I am sitting here wondering whether this is how some of the people that used to be part of a church feel. You see: I like blogging, I used to do it regularly, I have decided I want to start again, I know at least some would welcome me back, I have made the decision that I want to and even told some I will – but I just keep putting it off. Sometimes I didn’t feel I had the time, sometimes I felt I needed some special to write about to get started again, sometimes there were other excuses. Nevertheless I had made the decision I was going to start again – just never really got round to it.
Well, now I have wondering what to write about? (and if you have been thinking on linking up with your church again – please don’t keep putting it off. Tomorrow never comes, if you ought to do it today!) I will do what I do best – waffle and give an update on the Andersens life in Denmark and Manchester.
Today is Good Friday. Lisbeth and I have led a Good Friday Meditation at the Temple corps in Copenhagen, although it was arranged by Headquarters for all the corps in Copenhagen and surrounding towns. Usually it is the Territorial Commander or Chief Secretary that leads this service, but they are both in Paris, so we were asked to do it(my reply: Do we have a choice?). My mother came back with us for lunch, but has gone home and so now Lisbeth and I find ourselves home alone. This has actually been the case for the whole week, as Lukas first attended a camp for young people being confirmed this year and continued to the annual Bible Camp for youths. Maria is flying to Copenhagen later today and so in a few days we will go from being just us two to all being here together – I probably would not admit it to my children (they might get the impression I actually care about them), but I am looking forward to it.
We, that is, Lukas, Lisbeth and I, are beginning to settle back in to Denmark. It has not been that easy for any of us. 9 years is a long time to be away. I have never enjoyed moving. I am an introvert and not that comfortable with new people and relationships, but this move probably has been the most difficult. In the beginning it felt like being on a holiday. It was enjoyable, but then it dawns on you, that you are not going back and reality hits hard: This is it. This is how it is going to be in the foreseeable future. It is a bit strange to be in your home country and yet not feel at home, especially as the people around you probably cannot relate to that and expect you just to fit in. Well, to cut a long story short, it seems like we are coming out of the tunnel and light is spreading all around.
Lisbeth is very busy and concentrated on finishing her degree. All essays have been finished and passed (well, she is still waiting for the marks on the last one, but no doubt in my mind she has passed), exams out of the way and now it is the dissertation. It has to be handed in at the end of this month. There is a lot of work to do and a lot of time has been lost because of the move, but she is getting there. Fortunately she has a very understanding boss who has told her to concentrate on her project and leave as much else until later. We have been travelling round the country, meeting with corps officers and trying to get to know them and understand their situations. I had to count my travelling days for insurance purposes and found that during September to November I had 25 days where I had left Zealand (the island where Copenhagen is situated). On top of this Lisbeth has been to the UK a couple of times for lectures etc, so it is impressive she is keeping on track to reach the goal.
Lukas has not found the transition too easy. Teenagers don’t communicate a lot about what they do or how they feel, but we are pretty sure he would have gone back to Stockport anytime, if given the choice. He enjoys the more relaxed approach of the Danish schools, but using Danish for the first time as a study language has been a challenge. He has started in 8th grade and most of the class he has joined has been together since grade 1, so it also takes time to get into the group. Before we arrived in Copenhagen he had decided he would attend the Valby corps and he is very active there. It did not take long before he began attending the YP band and has since been working, maybe not hard, but at least working on learning to play the cornet (having Erik Silfverberg as his teacher has been quite a motivation for him). Last Saturday was his first concert – in 2 of the pieces he played 1st cornet, not bad after 6 months! He is also attending preparation classes for confirmation, which the Army in Denmark introduced many years ago in a response to living in a predominantly Lutheran country and plays football at the corps a couple of times a month. He naturally also attends all the services, so not only attends, but is very active.
Andreas moved back to Denmark just before Christmas. He is hoping to begin to study philosophy at the University of Copenhagen this summer and have come back early to adjust to the Danish language. He has started Open University taking one of the courses from the first semester. Also for him language has been a challenge, but he is persevering. He has got a room at the Army’s students dormitory in Copenhagen and is looking for work. 2 job interviews last week and a couple next week, so it is looking promising. It is nice to have him around again after 3 years where we only saw each other occasionally. Now we see him several times a week, often in connection with football on the telly or meal times!
Maria has recovered well from the initial set back of first us leaving Manchester and then her accommodation disappear the day before returning after the summer holidays. She is as always very focussed on her studies. Both Lisbeth and I have managed to come to Manchester to see her a couple of times during the last 6 months. A couple of weeks ago I was there and among other things we spent some time looking at computers. This resulted in Maria deciding to go Mac – so now she has a much better computer than me, but Lisbeth has clearly let me know that I am not getting a Mac! Maria was home for Christmas, then returned a few weeks later, when she got a good flight deal and had no classes for 14 days and as mentioned she is now here for the next couple of weeks.
I wish I could say I have been focussed on my studies or working hard to finish my degree – but that has not quite been the case. I have found the move to Headquarters quite challenging, but slowly beginning to find my own feet in that situation. A couple of weeks ago we had a corps leaders retreat and being able to talk, teach and minister with them was really good therapy for me. We have invested quite a lot of time in developing our team at THQ and are beginning to see some good things happening. It is beginning to be difficult to remain negative or pessimistic – I suppose I might as well give up resisting and get going.
Well, that was a very long waffle, but at least I am back on the blog (pun intended). Now it will be easier to write when inspiration comes, but now the essay I commenced more than a year ago is waiting for me, so I will bid you all farewell for now. Hope to see you again soon.
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Confirmation is certainly not part of a Salvation Army tradition generally, but in the Scandinavians countries, where between 80-90% of the populations are members of the Lutheran church, it was introduced 25-30 years ago. At that time almost everyone in a school class would be confirmed and instead of stigmatizing SA youngsters, the Army adopted the idea. You of course cannot confirm you baptism, as is what it means in the Lutheran church, but instead you, as a teenager, publicly confirm your Christian faith after 6 months of teaching.
When we returned home to Denmark Lukas decided he would like to be confirmed and since the autumn has participated in teaching on the Christian faith together with 4 other boys from SA in Copenhagen. Yesterday the confirmation was celebrated, first in the service and continued with a party with friends and family. Lukas himself had decided he would like John, one of our very best friends, to officiate the confirmation. John, or I think actually is was his wife Hanne, got the brilliant idea of using “You’ll never wlak alone” as the theme for the service – brilliant as Lukas is a passionate Liverpool supporter. He had chosen the text from Luke (it of course had to be from Luke, which in Danish is Lukas) telling about the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, you probably can see how that links with never walking alone.
Part of a confirmation service in The Salvation Army is a time, where the young person is asked questions about what he/she has learned through the time of teaching. Lukas was asked 5 questions, which he of course had been told before hand, but he had to prepare the answers himself. He had no problem in answering them, standing relaxed and cool, one hand in the pocket, all through the ceremony. The evening before we had dared him to reply to one of the questions: “I would like to call a friend” or “Could I ask the audience?”, but he decided to behave himself. I will later update this profile with a video of this part of the ceremony, if I can get it to work.
After the service we had invited friends and family to a party. We are fortunate that there is a community centre in the building where we live, so could use their facilities, as well as our rather large garden. The weather was nice, the food brilliant and we all had a really good time. Part of the Danish traditions for parties like this is that you write special songs for the person being celebrated. Lukas’ Uncle and Aunt brought one, and Friday night Lukas very kindly had left home for football, which gave the 4 remaining Andersens a chance to write a song too. We decided to mix Danish and English all through the song, so if you do not understand both languages, it makes no sense at all, but we thought it was quite good. At the end of the day, we were not just tired, exhausted comes closer. It was all worth it, we, and especially Lukas, had a great day as you hopefully can tell from the photos.
