Week 1: Movers and Shakers

I cannot believe it has only been a week here at Joshua. I feel like I’ve been here a month at least with how busy I am. Saturday was move in day, which took forever because of the amount of stuff I brought. Fortunately, I had a place for everything to go so my room wasn’t overflowing and my roommate wasn’t overwhelmed. It’s really starting to feel like home here. I love my classes, the people, everything about Joshua. Except for that stupid hill.

I’ve gone through all of my classes at least once, and I’d have to say, so far my favorite class is probably Old Testament Survey, because I am normally reading from the New Testament so it’s so refreshing to learn out so of the books of the Bible I’ve never even opened before. Life Skills is a close second. I’m excited to learn all these skills I’ll be able to use in the future.

Wednesday was our Etiquette Dinner, which was amazing! My date was Trevor, and he was so nice. Dinner was Chinese themed with dragons, paper lanterns, and origami cranes. It was a four course dinner, with cucumber onion salad, a red spicy soup, salmon with snap peas and brown noodles, and poached pear with vanilla bean ice cream for dessert. Before the meal, we learned all about good etiquette and how it’s all about respecting others and thinking of them before yourself. Sitting down was kind of awkward though, as the bar on the chair would hit the back of my foot when I tried to sit.

After dinner, was time to dance! They taught us how to do the Cha-Cha, Waltz, and Swing. It was so much fun and we could have kept dancing all night. Rich was very generous and didn’t hold anyone to their chores that day, as it was late by the time we stopped dancing. My feet hurt like crazy, but it was the most fun I’ve had in a while!

Friday was my first day of work. Fortunately, I didn’t have to get up early after a long night. I started around 1:30 in the Ponderosa Dinning Hall, first helping make center pieces for that nights event. Then I got to arrange flowers in a pot, which was way harder than I thought it would be. I had to shove towels, bubble wrap, and tweed to get the flowers high enough in the plants. I also got to cut bell peppers, clean the bakery, and bus tables. It was a lot of work and my feet & back were killing me, but it was great and I look forward to everything I get to do later on in the year.

Saturday was also a work day, but I didn’t have to start until 2:30. We started out putting all the décor together. It was an outside dinner so we had to move all the food outside to the Pondy Lodge and plate the food there. I was a server and bussed the tables afterwards. It was a lot of fun but my arms and legs were killing me when it was all done. The kitchen staff was awesome and gave us a bunch of dessert. We totally pigged out on the red velvet cake with strawberries, tiramisu, and chocolate dipped macaroons. Tyler didn’t realize we had spoons so he was using his hands to eat the tiramisu. Everyone was cracking up because we were so exhausted and everything that happened was hilarious. Today is Sunday and I only work about 3 hours today. We have a BBQ at Cedar and then go the Cedar Chapel for church. This first week has been great and I can’t wait for the next 32 to come!