I was upstairs in my room, reading an Agatha Christie book (surprise, surprise) at almost 2:00. Without warning, the house started...well, I'm really struggling to find the right word to describe it. Jumping? Shaking? Rattling? I guess what I really think of is 'jarring', which is an adjective, not a verb. It's hard to say exactly how it felt, but it was kind of like being in a dream. You know, when there's something happening that seemed completely random.
For about five or ten seconds I had no clue what was going on. Then my mind flashed to how all the mess in Japan started, and I threw my book down and rushed into the hallway.
Everyone downstairs was just as confused as I was. Our mortar-and-pestle fell off the stove with a crash, and that didn't really add much clarity to the situation.
Then, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Mom flicked on the radio just as Galdor began to cry in his room and Dad rushed up from the basement.
The earthquake left us with this 'whoa' feeling. When you're in an earthquake you really don't have any control over what's happening. It's not like other emergencies that I've been in, when you can do something to make it stop. You simply aren't in control.
But I suppose I'll seize the opportunity of an otherwise quiet day and tell you what's been happenin' around here.
So. Let's rewind back to Thursday.
Have anyone ever heard of Institute for Cultural Communicators? It's an organization that trains young people to be effective public speakers, with the main objective to be able to talk about your faith. Every year, they tour around the US giving Communicator for Christ Conferences.
That's where we were Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. To tell you what happened each specific day would take too much time because each day was absolutely jam-packed, so I'll just tell you my thoughts about it.
- It was one of the highlights of my summer. I learned so much and was so encouraged to speak out about my faith more and to be friendly and conversational.
- It really made me think on the power of communication. For example, I'm one of those people who, if I'm having a bad day, can hide it if I really want to. When I'm around my friends, I'm usually bubbly or happy or cheerful on those days, but when I'm with my family I become a real bear. But what am I communicating to my family when I do that? That I don't care about how they feel?
- I SOOOO admire the interns. The interns are teens who have graduated from the curriculum and are the ones touring in the conference. They teach all the labs, organize the activities, and do other things like that. They are all so fun to be around. Seriously, they really make an effort to have conversations with everyone in attendance.
- It was really busy. We were getting up at 6:00-ish in the morning and coming home at 10:30-ish at night. I was running on caffeine for a little there. =) Yes, it was very exhausting, but it was definitely worth it.
- You should go sometime. It was fun, encouraging, and I made a lot of friends.
Izori
