I survived my first week of work!

A few expressions came to mind when trying to describe my first week at work

• being thrown in the deep end (I guess I threw myself there)
• humbling
  
• eye-opening
• playing with the big boys
  
• incredible learning opportunity
  

In the bakery, there is the master baker/owner, a master pastry chef, 2 bakers, and yours truly. This is the most professional and highly-skilled team I have ever had the priviledge to work with. They are fast, efficient, and proficient in everything they do. They hardly talk, but know exactly what each other is doing, and will jump in to help when necessary. I thought I work pretty fast, but these guys put me to shame. Their speed, accuracy, and teamwork is beautiful to watch. Most of all, they don't look one bit stressed.

I feel like I went from playing ice hockey with my buddies on Saturday at the community centre to playing at the NHL. This year will be a lot of hard work, but it will also be a rich learning experience. Thank you God for working out all the details and making this wonderful opportunity a reality.

BTW, I must have rolled and shaped over 1,000 pretzels this week!

Breaking News - Population of Sleepy German Village Jumped by Almost 2%

I arrived in St Helena! It is a tiny village set on a hill within a valley. The view is nice in all directions, with mountains in the background. The village itself is also very charming.


This is the bakery and my new home. It's in the centre of the village, right across from the church. Incidentially, there's been a church in the same spot since the 1400s.


The neighbourhood kids gave me a warm welcome.


Being usually a light packer, I was slightly embrassed to show up with all these bags. This is my penthouse apartment (aka attic flat) for the year. After living 2 years on the ship sharing a narrow cabin with 3 other guys, this is luxury! I don't know what to do with all that space. Also, the flat is right above the bakery. So my commute to work is even shorter than when I was on the ship. I didn't think that was possible. Just walk down 2 flights of stairs, and I'm in the bakery. Perfect for those 2am starts.


St Helena - the village with a crane (from the saw mill) and steeple (not every village has their own church. This church serves the surrounding villages. So St Helena is the place to be on Sundays.)

24 hours in Erfurt

As alluded to in my previous post, I made a short trip to Erfurt. Here are some pictures from this pretty historical city.


The main city square is dominated by these two towering churches.


I don't know what this museum's about, but was afraid to go in. :) Actually, Anger is the name of the street this building is on, and may well be the name of the neighbourhood as well. So this could be a history museum of some sort. Wish my German is better.


Nice park benches


Various characters from a popular local children's TV show are installed all over the city. Apparently this bread loaf is the main character.


Pretty street with old houses and shops on both sides . . .


and it's a bridge as well! I was told this is the longest bridge street in Europe.

Erfurt is a really pretty city. Martin Luther also spent a lot of time here and in the surrounding area. Unfortunately I didn't have time to visit any of those places. Next time . . .

When East is North

Today, I left Munich, travelled almost 400km to the north, and arrived at the former East German city of Erfurt. However, before I talk anymore about Erfurt, here are some pictoral recap of my past few days in Germany.

OK, this was still in Canada, a little get-together with my engineering school friends. Question: How many engineers does it take to split the dinner bill? Answer: Who cares. I love these guys. I was so glad to see them again before leaving for Germany. But still, this is a funny picture.

A little Mercy Ships reunion in Munich. It was so nice to see familiar faces on my first day in Germany.

German Museum in Munich. I was blown away by the high quality exhibits there, from 4th century water mill to 21th century paper mill, the models were exceptionally well done.

I visited the BMW factory and saw how they turned a roll of sheet metal into a $70,000 sport car. It was amazing to see all those robots in action. As you can tell, Munich really appealed to the engineering side of me.

I had a quick stop in Nürnberg today, on my way to Erfurt. It's a really pretty city about 1.5 hours north of Munich, and about 45 minutes southwest from my village. Since this is the closest city to me, I will be coming here fairly often. I look forward to exploring more of Nürnberg. That golden structure is a water fountain built in the 1300s. Why don't we have water fountains like that in North America?

Guten Tag from Deutschland!

Hello dear readers, I send you warm greetings from freezing Munich!

I arrived 2 days ago, and am staying with friends from the ship. So far I have walked around downtown Munich, sampled German cakes and beers, and visited the Dauhau concentration camp, a very sad place and sobering reminder of how evil man can be. I plan on visiting a few more tourist attractions in the next two days, including the BMW factory! Very exciting. This weekend, I'll go to the village, and will start work next Monday.

Some of my first impressions of Munich:

• it's freezing cold here
  
• lots of people commute by bicycle, even in the cold
• most of the shops close at 8pm on weeknights, and are closed on Sundays
• there are bakeries everywhere
• unlike most other European cities I've visited, most of Munich was destroyed during WWII. As a result, there aren't too many old buildings left in Munich. Pity.

Finally, here's a picture of me in front of Marienplatz, Munich's city hall. Notice anything different about me? :)

Goodbye Mercy Ships, Hallo Deutschland!

My time with Mercy Ships came to an end, and once again, I am in a time of transition.

The past two years has been incredible, filled with ups and downs, exhilarating experiences and painful realizations. I stopped counting how many loaves of bread I baked, but it's lots. I hope not to have to use a loaf pan for some time. I met plenty plenty people, both on the ship and off the ship, and made some really good friends from around the world.

Some memorable moments from 2009:

• getting chickenpox
• bargaining at the local market with African women in Mandarin
• riding a camel
• eating deep fried grasshoppers, think of it as African popcorn
  
• seeing an opera for the first time, at the Royal Opera House in London, for free!
  

God blessed me abundantly, and I am so grateful for this wonderful experience.

For the past month, I've been home, visiting families and friends, speaking at churches, and getting ready for my next adventure: Germany.

I want to refine my baking skills and learn some new techniques, and what better way to do that than to live and work in a place with a long history and tradition of baking? Through a friend from the ship, I found a job at a small bakery in a small village in southern Germany. I am super excited about this opportunity, and look forward to new adventures in the coming year.