Just Like Friends

So I've always watched the TV show Friends and seen them waste all their time at that coffee shop. Now I am one of those people. I had to get out of the Project so I could read so I decided to head down to the local coffee shop and just hang out for awhile. I'm sure you can tell I'm putting off the reading, though, but who can pass up free Wifi right?

Back at Bluffton it seemed like the only "cross cultural" experience I had living on campus was seein the weird things that people put on their cottage cheese. (I'm a sugar man myself.) But now that I'm here in Pittsburgh where there's always something going on I feel like I've got culture coming out my ears. First it was the ethnic restaurants. Then it was the weird music my roommate listens to. Now before coming to hang out here at the coffee shop I stopped by a Jazz/Poetry festival. You can't see it right now, but I'm snapping my fingers in approval of myself. I think the thing I've realized by experiencing all this so far is that it's important to try things, but that doesn't mean you have to like them. You can take the Bluffton boy out of Bluffton, but you can't take the Bluffton out of the Bluffton boy. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm really glad I've started to experience new things, but that doesn't mean I'm going to like them. I appreciate the fact that other people like these "cultural" things. Who knows, maybe I'll try something completely off the wall and love it. I suppose that's what a cross cultural experience is all about.

My internship is going really well. On both Wednesday and then Friday morning I spent most of the day with Mike, the youth pastor. We get along really well and I really feel like he's trying hard to be my Yoda. The other day he explained a model of ministry that he has found helpful to him in thinking about how he runs his program. It's just stuff like that where he takes the time to really teach me the things he has learned that make me realize how great this internship will be for me. On the other hand, though, I atteneded my first praise band practice today and I was just blown away by how out of my league I felt. I really admire Nikki, the music minster's, leadership and knowledge of everything related to leading worship, but it is completely unlike anything I've experienced before. I felt really bad because she has me singing with the group and I was completely lost most of the time. Added on to that is the fact that I am getting horribly sick. It's not to the point where I don't think I can add anything to the group, but I just wonder where the bad outweighs the good. If nothing else I know I will leave with a much bigger appreciation for gospel music. It was weird when one of the songs we were doing was a song I've sang in Chapel or SMW a hundred times and I was the only band member who knew it. It also did make me realize how simple some non-gospel praise and worhsip songs can be. With the gospel songs it seems like there is always at least three parts. I think this is one of those "cultural" things that I will leave Pittsburgh really liking. I just hope I can get a better grasp on it.

Some friends from Bluffton stopped by this weekend on their way to a wedding. It was really good to see at least some of the people I really miss back at Bluffton. I really hope I can make it back to B-town sometime this semester. I probably should start reading before it gets too late and the Benadryl I took starts to kick in.