I like music. I don’t know about you, but I think music is pretty swell. The music here has been a little funny every now and then, a little deafening sometimes, slow as death othertimes, but usually it makes a smile reach my lips.

First, let’s talk about hymns. They love the song book here, and I do too. But the one thing that gets me, is their love of some songs. I thought that back in ‘99 I would be done with songs like ‘Step by Step’ and ‘As the Deer’ but those are huge hits here. Like those songs that never disappear from your nightmares, you know the ones. I don’t mind, it makes me look cool when I don’t have to rely on the song book, and can sing it by heart. No better way to impress girls, I’ll tell ya. Some of the other hymns they like, they seem to sing the song about 8 counts slower than it should be, and let’s be honest, hymns are long enough as they are.

Second, let us talk about popular music (but not popular with me). This is more of a bummer than anything, to be honest. For the first two months that I was here, they were been singing the same song very loudly. One of the guys loves the song ‘When September Ends’ by Green Day. I know, I had never heard of it either. They all sang it for two months straight, and let’s be honest here, Green Day hasn’t written a good song since they wrote the same song for every CD for the past 20 years. One guy even got the nickname of ‘When September Ends’ he sang it so much. Now that is a bad following, to be remembered for a Green Day song. You may as well just call me Good Riddance (Time of your life). That is pronounced ‘Good Riddance, bracket Time of your life bracket’ and then followed by a whiny ‘time grabs you by the hand, directs you where to goooo’. But they do like Guns ‘n’ Roses, so that is sweet. Knocking on Heaven’s door, baby.

Thirdly, I have found extra comfort in my iPod. I have always known it to be my best friend, as it serenades me to sleep, but lately, the sleep it gives me has been pretty beautiful. I have also been making some killer playlists. Back in Canada, I prided my self in my amazing MixDiscs that I could pop out, and the names for them were especially killer (Jazzy Hits that Soothe the Semi-Pop/Metal Heart 2). Since I don’t have discs to burn or a way to burn them here, I’ve been getting into the ‘On The Go Playlist’ featured on the iPod. Anyways, it is amazing, and these mixes would sell as an amazing compilation on the new Starbucks label. Yeah, the one that Paul McCartney signed onto. I’m selling out, so what? Paul’s doing it.