Julie’s News from Maryland

On Saturday, we joined another family from seminary and went to the huge Halloween Party in Central Park.  Starbucks sponsored the party and it was very well done.  Down by the famous fountain they had thousands of free pumpkins.  Only a few people were allowed to go down at a time, so it wasn’t a mad house.  We decided to let each of the kids take a small pumpkin seeing as how we would have to carry them all home.  We also went and danced to a band that was playing and watched a cute puppet show.  It was freezing cold - in the 40s - but we had a great time.

Afterwards, we came back to our house and ordered pizza.  Since the pumpkins were so small, we decided to paint them, not carve them.  The kids had a ball painting them.  It was a lot of fun.  The best part was getting to know another family better.  We really had a great time with them and it certainly gives me hope that we won’t be lonely forever.

Today was the seminary Halloween Party.  Rick and Chris, another new parent here, organized the party.  We spent the afternoon decorating the room.  The kids went trick-or-treating in our building and on the campus from 4:30-6:00.  Everyone really got into it and the kids got a ton of candy.  At one point Ella told me that her candy was too heavy and asked me to carry her bag.

We all took a break at 6:00 to go to worship.  Then, we had pizza and cookies and treats in the refectory.  A couple of the older kids brought supplies for face painting and everyone had a really nice time.

I posted a new album with the photos - see Halloween on the right.

Jay’s partner, Daniel, is a fantastic photographer.  He brought his camera to Nicholas’ birthday party and took some really incredible shots of the kids.  They are posted on snapfish if you’d like to take a look at them: http://www.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=30440154

I also added a new album called “Tourists”.  It just has a couple of pictures of us around New York.  You’ll find it in the sidebar on the right.

Now that each of my classmates has had an opportunity to acolyte a couple of times, the liturgics professor and the Chief Sacristan sent us a couple of emails.  Below are some of their comments.

From the liturgics professor:

Congratulations everyone!  You have made it through a full cycle of the acolyte schedule and no one has burned down the building, set their hair on fire, set my hair on fire, tripped the deacon, dropped the wine, thrown up in the middle of the service, or punched the Chief Sacristan!  The last of these is particularly appreciated, above all by the Chief Sacristan.  I value your ministrations and you are doing just fine!

If there is anything I would encourage as a point for improvement as the next cycle is underway, it is to pay close attention to the Chief Sacristan’s instructions on the gospel procession.  Key points: 1) remember that you flank the deacon/gospel book, not the book bearer.  I realize this is different from what some of you have seen in your parishes where a cross leads the procession down with torches following in much the same order as the entrance procession.  Our customs and personnel are a little different here; 2) whatever you do, even if it is a mistake, do it together, move together, think together.  Even an error done together is in better service to the liturgical assembly than free-floating acolytes doing their own thing. 

From the Chief Sacristan:

Please know that I echo Professor Farwell’s congratulations.  Thank you for your hardwork and for not punching him also.  Here are a few things to keep in mind:
1) Gospel Procession.  Torches go down to the pavement (floor) first and face the Altar.  Everyone turns “West” when the Deacon turns, but you walk with the Book.  You lead coming back.   
2) Offertory / Preparing the Table.  The “Innie” brings the water and extra wine AFTER the gifts have been presented.  A few times, following my instructions to walk right up to the person setting the table, the Deacon (Assisting Priest) has gotten a bit confused as to why the wine was coming from the side, taken it nonetheless and we’ve had too much.  So, in short, wait until the gifts have been presented before bringing up the water and extra wine.

As we were getting ready to go to church this morning, the phone rang.  Both Rick and I wondered aloud about who would be calling us at 9:00am on Sunday.  We know for almost certain that no one from California would be awake so early.  When Rick answered, he learned that it was Shana, one of our friends from California.  She and her family were on a train to New York from Pennsylvania (where her father lives) and they invited us to meet them at the Natural History Museum.

We hustled to get ourselves dressed and ready to go and met them a while later.  I was pretty sure that Ella had no idea who we were meeting, though we tried desperately to explain that it wasn’t William and Katie, but rather William and Suzie.  As soon as she saw them she exclaimed, “I know you!”  The kids all seemed very pleased to see each other and had a great time at the museum together.  In fact, I don’t think there was one disagreement the entire time we were there.  It was great.

We played in the park for a while, until our noses got too cold.  Then they came to our house to wait for another friend that they were meeting.

It was so so nice to spend time with them and enjoy their company.  It was a much different day than I’d expected and I was grateful for the surprise.

Back to studying for the Old Testament mid-term that I have tomorrow morning.  Lots of  historical dates and persons to know.  Bonus points to anyone who knows who Tiglath-pileser III is.

If you could hear the rain you would think that the sky was falling.  It is pouring pouring rain outside.  The thunder is pretty spectacular too.  We are such pathetic Californians, we are just in awe of the thunder storms.  It is clear that we had no idea what the weather reallly was like here.

For those that have followed our weather, you’ll know that we just had a short break from an 8-day rain streak.  I’ll tell you what, there are some serious puddles in the world when it has been raining for 8 days.  The natives assure us that it was an unusual amount of rain and that we shouldn’t expect that to happen regularly.  Whew.

We’re learning about the serious need for the proper clothing for the weather.  In California, you just don’t really go out of your way to change your wardrobe for the rain - you just run to your car a bit faster.  But around here, it makes a huge difference if your shoes aren’t waterproof.  There are just some puddles that are impossible to avoid.  And even if I manage to avoid the puddle, I can’t avoid the big splash the children make as they jump in the puddle.  Can’t deny them that, though - they might as well jump in them as long as they are there.

From the looks of it, we’ll have some puddle jumping tomorrow on our way to church.  Think I might work a bit harder to find some boots this week.  It would seem that the rain is here to stay and the snow won’t be too far behind it.  So many things we have to learn.

Today we celebrated Nicholas’ 6th birthday.  We had a party on campus with 10 of his friends, one from school and the rest from seminary.  We had a scavenger hunt and a pinata.  Some friends from California sent a birthday care package that included streamers, balloons, Darth Vader masks, and some presents for Nicholas.  It was a great addition to his birthday birthday party and added a little touch of home to our day.

As an extra bonus, it didn’t rain at all today.  It has rained here for 8 straight days, so we have been couped up inside for way too long.  It was great to take the kids out to the playground and let them run around.  I was grateful to be there too - it felt so good to soak up some sunshine.

Another good thing was Jay’s performance last night.  Jay danced in a dance festival last night in Brooklyn (our first trip to Brooklyn).  It was so wonderful to see him dance again. I can’t even remember the last time I saw him on stage.  The piece that he performed was really beautiful and showed off his amazing talent.  I’m looking forward to getting to do that more often.

We’ve been off of school for the past few days for “Fall Break”, we go back to school tomorrow.  It has been a good break for all of us. Saturday was a rainy day, so all of us spent the whole day indoors watching movies all day.  Sunday, Nicholas wanted some time with just me, so he and I went out and about together for most of the day.  Yesterday, we all went to the Columbus day parade and then found an awesome Goodwill store where we got some winter coats and such.  It has been a nice break, especially after two tests and an organ recital last week.

I did actually do some schoolwork today.  I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at artifacts from the ancient near east.  We are required to write a short paper about what we saw and our impressions for our Old Testament class.  It was actually pretty interesting and a nice adventure out.

The bad news is that I’ve completely procrastinated and haven’t written the 1-page paper that is due tomorrow afternoon.  I have to choose a passage for my exegesis and write a few paragraphs about why I chose that passage.  I think I’m going to use the Mary and Martha story from Luke’s gospel.  I should have time to write up a little something tomorrow between classes.  I hate it when I wait until the last minute to do things.

I feel like a lot of stuff has been happening at the last minute around here lately.  We are bringing cupcakes to Nicholas’ school tomorrow to celebrate his birthday.  Naturally, I didn’t manage to get them into the oven until 10:00 tonight.  I used to be so organized - I was on top of things, did things early with plenty of time to spare.  Now, I just barely manage to get stuff done on time - if I remember to do it at all.  Guess that is the price I pay for being less stressed and more relaxed about life.  I don’t worry as much, but sometimes stuff just doesn’t get done.

It almost sounds like a movie title, doesn’t it?  It’s not a movie, it was my Wednesday.

Wednesday started with a Map Quiz in our Old Testament class.  The Map Quiz is a right of passage as every class has taken a map quiz for as long as anyone can remember.  Rumor has it that the original map quiz included 500 items.  Fortunately, we only needed to learn about 40 items and it was a breeze.

Later in the afternoon, we took a Quiz in our New Testament class.  Our professor had told us that she would give us several passages and we would have to identify which gospel the passage was from and give some explanation of why we believed that to be the case (thus allowing us to earn points if we were wrong but could make a good argument).  I discovered earlier this week that a number of people had been studying for this test for more than a week.  I was a little worried that I wasn’t taking it seriously enough since I didn’t start studying until Monday.  But, our teacher returned the tests to us on Thursday in our mail boxes and I got a B+. 

We ended the day at an organ recital that was being performed by our professor of Church Music at a parish down the street from school.  We were required to attend and also must write a 3-page paper describing our experience at the concert.  He does not want us to review the performance, but just wants us to tell him about our experience.  Imagine me at an organ recital. Go on. I dare you.  Just try to picture it in your head.

Several of us seriously needed a drink at the end of the day so we went out after the concert.  I found myself at a table with a crowd way way younger than me and had a really fun time with them.  The students in my class that are closer to college age have a good perspective about how much time to spend studying and also have a much more casual attitude about getting the work done.  It was nice to compare study styles and philosophies and discover that there are people in my class that are doing things similarly to the way that I’m doing them.

I was an acolyte today at Eucharist for the first time since arriving at seminary.  As I’ve mentioned before, things around here are a bit more stuffy, uh um, I mean, formal, than some other places that I’m used to being.  The acolytes wear albs (the long white robes) and carry the “torches” (lighted candles on a very big stick) in the entrance procession.

The chapel has quite a long center aisle and it was certainly an experience to carry the “torch” all that way.  The chapel is set up such that we have to carry the torches up a short flight of stairs at the altar and them put them in their holders.  It is a bit harder than it looked.  As if that wasn’t dangerous enough, my fellow acolyte and I had to also carry the torches back down the steps and hold them through the reading of the gospel. 

As I was standing there holding the big heavy stick and candle during the gospel reading, it struck me how silly it all was.  I mean, I can see how in the time before electric lights, it was important for the candles to be near the person reading the gospel.  Obviously they would need the light to read the words.  But, there we were, standing in a perfectly well-lit room holding big, heavy candles while wearing long white robes that no one has worn as a fashionable style for who-knows-how-long.  Really, what is the point of that?

As an acolyte, we also helped set the table and we served as chalice bearers.  I was quite thrilled to serve the wine to my fellow students, the faculty, and the families in attendance. I’ve always enjoyed that little bit of service during worship.

When it was all over, we carried the torches out during the recessional. Fortunately, we went out the side door, so we didn’t have to walk quite as far with them on the way out - seriously minimizing the risk of accidently setting the chapel on fire.

During our original acolyte orientation, there was much anxiety in the room as we all tried to absorb the seriousness of our duties and the perceived perfection at which they must be completed.  I was pleased to find that no one requires perfection and that it was just like serving on the altar in other places that I’ve served.  Well, just like it except for the funny long white robes and the completely unnecessary candles.  =)

Since the beginning of classes, I’ve found that something just isn’t quite right about them.  The teachers are brilliant and have lots of interesting things to say. The assignments are useful and add good things to the class experience.  The content is rich and interesting and rewarding to study.  Yet, something just isn’t quite right.  Last week, I finally identified what it was:  The classes that are uncomfortable for me are structured as lectures, not discussions.

In my educational experience, I’ve generally been in classes where participation during class was encouraged - and sometimes even required.  Students were expected to ask questions, start dialogues, and comment on the teacher’s lecture.  But, that is not what happens in our classes.  In our classes, the teachers talk and the students listen.  When someone does ask a question some teachers address is politely and then move on, but some teachers act just a little annoyed (or even a lot annoyed) that someone has dared to ask a question. None of my instructors are at all receptive to comments or discussion.  The model really seems to be that the teacher’s job is to tell us everything that he/she knows and we are to record it and learn it.

As an extrovert, I have found this particularly difficult.  A huge part of learning for me is the process of discussing ideas and chasing down information out loud.  I really do process almost everything aloud.  Plus, I’m not very good at sitting still and being quiet  (have you noticed?).  It just really isn’t my strong suit.  Though, now that I’ve identified the model, I’ll be better able to conform to it.

I also learned that this model isn’t working well for the introverts either.  One of my classmates mentioned last week that he feels like he never has any quiet time to sit and absorb all that is being said.  He feels like the teachers just talk constantly and he doesn’t have one second to reflect on it.

Students further along in school have mentioned that not every class follows this same structure.  I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to discuss and debate with my fellow classmates.  In the meantime, picture me sitting on my hands and biting my tongue.