Prologue

 Hi there dear reader! My name is Emily Huyck and I want to invite you to embark on an adventure with me through the medium of the Internet. 
 In about two weeks (eighteen days to be exact), I will be traveling to Skien, Norway in order to attend a YWAM Discipleship Training School there for nine months. YWAM is, for those of you who are not familiar with it, a missions organization that trains and sends missionaries all over the world to minister, train, and disciple. A Discipleship Training School typically puts its students through two phases: the first is a school phase where the students are taught for six months and the second phase sends those students out into the world for a two to three month missions trip.  
 I think that now is a pretty good time to reveal my purpose in writing this blog. This blog is not solely a travel blog nor is it merely an account of an American's mishaps while living overseas (although some of those will probably occur). The Discipleship Training School in Skien, DTS for short, that I am going to has the mission statement of "Jesus to all with salvation, training, and a call to action" and I think that it in part shows the purpose of this blog which is to report what God is doing through me and around me in Skien and, eventually, the world. This is about a lot more than just me, the wonderful people I am going to meet, and the beautiful countries I am traveling to; it is about Jesus and seeing His kingdom come to earth. 
 So, if you simply want to hear about Norway or funny travel stories, I recommend finding another blog. There are probably some really good ones out there too. I am not trying to be rude, just blatantly honest about the nature of the content which you will find here. 
 Anyhow, now that I have stated my purpose and reason, I am sure that there is a little head scratching going on as to why I elected to go to Skien (pronounced like Shane as far as I can tell) Norway.  

 Well, I have known for quite some time now that God was calling me to the mission field and when the question came up as to where I would go for training, YWAM stood out among the many, many options. Once I chose YWAM, I quickly learned that it has almost as many options in Discipleship Training Schools, so it basically boiled down to the focus of the school (each DTS has a slightly different focus; like basketball or missions in Asia), which led me to the city most Americans, including myself, have most likely never heard of until now; Skien.  
 In closing, I'll leave you with some facts about Norway/Skien so you don't have to Google them when you are done reading this. Skien is the capital of the Telemark Region in Norway and has a population of around fifty thousand people. The average temperature during the Summer in Norway is around sixty-six degrees Fahrenheit and only five percent of the Norwegian population attends a church. Norway also boasts a royal family, King Harald and Queen Sonja, and while Norway is known for its fish, they do cook and eat other meat... like reindeer.

The dutiful writer