Welcome Week 2011!

We celebrated the new year by basking in the excellent weather at the outdoor BBQ yesterday!

     Well, it's that time of year, folks!  Here at CMU we are in the middle of Welcome Week, when the campus transforms into an endless party to meet all the new students and get psyched about the year.  Some highlights:

1.  Go-lympics, which pitted the different residences against each other to win the Gerbrandt Goblet (a name which has my personal support, based on our illustrious president, Gerald Gerbrandt).  In order to do so we had to participate in challenges like careening through a tiny hula hoop in a potato sack during the sack race, and attempting to pulverize our opponents in a massive game of tug o' war. 

2.  Orientation, which lasted for three and a half hours, and included a massively detailed discussion on academic integrity and several very informative skits detailing community guidelines.  We look forward to this morning every year....

In this photo, Rianna Isaak represents a very strong scent which is just too strong for the onlookers on the left.  Moral: it makes sense not to use scents!

3.  Friends!  I have missed my friends SO MUCH since I left in April.  Several evenings have already been spent on long walks and just chilling in this place we call home.  Last night we definitely pulled out the Monty Python.  I had to work allllll the way until after the move in day, but this was made up by the fact that I covertly moved in a day early so I could spend an evening chilling with buddies before the dorms opened (which was probably not allowed.  ooooppps!)

4.  Coffee House.  The usual performance madness, now run by Clare Schellenberg and Coby Friesen, our Arts and Entertainment Directors.  We chilled, drank sweet free coffee and listened to music, poety, and drama.  Our ever-present hosts, Clare and Coby, were New Yorkers who just thought everyone was "faaanntasic!"

Two of the most developed Coffee House personalities I have ever seen.

     Welcome to CMU 2011.   Friends both new and old, crazyness, pranks, studies, challenges, weather (!), unplanned events, fellowship groups, sports, worship, and more are in store for us this year.  Time to GO!

CMU Grad 2011

Last Week of Classes

     Well, here we are at the last week of classes.  Yours truly has just realized that he really needs to get moving to get everything done because he's been putting too much on the back burner.  We are all out of here in just over two weeks.  
     The weather has been excellent for the past while, which is good because it allows us to get outside for walks after we've been feeling rather cooped up in residence for the past few months.  During this time of intense work, it's important to keep from feeling isolated; to still make time for others.  
     It's also important to make time for God.  I've realized how I'll start to feel really empty if I skip spending time praying and reading for more than a day or two.  It's kind of crazy how direct this connection can be - my happiness right now is directly connected to spending time with God.
     It's interesting to think about life being comprised of relationships, and our happiness being dependent on how we're doing in those relationships.  Our friendships with God and others - how much of a bearing does that have on our happiness?
     

Pranks

     Picture time.  What is this, do you ask?  Let me interpert the picture for you.  The clothes in the snow belong to Matt Mayers.  He is being pranked by Rianna Isaak.  Why is he being pranked?  I believe it was for throwing something at Rianna.  She froze the clothes, by the way..! 

     What did Matt think of all this?  Let's ask him.

     He won't say anything.  Is he actually upset, or just faking it?  We'll never know.

     Was I asked to help?  Yes, I was.  They asked me to get some clothes from Matt's room -- so I locked his door and then told them it was locked and I couldn't get in.  Oops! 

     I was also pranked by Rianna -- she put cafeteria food (FROM THE FLOOR!) under my pillow.  Will there be retaliation?  Stay tuned....

Show your Support!

     Sports are an important part of the lives of many CMU students.  The CMU Blazers have men's and women's basketball, volleyball, and soccer teams.  This upcoming weekend is a big one for us -- the men's and women's basketball teams face Red River College on friday and saturday.  I'm sure there will be vans heading out -- go and support your CMU Blazers!
     In the spirit of this weekend, I want to share a video my friend Laura made on the bus trip to Bottineau North Dakota last semester.   She's a member of the student media team. Take a look:

Vlog - Laura Tait "Bus trip to Bottineau" from CMU Media on Vimeo.

     The sports teams have been very busy this year -- it's been an especially good year for the women's volleyball team, who had 15 wins, with only 1 loss to Providence College.  We had mixed results in other areas, but fun was had, and that's what counts, right?  This weekend we're vying for 3rd place in our games against Red River.  If you're around, come on out!

Mikado Sneak Peek

    

     The Mikado is going brilliantly.  We've been working hard to put the finishing touches on it this past week, and the first show was yesterday.  It's showing tonight and Saturday at 7:30pm, and Sunday at 3pm, so come on out if you want to see an awesome show!  Tickets are $5 for students, $15 for adults, and $12 for seniors.  Phone CMU at (204) 487.3300; they are also avaliable at the door.



Into the Craziness!

     Well, it might be a surprise to some of you high-school students, but in the university world we are more than half-way through the semester.  My life is getting crazy with Mikado practices every night and a 25 page paper to work on during the day.  And it's not just me feeling the stress!  Here's the funny thing, though - it seems like socializing actually can go up a bit during times of stress.  How, you ask?  It's a proven fact!  Take a look at this:

"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham -- www.phdcomics.com.  Used with permission.

     Now, keep in mind that a responsible student does get everything done.  What suffers?  You got it.  Sleep!  You know what they say - about how you gain energy by spending energy?  It's true.  If you're tired but don't want to sleep, just do something and (usually) energy will come back.  It's worked for me so far!

     It's really very good that reading break is over.  I got far too much work done because there was no one to ever distract me.  Well, now the party has started once again.  Looking forward to what's in store for the rest of the semester.  Take care of yourselves!

Mikado + Reading Break

Hey, how's it going?


1.  I need to put a plug in for the Mikado.  It's an opera that CMU is putting on, written by Gilbert and Sullivan about love, executions, Japanese gentlemen and scandal.  It's happening March 3-5th at 7:30pm on North Campus, and Sunday March 6th at 3pm.  Tickets are $5 for students.  Come on out!


2.  This past week was reading week.  There were many things going on: a group of students went to Nashville Tennessee to help people rebuild houses as part of Mennonite Disaster Service; others went travelling to Florida for vacation.  I went home and buckled down for a week of work.  I'm going to have much more free time now!


3.  It's getting warmer..!

Project: Valentine

     Don't just sit there.  Take action!

    The 2011 Art of Peacebuilding class was charged with making a creative difference in our community.  Here's the question: can we make Valentine's Day more important than it is?  St. Valentine was a priest in Rome who was martyred on February 14th.  Though his work, he is one of many individuals who through their actions have shown Christ's love.  Why not plaster campus with artwork commemorating those who have shown love and worked for peace?

    Real Love.  True Peace.

Refreshing Winds

The CMU singers surround the audience during the opening worship session

     Refreshing Winds was very cool.  
     It's CMU's blockbuster conference on worship which they host every two years.  Stretching from last Thursday to Saturday, it attracted people of every denomination from all over Canada.  This year, we had Brian McLaren and Steve Bell as special guests.  Steve Bell is a prolific singer and songwriter based right here in Winnipeg, and Brian is one of the most prominent Christian writers in North America.

    The campus was packed.  Many of those attending were living on campus for the weekend and many more were eating in the cafeteria.  The days were also extremely warm (just below freezing) which is very weird for Winnipeg!  
     My favorite part was the 1/2 hour presentation Friday morning about us as Christians being open to other faiths, rather than continuing down the road of not listening, but attacking the other.  Brian talked about the four stages of faith.  It was about how we move from "us-vs-them" thinking into a more relaxed, more loving attitude.  Here are the four stages:


simplicity - Us vs. them, where only one can be right.
complexity - There are many ways of doing things. 
perplexity - There are so many perspectives.  Who knows who is right?
holistic - Give up the search for knowing everything, and just follow God using basic essentials (such as 'love your neighbor').


     Brian stressed that it's too simplistic to call the fourth stage the best.  Each stage has something to teach us, and you can't rush people through the stages.  They will move when they are ready.  Unfortunately, though, many churches will cater to a single stage (like stage 1) and leave people in others out in the cold.  
     This is big thinking, which goes beyond what some churches would be willing to consider.  Taking this larger view and looking for the patterns allows us to understand what's going on, where our path might lead.  It legitimizes those who are having difficulties with their faiths who may feel marginalized in their churches.
     I'm glad I was able to attend this conference.  It raised many points about faith that I hadn't considered before.