The first two weeks

So after my first two weeks of classes, the anxiety is setting in. But first, the good stuff. :)

The weather here is beautiful for the most part.  After the first week of HOT and no A/C, it's been averaging in the 70s or lower sometimes. Lots of prettiness for walks to downtown Evanston, which is about 10 minutes.  There are lots of neat new places to eat - I've had brunch with some new friends and La Peep, some pretty tasty deep dish pizza, some yummy curry-seasoned fries, a cheap beer, TCBY, and a burrito from "That Little Mexican Cafe". :)  I'm excited to try a yummy Asian-food restaurant with my roommate, Sarah (she's from Korea, so she knows good Asian food).

I've made some good friends - Sarah is awesome, and we've already had some really good chats. She's a very balanced person, it seems...she's already helped me to get to bed on time a couple of times, and we've had a good time looking at pictures of our respective homes. She's also introduced me to some really awesome Korean friends.  We're having our second dinner together this Tuesday...a couple of American classmates are making Mexican food for our Korean friends. I've also made friends with a suite mate (across the hall). She and I have had some fun trips to the student center for food.

Sarah, Nicole (my suite mate) and I went to First UMC at the Chicago Temple for church last Sunday, and saw Kwang (a first year MTS student and member of the church).  He told us a lot about the church ministries and we got to see him play his clarinet in the orchestra that day.  He also helped us find food at Macy's (which is adjacent to Nordstrom Rack. YAY). Church was awesome...diverse, traditionally UM, orchestra, great sermon, peace-making talk from a Muslim colleague of the Pastor...I even got to "play pastor" and introduce a visitor to Kwang and some other people I'd met during orientation...happiness.  I'm gonna try another church in Evanston this week (two weeks ago I went to FUMC-Evanston b/c I could find it and walk there), but it left me wanting to explore) with another friend, who says this church is very diverse and open and welcoming and mission-oriented, so I'm excited for that.

Classes are good, but I feel kind of lost a lot of the time. I feel like I understand what I'm reading most of the time, until we get to class and start to talk about it.  I've yet to feel comfortable enough to speak confidently in discussion.  I'm taking 4 classes: VFCL (basically getting us all ready for our field education, which we start with placements during our second year), Intro to Old Testament, History of Christian Thought and Practice 1 (of 2), and Intro to Pastoral Care.  Each one is a new experience for me in one way or another, but each is a challenge I know will result in positive growth in many ways.

I started my work-study job in the Development office, and my first task was stuffing envelopes for a bulk mail-out. HA. Should've seen that one coming...I've also helped enter technical info into Excel spreadsheets and compare multiple lists for deducing info for random meetings and whatnot.  It's so much of what I'm used to, so it's a time for less-intense thinking, but it's also kind of boring...or something. I think it will be more happy if ever I am able to meet some of the donors and/or know who they are and why the love Garrett-Evangelical. We'll see.

I've had a time on the financial front, too...been back and forth to the business office and financial aid office, and I still don't really know what's going on. Funny story...my last trip to the Financial Aid office resulted in the following comment: "Thank you, Emily, for keeping track of this so closely. This is something I need to change for every student. Do you want a job?" HAHA.  I told her, "Maybe later."

All in all, the vibe here is a little weird for me, but I'm excited to see where my classes go after we get passed the orientation to biblical studies and after a few more of us are able to talk about what we're learning without using words similar to "it's like when ______ happens today"...yeah...not the point of Intro to OT...just saying. I'm happy to be here, for sure, just taking a little longer than I thought to get into the swing of things and find a niche or two here.