The Eagle Has Landed

Howdy Y’all!

This update comes a little late, but I thought I’d recount the last of my adventures of the summer before I moved on…

Well, so after the end of camp, I returned to the village of Galena Park in Houston, Texas with Vicky. I’d even venture to say that the drive home was as much a fun little escapade as the time at camp. Between a ten disk mix collection and plenty of road to solve life’s problems, we had an enjoyable ride home. We didn’t miss the chance to stop by to see the church of writer Max Lucado (one of my favorites) or to one last visit to Buck-ee’s, the restaurant/country store/rest stop that is arguably the most famous franchise in the state.

On the way through San Antonio, we went to the Riverwalk and spent the afternoon checking everything out and having a good time. We went on the boat tour, had lunch with friends, went to the mall, and heard an excellent pan pipe cover of “My Heart Will Go On.” I’ve already been to San Antonio, so missing the Alamo this time was a small price to pay to help us get home in good time.

Over the next couple of days, we had a pretty easy agenda, but there were a few things that I wanted to see in Houston before I left. I won’t worry about order for now…

With a couple of effective leisure days thrown into the mix, we took a gentle tour of everything we could. Monday was our big tour date when we went to see the view of downtown Houston from the observation deck on the 60^th floor of the Chase building and explore some of the underground tunnel system. We also made sure not to miss Discovery Green and the grandiose Medical Center. While we were out, they took me to a Mexican market and to Mi Tienda. It was kind of really cool. Very much like stepping into another country.

After a girl’s diesiseisañero (yes, she was turning sixteen and still wanted to celebrate with all her friends and family) and a great authentic Mexican lunch, Sunday night was all music night at their church. They really wanted me to play something on my violin, but the notice was too short for me. Maybe if I was better I could have succeeded at learning either “Agnus Deis” or “Be Thou My Vision” (both of which I evaluated for learnability), but at the skill level where I am, I was unable. I agreed instead to sing “Be Thou” and still participated.

Apparently, I sang it in the key of D minor. The pianist accompanied me after the first verse.

One of the big highlights for me was the visit to the Houston Space Center. I confess to being a bit of a space geek. Well okay, so I’m a big space geek, but oh well! Vicky took me on a grand tour and I talked her into watching all the shows and seeing just about everything. I plan to be watching tomorrow night as the new explorer Curiosity finally lands on Mars, and I’m excited about the new plans for the next generation of space exploration and the possibility of the moon colony. I just hope that further investigation proves that I am 6’3” or shorter.

One of my favorite stops was the Historic Mission Control center, where they helped the first two men who got there make their way to the moon. It was kind of neat even to just see.

On Tuesday, I flew out early in the morning and packed my backpack with a few changes of clothes and my toiletries. I sent my duffle bag all the way home and landed in Charlotte, NC with just my little pack, a delicate souvenir from Fredricksburg, and my violin, and got picked up by a school friend, Elizabeth, and her mother to spend the next couple of days visiting them.

I really enjoyed hanging out with Elizabeth’s family and really loved getting to meet her momma (a handful, but a good one). I met Elizabeth in college last year and she became one of my dearest friends in the time since. Her family kept up her good nature to me with their wonderful hospitality and help. They were all unforgiveably kind to me.

In addition to a cool worship service at a church with a friend of hers, hanging out with her family with movies and barbeque, and a day at the amusement park Carowinds, Elizabeth’s family took me out to Dublin, Ohio for the three day Dublin Irish Festival (“Like Ireland, but smaller!”). Now that was a blast. Celtic music on over half a dozen stages (from folk to rock), storytelling, fiddle and pennywhistle workshops, dancing, food, shops, leatherwork, Viking and Highland games, and all sorts of other things. We stayed in a hotel and got up (late) every day to enjoy the events of the festival and stayed late the last night to listen to all of the music.

No, I don’t really think that I’m Irish (I might be, it’s kind of irrelevant), but I still got to enjoy the festival anyway. And I love dancing. Celtic music is almost naturally written for that. No, we didn’t partake in and Irish beer, but we were able to steer clear of the crowd that did.

After my stay in the beautiful state of North Carolina, they drove me down to Charlotte again to meet up with old family friends who live in South Carolina. I’ve been staying with them over the past week for the final leg of my travels.

I’ve known Brynna and Linnea for years and I love their whole family, so I was quite excited to go hang out again! This will make the third consecutive summer I’ve managed to make it to visit (the first was a surprise visit and the second was expressly for a birthday party). Mostly we just hung out, but we also took the time to go swimming, visit the park all the way in downtown Greenville, and let me finally meet Brynna’s boyfriend Andrew (prepare the world for the worst: he and I make a dangerously devious pair when we hang out XD).

To finally get me to my family, we all agreed to make a day of it and go to Stone Mountain Park together. We had a blast, my family got to see them again for the first time in quite a while. With a ropes course, a glass blowing shop, and a great view, it was a day to remember.

After farewells, I climbed in the car with the rest of my family, laid down my pack, and finally got to rest easy, knowing that I had made it all the way back home.

I’m Jonathon, and this is my life.

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A Brief History of Tube Curling

Hey All You People!

Just wanted to send a necessary update on my adventures at summer camp...

Cabin 8, where I have been staying with the other Rec Team guys

Work here has been fun and challenging. Over the course of my time working at the kid's camp, I've had all manner of jobs. Originally, I was in charge of taking the kids and counselors on a hike up to the top of the highest point at the camp - which they have called Prayer Mountain - as well as leading them in learning some songs and dances, but then I was moved to the field games during morning activities, and most recently to the water sports! In the afternoon, all the rec staff go to the lake (pond) or to the pool, and generally take charge of activities, so I've also been a lifeguard at the lake. There, I started out in the general wading area, was moved to the small slide, moved to one of the big slides, and am now in charge of orchestrating the pedal boats and kayaks.

Whew!

The "Lake" - boats are the last dock on the right, way in the back

A lot of things and not a lot of things have been happening over the course of my stay. Besides my ever constant work transfer, I've been taking plenty of time to hike up the Mountain myself to go stargazing and to pray. It's one of my favorite spots here, aside from, of course, the lake. I've been going for a regular nighttime kayak run just to watch the stars and have some wonderful peace.

the cross at the top of Prayer Mountain

Every day that we have camp, we start off with the morning assembly, which includes the very intense "Interlude Dance" and we get the kids pumped for the day. Then come morning activities, lunch, quick break for everyone, afternoon activities, showers, and then service. All throughout the day there are times when the kids go to the tabernacle and get a lesson/talk with the evangelist Rev. Jay Risner, who also takes complete care of the service each night. In the evening, the rec staff works a snack shack where I serve up the ice cream, whirling spoons and tossing toppings into the air, which really impresses the kids.
My wild energy and bright demeanor have helped to make my camp experience great and everyone else's weird. I am also told that some of the 7-12 year old campers have harbored crushes for "Jonathon the Majestic Lifeguard" (you have to know that I almost died laughing when I heard that and still can't really believe that a little girl even knew of the word "majestic"). Luckily, I'm not the only boy on staff, so I don't get all the attention, and we all have fun with our jobs.

On the weekends, we just kind of hang out and do stuff. There are no kids, so we just have to wait until Monday and have all the free time we want. We've gone out to Fredricksburg, went to the Rock Box Theater to see a nostalgic rock show (featuring performances by Cher, the Monkees, Buddy Holly, Aritha Franklin, and a visit by Deputy Barney Fife), and went tubing, among other things. I finally got to try my hand at painting a simple picture (with the help of my host, Victoria!) and now I'm excited to start painting more. Yesterday we played a great game of kickball and then all went swimming in the pool until late.
There are several water slides at the lake as well, but unfortunately during the weekends, they turn them off. However, we've found a way to use them anyway, and as a result I have invented a new sport...

So, using three hoses, we have managed to stretch a water source all the way up to the top of the biggest (and best) water slide, the South Texas Chili Pepper. It is almost as effective as with the water pump, and we had fun with that for a while, but it only leaves a small sliver of water down the middle with bare slide on both sides, which affect the inner tube's path.

Enter me.

So, I thought that if there was some way to put more water on the slide, it would work, even if it was just creating more surface water. So I got the brilliant idea to carry the water hose down with me and spray the slide in front of the tube as I went down. It was super effective! And in fact, I discovered that how and where I sprayed effected the trajectory of the tube, including spin, speed, and sometimes the pitch of the entrance into the water. The goal was to hit the water as straight as possible with the best entrance and the farthest ski across the water. Thus, tube curling was born.

Hehehe, good times...

It's weird for me now, feeling in a way at home out here and yet knowing that I haven't set foot in my house since the beginning of May this year. I guess that part of me still recognizes that I'm on the road, even though I have a bed to sleep in. Well, this isn't even the end of my adventures. It will still be a long time before I get back and I have a few more stops along the way. Then, when I finally get wherever I'm going, I still have more to go. I doubt my adventure will ever be over.

I'm Jonathon, and this is my life.




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A Letter from Camp

Kid's Camp Staff and Crew 2012

Dear Friends,

I’m sending this update from the first summer camp I have been to in years! I am at Hill Country Camp near a town called Kerrville, Texas, and I’m on the rec staff for this year’s Christian Kid’s Camp put on by the United Assemblies of God.

As you all know, when I arrived in the U.S., it was a bit of a mad dash to get ready for the next stop on my never-ending summer adventures. I traded my trusty pack for a duffle bag and my sleeping bag for a full set of sheets and a pillow...

Midday this past Wednesday, I arrived in Houston where the Fee family picked me up at the airport. I met their daughter Victoria several years ago and she was the one who convinced me to try out working at the Kid’s Camp. I talked to the director Mrs. Tammy and got signed up to be on the three-week staff with the recreation team. So after a few days of staying with the Fees and resting, we all packed up and drove across the state from Houston to Kerrville and got settled into camp.

We’ll all be here for the next three weeks and have very luxurious living quarters. In my staff cabin we have a private bathroom, washing machine and dryer, satellite television, and a small kitchen. I can’t remember ever going to a camp where anyone had central air conditioning, but even the kids’ dorms have it. Well, in the Texas backcountry heat, I suppose it’s quite nice.

So, we’re not roughing it out here, to say the least, but we are certainly staying busy!

Kid’s camp just started on Monday and I am working hard to catch up on the experience and learn the ropes. The three week rec staff is headed by Shaenelle, a career missionary in her twenties with a few years of experience handling the rec team here at camp. She has an easy-go-lucky attitude and a very go-with-the-flow way of running the activities and making sure that everything gets done. She’s fun to work for and a generally cool person. Already, we’ve been singing songs and being silly and painting our faces, and the kids are excited every time we come out.

Of course, the most important part for all of us is that we’re putting on a kid’s camp to help them get connected with Jesus Christ. The kids have fun and we try to keep them excited and energized. But more than anything, the goal is, I suppose, bringing the kids to start getting into really spiritually understanding God’s love. I pray above all things that that is the result.

I have to get going because I am lifeguarding the swimming area of the little lake (pond?) here at camp. Have to make sure that everyone is playing and staying safe!

I’m Jonathon, and this is my life.

.

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A Little More Adventure After All

Hello Everyone!

Well, so as it happened, my return home turned out to be a little bit more of an adventure than I expected…

As soon as I got off of the train from which I was last writing you, I found almost immediately that the close-fitting personal bag that had my wallet and passport was missing. Berlin was the last stop, so the train was already heading to storage and eventually cleaning. I went immediately to Deutsche Bahn, the German railway, and explained everything. However, it being a Saturday, any possible help was doomed to be moving very slow. You see, Germany (and most of Europe) essentially shuts down for the weekend on Friday night. The short end of a long story is that after almost four hours of investigation between DB and the local police, the bag was never found. The police told me that it happens all the time that service teams on the trains take and keep things that they find. I’ll write to DB again and press the matter of looking into lost and found and such as that, but that’s the last hope.

We all know what happened next: I was stuck yet again, this time in Berlin and with no passport, documents, cards, or money, and my flight home was due to leave in less than 24 hours.

A lucid mind is a virtue in situations like this, so the only thing left to do was keep my wits about me, stop and pray, and get the mess cleaned up. The U.S. consulate wouldn’t be open again until Monday morning. I needed a place to stay, food to eat, some kind of documentation, and to cancel my flight and bank card. One phone call later, everything was possible.

Before I go on, I really feel I have to insert something. I’m not sure what you believe or what your feelings are on God, but you all know well that I’m a firm believer. I hope it comes to neither shock nor surprise that I have to thank my Father God in so many ways for carrying me through the last several days. As the story unfolds for you, you’ll see what I mean. At every step of the long and winding journey, He put me in the hands of benevolent and caring people that each played a part in getting me closer and closer to home. I’ve been saying from the start that I fly on the wings of angels, and I mean it now more so than I have since I started.

The phone call was to Katrin, my friend in Hamburg, and after hearing my story, the wonderful conductor let me ride the train to get to her without a ticket and without paying a single euro. That evening, Katrin and her boyfriend gave me food and a place to stay and let me use the internet to organize everything. On Sunday night, I was on an over-night bus to Frankfurt where I would arrive at the consulate bright and early before opening time. There, I was ushered through the process with more ease than humanly imaginable. With the help of more than one person, I got my new passport in less than an hour and was sent to a print shop where I could maybe possibly use the internet to get my new flight. I went and they not only let me use the internet, but they let me stay and sit inside and they gave me water to drink while I was there for several hours emailing my dear mom while she booked the flight and talked with the airlines. I found every excuse to print pages off so that I could pay them back for their help.

That night, I stayed in a hotel near the airport and the next day was to board a flight to Paris that would eventually lead me home. I won’t hide some bumpy stops along the way – like my race through the entire Paris airport to catch a flight that would leave within twenty minutes – but I made it all the way back and was on American soil late last night.

My adventure isn’t over, however. Already I’m off again, halfway along to my next destination.

My family met me at the airport with a car full of my clothes and things for my next trip: my summer job at a kid’s camp in Texas. I’ll be working as a nature guide and a lifeguard (I think?) among other things for the next three weeks, and I won’t arrive back until the 1^st of August. I repacked, caught about three hours of sleep, and said good bye to my family again before getting ready to board my flight.

I move pretty fast, so it’s nothing new to me. Just going right along. Can’t say I’ve ever worked at a kid’s camp before, so that’s another dive into the unknown. Guess it’s just another adventure waiting to unfold.

I’m Jonathon, and this is my life.

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Sto Lat! Sto Lat! Happy Birthday to me!

Dear Followers,

I write to you now from a PKP Intercity train making its way from Gdynia, Poland to Berlin, Germany. The past week or so has given me a nice stay in Poland in the company of some really good friends, and now I have silly photos, a full belly, and a light sun tan to remember it by. From my arrival in Poznań for the solstice, to the day trips for walks around the cities, to dodging about through banks of fresh fruit and old books, to sitting on a ledge by the sea talking, to warming my face by a fire in the middle of the night, and finally to where I sit now, I have nothing but good things to remember…

With such a short amount of time to stay, I confess that there simply wasn’t the possibility to really tour Poland and see places like Cracow, Warsaw, and the mountain regions of the Northeast; but while I was here, I was taken on tours of Poznań, Gdańsk, and Gydnia, and enjoyed a much calmer and more laid back stay than I had in Germany or Italy. It’s been quite a long two months out on the road, so my much more relaxing visit to Poland was just what the doctor ordered. And, all things considered, I hit it at a pretty good time for weather and a pretty interesting time for tourism, considering the 2012 Europe Cup Football Tournament. Most of my time was spent in the port cities of the north where the Polish Scout troop I met almost five years ago originates.

The Baltic region of Poland is dominated by a rich history of Teutonic rule, a thriving amber trade, and the two main northern ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia (just mash that ‘g’ and ‘d’ together and you should be able to pronounce it mostly properly). In Gdańsk, I got to see the largest standing brick church in Europe (complete with a beautiful astronomical clock like the one in Lübeck) and walk through a lot of enchanting streets built in the old style. In Gdynia, I got to see some of the shipyard in the middle of the celebration of the anniversary of one of their ships, the Dar Młodzieży, the “Gift of the Young” and walked along the Baltic beach. What I think I enjoyed above all was that (aside from hitting Gdańsk’s main street on International Free Hug Day) there were so few other tourists and I could enjoy things like picking up cupcakes at a local shop and walking along the harbor with a dear old friend. It was like a home away from home.

St. Mary's Church in Gdansk

Justyna (our guide in Gdansk), Zuzia, and me with our "lucky" cupcakes

Zuzia and her wonderful parents hosted me in their apartment in Gdynia for the course of my stay. Every day, they fed me a few traditional Polish dishes and eventually also left me with a cookbook of Polish cuisine. Zuzi, like her mom, is an artist, so the house is full of paintings and artwork as well as a lot of art supplies and an overall warm décor. Advice to the traveler: if you plan on staying in the house of another, stay with a family of artists (or musicians). In my experience, they always make it feel like home. Zuzia’s family really was simply too kind to me. I can’t even say.

Aside from the occasional city tour, we had a few other adventures just amongst ourselves. One notable excitement was the day that I talked her family into letting me cook something for them. My plan was to give them a taste of both my Italian life and my American life, so after much searching I found a delicious summer risotto to make for lunch and after much thinking I remembered my famous recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

We went out that morning to the old market for fresh ingredients and just made a day of it. In fact, while I was here we went out shopping a few other times. Zuzi took me to her favorite used and antique book store and later also brought me to the Polish Scout shop. There, I got a new beret for my uniform (the other was too small) and maybe also did some shopping for a few good siblings and my dear scouting mom.

In the end, the risotto turned out magnificently and the cookies were an instant hit. It was delightful to see them have fun helping me pour ingredients and mixing the bowl “with love.” After the dough was made, Zuzi’s father Mariusz was like a little kid on his birthday when I let him lick the spoon. That was my favorite part, I think! I made them have the first cookies fresh out of the oven with a little glass of milk, and they loved them.

In the kitchen

our risotto d'estate

Zuzi's parents love it!

On the subject of birthdays, I actually do have another thing to recount. While I was here in Poland, I had my twentieth birthday just a few days ago, and I got to celebrate it doing one of my favorite things in the world: sailing. Ania and her parents own a sailboat on big lake near a 700 year old town called Iława (ee-wah-vah —good luck with that one; at least it’s not ‘Tczew’). I have never been, shall I say, boat camping before, but I think this was a really good first time.

Irmina and Ania

We set out on Wednesday and picked up enough food (and chocolate chip cookies!) to last almost the entire trip, making a quick stop to see the castle in Malbork (ah-yee-bitmah-toong… just kidding! XD Malbork is pronounced normally) and that afternoon we were on the boat, a single mast beauty named Aria. We were Ania, Zuzia, a shy girl named Irmina (new friend to me), and of course myself. Ania was captain and Zuzi and Irmi were the seasoned crew, while I was learning the ropes yet again for the third ever sailing adventure of my life. We had pretty fair winds the first day and had a pretty basic camp on one of the little islands that night, bunking down with sleeping bags and blankets in the cabin of the boat.

The next day was a slow one with partly cloudy skies and almost no wind. The girls woke me, however, with well wishes and ”Sto Lat”, the Polish “Happy Birthday Song.” For breakfast, they had packed peanut butter and jelly to make sandwiches just for me in honor of my birthday. Everyone got to try one and Ania and Irmina—who were new to the idea of peanut butter and jelly—loved it. And, to make up for the slow sailing day, the girls sat on deck with the guitar and played songs, singing together in Polish.

It was at this point, watching them playing and singing together, that I could tell just how special of a thing they had invited me to join by coming sailing with them. Rocking gently with the boat on the water, I found myself in the midst of something that made these girls who they were together. I understood that sailing trips like these were things entirely theirs, part of the valuable friendship that they share, and that I was honored to join.

That night, the girls requested lots of firewood (as the man, I had jobs that typically had descriptions like “Jon, could you please catch the boat when we get into the dock?” or “Jon could you please carry this on board?” or “Jon, could you please fetch us firewood?” and I replied, “As you wish…”) while they prepared food on the boat and started setting up camp. I was out on one of my runs, hiking my way through underbrush with a load over my shoulder, when Ania suddenly came along the nearby path, saying that they needed me back at camp. Somewhat concerned, I followed her back to where we were setting up by the water’s edge, only to find them all holding a cake they had just made and singing “Sto Lat” with big smiles on their faces.

 

A warm fire, a swim in the lake at sunset, roasting kielbasa over the flames, and staying up all night playing violin, playing guitar, singing, telling stories, and counting the stars until sunrise over the lake made it one of my favorite birthdays ever.

On that subject, I’m not sure if I have a lot to say or not about turning twenty. Ask me in a year maybe.

The next day was fantastic weather, and the only sad part was that it was our last. Everyone stripped down to bathing suits under the warm sun and we had excellent winds for sailing through the water. Ania gave me one last birthday present and let me be captain, handing me the wheel and giving directions only when necessary. It was the first time I’ve ever sailed a boat like that in my life, and I had a wonderful time.

Eventually, we docked and unpacked the boat, tying everything down and locking up. Another adventurous travel later and we were all back home, safe and tired (even though, after inventory later, I found I had lost yet another left sock). I said good bye to Ania and Irmina and that night celebrated my birthday again with Zuzia’s family. They, yet again, did and still do too much for me. I can’t thank them enough now, but I can assure them that revenge is coming. One way or another, I’m going to get them back for all their kindness and find something really special for them =] Everyone made my visit to Poland an absolutely perfect and wonderful experience. I think that in years to come, God willing, I’ll make it back again, just like I’ll make it back to Italy, to Germany, to everywhere in the world I need to go, and most importantly back home.

Home. Yes, that does bring me back to the present, doesn’t it?

Today everyone woke up unreasonably early to greet the 5am clock and the falling rain of a thunderstorm. These days it seems that it is almost always raining anytime I leave some place. One taxi ride later, we were at Gdynia Główny railway station and they were loading me onto the train underneath the falling drops. I thanked and saluted everyone one last time and they stayed on the platform by the train until it pulled out of the station. Then they followed along, chasing the window until it left them behind. Do widzenia…Until we meet again.

Now I find myself once more returning home. It will be an almost three day adventure getting there. When I get to Berlin this afternoon, I’ll make my way to Frankfurt and then catch my flight tomorrow morning. One ocean later, I’ll be stateside, and then it’s just petty talk to get back to my family. It’s been a fantastic adventure so far and I’ve had a grand two months in Europe. Now, I just have the duty of making sure it ends well. I’ve learned a lot, grown a little, and met some good people along the way. I guess that’s just how it is.

I’m Jonathon, and this is my life.

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A Long, Lonely, Adventurous Road

my traveling companion,
Katherine Elizabeth

Cześć!

One wild sojourn later, I write from Poznań, Poland where I just arrived a few hours ago after traveling across the continent. But I’m not here to see the Europe Cup matches, I’m afraid. I’m visiting a dear friend of mine, Zuzia, whom I have not seen in almost five years now. We met at the World Scout Jamboree 2007 in England, which in itself brings back a lot of really cool memories. That – of course – is another story altogether.

For the past three days, I have been taking the scenic and adventurous route from Naples to Poznań, traveling by bus, train, and foot across Europe with only my pack on my back. My mission has been to arrive in a way that spends the least amount of money, and I largely succeeded. I can also say that I had a few really nice stops along the way. It’s not as fast as it might have been hitchhiking, but it was certainly safer, more legal, and just as fun. I do think I’ll have to try hitchhiking some other time. I hear there are hitchhiking races in Europe, but that’s something for another time.

afternoon in Venice

early morning in Switzerland

Zurich

Now, when I was first talking about the possibility of coming, I did not understand why, but Zuzia told me to try to make an appointment to be in Poznań by June 21^st, the summer solstice. I agreed. Since I was leaving on the afternoon of the 18^th, I thought it might just be possible.

The first night, I had to pull off in Bologna, and I walked until I was far outside the city and in the countryside of western Emilia-Romania (not the part that was so devastated by the earthquakes recently). There, I lay down my tarp and stayed the night under the stars that had been guiding me north up to that point. The next morning, I awoke to the sunrise and a nice breakfast of cookies, cheese, and honey before setting off again. By that afternoon – with a few interesting local train stops and a lot more walking along the way – I was in Venice by 4:00 and then back in Milan by 8:40. I went north from there and was in Switzerland by that night.

The next day was a nice, long tour of eastern Switzerland by local train and bus, winding my way over the lovely mountains that I would someday rather hike than pass. For this trip, however, I could not take the slow path, because my deadline was already approaching fast. After losing a day between Naples and Milan, I would need to arrive in Poland within only a little over 30 hours. So all morning I did this until I arrived in Zürich after spending my lunchtime walking about Lucerne.

That was when I frighteningly discovered that I was suddenly out of money.

I put all my bills on a timed auto-pay system while I was out of the country, so everything lined up at just the moment I was arriving, and this was a fact had previously slipped my mind. I had made it as far as I had with only the money left over from Naples, and I had planned to get more at an ATM when I needed it. This was when I, while trying to get money for the next train, found that I didn’t have enough funds, and I realized what had happened. In conclusion, I was stuck in Zürich with only 20 Swiss franc cents.

It was at this point that I doubted just about everything. Poznań, where I needed to be the very next day, was over 800km (500 miles) away, and I wasn’t even sure if I could get that far by train in the time that I had left. Well, you know what strong men do when they need help. They pray. I had never in my life seen a chapel in a train station before, but this time it was quite a blessing.

The chaplain, after hearing my story, let me use the internet and I was able to get in touch with my father who saved the day. I will have to repay him when school starts again, but that, at least, is a time when I can afford to do so. I had some more wonderful talk with the chaplain, and spent some of my time there just in being thankful. With Dad’s help, I was in the Black Forest in Germany in no time at all, and that is where I finally spent the night.

The next morning, after a lovely (and early) sunrise tour of the little towns of the Scharzwald, I was on the ICE train to Berlin with new groceries and plenty of time to rest off the last two days. When I arrived in Berlin, I was able to get a very cheap and very lucky (in the middle of the EuroCup!) ticket to Poznań. After a three hour train ride, I made it on 21 June, 8:25pm. Just in time!

Zuzia and me, after I just arrived

Over the past five years, Zuzia and I have communicated over letters, email, Facebook, and the occasional Gmail chat, but we have never Skyped, so I have neither heard her voice nor seen her face for five years. Meeting a friend again after a time like that is quite a thing indeed. I was fifteen and she seventeen when we met, so although I know her well, I was meeting a brand new person for the first time in my life.

They have been telling me about various plans and ideas for activities over the course of my stay, so I think they intend to keep me in Poland until it’s time for me to go back home. But first, they took me out to the reason that they wanted me in Poznań so quickly…

There is a festival of lanterns on the summer solstice, a celebration of the longest day, shortest night, and the beginning of the summer. People gather near the river in the city in a big field and everyone gets a lamp. At around eleven o’clock at night (by agreement with the airport) everyone lights a lantern, makes a wish, and sends it off into the sky.

me, lighting my own lantern

the girls sending their wish off into the sky

It was so beautiful. All the lanterns fill the night air like a thousand flying stars. I felt like a little kid with wonder.

It was the perfect way to celebrate summer, and a perfect way to arrive. I’m so glad that I was able to make it in time. Afterward, they took me out to taste some of the city of Poznań and we made it back home very late. We will sleep late tomorrow, but I am glad to have finally made it to Poland.

Ania, me, and Zuzia

I’m Jonathon, and this is my life.

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A Nice Stay in Naples

Hello Again!

I write you now from Naples, Italy: the Bel Paese’s very own Posto al Sole.

For those of you who don’t know, I lived here as a foreign exchange student for about nine months one year ago (which explains why I speak Italian). I stayed in Naples with two different host families over the course of my program, and I met a huge amount of people between school and activities. Above all, I had a wonderful time. To me, Naples is my own true Italian home.

Beyond normal things such as being so very very glad to be eating wonderful food, to be seeing the sea, and to be diving and dodging through the tiny streets again, I’m very happy to be able to come back and visit everyone. I’m staying with another family that was very good to me and I’ve been up to a lot in the meantime.

The first and most important thing that I’ve been out and about doing is revisiting all of the friends that I made while I was here. The first day back, I went by on the last day of school to try to terrorize all of the classes of students that I knew in my time there, as well as run into some of my old teachers and visit the principal. Let’s just say that Operation Invasion was a huge success. I passed by the principal’s office without thinking about it too much at first and she thought that she saw a vision. Next thing I knew, I was wrapped in her arms. Over the course of the rest of the hour, she and I had an immense amount of fun calling all of the teachers to the office individually over the intercom and saying that they needed to coming with “massima urgenza.” It was so funny to see their faces when they realized what the “big problem” was. I had a great day full of lots of surprised faces and warm regreetings.

Halfway through my week and a half stay down here, my mom and siblings made the long 5-hour train ride down to the city to see the place that I called home for so long. I picked them up at the station and took them to their hotel straight away just to get everything square, and then we set off immediately on a travel program that I wrote just for them…

Our first stop was a lunch break at Trattoria Nennella.

Here, I was able to get them to have a satisfyingly close representation of a real, home-cooked Italian meal. They had a delicious potato and cheese pasta dish (the special of Nennella) and spaghetti Carbonara, and they loved both. And at last, they also got to try real buffalo mozzarella and absolutely adored it.

Next I took them up to Vomero (the neighborhood where I lived) and showed them where I used to do everything. They saw the school, the church, my houses, places where we hung out, places where we went walking, the stores where I used to get food and books, everything. They even got to see the view from the Castle St. Elmo over the whole city. That evening, I got together a big dinner with my exchange coordinator, all the families hosting me, and a few friends from school. It went so well. My family got to finally eat the real Neapolitan pizza (the best!) and meet everyone who took care of me over the course of the year. My siblings had a good time talking to some of the people I went to school with, even though they had to work hard to cross the language barrier. At the end of the night, the family hosting me now took me and them on a scenic car ride to see Naples by night – one of my favorite views in the world. Mom said it was like something out of her dreams.

The next morning, they took a bike ride on the street that runs along the sea, appropriately called Lungomare. Now (and this is new even for me) it’s closed to street traffic, and people ride bikes, go skating, and just walk there. It’s so beautiful. I admit that I really hope it stays that way, because it makes the seaside even nicer. All my little siblings enjoyed the ride, and I took them to have some typical Neapolitan and Italian sweets afterward.

After lunch, we made our last pass down Spaccanapoli, the famous street that cuts the old city in half and has some of the neatest and most iconic shops in the city: the ones that sell the Presepi. Mom, who loves art, almost never left. And, of course, my sisters got their taste of shopping. They all had a wonderful visit to Naples and went back home very content later that day.

Friday some friends and I went to the beach at Gaiola and I had my “primo mare” of the year. I caught some sun, went exploring and cliff jumping, chatted in Italian and in English, and had a good day at the sea. Thanks to the rocks where we went exploring, my fingers and toes were pretty cut up by the end of the day (so I’m a little worried about violin practice now) but it was a great sojourn.

Then, that night, I got a crash course lesson in being a lead singer.

Gabriele, who is the guy I’m staying with (the oldest son in the family) is a bassist in a sort of band, and he wanted me to come with them for their latest show to sing “Cough Syrup” by Young the Giant. They are above all a hard rock music group and occasionally do covers of Italian and other rock songs. Here is a video of them actually playing normally.

Anyway, Gabbò was quite excited to have a someone whose mother language was English to sing a song; so much so that he insisted all the other players learn “Cough Syrup” and play it that night without ever having practiced it together before (granted, the song is not exactly that hard to learn, but there may have been a misjudgment on (Gabbò) someone’s part)…

After getting everything from the microphone (which was having issues) to the (awful) acoustics of the room figured out, the guys played. I still hadn’t heard anyone play anything that sounded like “Cough Syrup” (not even during the first practices or the sound check) so at that point I had actually decided I wouldn’t have to worry about it. But in the end they called me on stage after all, so I gave the camera to Livia (Gabriele’s sister) so she could record everything.

I’ll put on the video without telling you about the surprise that the guys made me by accident. I’ll just say that they were always a hard rock group and it was my first time ever to sing on stage with a band.

Ah wow. At least in the end it turned out alright.

Over the last few days, I’ve been in Ischia with my first host family. We went to the beach twice yesterday (including at The Abasciatore Hotel that Uncle Pietro owns and maintains) and I even got to try small boat sailing and retake up windsurfing. I hope to return to Ischia again to stay longer someday, but until then I’ll just have to salute everyone dear to me there and sling my pack back on my shoulders.

Over the next two weeks, I’m not sure where I’ll be. I suppose I’ll just be – as the Italians would say – in giro. I’m doing well and continuing to enjoy my adventure. Now, if I could just find a way to see this straight, I’ll run away to some fortune that I should have found by now. Until then, I’m waiting for this cough syrup to go down.

I’m Jonathon, and this is my life.










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