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The Christmas Wait.
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12-21-02
Waking at around 8:00, I ate some of my travel munchies,
took a shower, and waited until 10:00, when I felt sure I wouldn't wake anyone. I then
went up to Joanna's flat. She was surprised to see me. I told her a little bit about my
trip, and we got into a discussion of grace. I mentioned an illustration about conduits
versus jars, and she was very pleased to hear it. I then took a taxi to the airport to
meet my mother's 11:50 flight. The flight was about 40 minutes late, and my mother was
not on it. I waited for two hours for her to walk through the arrivals door.
I asked the lady at tourist information where I could
find an internet cafe so I could check my email. I took an overpriced taxi ride to the
place she indicated (the airport didn't have an internet cafe). I there learned that the
shopping center also did not contain an internet cafe. So, I took a more reasonably
priced cab back to the church offices. There, I met up with the bishop, checked my email
for free, and learned that my mother had not been able to get on the flight she had
expected. She was to come in on Sunday's 11:50.
I was relieved that the reason I hadn't seen her was
that she hadn't been there. The bishop said he would have his son drive me to the airport
on Sunday.
I was disappointed, though, because I had wanted to go
to the international church's service with my mother. The services at that church are in
English, and it's been three months since I attended a service in English.
I had dinner at a chinese restaurant across from the
church and went to bed.
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12-22-02
Sunday morning, I slept until 9:30, got ready, and went
downstairs to wait for the bishop's son. The bishop loaned me a mobile phone, because his
son couldn't stay near the terminal very long and had to park away from the building.
I stood in the crowd and watched the arrivals doors.
The plane arrived, and I heard many of the people coming out talking about lost luggage,
so I waited until the flight listing cycled off the sign and then waited another twenty
minutes for her to appear, thinking she might be in the lost luggage office, or in a queue
outside the lost luggage office.
I finally abandoned the vigil and went back to the
church office. The bishop allowed me to check my email, but there was nothing new. We
ate lunch together (it was very good!), and sat for a while talking.
I went back to my guest room and waited, pacing the
floor and listening to the classical music station on my radio.
I went to bed early.
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12-23-02
Last night the temperature plummetted to around
-13°C/8.6°F. I woke twice to add another blanket to my bed.
The bishop later told me that the office building has a
system that increases the heating as the temperature drops, but it takes about two hours
to make a change, so if the temperature drops rapidly, the heating can't keep up. By
morning, it was again toasty.
I checked my email, found that my mother was planning to
try the 11:50 flight on Monday, and had breakfast. Or maybe it was the other way around.
Either way, I did both. I then went up and talked to the bishop. I was about to leave,
and maybe do a little shopping before my journey back to the airport, when the bishop's
phone rang.
It was my mother, and she was in Warsaw. She had a ride
but needed directions. So, I gave her directions and waited half an hour in my room (the
driving time from the airport). I then went down to watch for her. After about ten or
fifteen minutes, I went inside to warm up a little. When I went back down, she was in
front of the English College building heading for a phone box. I waved to her, but it was
several seconds before she saw me. We got her luggage up to the guest rooms, and then we
had a little time to relax and catch up on adventures.
We had lunch with the bishop at a Cuban restaurant,
caught a train, and got back to I awa in time for dinner. After dinner, we unpacked our
suitcases, talked a while, and went to bed.
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12-24-02
Mother and I walked into town and bought some groceries. I
showed her where the places I've mentioned in my log are, and we walked along the lakes on
the way home. In the evening, we went to the Christmas eve service.
After the service, we ate dinner with the pastor's
family. We had eight dishes, and the only meat was fish. It was a scrumtious meal, and
we ate a lot.
After dinner, we sang some Christmas carols and opened
gifts. The pastor's daughter played some songs on the piano. It was a fun evening.
After that, we came back to our floor and relaxed until
almost midnight, when I suggested we should get some sleep.
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12-25-02
I slept in today. Then I lay awake with my eyes closed for
a while. Finally, I decided I should get up before noon, and I braved the cold, which
didn't seem all that cold, though it was. It was 10:15. I knocked on my mother's room
and found she was awake, so I fixed us breakfast. During breakfast, Kris told us that the
service would start at 11:00.
It was cold in the chapel, and I hadn't put on my
long-johns, so by the time the service was over, my hip was aching, but it was good
otherwise. I still have no idea what's going on most of the time, but that should change
some soon. Kris wants to make sure we get to doing our English-Polish lessons, because he
wants to improve his English. We just haven't had time yet.
After the service, we had lunch in his flat. It was
very good. When lunch was over, Kris had to go to his other parish. We got to watch some
American news, though.
It is now 15:39, and we are relaxing in our quarters.
The temperature outside my window is -12°C/10.4°F.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
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