Frustrations, but overall progress

Guess who now has electricity in her apartment? Yup, that would be me. Last Monday morning someone from the power company called me and asked me to meet him at my apartment so he could turn on the power. After he tweeked some things on the electric meter and flipped some switches in the circuit breaker box, I was overjoyed to see the lights above the bathroom sink and in the storage closet come on. (Besides a light above the stove, these are the only light fixtures that came with my apartment.) Also on Monday I got a couple more light fixtures and a telephone. I ordered my phone and internet service a week ago Saturday, but my phone is not yet working. I went by the phone company this afternoon, and they're sending someone out to my apartment tomorrow to look at things. Hopefully it will be an easy fix. I've also had a problem getting the heat working in my apartment. Finally on Friday the landlady and a repairman came to look at the water heater and after bringing in a hose and filling it with water (it apparently was empty and is not connected to a water source), they got it working. I have radiators in my apartment, so if the water heater isn't working, the heat isn't either. My apartment is now a comfortable temperature, though, instead of the freezing temperature of last weekend. I had to wear my coat while I was laying the carpet! I'm very thankful it's fixed.

In the past few days I have also tackled the task of laying carpet squares in my apartment. The living room, bedroom, and half-room all have wood flooring that's seen better days. The floor is very solid; it's just old because the building is old. If it was refinished it would be beautiful, but since I'm not going to live in this apartment forever and I don't have the time or money to spend on the floor, I'm not going to worry about it. The storage closet at the apartment was filled with padded, hardly-used carpet squares that the landlord said I could use. The carpet has a rubber backing on the underside, so I didn't have to glue or tape the squares down, but I did have to solve quite a jigsaw puzzle of carpet pieces. Obviously some of the squares had to be cut to accomodate the irregularities of the rooms, and it was an adventure trying to make all the pieces fit together, especially since I had no idea where in the room the people started when they first laid the carpet. There were some extra pieces which I think must have been scraps the first time, and I finally decided some of the larger pieces would need to be cut to fit the spaces I had left because nothing seemed to work for several areas. Despite the headaches, the carpet is now finished, and though it looks a bit like a patchwork quilt, it makes the apartment feel more cozy and gives it character. And hey, I didn't have to pay for it. :-)

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving holiday. Several people have asked me if I celebrated Thanksgiving. Some Americans in Hildesheim invited me and the Abercrombies to eat Thanksgiving dinner with them, but we decided not to go. The Springers returned from the U.S. last Tuesday, and they also were not going to celebrate the holiday. Karen said that she didn't want to celebrate because to her Thanksgiving is not about the pilgrims and Native Americans and their harvest meal together. Instead it's about spending time with family and getting ready for the holiday season, and since she's not with her family, she saw no reason to celebrate Thanksgiving. I can see her point, though for me it's not only about family but acknowledging the blessings God has given me. Since I didn't really want to take the train to Hildesheim alone, and I had a lot to do to my apartment to make it liveable, I spent Thanksgiving laying carpet squares and waiting for furniture to be delivered to my apartment. I did, however, call my family and speak to them for awhile. I called my grandparents for the first time since I've been here, and my grandfather was quite surprised to hear from me. He said it was the first phone call he's ever received from Germany. :-) Also, Ingrid left Thursday morning to visit some family in Berlin, so I spent the weekend cat-sitting for her. I generally like cats, but I think Julia (YU-lea) prefers Ingrid over me. :-)

Since the Springers have returned and I'm on my way to living in my apartment, I soon will begin the work that I've come here to do. I'm supposed to meet with the Springers on Wednesday to discuss details of my work and to set up a schedule. Please pray that we'll see where exactly God wants to use me in this community and congregation.

Please also pray for my sister's fiance, Matt. He was sick on Thanksgiving, so my sister took some food to him. I heard from my mom today that he was in ICU on Friday and Saturday because of a bad infection that made it difficult for him to breathe. He apparently is doing better now, but please pray that he will continue to recover.

Also, this weekend Wolfgang, one of the pillars of the congregation here, was hospitalized with chest pains. The doctors decided he didn't have a heart attack but are treating him as if he did. He was moved into a different hospital yesterday, but I haven't heard anything new about his condition. Please pray that he also will recover smoothly.

Well, as you can probably tell, life here has been full. I've definitely experienced my share of frustrations with getting my apartment set up. It's been a great learning experience, though. When something doesn't go the way it should, I have to learn all sorts of new words in order to describe the problem and find a solution. I'm also discovering how vastly different apartments here are from those in the States. It's all the little things you would never think about that are the strangest. Despite all of my "learning opportunities," I can see overall progress even in the week and half that's passed since I signed the rental contract for my apartment. I plan to stay in my apartment tonight, even though I don't have a working phone or a ceiling light in my bedroom yet. Maybe it'll be a bit like camping. Only I have a refrigerator...and heat...and an indoor bathroom. Okay, so maybe not camping, but still an adventure, an adventure in my new German home.

A view of my bedroom part-way through the carpet-laying extravaganza.