put chili chocolate in there so it was a bit spicy. Half the group went back to the Crossing at 8:30ish and I stayed with the later group. After a good time of extended visiting with the Epp family, we tried to leave. But the van (facing up on a hill) wouldn't start. After trying to push it to start, our driver, Sheryl, had to put the van in neutral and we let the car roll back. We eventually got it into a parking lot and we then pushed it down the hill and then, finally, the car started up and we all jumped in hooting and hollering. Good times. It even snowed for a brief time during this. Nothing stuck.
Alright, well, I thought I'd get some blog posts in before school picks up next week, so yeah, enjoy them while they last, because I don't know if I'll be able to keep up the rate which I'm going at!
And congrats, Anthony and Shelley on the baby! Carson is an awesome name!
Peace and love.
