Are you (still) listening?
Are you (still) listening? These words just rang out from a popular Jimmy Eat World song that popped up on my iTunes shuffle. I'm curious if anyone is still following my blog during the summer. Here in southeastern PA we're in the middle of a six day heat wave (temps above 90 degrees), so I'm just hanging out, watching the Phillies lose. I figured I'd submit a few updates.

I'm obviously now back from Europe -- I'd be broke if I were still there! I won't try to share words about my experiences in Spain and Morocco, other than to say everyone should visit these two countries (you can if you go to GC, hint hint). I've left a link to my photos at the end of the blog.

Just over a week ago I began my summer internship (while some of my friends are just now finishing theirs!). I'm working with ASSETS Montco, an organization that does local entrepreneurship training in suburban Philadelphia. Many GC students have worked with a similar program in Goshen.

Now that I'm finally home again and have returned to my home congregation, it has been fun to catch up with folks about my travels and what they've been up to over the months. I haven't really been home since Christmas. While at church today, I spoke to one of my fellow young adults who will be a first-year this semester. Her words about the pain of scheduling courses, the joy of emailing with her roommate, and the general anticipation that comes with one's first semester away from home were pleasantly familiar. And then I realized, uh-oh, I'm going to be a SENIOR this year. I'm a bit apprehensive. But I can't wait!

So I'm gonna throw this out there -- since I see I'm the only to blog this summer haha -- anyone who will be a first-year this fall 2008 should feel free to email me (sheldoncg@goshen.edu) with any questions, comments, or concerns. And email with your new Goshen email address. You'll appreciate the practice. And there's an odd sentimental value to it :).

Link to my photo gallery.
Posted at 18:45 #

Where's my London Fog when I need it

Oh how so much has happened since the last time I blogged! I have included some pics to go along with this entry; be sure to check them out.

Class wrapped up in Barca last Monday (on-campus May Term classes went till Wednesday!) with final presentations, mine being on FC Barcelona -- the Barca soccer club.

After almost three weeks in the city centre, it was time to relax a bit. I flew to England to stay at the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) base about an hour north of London. I spent two quiet days relaxing, reading, and running in the hospitable hands of the Peachey family. John and Suzi are the base directors, and John is a GC grad from Sarasota. They also included me on their Tuesday night worship service and their Wednesday evening potluck where we ate burritos Portugese-style.

Thursday I bussed up to Bradford in the north of England to visit two young adults serving with Mennonite Voluntary Service. It was cool to finally meet Kate Harnish (GC grad) and Matthew Yoder, after exchanging emails and IMs with them over the past few months and more recently spending two and a half hours waiting to be picked up in the bus station -- no hard feelings :). After home-cooked meals with the Peacheys, Kate and Matthew allowed me time to explore some English eateries: eggs and bacon for breakfast, fish and chips for lunch, curry for supper. Unbeknownst to me, Bradford has a huge population of Pakistanis, is often referred to as "Bradistan," and claims to be the curry capital of England.

A Saturday afternoon train-ride (take notes America, National Express UK offers free on-board wireless -- not that I had a laptop) brought me to the East End of London, where I will be until Tuesday. I spent the day with my host Karen Stallard, touring the 'hood and learning about her work with church-planting and inter-faith dialogues. East London mirrors Bradford in being curry heaven (can you tell I love curry?) but in contrast, is due to the large population of persons from Bangladesh. While Bradford is slowly reframing its mills from the post-industrial era as new apartments, East London is quickly rebounding from its former days as a port city to its current reality as a post-war haven for both young English professionals and aspirational Bangladeshi families.

Today was to be my day to explore downtown (Westminster, etc.), but the London rains have moved in. It is sort of depressing but not unexpected. The weather is supposed to be quite nice the rest of the week though. Tuesday and Thursday will have to be my exploration days; Wednesday I will travel to Belfast for the day. Friday its back to Barca to reimmerse myself in Spanish culture and prepare for next three weeks of exploration of the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa! Until next time, cheers.

PS: London Fog of Philadelphia is a large manufacturer of rain-gear that sold two-thirds of all raincoats to the Baby Boombers of the 1970s.

Hola de Barca

So I've been in Barca (Barcelona) for a little over a week now as part of GC's Business in Spain trip. We've done so much -- I don't even know how to begin describing it!

First of all, we're here to take classes at EADA, a management university for business executives and person's seeking MBAs. The Spanish profs have all been really good and stress student participation, which makes class unpredictable and fun.

We've been fortunate to visit a number of cultural sites in and around Barcelona too: Montserrat sanctuary, La Rambla, the Piscasso museum, and Paula de la Musica, which I visited on my own (I saw Joe Satriani!). Today we took a class trip to Sharp Corporation's Spanish headquarters. And for all you futbol (soccer) fans out there, we're visitng F.C. Barcelona on Tuesday!

It has been interesting to notice differences between Spain and US culture. But what I've found even more compelling is comparing and contrasting Spanish/European culture with what I experienced while on SST in Cambodia. In Spain, the dollar is weak, bread (and sandwiches) are part of the cuisine, Smart cars are the norm (though motos are prevalent too), and public displays of affection are not only common but almost expected.

By the way, today was the first day we had rain -- every other day has been sunny and in the low 70s. Gotta love that Mediterranean temperate climate! I have yet to visit the beach but plan to sometime next week. Till next time -- adios!

UPDATE: photos loaded :)

T minus four hours
In four hours I will be headed for the mountains of Pennsylvania. All that stands in the way is a Public Relations presentation. I'm ready to get this show on the road!

Last night I had the privilege of procrastinating a bit with a trip to the Reith Interpretive Center downtown. Three of my housemates and I made the half mile trek to this environmental learning center to hear about how local businesses are thinking "green." It is always fun to get off campus for a good meal, network with some folks, and catch-up with old acquaintances.

In other news from last night -- this time more nationally -- Obama conceded the PA primary to Clinton. I tried to vote but my absentee ballot got here too late for me to return my vote in time -- a bit frustrating. So it looks like Clinton has a glimmer of hope now, but Obama seems to still be holding the hope trump card.

Speaking of politics, I'm sure you all heard our CNN debut was delayed a few days. There are already two videos up on CNN from similar round-table discussions, both from PA. Go to cnn.com/videos, search for "first-time voters," and you'll find them. One is students from Penn State, the other is women from Scranton.

As I grab a cup of java and head off to my final final, I realize this yet another semester of "beth midrash" -- Hebrew for "house of learning/interpretation," as I learned from Jim Brenneman in our Prophets class -- is nearly complete. I also realize I haven't seen my family in over three and a half months, which is as long as when I went on Cambodia SST. PA has been in the news so much lately, I better head back to my roots while the state is still in the spotlight!
Posted at 08:53 #

My voice matters?
I'm in a state of elatedness. For one, I just finished my Hebrew Prophets final a hour or so ago. And then I watched tonight's episode of The Office and ate ice cream. But the bigger reason I'm on such a high right now is because I'm going to be on CNN soon!

Six other GC students and I discussed how our faith informs our political decisions and views with Emmy- award winning journalist, Rick Sanchez. How cool, huh?!

While my faith has been important to me for a long time, I've only recently developed a liking for politics. It is probably somewhat based off of my fascination with current events and the media. But I also feel like I have a unique worldview to offer, and politics can be an avenue to voice such a perspective.

And on Wednesday we offered our perspectives. In fact, I've never in my life felt like my thoughts mattered and were valued so much before. CNN, local media, and college public relations persons were asking us questions and throwing us in front of cameras.

As a communication students with interest in journalism, I couldn't help but be in awe of the broadcast process. Even though I've been backstage at ABC news headquarters in New York City, it was way different to be on a mock-CNN set in the church-chapel!

I haven't given myself ample time to process the whole event yet. And with finals looming next week (though one was finished tonight!), I don't see myself setting aside too much time for personal reflection. But the three local newspapers sitting next to me will provide a steady reminder of how excited I was on Tuesday -- and still am now! Tune in next Wednesday morning from 6-9am to see us on CNN. Sorry I don't have more specifics.
Posted at 22:55 #

Speeding up or winding down?
Just two more weeks of school. The area public schools are taking their turn with "spring break" this week. Major League Baseball has begun. Tennis practice is in full swing. And winter seems to have finally made its exit.

I'm at that point in the semester when I feel like I should be winding down, but things only seem to be speeding up. Tests, projects, papers, finals, here I come. Admist all this work, I'm playing drums for three different bands that have performances within a week of each other.

Yesterday, though, I made myself slow down. I set aside time to go to an on-campus conference on what it might take for the Goshen community -- both the college and the city -- to practice "sweatfree" stewardship. Sweatshops have infiltrated our global market over the past number of years but are also a local reality. A Cambodian woman and Costa Rican man shared powerful stories of working in garment and pineapple-harvesting sweatshops.

Some of you may know that I was a member of the Spring '07 Cambodia SST. Besides learning about how to combat Walmart and sweatshops, I was able to use my Khmer again for the first time since SST. Oh how wonderful this felt. Juxtaposing the stories I heard with the language I once again struggled to speak, made me want to rush back to my house and book a ticket for Southeast Asia.

Reality reminded me that I was to spend three more hours in that same seminar room in Newcomer Center to prepare for this week's Hour After, which is a "coffee-shop" kind of musical performance led by GC students. A few of us former Kratz 3 guys decided last year to put on an hour after this year, although, in retrospect, we probably should've picked a different week!

My agenda for today is as follows: class, chapel, modeling (for an Art Dept. drawing class!), lunch, homework, tennis practice, supper, homework, indoor soccer intramurals, homework, and in bed...by midnight? Let's hope so.
Posted at 13:50 #

Wait...

It began yesterday morning, lasted off-and-on throughout the day, and culminated last night. The windowless library helped me forget about it. But as I watched my hometown Villanova Wildcats get embarrassed last night, I was reminded that it had yet to reach its climax. The eerie scrape and scratch of the tri-axle trucks with their flickering yellow lights was just loud enough to make me bump up the volume just a few more notches. Yes, on the second day of spring, winter is alive and well in Goshen.

I write this on the THIRD day of spring. The snow is still lightly falling, and the temperature may struggle to reach freezing today. But I sit in the comforts of Howell House, a cup of java by my side. When the birds and sun returned last week, something in my mind clicked and I returned to spring-mode. We, in Goshen, wait for spring.

Last night, as CBS Sportsline broke for commercials, I continually flipped the channel to taped coverage of the pope's Way of the Cross procession in Rome. I watched Christians proceed through piercing rain around the Colosseum with their black umbrellas raised high, as in a holy confession. Similarly, Christians visited Jerusalem last night in a pilgrimage through the Old City. We, as Christians, wait for Easter Sunday.

Yesterday I waited dreadfully for the climax of the snow. Today, I wait patiently for the climax of Christ's resurrection. For the snow to melt, the birds to sing, and the stone to roll away. For the Eucharist, a celebratory feast for lunch, and my chance to eat sweets again.

As my coffee gets cold, I realize I also wait for my roommate to wake up, for the library to open, for my homework to do itself, and for the end of the semester. But I've waited for forty days before, right? Alas, just another forty and I'm off to Barcelona for Business in Spain.

Hello, blogosphere
This is my first blog in over a year and my first for GC. I'm not exactly sure who's reading this, but, alas, welcome.

While I haven't spent much time blogging before, I am a seasoned blog-reader. I have a number of friends living internationally right now, along with some acquaintances who I "keep in touch with" via their blogs.

Interestingly enough, I spent considerable time last night on someone's blog who I've never met. His name is Zach Lind, and he's the drummer for the band, Jimmy Eat World. After some careful clicking and tracking, I was able to officially confirm my hypothesis: he's Mennonite.

This to say, feel free to try to track me down through whatever means you prefer (my old blog, Facebook, Google image searches, etc.). Whether you "know" me or not, I hope this blog can serve two visions. One, as a way for you, the reader, to learn what it's like to be a student at Goshen College. Two, for me to organize my thoughts and feelings in written form. Because we can all use a little of that from time to time!

Next time I hope to offer more significant insights into GC life on campus and beyond. For now, I simply want to introduce myself.

Favorite website: Accuweather.com

Favorite TV show: The Daily Show (and The Office, when it's on)

Source for news: Slate.com's "today's papers" (among others)

Hobbies: tennis, drums, card and board games, eating popcorn

Email program: Gmail

Thanks for stopping by. It's now time for me to come up with a proposal for my end-of-the-year communication research project!
Posted at 14:46 #