Session Delegate
The delegate's quick glance at the 56th General Conference 
Session activities in Utrecht, Holland.

Photo essay issue

Saturday . July 8, 1995

	It's 2 a.m. and I'm staring at the ceiling; a victim of jetlag. Back
home it's 8 p.m. "yesterday." My family is probably finishing supper.
	But loss of sleep has proved to be the least of my problems. Here's
a partial curriculum of my crash course in international journalism:
	My native English and broken Spanish only scratch the surface of the
communication demands, both in Utrecht and the Session, itself.
	The press room's electronic equipment always requires adapters and
often transformers in order to survive more than a few seconds. Voltage
in Holland is 220.
	I find myself telling time by counting my fingers. There is no a.m.
and p.m. here. Five in the afternoon is 1700 hours.
	There are no drinking fountains. None.
	After logging untold miles...uh, kilometers, at the giant Jaarbeurs
complex, getting "home" requires a seven-minute walk to the train
station, a five-minute ride, and a 12-minute walk to my hotel.
	It doesn't get dark until 11 p.m.-excuse me, 2300 hours. At 0500 hours
it's daylight again.
	I've seen one windmill, not a single tulip, and no one wears wooden
shoes.
	Time would fail me to speak of kilograms, Dutch guilders (dollars),
and "water closets."
	On this, my second trip to Europe, I've been reminded that Atlanta
isn't the center of the universe. And that, contrary to the assumption
of some Americans, there are people in the world who don't speak
English.
	How did it go? My answer must be partial for, although I watched much
of the proceedings on closed-circuit TV, I've made it to "the floor"
only once.
	I asked a Dutch colleague in the news room, "Are you satisfied with
the way things are going?" I had TV and newspaper coverage in mind.
	He misunderstood my question.
	"It's been outstanding. Here we are, with different languages and
cultures. Many of us have never met before. But we're working together
as though we've been doing it for years."
	I hope this sentiment was mirrored everywhere.
	As I leave Utrecht, sights and sounds go with me-the rainbow of faces,
the symphony of voices, the potpourri of flags and costumes, the
emotions of reunion and inspiration.
-George Powell

Published by Adventist News Network . Celeste Ryan & Jeff Scoggins,
editors . Jason Wells, assistant editor