Der er nu gået knap 3 uger siden jeg ankom til SF og 2 uger siden jeg startede i praktikken, og jeg er så småt begyndt at vænne mig til tanken om, at jeg ikke blot er på besøg her og snart skal videre eller hjem igen. Den største nyhed fra DK på danske nyhedssider siden jeg rejste er, at DK er begyndt at spise hestekød - så bl.a. derfor begynder jeg at overveje at blive boende her permanent. haha.. sammen med det faktum at jeg lå topløs i Golden Gate Park i går.
Jeg har brugt en masse tid sammen med de andre i huset jeg bor i, og har fået nye venner her. Jeg har også mødtes nogle gange med Kelley som jeg mødte her i SF i 2009. Vi mødtes bl.a. i sidste weekend og cyklede gennem GG Park og var på stranden, super lækkert. I onsdags var vi nogle stykker fra huset ude og drikke en farvel-øl da en af fyrene skulle rejse tilbage til Paris. Vi var først på karaoke bar, og bagefter på bøssebar i Castro (bøssekvarteret - SF er homoby nummer 1). Mens jeg stod og betragtede nogle 'eksotiske' dansere med olieindsmurte numser blev jeg omfavnet bagfra af et par stærke mandearme, blev bidt i skulderen og fik hvisket nogle romantiske ord i øret. Fyren ville have mig med ud og danse, men for at spare ham besværet besluttede jeg at lyve og sige, at jeg var i forhold, men dette var ikke nok, da han så svarede 'han er her åbenbart ikke, for jeg har kigget efter dig et stykke tid' , og jeg måtte så være ærlig og sige, at jeg 'spiller bold på den anden side af banen'. Dette lykkedes heller ikke helt, så måtte finde de andre house mates der havde travlt på dansegulvet.
I dag var vi 9 mennesker fra huset som tog på tur til Bolinas som ligger en time nord for SF. Vi ankom til et sted hvor vi så vandrede 4 miles gennem rigtig dejlig skov til et vandfald som lander direkte på stranden. Det var rigtig smukt, og vi havde picnic og nød det gode vejr og udsigt.
I praktikken går det stadig rigtig godt, og jeg er begyndt at overveje hvilke læringsmål jeg vil have, og få et overblik over stedet. I onsdags var der årlig personalefest som var midt i arbejdstiden, og som varede 1½ time - ikke helt som man ville have fejret i DK, men fair nok. Der var mad, taler, introduktion af nye medarbejdere/praktikanter og underholdning. Omkring 50 medarbejdere fra forskellige afdelinger, så jeg fik et indtryk af hvor mange der i virkeligheden arbejder der. Cecil Williams holdt en lille tale - manden som grundlagde den måde som Glide fungerer på i praksis, og hvis bog jeg er igang med at læse. Senere så jeg hans kontor, hvor der hang billeder af ham sammen med nuværende og tidligere præsidenter, og andre vigtige folk, så man kunne se, at han også er en vigtig mand. Han er i hvert fald inspirerende.
I onsdags var jeg også med til Recovery Circle program som (jeg fandt ud af undervejs) er et program der svarer til Anonyme Alkoholikere / Stofmisbrugere. Jeg var blevet sat på programmet uden at blive informeret om hvad det handlede om, så jeg følte mig totalt uforberedt - bortset fra det var det rigtig fint, og interessant at se hvordan de arbejder med misbrugsafvænning.
Jeg deltager fortsat i Men in Progress i to forskellige klasser hver tirsdag og torsdag aften, og fra næste uge bliver jeg oprettet i computersystemet, så jeg også kan yde hjælp til brugerne indenfor nogle områder i Walk in Centret, og endelig få lidt mere kontakt/relation med brugerne der. Jeg begynder at beskæftige mig med hvordan Cecil Williams' værdier fra hans bog bliver udført i praksis, og mit mål er at deltage i speakouts om onsdagen som er frivilligt, og i celebration ceremonier i kirken om søndagen - det skulle være ret specielt. De næste dage skal jeg vist bare slappe af medmindre der sker noget jeg ikke må gå glip af.
Se billeder nedenfor.
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It has been almost 3 weeks since I arrived to SF and 2 weeks since i started in the internship, and I'm am slowly getting used to the fact that I'm not just visiting and moving on to another place or going home soon. The biggest news event from danish news sites since I moved here is that Denmark started eating horse meat (they discovered a huge amount in frozen supermarket lasagne) - along with other reason this makes me considering living here permanently, haha. along with the fact that I was lying topless in Golden Gate Park yesterday.
I've been spending a lot of time with my housemates and made new friends that way. I've also met up with Kelley a couple of times who I met here in SF in 2009. We met up last weekend and went on a bike ride through GG park and to the beach, so nice. On Wednesday I went out with a couple of the house mates as one of the guys was moving back to Paris. First we went to a karaoke bar and then on to a gay bar in Castro. While I was watching exotic dancers with oily butts I was hugged from behind by some stong male arms, got bitten in my shoulder and got whispered some romantic words in my ear. The guy wanted to dance with me but to spare him the struggle I decided to lie by saying that I was in a relationship - this was not enough as he then answered 'but your boyfriend is obviously not here cause I've been watching you for a while' so I had to be honest with him by saying that 'I play ball on the other side of the field'. This didn't quite work as well so I went back to my housemates who were all busy on the dance floor.
Today nine of me and the housemates went on a trip to Bolinas which is a one hour drive north of SF. We arrived to a place where we went on a 4 miles hike through a wonderful forest until we ended by a waterfall that landed directly on the beach. It was really pretty and we had picnic and enjoyed the magnificent weather and view.
In the internship it is still going very good and I've started considering my learning goals and getting an overview of the place. On Wednesday there was an annual staff party which was in the middle of the work hours and lasted for 1½ hours - not quite like they would've done it in Denmark, but fair enough. There was food, speaches, introduction to new staff/interns, and intertainment. Cecil Williams had a speech - the guy who defined the theories that Glide practices now and whose book I'm reading at the moment. Later on I saw his office that had pictures of him together with present and former presidents and other important people, so you can see that he's also an important man. He is definitely inspiring.
On Wednesday I also joined the Recovery Circle program which (I later found out) is a program similar to Alcoholics/Narcotics Anonymous. I was scheduled to join the program without notice and not knowing what it was about so I felt badly prepared - despite that it was really good and interesting to see how they practise addiction treatment.
I still participate in Men in Progress in two different classes every Tuesday and Thursday nights, and from next week I will be set up in the computer system so that I can also process clients in some fields in the Walk in Center and finally get a little more contact with the clients there. I begin focusing on how Cecil Williams' values are held in practise and my goal is also to join their speakouts on Wednesdays which is voluntary and the celebration ceremonies in the church on Sundays - this should be quite unique. The next few days I'll just chill unless something happens that I can't miss.
See pictures below.
Disse billeder er fra den stejleste gade på den vestlige halvkugle - Filbert Street, 31 % stigning
These pictures are from the steepest street on the western hemisphere - Filbert Street, 31% increase
Disse billeder er fra vores vandretur i Bolinas
These pictures are from our hike in Bolinas
Sammen med mine fantastiske samboer
With my awesome house mates
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