Frankfurt German Market - 15th December

On the 15th of December, Julia and I went to the German Christmas Market in Birmingham. It was very busy but that added to the festive atmosphere. The best thing about going to the German Market with Julia is I had my own personal 'tour guide' who could point out the most traditional German stands and suggest the tastiest of the German food and drink on offer! I tried all sorts, from little marshmallow things to a frankfurter sausage! We also tried mulled wine which was very nice and warmed us up completely! After listening to some carol singers, we headed back down the market to the train station and eventually headed home! I showed Daryl and Karen the presents I had bought for my friends from the market, as well as the photos I had taken during the day!

BYFC Christmas Meal

Secret Santa!

Team BYFC!

On Tuesday 18th December, the BYFC Team had their Christmas meal at the Toby Carvery. We sat at our table for 8, of course waiting for Dan Ortiz to re-appear as in the short time it took for us to walk from the car park to our table, about 2 minutes, we had managed to lose him. Once Dan arrived, we ordered our starters and shared our secret Santa presents. Julia and I had each other so we swapped our presents. I got her a little glass ballerina from the German Market and she got me some marshmallow thingies, a hand warmer and a Hello Kitty pocket mirror. Our starters then came and I had pieces of melon with raspberry coulis in what looked like a prawn cocktail glass. It was very tasty. Then we went to have our main course from the Carvery and I ate A LOT! Finally it was time for dessert and thanks to Matt, who asked if he could have something from the special menu, I got a chocolate fudge brownie sundae! Amazing! :) it was a good meal and it was fun to spend time with my YFC colleagues! :D

John Archer Evening - 1st December

Hello again! I'm powering through my updates and stretching my memory to recall the stories from ages ago! Ok... So December 1st! It was an exciting day for me as John Archer, the comedy/magic man, as seen on CBBC and Fool Us with Penn and Teller, was coming to Riverside! (Thanks to my connections of course!) Being a friend of John's on Facebook, I mentioned him to Daryl who started looking into booking John for our fundraiser in December. After a long wait, the day finally arrived! I had some shopping to do so I took the bus into town and started on my day. Of course that Saturday was the day after Rise of the Guardians came out in the cinemas. I really wanted to go and see it but I had nobody to go see it with. However, whilst sitting in McDonalds eating my lunch, I overheard a conversation between a father and son about a trip to the cinema to watch Rise of the Guardians... So I decided to do a VERY brave thing... Or very stupid... I have yet to decide which it is! I put my rubbish in the bin and headed off to the cinema, bought a ticket and some Ben & Jerry's and went to the cinema... On my own! You may be thinking "Jess! You're crazy! It's a social faux pas to go to the cinema all by yourself! Talk about Forever Alone Meme alert!" But of course... I wasn't afraid! XD it was actually rather fun! It was like watching a movie at home in my bedroom, but with a massive screen! The best part was there weren't many people in the screen-room so it was very quiet! Anyway after my little treat to me, I headed back on the bus to get ready for that evening. We travelled down to church early at about 5pm and started to prepare the bar, the tables and everywhere else. At about 6:15, John arrived and have me a big hug! He started to set up his things whilst I watched the ticket table and Rachel went to get food. Then people started to arrive and we sat in our place near the front. John did a lot of tricks from his usual routine including eating a balloon and the number grid trick, as well as one I hadn't seen before involving a several books of maps and guessing a street name! That was mind-blowing! Then about half way through the evening we had a break where people went to get snacks and drinks from the bar area and I went to see some of the youth, and steal some of the peanuts left in little dishes on their tables. The second half of the evening was basically John giving us his testimony. It was very interesting and definitely worth hearing! After he finished, he spent some time talking to people afterwards and I asked him to sign my ticket, which he did. It's now pinned to the notice board in my room along with several other memories. After he and everyone else left, it was time to pack away and transform the church back into its usual format for the Sunday morning service the following day. After 6 hours straight of being out it was time for home... At LAST!

Café Zen November 17th

Mel wins the arm wrestle!

The sock challenge... EWW!

The next Whitney Houston? Maybe not...

Brussel Sprout milkshake... Yum?

Gangnam Style!

Sue's pink hair!

Hello all! Yes I finally got round to posting my updates! So much has happened since I last updated that I've decided to post about the major things that have happened! So... Around mid-November, BYFC hosted a youth event in a local community cafe (Cafe Zen). The theme of the evening was Challenge YFC, and the young people of Burton took to Facebook to post challenges for the staff and volunteers of Burton YFC. The event was kicked off with some music, YMCA style. Then the first challenge was announced! Mel was challenged to arm wrestle one of the youth but since the youth who challenged her wasn't at the event, so Ash, a youth worker, stepped up to challenge Mel... He lost! After this challenge we had more music then the next challenge was given. The challenge was for Simon, Julia and I to drink a can of coke (or lemonade) through a sock from the feet of the young people present! Sweat and all! Disgusting! Naturally, my host's son offered his sock for my challenge and another young person offered both of hers for the other two. Let's just say I felt very ill after that challenge! The next challenge was for four of our workers to do the after eight challenge, where you have to move an after eight mint from your forehead to your mouth, without using your hands! The partakers ended up with smears of melted chocolate on their foreheads and hair pushed back off the face looking slightly crazy! The next challenge was for Graham to sing Amazing Grace! I think he did very well and he got a round of applause at the end of the song for effort! Next I tried my hand at hosting, I was asked some... Interesting (slightly embarrassing) questions by the other hosts and it was time to pick the next challenge... For me... Possibly one of the worst! I had to get down on one knee and sing I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston to Simon, my fellow YFC One volunteer. I did awfully and managed to earn myself a new nickname: Whitney. Just great! Next it was Matt's turn to take the mic! He sand Born This Way by Lady Gaga which was FUNNY! The next challenge was for Graham to drink a vile concoction of blended Brussel sprouts, milk, vinegar and a tomato! The smell was enough to churn the stomach but poor Graham had to drink it! He did amazingly well and managed about 3/4 of the large smoothie with the challenger finishing it off! The next challenge was for Matt and Mel to sing a duet to Summer Nights from Grease, with Matt doing the famous ending, Travolta style! A couple of the girls and guys joined the pair as backing singers and as expected, an interesting performance followed, with Matt hitting the show-stopping high note! Well almost! He gets extra points for the pose right? The next challenge was for Sue to spray her hair pink! To some of you it may seem pretty boring but of course Sue was worried about her highlights so PINK was a big deal for her! We took her outside to do the deed whilst the final challenge for YFC team members took place... Matt and Graham... Gangnam Style! They had to do the internationally famous dance to the equally famous song by PSY, the South Korean singer. An enthusiastic performance in which the entire cafe joined towards the end! Sue rejoined us with her hair the colour of candy floss and we started to say our goodnights... But we weren't done! We still had one challenge left... And we weren't letting the youth who challenged us get off that easily! We picked out three volunteers and challenged them to drink a Sour Cream and Onion Pringles milkshake! Ha! Payback time! :) After watching another disgusting beverage disappear into the sickly stomachs of our challengers, it was time to clear up and clear off! Phew! That was an entertaining but FUN evening! Awesome!