Sorry for such the long delay on posting another blog, but when i went back for thanksgiving break I forgot my power cord on my computer and drained the battery. The main problem lay in the fact that I have no idea what the ULR of my blog is so I could get to it using another computer.

To start I visited the Park Street Baptist Church. This church managed to shatter most preconceptions that I had about church. Firstly, I guess people don't get dressed up for the sermons, secondly was the general demographic of the people there. I would say a good 70% were people of my age group. I thought in todays world, the youth have held science in more regard than the values of religion. When I went I thought I was going to be engaged right away by somebody welcoming me but nobody really paid me any mind. Only one woman said hello even. The way they incorporated modern stylings such as the project and power point presentations was surprising as well but I suppose when you take into account the majority of the crowd were of the computer generation it kinda fits. The live band was another unexpected aspect to the sermon. I never understood half of what the songs meant but some people became very immersed in them and began raising their hands in the air as I stood dumbfounded in the back corner what on earth was going on.

My next experience was at the Evangelical Lutheran Church to which I attended with Rikard. Now this was a heck of a shocker. The very first thing that happened was a two ladies came and welcomed us and attempted to get us to write down our mailing addresses, I imagine to further try and reel us in, and then were asking us to wear name tags. I really saw no purpose to the name tags, if you want to know what it is just ask or I'll tell you when you introduce yourself. Back to the sermon, it was probably the most confusing presentation ever, constantly jumping through the entire hymn book. Several times the people behind me and Rikard handed us their hymn books showing us where we were. I also took part in communion, probably goes against the rules, and looked like an idiot because I have never done it before and had not the slightest idea of what the procedure was. After the sermon we had 3 different people trying to talk to us and the same time which became rather overwhelming. They seemed to be very interested in the fact that I am from Calgary. A lady even asked if I would be interested in refereeing some pick up hockey games. Another woman made sure we didn't escape in any hurry. She introduced us to several people, who really weren't interested, and introduced us to the priest himself.

All I can say was it sure weirded me out, both times.

Intercultural Communication project

For my cultural immersion project I've narrowed it down to analyzing the ping pong club and also to visit the nearest church to me and observing how the act amongst each other and how they go about relating to the world. So far I'm hoping to join the ping pong tournament if i can find the sign up sheet. This should allow for a good start to immersing myself. I also want to actually join the club as this will allow for follow up exposure. At the same time I am going to start attending the Sunday sermons at the nearest church to me, which happens to be right down the street from me. I have never attended any church sermon at any point in my life. My parents never went when I was growing up so I was never subjected to it. Not only that but no one in my close family goes to church either. All my Aunts and Uncles and cousins as well as my remaining grandparents go. The only time I have attended a church was during weddings and funerals. The funny thing is I always despised it when they started to get into the religious preaching during both those occasions. I always felt like they were trying to tell me how to live my life and felt like they strip your individuality. To me they always seemed worse than the army. It always irked me and often soured the event for me. Maybe it was because they were so forward and in your face and never seemed to really give a crap how you felt. Almost like the was an impenetrable wall of ignorance on their part. Like those people who come around to your house, not just the Mormons, it doesn't matter how many different ways you tell them no they just keep trying to pressure you into it. Sorry if anyone has been offended by this blog, their just my own thoughts and opinions. As you can see this whole part about attending the sermons should be quite a momentous task for me. At the same time, it is an excellent intercultural communication scenario for me, due to the fact that I have never effectively communicated or tried to understand religion from anywhere but my own point of view and its has always led to my becoming irritated and wanting nothing to do with it. Even after writing this post I'm starting to lean towards observing religion more than ping pong just because I myself have always avoided any communication involving religion. It would be an excellent learning experience for me.