A month in!

Hi all!

It has been a fun month of work... The groups have been from schools (4th and 5th graders) during the week. The week end groups have been from clubs like Girls Brigade (like girl scouts), staff from a high school in London, adults involved in rehab programs, and youth groups. Quite a mix! Each group brings it's own challenges as well as it's own gifts- each one has been very different, but all rewarding. I am off to London next week for a Time for God conference (one of the groups that was involved in my placement here). It will be wonderful to see the other 11 ELCA volunteers that are placed in the UK and hear their stories. Until then... I've added some more pictures... Enjoy!

Arrived and running

Hi all! I have had an amazing three weeks in the UK! I made it to the ship without any trouble and then started an intense two weeks of training and team building. There are 6 volunteer year staff that live on Trinity full time and another 6 that live in the village in flats. I am the only non-English staff member and all the rest save one have been involved with Fellowship Afloat since they were 14 or so as day volunteers. We all get along wonderfully and it has been wonderful to get to know then all better!
This week has been our first week with groups in- Whew! We had a youth group in last weekend for a day sail then Monday morning we got a group of middle schoolers from Austria in for the week! They were fun, but challenging as they preferred speaking in German among themselves, though they did have excellent English when they chose to use it. We did a clean of the ship then got another youth group from the London suburbs in for the weekend. They have been great as well and very fun to hang out with. We played games on Friday night, sailed all day Saturday and then have team building activities and a service for today. And Monday morning we start with a school group again! It's a busy life, but I love it!
The community here on board Trinity as well as in the village is amazing and very supportive. We go to church in groups and go out to the pub or watch movies together as well. The village is small enough that they know that these "strangers" must be the new group of year sailors from the ship and ask us lots of questions- especially once I open my mouth! Apparently I stick out with my Midwestern Accent quite a bit! I hope to have my laptop by Tuesday and have it up and running by the end of the week - so I will include pictures and more updates soon!

Update...

1 month to go! I am getting very excited and anxious! I leave on August 18th for Chicago and orientation, then off to England on August 30th.

At home, I am busy sending thank you notes and packing for our annual trip to the beach!
We have a wedding in Ohio July 25th, then I am visiting First Lutheran (Canton, Ohio) and having a picnic there. Then it is off to the Carolinas with our family to spend some quality time at Myrtle Beach. A bonus this year- Tegan is coming too! Yeah!

I'll post pictures when we get back!

Here are some pictures of the Trinity :)