Reflections for 2009/2010 Continued

I have struggled with what to write about in this final blog of the school year (if this is in fact, my last). I want to inspire, to share, and to communicate with you the many aspects of Redeemer that have made my past two years here an incredible experience, and have changed who I am and how differently I perceive the world now as compared to before I entered this place.

When I first came to Redeemer in September of 2008, I will admit that Redeemer was not #1 on my Schools to Attend list. However, since God has placed me here, I could not be more thankful. I have become a different person since stepping on Redeemer campus. I hope that what I am saying does not sound flashy, or made up, or fantasy-like, because that is definitely the case. Redeemer has thrown many challenges into my life, as well as into the lives of my friends and neighbours. There are challenges beyond every corner, as between classes, friends, activities and worship sessions, there is always something pushing you to do something better, to trust God more, to become a better person, and so on. It isn’t all fun and roses! But the outcome – it’s totally worth it.

I often take advantage of this. I forget that I am attending a school that is so rare, so different from all of the other public universities in Ontario and Canada. I forget that I have the chance to be a Christian in my classes and in the hallways. I forget that other places aren’t like this. And I forget that I’m privileged to be able to be here, to be given the chance to learn in an environment and school where students and faculty know my name and care about my well-being. And that’s something I shouldn’t forget. I am blessed. We are blessed.

If you feel that God is leading you to come to Redeemer next year, take it from someone who has tried to run the opposite way more than once – listen to Him. Redeemer has so much to offer you and will challenge you on multiple levels. Not only will you receive an education that is extraordinary (and I’m not just saying that – I love my courses), you will meet people and experience things that will change your life course and who you are as a person forever. Continue to pray about where God is leading you and what He has planned for you for next year. May you be blessed in your decision-making!

I’m hoping that I’ll see you around campus in September!

An Unplanned Extra Week in Paris

Well, I do feel a bit lucky right now. As university students across Canada are as you are all busily preparing for exams or cramming in those last minute all-nighters, we have been blessed over here in France to have two weeks of vacation! I have learned that France’s educational system is particularly different from Canada’s in just that respect: time off. In France there are many more lengthy breaks for students, making it seem as though less time is spent in class. But in fact, the academic load of the semester is much heavier and the days are longer for university and lycée (high school) students. One of my roommates for example attends a lycée and he is in class from 9am to 4 or 5pm all week and he even has classes on Saturday. International students in my program at the Sorbonne are a bit more fortunate in terms of our time off, allowing for more time to explore.

This week, although starting off oddly, has been a very good week and God has surprised me with a lot. On Sunday morning, I woke up before the sun at 5:30am and headed out to the empty streets of Paris with a heavy pack strapped on my back. I hopped into a taxi and asked to be dropped off at the train station at the north end of the city. As I walked into the station I realized I was actually early for the time of my departure, so I parked myself down and munched on some breakfast for half an hour. As it neared the time when my train was supposed to leave, I started to get a little worried; I couldn’t find any indication of my train headed to Taizé! I rushed to the information desk and asked what was going on with my train. The lady at the desk uttered these words and my heart sank: “Désolé monsieur mais vous êtes à la mauvaise gare, il faut que vous alliez à Gare de Lyon pas Gare du Nord. ” Basically, I had missed the small print of the ticket and was waiting at the wrong train station! That was not the most encouraging of moments for me. Luckily I have two weeks off and was able to re-plan my trip for the next week (since Taizé’s only welcome day is Sunday).

So, admittedly, this week started off quite embarrassingly and unplanned, yet I have thoroughly enjoyed the extra leisure time in the city. So far, I have used it mostly to hang out with some of the good French friends that I have made in Paris (as well as one very funny Scot and an awesome Indonesian). I have also caught up on some reading, sent out some postcards back home, and visited some of those less known sites on my Paris bucket list (which is not small I assure you!). It’s been great so far and in retrospect I am actually glad it has happened this way. At least now I know for the next train I catch out of Paris to make it to the right train station! More updates will come next week, when I do end up making it to Taizé. But I’ve got to head out; tonight I’m hosting a dinner party in my residence! Ciao

2009/2010 Reflections

Another year is coming to an end here at Redeemer University College. You can always tell, because the library is packed full with students studying for final exams, final preparations are being made for food plan money-spending and devotions during exams, and campus life is on fire, with the last Hot Spot, Coffee House and Church-in-the-Box taking place. It’s a good feeling – having accomplished one more year of school, and having matured to great lengths over the past year (at least for some students).

I thought I would take some time to reflect on what has happened this year at Redeemer. It’s amazing when you really think about it, because the year flies by so fast, and you forget the majority of the great things that happened. My dorm and I reflected on our dorm-life experience this past week by drawing pictures and writing words that came to mind of fun things that we had done over the year, memories that we had, and friends we had made. It was a great opportunity to remember all of the things people said that were absolutely hilarious, the memories behind the quotes on our quote board, and the memories we shared from the Olympics, from school activities and from our girls nights in and outside of the dorm.

I look back on this year and am reminded of Redeemer’s generosity. My friend Catriona and I began a club at Redeemer this year, thinking that it would be great if we could raise a couple hundred dollars to send to Invisible Children, an organization seeking to end the war between the LRA and Acholi people of Uganda. We had no idea that Redeemer would latch on to this cause, and contribute so much! We only ran two events this year, a book drive and a clothing drive and both were far more successful than we had ever thought possible. We are looking forward to next year, to coming up with new ideas and new ways of using Redeemer’s strengths to help others.

I also remember the aspects of Redeemer that are specific to this campus, like Church-in-a-Box, Wednesday chapels, the relationships between faculty and students, the students themselves, etc. I may sound biased, but I firmly believe that Redeemer is a place that every student should have the opportunity to experience. Not only do we reflect on what has happened this year, but we can take what we have learned and look forward to starting up again in September.

The Last Day of Classes

Once upon a time (well not really “a” time because it was today) there was a young first year student. And what is this first year student doing on a beautiful sunny day like today? Well, we find her in bed. Opps, she has once slept in and her first class will be starting in 30 minutes. She had a late night last night; she was at Hot Spot last night, singing and worshiping God. And here she is, asleep in bed with the sun shining on her face as she dreams about summer.

But don’t worry. She won’t be in bed for long, because although she slept through her alarm, her roommate’s alarm will go off soon. *chirp, chirp* There it is, the bird call from her cell phone and our main character groggily crawls out of bed and into the shower. It’s the beginning of another day at Redeemer... but not just any day. Today is the Last Day of Classes for this school year. Her last day of being a first year. With that excitement to boost her energy level, she quickly eats a bowl of LIFE cereal and grabs her backpack – she’s off for her last class of the year.

A few minutes later we find our girl in line at William for her morning French Vanilla Latte. She talks with Gerta who’s making her drink about her exams and the beautiful weather, and wishes her nice day. Now she’s walking to class, a bit late, but there’s still time to talk to a couple of friends along the way.

10:00 and it’s time for microeconomics, her last class of the year (which I believe I have mentioned a couple of times, but hey, she’s pretty excited about this... she gets to hand in a paper that she’s been working on since the beginning of the semester. It’s a group project about the limitations of Fair trade and how all of that relates to economics. Pretty exciting stuff!) She sits down beside one of her best friends, opens her lap top and talks excitedly about how great it is to be almost done classes and exams, with summer just around the corner:

“It feels Sooo short compared to high school.”

“I know” she agrees.

“I handed in our project and this is my last class.”

“Yup, me too. All that’s left is exams...”

“and then summer!” they both said in unison and laughed.

Their prof finished off his last lecture on the last chapter in the text book (she couldn’t believe how many text books she actually read this year... looking back it was a whole lot for just four months, but at the time it didn’t seem like that much to read.) And then he gave a few pointers for the exam. The clock struck 10:50 and Freedom!

Well, kinda freedom. Freedom from classes sure, but now it is time for our first year to realize all of the studying she has to do to prepare for her first exam on Tuesday night. Time to start reading over those REL 101 notes and checking out the slides her prof posted on the internet site Moodle.

But the rest of this day won’t be just about studying. Seriously, it’s a nice day. And it’s the Last Day of Classes! And her dorm still hasn’t gotten back to her neighbouring dorm for a prank they did in February (not that she keep grudges ... they just haven’t forgotten). Yes there are still a lot of things that I have to do yet before my first year is over, just to make being a first year unforgettable.

Vacation Has Begun

Vacation has begun! After working hard in grammar, history and phonetics courses for quite some time, I am happy to be welcomed by some time off. It’s really an exciting time to be in Paris: the sun is shining brightly, the students have all been let out for two weeks, and the streets are now buzzing with tourists. In our last grammar class our professor encouraged us to start the celebrations early, “sans doute il faut commencer la fête!” So, we were invited to bring desserts and drinks on Friday and hang out for the last half of the class. I can’t think of a better way to start a weekend.

Later on that day I hung out with friends from the young adults group at church and we went up the Tour Montparnasse in the south of Paris. Standing some 210m about the streets of Paris, the Tour Montparnasse is the tallest building in France and one of the tallest in Europe. Going up the elevator was quite an experience in itself—59 floors took maybe 2minutes in total! It was incredibly fast and the view we got when got to the top was just amazing...it would have been well worth a wait if there was one. Since its construction in 1972 the tower has also played host to a number of odd happenings, including a dangerous feat by an urban climber in 1995. French adventurist Alain "Spiderman" Robert scaled the building’s exterior glass and steel wall using only his bare hands and feet and with no safety devices. He managed to make it to the top, even though he reputedly almost fell halfway up. Here’s his website if you want to see his website to witness some amazing pictures of him in action: www.alainrobert.com.

Next week I will be spending a week away from the city and its skyscrapers. I have decided to spend some time in quiet reflection and prayer at a place called Taizé. It is an ecumenical monastic community founded just after World War II by a Protestant Swiss pastor named Brother Roger. Today, there are dozens of brothers who have made the community their home and each year thousands of young people flock to Taizé for a journey of prayer, worship, fellowship, and reconciliation. If you are a young Christian in Europe you have most likely heard of Taizé and you have most like gone or are going to the place. In the spring and summer there are hundreds of tents that line the fields and the church is filled with young seekers. I am really excited to make this pilgrimage and to see what God has in store for me, I have great expectations for what He may show me!

A Few More Weeks Left!

Amidst all the paper writing, late night library cramming and exam prep, free time becomes a rare luxury. None the less, there are always a few signs of people enjoying themselves around the Redeemer campus. Radios are playing, baseballs are being tossed, a guitar or two is being strummed, people are lounging around on blankets outside. I saw someone barbecuing the other day. Summer is tantalizingly close! If there is ever a time when I miss living on campus, it’s when spring time rolls around. It’s kind of a shame that dorm dwellers can only bask in the greatness of this warm weather for a few short weeks.

Seeing as it is nearing the end of the year and all, I’d like to take a moment and write something for any of the future first year students who will be attending Redeemer next fall. So here it is – a few (hopefully helpful) tips for your first year at Redeemer:

· Go to coffee house – the sense of community that this weekly event builds is fabulous! By third year (when you live off campus) attending coffee house can become almost impossible (due to the location, or school work) so take advantage of it while you are on campus.

· Go to CITB – Nobody can force you into loving the worship style (in fact for some, it may not be their cup of tea) but I truly think that everyone can take away something from CITB, even if it is just the guest speaker/message, a certain song that is pertinent to your walk with God, or a word of prayer.

· Go to the writing Centre. (ok, ok, so I do kinda work there -- shameless plug I know), but we don’t just edit your grammar mistakes. We care about your ideas, the structure of your essay and we want to help you express yourself with clarity and confidence on paper!

· Go to chapel -- Nine out ten times I walk away with the “that was just what I needed to get myself through the week” feeling.

· Go to art gallery openings! Also, check out Redeemer’s theatre productions. You will not be disappointed!

· Get involved in the city of Hamilton -- Check out the Freeway Cafe, the Art Crawl on James Street North or the various multicultural restaurants hiding in the city. Thai Memory makes wonderful Thai food. You should try it!

· Consider joining Kids Club or Living Rock. These are good ways to meet people and get out of suburbia. There is such a need for student involvement in the city of Hamilton.

· Stay up till 4 in the morning for no reason at all. You are in your first year and can get away with stuff like that. Enjoy it while you can!

Last Week of Classes

This year is wrapping up, only this week left of classes and then two weeks of exams. It’s been such a great year and as I look back at my first day moving in, I never would have thought it would have been like this! I’ve made lots of new friends; as you live with people right off the bat you meet new people and that has been another great experience for me. I definitely wish that I had been more involved but then I think about how little free time I had so I guess you do what you can.

I’m looking forward to next year and I’ve been hearing about construction plans for the summer so things may look a bit different around here, but I’m sure it will be for the better. When they renovated the cafeteria it improved a lot! Living off-campus will be quite different for the next year, although I will miss on-campus for many reasons, mainly the social aspect and also ease for school projects and getting notes. It’s really amazing that two years have passed for me already at Redeemer, I don’t have a single regret about my choice to come here. I know when I applied I didn’t care too much about the academic part of Redeemer but more about making friends, living arrangements and those things- but they all come together to make Redeemer what it is!

As exams approach, I’ll be getting ready by staying here for the weekend instead of my usual trip home. I would like to get my notes in order for me to review them easily. Church in the Box is this Sunday so tonight I’m meeting with the CEW team to discuss our possible skit- we even borrowed costumes from the Theatre department.

I’m still waiting to hear about that summer job, and I know I’m not the only one leaving it this late… but that is life, we need to trust that God will provide. I’m really thankful for the recent devotions my dorm has had, we’ve really been able to look at scripture and have ‘real’ conversations about our struggles in our journeys and also what the everyday Bible stories mean to us. We read the controversial book, The Shack, first semester and that provided me with a lot of growth so now as the summer comes I will hopefully become closer instead of more distant with God. Pretty much I just can’t wait for the summer, no exams, homework or school but I guess I’ll be ready to come back next year if I must to finish my degree and of course to reunite with friends again!

Bursting with Excitement

Only three weeks of school, four days of class, a couple presentations and papers and for most, four or five exams left. It must be the end of the year!

Redeemer has been bursting with excitement for the past couple of days. Final events are taking place, committee activities are coming to an end, faculty are trying to squeeze everything that they need to cover into the last few classes, and students are cramming to get everything accomplished on time. And yet, despite the busyness of the last couple weeks of the semester, coffee house on Thursday night was a real hit. There were a lot of funny comedy acts, some really talented singing acts, and some dancing and other fun skits. Not to mention, the Commons area was full!

The last few weeks of school are always exciting – students feel as though they have accomplished much over the year, and are excited for what the summer holds. The weather has been beautiful, and students have been making use of their porches, barbeques and access to campus and athletic equipment, including the tennis and basketball courts. The excitement and hope for the near future is clear!

I even encountered some people playing guitar or ukulele or some stringed instrument outside at around 11:30 at night, one night this week. While this may surprise you, once you have encountered Redeemer for a couple of months, nothing surprises you anymore. Students are free to express themselves in many ways, and believe me, they sure do! This is evident in the classroom, around campus, at all hours of the day and night, and whenever you find the time to really look around!

I also experienced a whole section of the school this week that I never even knew existed. A friend and I do devotions 3-4 times a week together at around 11:00 at night, and one night, she suggested that we go to a prayer room at the school. Little did I know, we actually have rooms at the school just for praying! I was absolutely amazed and am certain that I will making use of those rooms more often for the remaining three weeks of the year, and of course in my next couple of years at Redeemer.

Time to get back to those presentations and papers – only three weeks to go! Keep plugging away at it!

Spring, Exams, Housing and Time-out

This weekend was such a great one, the weather was gorgeous and we had Friday and Monday off school, which made for a great long weekend! Everyone came back hopefully feeling refreshed and ready to finish the last stretch of the school year! I know I am looking forward to be finished exams and homework 24/7 but at the same time I will definitely miss the social stuff here and being so busy that time never seems to drag on. I will be finishing up most of my assignments and a final midterm this week and hopefully next week I can begin my exam reviews as I have three exams in a five day span, which really isn’t too bad but you always want to be more prepared than less.

Exams get some people really stressed out but I believe that if you take the time to exercise, eat right and study in shorter increments that studying becomes much less stressful and more effective. I’m sure everyone has an exam routine that works for them. It’s kind of crazy that we still have classes right now while lots of other universities are beginning exams, from what I understand though they have a longer exam time than we have so their exams are more spread out. I don’t mind still being in school, I’m sure it all works out to about the same in-class hours.

Anyways, I was very happy to see as I was bringing in my stuff from the long-weekend that our tennis courts are now up! I’m hoping to get a few games in this week, if only the weather would co-operate. I know a lot of people who have tons of essays right now, but I really only have a midterm and one-page French essay due this week. That’s why I’ve decided to do this Brown Rice cleanse that I did with a door-mate last year. It’s really cool because you can eat as much as you like and it’s only for a short period of time (5-10 days). Basically it’s anything with brown rice, vegetables and fruit, no salt, sugar, dairy or meat. We had fun coming up with random meals last year so this time I have a few more ideas.

Tomorrow I’m going to a birthday party for my friend; he is a transfer student and a commuter so it’s good to see him connecting with a bunch of people here. I can only imagine that it’s a bit more difficult for commuters to get connected, as it is very easy when you live on campus and events are always going on. I hope that next year when I live off-campus I stay involved in the Redeemer community just as much as I am now.

Speaking of off-campus housing, I just sent in my notice to Time-out (our school newsletter) about summer housing. There’s a ton of ads about housing in Timeout right now, so it’s a great resource for that type of thing as well as lost/found items and finding drives home. Time-out also posts class-cancellations and activities going on. A great way to stay connected with what is going on. After all it’s delivered to your front porch every morning! On April fool’s they did a mock-Time out which was really funny, the ads they made up were hilarious because they were similar ideas with an outrageous twist. I’d definitely say it was the best April fool’s this year.

Easter in Paris

This is the first time I’ve spent Easter outside of Canada and it was definitely an interesting experience. Earlier in the week I had heard of a massive gathering of Christians in Paris on the morning of Easter Sunday and so I planned to get myself out of bed and attend the early service. When I got to “la Défense”, the large open area where the assembly was being held, I was amazed at the amount of people that had come out to hear the message of Christ’s Resurrection. There, under cloudy skies and drizzling rain of Paris at 7:30 in the morning was a crowd of around 6,000 believers. They had come from all sorts of backgrounds and faith traditions; on the stage in front of the crowd stood representative pastors, priests, and laymen from just about every major Christian denomination.

Each took a turn to lead a certain part of the service: from songs, to creeds, to Scripture passages. And each leader wore their respective formal wear for the event, making for a very interesting and colourful stage presence. It was the most ecumenical of ecumenical events that I have ever attended and it gave me great encouragement to see so many Christians of diverging traditions come together to worship the Saviour. The event was simply called “Pâques 2010: Christ est ressuscité ” and it was a celebration in light of the rare occurrence when Easter falls on the same date for Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches.

On Easter Monday I eagerly stood in a long line of young men, all waiting to see the newest action film to hit the scene in Paris: “Le Choc des Titans”. I met up with some friends I met through church and after two hours we entered the giant opera theatre where the movie would be playing. For only 10 Euro we got a centre-balcony seat, right in the middle of the biggest big-screen I’ve ever seen (these ones largely out-do our normal Silvercity or Famous Players screens). When the movie started I was a bit surprised, I had mentally readied myself to follow a French film...but this was in English! I have to admit I was slightly relieved that I could pay more attention to the plot and less to the language. But it turns out there wasn’t much of a plot to follow after all, just action.

The movie itself was not bad and I really enjoyed spending an evening out with friends, away from being cooped up trying to heal my swollen ankle. Luckily that is on the mend and I hope that by the next time I post an update for you guys I will be a walking man!

Graduating as Losers – Closing Convocation

Goodbyes are always hard to say, which was once again proven in Wednesday’s Closing Convocation. It was held in the auditorium during the regular Chapel period. Dr. Zietsma spoke about graduating as losers, which sounds kind of backwards because we usually think about coming to university to gain an education that will help us succeed in life. So why on earth would an inspiring message encourage us to be losers?

Dr. Zietsma based his message off of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I might gain Christ” (3:7-8, NIV). Whatever knowledge we gain through our university education is not for our own personal profit, but a loss for the sake of Christ. The more educated we are the more equipped we are to serve God. At the end of our studies, we are now called to be servant leaders in the world, in our various vocations, living for Jesus. The world may perceive us as losers – look at Paul, once Saul a high standing official now a lowly tent maker just barely making enough to live off of. The world may have called him a loser. But God has called us to be his servants and we have a greater mission that the world doesn’t understand. Through our self sacrifice for Christ’s sake, we gain much more for Christ.

But the greatest thing we can ever know is Jesus Christ. This is why our Christian education is so important – through all of our studies, regardless of our vocations, Christ is the centre. We critically analyse everything through the eyes of faith and constantly grow in learning more about him. It’s an exciting journey that will continue after we graduate from university.

The message at the Closing Convocation was mainly for the fourth and fifth years who are leaving Redeemer to either go into further education, or put their education in practise. However, the message was also inspiring for me, a first year. It encouraged me to continue studying and working hard on my papers and studying for exams, because whatever knowledge I gain now will equip me to help others in the future.

It is sad saying goodbye to the fourth years that I, at first feared because they were older and taller than me, but grew to love because they are role models of all Redeemer students can be. They have left a huge impact on our school from the classroom, to sports teams, to senate, to clubs and activities. They will surely be missed here at Redeemer, but I am confident that they will continue their servant leadership as they move on to studying, living, and working in the “real” world. I am proud of our graduating class, proud to respect them, proud of what they’ve done and what they will do, proud to call them my friends.

Furthermore, we are saying goodbye to some well loved a respected faculty and staff here at Redeemer. Dean Schat, President Cooper, and the Book Store Manager, Alice Wolters. All three are dedicated and respected members of the Redeemer community who have made a large impact on Redeemerites’ lives. Whether it was Presidents Cooper’s cheerful whistling and smile as he walked down the hallway; or Dean Schat’s constantly available support with any student life issue; or Alice Wolters’ helpful advice when buy textbooks, these people exemplified the love of Christ in their vocations. Through their daily example to us, we can learn how go on to be Christ’s servant in the world. Thank you President Cooper, Dean Schat, Alice Wolters, and graduating class for all you have done for the Redeemer community and may God Bless you in your future.

Easter Reflections

Another short week here at Redeemer! Many are gone home to celebrate the Easter weekend with their families and friends, and many will be attending services at church in memory of Christ’s sacrifice for us. And of course, many will be returning on Monday for the last two weeks of classes and final two weeks of exams.

This week was filled with thoughts, feelings, and chats about the Easter story and about the implications that it has for our lives. In my dorm devotions this week, we read through the last part of the Gospel of John, from Jesus’ prayers for himself, his disciples and all believers up until his death and resurrection. While reading the Bible sometimes feels repetitive, redundant and all those things, this re-reading of the Easter story really impacted my dorm. Even though we have heard the story so many times, it seems as though each time you read it, you learn something new or you make connections that you have never made before. It made me really appreciate not only the story itself and the tremendous sacrifice Christ made on that cross, but also the opportunity to read it with the girls in my dorm. Having friends, dorm-mates and loved ones is especially necessary at times like this. Even though things are busy and people are frustrated with school work and the coming end of the semester, to be able to sit down with those around you and talk about the love of God is absolutely incredible. I feel so blessed to be in a place where I can talk about these sorts of things with people that I know are wrestling with them as well. This opportunity for a break in the midst of a chaotic couple of weeks is also a true blessing.

I also had a few good chats with some friends this week. I am so thankful for the friends that I have made at Redeemer. While personalities may not always “click” right away, you can be sure that the one thing holding people together is their faith in Christ. You know that there is always that underlying similarity between people. Friendships are based on laughter, similarities and differences, those you come into contact with frequently and so on. But they are also mechanisms by which to get to know others, to come to appreciate the gifts that God has given other people and to allow for deep (and necessary) conversations to take place.

Through the Easter chapel held this week, our dorm devotions, random chats with friends, and the Easter decorations strung throughout campus, I feel as though this is the first year in which I have actually begun to understand the importance and significance of the death and resurrection of Christ. And I have never been more thankful! May each of you feel blessed and encouraged this Easter, and take time to reflect on the amazing gift we have been given.

I got a feeling that it’s going to be a good Good Friday!

They say that one of the tell-tale signs of spring is seeing the first robin. Well, around Redeemer there are other signs that point to the dawning of a new season. Things like:

The sun setting later in the day, and students still wondering when they will catch up on sleep from the hour they lost from the time change. Not because of late night talks with roommates or secret summer excursions, but because of papers and assignments that are suddenly due. I mean, we were assigned the paper at the beginning of the year, but it wasn’t due until April, so why start right away? Well... yesterday was April 1, and it was no April Fools’ joke that those long-term assignments are suddenly due within the week. Maybe it’s time we started doing some research. It’s a great thing the library is open until midnight.

On a lighter note, the weather is a lot more welcoming than say a month ago. We’ve been teased with hints of Spring, only to be plunged back into freezing cold temperatures, but this time I’m optimistic that the warm weather is here to stay. The grass is turning green; we’re eating our dorm dinners outside in our back yard; the guitars are out for late night sing-a-longs; football and soccer games between classes; flip-fops; and flowers. The HANDS Mission team sold Gerber Daisies as a fund raiser for their Missions trip to Nicaragua. They were distributed yesterday, spreading some Spring cheer all over the school. You can see the grass turning green and the flower sprouting through the ground. It’s times like this when we realize how blessed we are to live on such a beautiful campus.

The business of the students are blooming too as we get to see productions like Rookery Nook. I know many people were heavily involved in the acting, set building, and stage managing of the play. I know how much work and dedication everyone put into this play, and I am amazed and proud of how amazing their production was. Redeemer truly produces quality results in whatever we dedicate our time and heart to; this theatre production is just another example of how talented our school is.

Spring is here and so are the deadlines for our assignments. On top of this are the nervous anticipation of upcoming exams, and the stress of finding summer jobs, and just being busy and tired. It’s really nice to have a long weekend. Today is Good Friday – a time to reflect on God’s amazing love as he graciously gave us life. Through this weekend may we all truly worship God and thank him and praise him for all he has given the world. God is so good! Through this weekend we can reflect on the biggest event in all of history – Jesus’ death and resurrection concurring death, sin, and Hell. Our God reigns and he gives us purpose. Through this reflection may we spring forward into our studies and dig into His truths; God is in all things and may we write essays for his glory as he prepares us for our callings.

The Balance Between Being a Student and a Tourist

It may sound corny but one of the highlights this week for me has been getting letters from friends back at Redeemer. The simple process of opening envelopes and reading encouraging notes sent across the ocean really is a great feeling and it shows how lucky I am to have such good friends. Now I just have to find the time to write back some equally long and humourous letters! Looking back over this week I realized it wasn’t one of the more “touristy” ones that I’ve experienced. Instead, I found myself quite occupied with more pressing, but less interesting activities. I finished applications for summer work, polished off a five-page essay for grammar class, and applied through Redeemer’s Financial Aid Department for the 2010 Application for Scholarships & Bursaries.

On Friday night I was able to get out and enjoy an evening with a handful of young adults from my church. We attended a play called “Marc L’Expérience” (the Mark Experience). It was an amazing show put on by a number of local Parisian university students who are all members of Christian groups on their respective campuses. Without costumes, music, lighting, or even a stage, they delivered an incredible rendition of the entire book of Mark. The text really came alive that night and in the audience we got a greater sense of how the words on the page might have been lived out. Afterwards, in discussion with some friends, I came to realize how much of the depth of the Gospels we may actually miss out on because of the fact that there are not normally read or acted aloud. Speaking the truths orally, in the way in which they were originally conveyed, seems to bring them to life in a sense, really demonstrating the power of spoken word. I was happy to have experienced that evening and I was actually proud that these students sacrificed so much of their time to practice and memorize the entire book of Mark.

Saturday, I went with two of the other Redeemer students on the same study program to visit the Centre Pompidou. The Centre Pompidou is the nucleus of contemporary and avant-garde art in Paris. The building, which houses works as diverse as Picasso’s cubist paintings to documentaries by modern filmmakers, was built to appear inside out. The enormous walls outside are surrounded by pipes, elevators, water ducts, and scaffolding while the inside features clean, polished stone. The museum is practically too large to explore in one visit. There is an adjacent library, a video area, children’s workshops, computer lounges, cafés, and a performance centre for dance and theatre. We quickly reasoned that the bulk of the centre would be better to discover when we had a full day at our feet. Heading out in the quarter known as “Les Halles” we strolled through markets, shops and local food outlets. Emile Zola described the area as “the belly of Paris” for a reason: he was referring to the meat, vegetable, and fruit stands that have been thriving in this quarter since the 12^th century. We stopped at a café, explored a smaller but less cumbersome photography museum and went our separate ways for the evening. It seems like I’ve seen so much in Paris so far, yet every time I take one of these little detours I get taken aback by interesting places like these.