SFSP - The first week

I've now been in San Francisco for a full week now, and it has been one CRAZY hectic week. First, the director team prepared for staff to arrive, then we worked with the staff to set up shop for the students. The students arrived on Wednesday, and within 48 hours, they had their first orientation, went through a historical walking tour of Chinatown (courtesy of our resident SF expert, Steve Hong), learned how to share the gospel, initiated spiritual conversations in downtown San Francisco, and went searching for jobs/ministry locations for the summer. Whew!

Transitioning to life in SF was a little harder than I expected. Maybe it's because I'm a perfectionist and a fast learner, but somehow I guess I expected to magically be able to learn the city and know everything about SF instantaneously. I don't think I really understand that it's ok to be in process along the learning curve; instead, I just wonder why I'm not arrived already.

Because I live in NYC, I just assumed that going from one big city to another wouldn't be that difficult. However, the newness of everything and how much I didn't know became overwhelming -- I didn't know where to eat, buy groceries, pick up forgotten travel items, work out or have fun, and I didn't know where the public transit went or the streets were laid out (we're on a grid, but the streets are all named and not in alphabetical order in this part of town. Furthermore, our particular neighborhood's grid intersects with the next neighborhood's grid at a 30 degree angle, so there can be up to 3-4 street names at the diagonal intersections).

Although the initial realization that I didn't know anything about the city was a bit disorienting and upsetting, over this last week, I've found a few surprising sources of comfort. The first was the practice room in the hostel where we're staying, so I had a chance to vent some of my stress on the piano. Other sources of comfort were riding the muni (subway), studying the transit map, walking through the surrounding neighborhoods and trying to memorize street names, discovering bookstores and coffee shops, and believe it or not -- hearing sirens go by my window at night, like a city lullaby. I'm glad that some things can stay constant from city to city!

Here are some pictures of our week so far:

View of a sequoia at the SF Botanical Garden during our staff day

Staff dinner at our new favorite restaurant (Zaoh Sushi)

Trying to transport 40+ people through the muni system (and not get lost!)

Steve telling us about the Golden Dragon Massacre (part of Chinatown's gang history)

Brent and Mushroom (Kevin) cutting hair for the guys before sending them out to look for jobs

San Francisco - first impressions

Today is my third day in SF (and also the day our staff arrive!) as the director team worked to , wrap up loose ends, purchase supplies, finalize our staff briefing schedule, and get a lay of the land. We're living in downtown San Francisco, and even as someone who's lived in NYC for the last 6 years, there are still a few things I'm not used to.

The first surprised was the number of homeless people here. It's not that I've never seen any in NYC; it just seems like there's a higher concentration of them here. Furthermore, most of the homeless people I encounter in NYC are either sitting on the sidewalk or walking through the subway cars, but the ones I see here are generally walking down the street. There's also a number of them camped out on the lawn at city hall, although I'm not sure if that's because they usually do that or if they were protesting. To be honest, even after all these years in NYC, I still feel uneasy when I'm around homeless people. Maybe this is God's way of pushing me out of my comfort zone and really forcing me to confront issues in my own heart.

On a personal note, I've had a really hard time adjusting to Pacific Time for some reason. I've been to California on a number of occasions, but this time I can't seem to shake the jetlag. I was falling asleep after dinner, and even though I purposely tried to go to bed later last night (at 11), I still woke up at 4:30 this morning. I eventually fell asleep again, but for the last few days, I've just been tired all the time. Please pray that I can get some rest before our students arrive on Wednesday!

What if...?

It's been a week and a half since Harold Camping's predicted Rapture Day. Obviously, it didn't occur, but as I was reading this article from the New York Times ("Make My Bed? But You Say the World's Ending") I was really struck by the extent to which his followers believed him and acted upon that their beliefs. In one family highlighted here, the mother quit her job as a nurse and spent the last two years on missions trips to proclaim that the end was nearing. Another devoted follower spent nearly his whole life savings, about $140,000 on billboards and advertising to spread the word. $140,000!

Belief isn't just mental or theoretical; it dictates action. What do you be willing to give your life savings to? What are you so convinced of that it is worth every fiber of your being? What news is so urgent and good that you can't contain it?

What if we who call ourselves Christians were just as convinced of the truth of the gospel? What if we truly believed that we will have to stand before God one day to account for all that we ever thought, said, or did? What if we truly believed that Jesus came to reconcile the world to himself, that he called us to join him in that work, and that he will come back and finish what he started? What if we were completely sold out for him? What would the world look like?