Weekly Update: November 27, 2008

As thanksgiving fever hits full force back home, and excitement builds for this time of year, things here in Denmark are much different. Thanksgiving is not a worldwide holiday if, you didn’t know that, and on the ship, celebrations are slim. There will be no football or rest for most of us Americans this Thursday (the football part is more important to me). With that said, Christmas time is in full swing here on board the ship and in the town surrounding us. There are decorations up all over as the hype that surrounds this time of year is in full effect.
A lot has been completed on the ship even since I have arrived, and it is very exciting! Today the ship celebrated the opening of the International Café that is opened on our Experience Deck. This is a place for crew and visitors alike to meet and buy things such as Ice Cream, pop, snacks, and others. Also, the book fair has been basically completed (to my knowledge) as the cash registers have been put in. This gives people the chance to use credit cards, and prepares us for ministry that much more. The coolest part about the experience deck right now is our program we are doing right now called “Christmas around the World”. This program involves many booths where different nationalities get to display what Christmas is like where they live. It is really cool to see all the differences in culture around the world. I plan on putting pictures of these up on my photobucket site at http://photobucket.com/ptownmissionary. Things on the ship are pretty exciting right now, and most are in a good mood.
This past weekend I participated in Fire Training which was both book learning and practical learning. On Saturday I spent half of the day in a room hearing things I thought I had already heard and watching videos on safety. The second half of the day was spent spraying fire hoses and putting on the fireman gear. Sunday wasn’t fire training, but it was very busy. I was involved in a guest church coming on board for our Sunday service. There were around 100 people, and I gave my first tour of the ship (with the help of KC). They were all very excited to see what was going on in this monstrous ship. Monday was yet another busy day (after a full week of watch) but was more fun than the prior two. I spent Monday at a compound used for training people how to fight fire. I got to see how fire spreads and how smoke rises to the top, and eventually even engage in combat versus a fire. It was fairly exciting, and I enjoyed the bonding time.
Yesterday marked my first day off in 10 days, but I can’t complain because many others had to work until the end of the week. I was graciously handed two days off in the light of recent events back home, and given time to work things out in my head and in prayer. Yesterday I went on a walk for three hours away from the ship, and I wish I would have taken a camera. I took a little path that seemed to be out of a dream, and eventually got to a highway which I took down past a couple of villages. The architecture here is so different and cool, that it caught me by surprise. I really enjoyed my walk just absorbing the beauty that God surrounds us with on all sides. Even the ugly things are full of beauty, and I need to start looking into the beauty of what God gives us, and not the ugliness we make it. What a week!