Day 4

Saturday. Today was the first day of the DTS. Most of them have arrived, but there are still some on the way. A lot of them come from America, but there are also several Germans, Dutch, and one from Sweden, Australia, and Mexico. I’m happy that it has finally started, because I have people to hang out with now. When I woke up this morning, there was a brunch at 9 where everybody got to meet each other. Most of them had already met each other, but there were several new arrivals that were tossed into the crowd. It was good to eat with some people. Eating by yourself is good when you’re in a hurry; otherwise, it is a very lonely thing. Some people didn’t understand that it was a brunch and not a breakfast, so they kept asking, “Germans eat sandwiches for breakfast? Weird.” I sat down at a table with one staff member and a couple students, and we started talking about where we were from and what was going on in our lives. It’s amazing how many connections you may have with total strangers once you sit down and talk with them. Since I’ve been here, I’ve met somebody with a best friend who goes to UNI, somebody who lived in the town I’m reading about in my book, somebody who knows a good friend of mine from San Francisco, and many other people with similar passions and dreams. I think that’s just part of YWAM; so many people with so many similarities. So we got to know each other over brunch, and we were left with nothing to do until coffee and cake at 2. I had heard that they needed help shoveling a path to the fire because there was supposed to be a barbecue later on, so I headed outside to see what needed to be done. I opened the door to go outside with a shovel and almost stepped on a chicken. Apparently, they not only have (had) bunnies as pets (food), but they also have chickens (food/pets). It was a surprise to me to see a chicken just hanging outside the door, but I’ve come to learn to drop my expectations about this magical castle. Everyday I see something that surprises me; something that makes me ask myself, “Did that just happen? Was I the only one who saw that?” That must come with living in a castle in the woods surrounded by wild beasts. So I went out to shovel because it made me feel good doing something, and after making the path to the burn pit, I went back in to see if anything was going on upstairs on the student floor. I got to the 3rd floor and discovered something similar to the first day of my DTS. There were people putting stuff away in their rooms, but there were also people sitting together on the couches. Everybody was sitting there; nobody was talking. Haha. I thought it was funny, and soon conversation started picking up. We started this game called Loaded Questions, but it didn’t make much sense because the point of the game was to know the humor of each person. Oh well; it was fun to hang out with people and laugh. At 2, we had coffee and cakes; lots of cakes. Nothing really happened for the rest of the day until dinner, but it was still good to have people to hang out with in the castle. Tonight was the opening night for the DTS, so they had a barbecue/smorgasbord with lots of food and lots of sausage. All of the staff and students were there, so it was a large crowd of people in a small version of the Hogwarts dining room. After dinner was worship out by a fire where the meat was grilled, but it was so cold and windy that a lot of people (Southern Californians and other people from warm spots) went back inside to the warm comfort of the castle. Overall, I don’t have much to write today. I usually spend the whole day writing because I have nothing else to do, but I’m happy to say that I was occupied with something other than my computer and journal for most of the day. It’s been really lonely up to now, but I think things are turning around now that there are more people in the castle at all times. I’ve kind of been taken is as one of the new students. Everybody is so nice to me and treats me like family. It’s great. I think I will be sad to leave here in two weeks, but the good news is that I’m planning on visiting Salzburg between here and Klagenfurt. Salzburg, in case you don’t know, is where the Sound of Music was held. Hopefully I will be gifted with a musical talent on my pass through. We will have to wait and see. It is now time for bed. I think that somebody moved into my room, so we will find out in a little bit. Hope you have a great day wherever you are. Guten Nacht von Deutschland.