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olmueCave day! I had a fun afternoon hiking to a cave in the countryside with the youth I work with.
I think I mentioned that I've recently become a youth counselor at church for 11 congregtions in the region. (I'm not the president--thank goodness!--just a counselor.) Most of the congregations in the stake (like a diocese) are either full German, or mixed German-American. I think there's one that's completely American. (The Americans are due to US military presence.) So we do roughly one activity per month with the kids--excuse me, teens--and this year's kickoff was a hike to a cave. Germany is so beautiful! Even in the rain. Imagine green, green fields, with lines of crooked-limbed fruit trees cutting across the fields, and forests, and hills and rock bluffs...Plenty of rivers and little dorfs nestled in the valleys, with half-timbered houses and onion-domed church towers...I'm not a desert person at all, so this is my idea of heaven.
Anyhow, we took about 50 kids 12-18 years old through the forest and along a switchback trail and through slippery mud and leaves up to a cliff wall with a small cave opening. We all took candles in (despite the sign saying, No Fire in the Cave!--obviously candles don't count as fire, since the cave was full of both candles and candle holders) and crept through the tunnely opening into a large room. It totally felt like we were entering Khazad Dum. I kept waiting for someone to push the skeleton over and release the Monster Within. That, luckily didn't happen--we had a nice intro to the year's theme and then trekked back down to the parking lot and had hot chocolate in the damp darkness.
It's interesting to watch the youth here. First, there's two distinct groups. It's not that they don't like each other, but it's hard enough to read those subtle signs of friendship and attraction in your own language, let alone across linguistic borders. The Germans have lived/will live here forever, and the Americans move every three years or so. So part of my job I think is to keep an eye on the odd American coming alone and trying to help them not feel so starkly alone. But at the same time, the kids are in some ways all the same. It's an odd feeling to see that even though I'm in my mid-thirties, things haven't changed much. Maybe they all carry cell phones and listen to mp3 players, but the individual and group dynamics are very much what they were when I was 15. (Which is good if you're 36 and wanting to write for 15-year-olds.) I recognized the girl with a little too much makeup who looked uncomfortable in her own skin, and the kids who haven't quite figured out how social interaction works, whether because they're too shy or too earnest, and the kids who are actually well-adjusted but just don't happen to know anyone, so they're casually standing near a group, as if they're part of it. And let's not forget the thick group of girls giggling over which guys they think are hot. Actually, there are some really nice kids, and a number of the Germans speak English, too, which helps. I'm still tryig to figure out just what my personal responsability in this position is. Help the kids somehow integrate, I guess. And help them realize the personal power they have, as well as be aware that their choices have consequences, and to pay attention to that when making those choices. And help them feel less alone, since I think teens everywhere feel alone. Thing is, I feel like a teen myself, with all of those insecurities, since to be useful I need to get to know them, and I also have the language barrier. I'm starting by getting to know the local teens, which helps.
I think this is related to what I want to be doing with writing, too. Choice, responsability, and personal power to change the world are big developmental issues at that age, and therefore completely reasonable things to show up in books for the same age.
I think I mentioned that I've recently become a youth counselor at church for 11 congregtions in the region. (I'm not the president--thank goodness!--just a counselor.) Most of the congregations in the stake (like a diocese) are either full German, or mixed German-American. I think there's one that's completely American. (The Americans are due to US military presence.) So we do roughly one activity per month with the kids--excuse me, teens--and this year's kickoff was a hike to a cave. Germany is so beautiful! Even in the rain. Imagine green, green fields, with lines of crooked-limbed fruit trees cutting across the fields, and forests, and hills and rock bluffs...Plenty of rivers and little dorfs nestled in the valleys, with half-timbered houses and onion-domed church towers...I'm not a desert person at all, so this is my idea of heaven.
Anyhow, we took about 50 kids 12-18 years old through the forest and along a switchback trail and through slippery mud and leaves up to a cliff wall with a small cave opening. We all took candles in (despite the sign saying, No Fire in the Cave!--obviously candles don't count as fire, since the cave was full of both candles and candle holders) and crept through the tunnely opening into a large room. It totally felt like we were entering Khazad Dum. I kept waiting for someone to push the skeleton over and release the Monster Within. That, luckily didn't happen--we had a nice intro to the year's theme and then trekked back down to the parking lot and had hot chocolate in the damp darkness.
It's interesting to watch the youth here. First, there's two distinct groups. It's not that they don't like each other, but it's hard enough to read those subtle signs of friendship and attraction in your own language, let alone across linguistic borders. The Germans have lived/will live here forever, and the Americans move every three years or so. So part of my job I think is to keep an eye on the odd American coming alone and trying to help them not feel so starkly alone. But at the same time, the kids are in some ways all the same. It's an odd feeling to see that even though I'm in my mid-thirties, things haven't changed much. Maybe they all carry cell phones and listen to mp3 players, but the individual and group dynamics are very much what they were when I was 15. (Which is good if you're 36 and wanting to write for 15-year-olds.) I recognized the girl with a little too much makeup who looked uncomfortable in her own skin, and the kids who haven't quite figured out how social interaction works, whether because they're too shy or too earnest, and the kids who are actually well-adjusted but just don't happen to know anyone, so they're casually standing near a group, as if they're part of it. And let's not forget the thick group of girls giggling over which guys they think are hot. Actually, there are some really nice kids, and a number of the Germans speak English, too, which helps. I'm still tryig to figure out just what my personal responsability in this position is. Help the kids somehow integrate, I guess. And help them realize the personal power they have, as well as be aware that their choices have consequences, and to pay attention to that when making those choices. And help them feel less alone, since I think teens everywhere feel alone. Thing is, I feel like a teen myself, with all of those insecurities, since to be useful I need to get to know them, and I also have the language barrier. I'm starting by getting to know the local teens, which helps.
I think this is related to what I want to be doing with writing, too. Choice, responsability, and personal power to change the world are big developmental issues at that age, and therefore completely reasonable things to show up in books for the same age.
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no subject
Date: 2007-01-07 04:00 am (UTC)I'm glad you had such a fun adventure!!!
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Date: 2007-01-09 02:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-09 03:47 pm (UTC)