Life lessons

On this trip, we've driven an estimated 20,000-25,000 kilometres, flown 8595 kilometres, been in nine provinces, performed about 90 times in front of 8000 people, Jonathan ate 190 Nutri-Grain bars, we drank hundreds of cups of coffee (mainly Tim Horton's), stayed at ~150 houses (between the five of us), saw the Parliament, Niagara Falls, Montreal's bascilica, the Green Gables house, Cavendish Beach, Hopewell Rocks and the Bay of Fundy, the Red River, Frank Slide, the world's biggest truck, Eaton Centre, Yonge Street, the Much Music Studio, copious amounts of farmland, and the Rocky Mountains. We've eaten Atlantic fish in a fishing town in New Brunswick, poutine and tortillere in Montreal, Beaver Tails and maple taffy in Ottawa, Mennonite cooking in Steinbach, and fresh cherries in the Okanagan. We've been in schools and Bible colleges, Christian Reformed, Pentecostal, Mennonite, Alliance, Mennonite Alliance, Missionary Alliance, Evangelical Friends, Evangelical Free, Baptist, Gospel, Church of God and non-denominational churches. Many things happened that didn't make it to this blog, but I hope you appreciate that which did. And through all this, here is some of what I've learned:

• I will not live forever. Sarah's death was totally unexpected and really made me think. Not just that, but staying with elderly couples who have lived most of their life, are in their fiftieth year of marriage, and have volumes of stories and pictures of grandchildren has been a glimpse into my future. I won't stay young forever, either. I refuse to waste my twenties thinking that I'm old, because if I do I'll regret it when I'm fifty.
• There are no trees in Southern Alberta.
• How to roll up the rim "Atlantic style."
• Really fresh fish tastes really good.
• I will work in missions for at least part of my life, if not all of it.
• Fear has no place in me. I've held on to certain fears for a long, long time, even fifteen years. God has released me from them all and given me amazing joy! He used Reneyah to help me realize that his perfect love drives out all fear.
• To quote an Ontario Wycliffe rep; "Don't go for a guy. Hold out for a man."
• Canada is stunningly beautiful.
• I can learn so much from those older than me. Never having developed strong relationships with anyone outside my generation (excluding my parents), I never realized how true this is. I can't say I've developed strong relationships with my billets, but my eyes have been open to the untapped wisdom of those in my parents' and grandparents' generation.
• How to make small talk. And how to turn that into something more meaningful, beyond "where are you from?" "where do you go next?" etc.
• How to knit. Between Rhonda, Jonathan and I, this trip has produced four pairs of mittens, five dolls, a finger puppet, a teddy bear, two hats, two afghans, a belt, a bag and two pairs of slippers.

So here I go back to Edmonton, six months older and wiser. After some deliberation, I've decided to continue blogging; check out my new blog here.
And that's all, kids.
Ciao.

...the end.

On Saturday, we did some shopping and packed and stuff. We played this fun game called Whoonu, from the Cranium people. You basically have to guess what a person's favorite things are. It wasn't too hard for us, since we've been around each other for a while now. The next day, after church, we went over to the house of one of the church members for our cast party. They served us a five-course meal. It was VERY good and VERY filling. Later, Barrett debriefed Reneyah and Jonathan, after which we had one last game of Wizard. The next morning, we dropped Jonathan off at the Calgary airport for his 10:00 flight, and Reneyah at her house. None of us cried; at least, not when we said goodbye. Our drive to Calgary was quiet, and had an air of finality to it. I just kept thinking, "This is it. This is the end. I'm saying goodbye today." The rest of us were debriefed that day. It was good to talk to Barrett about the tour; it kinda gave me perspective and closure. He hasn't made it to my blog very often, because he wasn't on the road with us, but I really enjoyed working with him during rehearsal.
Later, we went and played Frisbee golf, which was less Frisbee golf than it was Human Pincushion. There were SO MANY mosquitoes. They're out in droves because of all the wet weather in Southern Alberta. I didn't win golf, but I might have won the mosquito bite competition.
The next morning, Jeremy and Rhonda took me to the bus station in Claresholm, where we said goodbye. When the bus stopped in Edmonton, I remembered six months ago going the opposite direction, nervous and apprehensive, getting ready for whatever God was planning on doing in me.
It's pretty crazy, having travelled for six months across Canada with four former strangers. I was thinking about how well we know each other, and I think that can be measured by our stories. We know each other's stories; the funny ones, the sad ones, the ones we consistently repeat, our life stories. I was thinking, too, that I know how each of them tells a story. Jeremy; fairly matter-of-fact and concise. Rhonda; with copious detail and precision. Reneyah; constantly searching for dates and names, with bursts of emotion as she remembers each detail. Jonathan; eyebrows raised, eyes wide, using his hands for emphasis. Myself; well, apparently I can get pretty excited.
Then there's those times when you just know what someone else is thinking, and you look at each other and burst out laughing, and everyone kinda looks at you. Even better is when you know how someone's going to react before they do. One prime example; we were driving past an old, ivy-covered building that I knew Reneyah would just love, and as soon as she saw it, would exclaim how beautiful it was. So I pointed at it and said "Reneyah, freak out over that building." I was not disappointed.
Now, our paths have diverged again as we go on with our "normal" lives. I'd say mine is probably the closest to normal; I'm going back to school, whereas the other four are all continuing in missions work. I can't wait to hear their stories, to see how God uses them. Maybe we'll have a ten-year reunion. Regardless, I have a feeling I'll see all of them again someday.
One more entry coming, stay tuned...

Invasion of the campers

On Friday, we were supposed to have a show in Penticton, but it got cancelled at the last minute, and we were in Kelowna trying to find something to do for five hours. We decided to go bowling. I got one of my best bowling scores ever (111!) in 5-pin. Did you know that in the States they don't have 5-pin bowling? We ended up going to Vernon to stay with friends of Rhonda and Jeremy's. Jonathan, Reneyah and I were at one house, and after dinner we were discussing what we wanted to do. Of course, the idea of going on a hike came up. As soon as it came out of Reneyah's mouth, the lady we were staying up leaped out of her chair and nearly shouted "Hike? Yeah, let's go on a hike!" She was sooo excited about the prospect of a hike. We headed out with storm clouds coming our way, but we didn't really care. We climbed up the side of a mountain (which the locals call a hill) for about 45 minutes until it started coming down. We got soaked. My shoes still smell. It kept raining as we went home and into the hot tub. Despite a cancelled show, it ended up being a pretty good day.
If you ever go to Vernon, you ABSOLUTELY MUST go to Davison's orchards and buy yourself a pie. And by "yourself" I mean just you. You might not want to share. It is the most unbelievable pie I have had in my entire life. Trust me. You won't regret it.
On Sunday, in Vancouver, we did three shows at two venues in one day. The first one was at a Korean church. At one point, I left the room we were in and walked out to the foyer into a sea of Korean people. I have never before been the only white person in a crowd, and it was kind of an odd feeling. I stuck out like a sore thumb.
That night, Reneyah and I stayed with a Korean family who spoke very limited English. We had a great time watching tapes of a Korean drum ensemble, of which the wife had been a part. She then came out with boxes and got us to try on traditional Korean costumes and play her drum. It was interesting, because we could barely speak to each other, but they were really a blessing to us, and I hope we were to them.
At our next billet's house, Reneyah had a life-size cardboard cutout of Indiana Jones in her room. I decided to steal him, but it was kinda creepy having Harrison Ford standing at the end of my bed. So we left him in the living room.
For the two of us, that was the last time we stayed with billets. Our final night, the church put us up in a hotel. After our last show, the team dropped Reneyah and I off at our hotel room, and we decided to celebrate by going out to eat. Our first night on the road, we stayed in a hotel; our last night on the road, we stayed in a hotel. The next morning, Canada Day, we headed out of Vancouver at 8:30 for 16 hours on the road. We stopped in Cranbrook for dinner at a hilarious restaurant called Perry's. You could tell Perry had been doing it for a long time. And that he really liked boxing. He had a punching bag right by the entrance. We continued on Highway 3 and caught about half of Sparwood's fireworks show. Not bad for a town of 10,000. Later, we had an extensive conversation about the nature and measure of coolness. Rhonda came to the conclusion that touring with Spread the Word is cool.
When we finally arrived in Barons at 1:30, the school was besieged by campers and RVs. We had no idea what was going on. One guy was out with his dog, and was probably really confused as to why we were carrying large suitcases into the school. This morning, it looks like they're having some kind of softball tournament. Why in Barons of all places, I couldn't tell you.
And that is it. No more shows. We're being debriefed, having a cast party, and then being sent our separate ways; Jonathan and Reneyah on the 4th, myself on the 5th. Exactly six months ago, I had just met Jeremy and was on my way to the airport in a strange van to meet Rhonda and (I thought) Jonathan. We have done so much together. More on that later.
See you guys in three days.