A chat about death

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4 weeks in and we’ve been keeping busy. We’ve been traveling all over Berlin and the last week we went to Oktoberfest and Salzburg. With all the big flashy trips, it’s often easy to forget about the smaller things. Josiah and I got the opportunity to experience one of those smaller things two weekends ago. When we first got to Germany, Logan Pankow and the local pastor invited us to the Jungentreffe. Literally translated as “Youth Meeting”, it’s a meeting of younger people in the ELFK (German sister synod). They meet together for a weekend of fun and fellowship. At first we planned on not going. We figured there were just too much to do. However, we changed our minds and ended up going. There were about 30 people there, at ages from 14 to late 20s. Needless to say, it’s a very different feel from the WELS youth rally. Additionally, everyone there speaks primarily in German, although they know English. I was pretty apprehensive going into it. However, two recent prep grads who are living in Germany were there, along with Logan and another MLS grad we had made friends with earlier. But even without them, we didn’t need to worry. Everyone was super welcoming and friendly. The theme of the weekend was death, and even though we didn’t understand a lot of it, what we did was super interesting. Our new friend Paul acted as our interpreter and let us know what was going on. We had devotions coupled with a hymn, and afterwards a variety of activities to expand on themes from the devotion. In our free time, we ended up playing various games and just talking to the other people there. Later, I was talking to my sister, who had gone on an LPS trip to the Czech Republic. We talked about how special it is to see people in a different country and different language worshipping God. Germany is by and large an atheist nation. Berlin, being a large city, is especially so. And the ELFK is a synod of 4,000 people in a nation of roughly 80 million. After a while, you can start to feel like Elijah in 1 Kings, and say to God “I am the only one left”. But when I saw these people gathering together in fellowship, from across the country, even when the vast majority of the country disagrees, I remembered God’s reply. God tells Elijah, “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel”. Even when it feels like the world is devoid of people like that, the Jungentreffe was a really good reminder that I don’t just have the fellowship of the WELS, but of believers all over the world. Josiah and I have never been to a WELS youth rally. And I know that both have their strengths. But seeing how this close-knit group from across the country can build each other up, it seems to be such a great thing. That’s all for now. Bis später!

P S I don’t have any pictures from this weekend, which is a shame. I’ll double up next week

Hot Takes

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Germany is super different from what I’m used to. First of all, the other German students dress a little more formally. I could count on one hand the number of students I’ve seen with athletic shorts. For someone with no fashion sense, it’s tough to be denied your go-to outfit. For another thing, it feels like you have to pay for everything. Free bathrooms and water fountains are a scarcity, so you really have to plan out the little things about your day. Berlin is also a lot more diverse than I thought. There are so many different cultures here, with communities such as Turkish, Vietnamese, or Middle Eastern. It’s weird to hear so many people speaking German, especially when your mind thinks of English as the classic language. 

As a whole, however, I love being here. There have been setbacks, like figuring out transportation, money, and getting hit by a car (with minimal injury, by what I can only imagine is the grace of God). My host family is nice, and we’ve been speaking German most of the time. For more complex conversations, like about politics or current events, we’ll use English. The experience of living in a large city is a new one to me, and it’s great to have so much to do within about an hour of me. We’ve already been to the Berlin Wall Memorial, the Berlin Zoo, and a Fußball match (as they call it) in the Olympic stadium, to name a few. Public transportation allows us to get to pretty much anywhere in the city, and while it may take longer than driving, it’s very easy to use and navigate. 

Classes are a bit different than what I’m used to. For one, going to school in a secular atmosphere is a lot different than what I’ve been doing for the last six years, so it’s a lot to get used to. It’s very interesting to see what an education in this atmosphere is like. Josiah and I are taking a German class, an Art and Dictatorship class, and a Pop Culture class. Each class heavily involves German culture and has field trips every couple of weeks, something that MLC does not have, but really should (@prezgurgel).

Otherwise, things are going well. Josiah and I have been exploring Germany, and have been working on some future trips that we’re excited about. The highlight of the past weekend was our trip to Wittenberg, the birthplace of the Reformation. We put the day to the fullest use we could. We managed to visit the Lutherhaus, Melanchthon’s house, the Castle Church, the Stadt Church, and the Assisi Panorama, and topped it off with a short organ concert. As a whole, the history of everything we see is just staggering. Everything seems to have a rich past that is just waiting to be discovered. 

That’s all for now. Attached are a couple pictures of my time. These are just a few first impressions of the city, and I’m sure these will change a lot more in the coming days. Bis später!

At Schlosskirche, where Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses
Hertha BSC game with some other FU-BEST students
Baby panda at the Berlin Zoo

Berlin is NOT Germany

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Me and a couple of buddies at a Hertha BSC game! Go Blue and White!
David, Paul and I at the ELFK congregation in Teltow.

Today marks exactly two weeks since I first stepped foot in Berlin, and about 2 1/2 weeks since I first flew into Germany. A lot has happened within those two weeks. Many of my initial goals have seen improvement over these weeks and despite my ignorance to the cultural “ins and outs” of Berlin, I’ve grown surprisingly comfortable with the city. The city is certainly a melting pot of cultures, as is evident by walking down the street, looking at the various shops, or even taking public transportation (which I have grown accustomed very to). That is one thing that I’ve gotten a better handle on—public transportation. My first experience with Berlin, or even German, trains and buses was with two bulging suitcases and a backpack that felt like it weighed a ton, so it was not as enjoyable as I would have hoped. Since then, all I’ve needed to carry around the city has been a backpack at the least, which almost seems like a necessity, since I am out and about all day. From school to my and David’s many excursions, the culture of Berlin definitely shines through (even through the many cloudy days that have been forecasted for these next two weeks 🙁 I think the multicultural feel of the city has eased my transition into living in a foreign country. I definitely feel as though I am one of the many people in Berlin who are still figuring out how to handle everyday life in a new city. I don’t feel so isolated and there are a host of people who are willing to help a tourist, who looks like a “deer in the headlights”.

However, despite looking like a lost tourist, I have been adjusting well to my new norms because I have kept myself busy whether it be planning for potential trips or taking mini-excursions within the city itself. Berlin is such a large city that I doubt I will ever have the possibility of seeing every corner of it, but thats the hope. It’s stunning to me that two weeks ago I couldn’t even imagine being able to navigate throughout the city even with Google/Apple Maps, but now I am familiar enough to get to and from school everyday plus certain places within the city. David and I packed our week full of excursions and have been checking-off places from our list which are more enjoyable to do outside since Fall is coming fast. Plus, swimming in the Wannsee (an S-Bahn stop away from my house) in the middle of Novemeber would be a slightly different experience than in early September. There are probably plenty of places that have been accidentally omitted from our list of “must-see” sights, but even without them our list is long enough to fill two semesters worth of excursions.

I hope my German has improved, even in the two weeks of classes I’ve had. It is a whole other level of German having to keep my brain on focus for 3 hours of class, plus speaking in German every day for breakfast and lunch with my host family. It’s funny—I find my ears perking when I hear people speaking English on the S-Bahn or passing me on the street. The longing for something familiar is probably a good sign; a sign that my brain has been working on all cylinders and needs some relief. Even writing this blog has taken me longer than expected, not because I am getting confused with the German also bouncing around in my brain, but because of the sheer mental effort it takes to keep my brain functioning. Yawning has become a habit, now.

In regard to my continued faith life, David and I manged to visit the local ELFK congregation in Teltow, which is just outside Berlin, in the Bundes of Brandenburg. The ELFK congregation was very small, but a solid group of people, even including a fellow ministerial school grad, Paul Hübener from MLS. After attending, I realized that is something that I’ve missed while being in a foreign culture and country; Christian fellowship. Although, both sides of the conversation were not even close to fluency in the other’s native tongue, Pastor Hübener, David, and I were able to talk a bit before and after the service. It was refreshing to talk with someone outside America who holds to the same beliefs as ours. My impressions of Berlin have been different than my typical picture of what Germany looks like, and that is why Berlin is NOT Germany. It’s its own culture, people, and place. Das ist alles für jetzt, tschüss!

Goals and Expectations

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I’ve been in Berlin for 3 days and my understanding of Berlin and Germany has changed so much already. Things I thought I knew are completely wrong and I’ve had to face things that I never would have thought of. In terms of expectations for the semester, most of mine have been upended, but I still have a few. One is to get a LOT better at German. My host family, Dorlies and Hermann, have been talking to me almost entirely in German. I think that they’re dumbing down their vocab and talking slowly for me, but that’s fine with me. It’s hard enough already. However, I already can feel it getting easier to listen to German and recognize the words. I don’t talk to them a lot yet, but I try using what I can. They’re very nice about correcting it. Another thing I expect is to really broaden my view of the world. So much about this is different from MLC. Just about no one besides me and Josiah are Christian. Some people are hostile to Christianity. Most people don’t understand what we’re studying or why we’re studying to be a pastor. Even the college, religion aside, is so different from what I’m used to. The campuses are spread out all over Berlin and thousands of people go to school there. Going to a big college is going to be a very different experience.
I’m here for 16 weeks, which seems like a long time. But seeing how fast the time goes, you realize how short a time it is. I don’t want to waste a single minute of it. To do that, I’ve set a couple goals for myself. One is to do something every single day. The most class I have is 5.5 hours a day, and public transit makes it easy to get around in my free time. My list of things to do in Berlin is growing every day. This is my first time living in a big city and the amount of opportunities is almost overwhelming. I want to see as much of my new home as possible. Another goal is to get better at German. I know I will, just by virtue of taking classes. But living in a German city, my opportunities are so much more than just classes. I’ve already started ordering in German when I can. However, I want to get more confident in speaking German to strangers. I also want to be able to have in-depth conversations with my host families, instead of being a passive observer. My other goal is really to immerse myself in the city. I don’t want to be a tourist here. Instead, I want to feel like I live in Berlin. Some things planned, like operas and soccer matches in town, should be good for that. Other things, like living with a host family and going to school here, will also help. But that won’t be enough. I’m going to try and really get out in the city and try some things that I would normally never try, like food and events.
Since I’ve hit the 500-word limit, that’s all for now. As the Germans say, “bis spät!”.

Nur Deutsch!

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Sunset in Dresden

This phrase was ringing through my ears as I sat at the dinner table, yesterday, trying to have a nice chat or even communicate with my host family! I have been in Germany since August 27th, and it has all been “Nur Deutsch”! I apologize in advance to any readers of this blog that this is not a true anticipatory blog in all its purity, since I have been in Germany for a couple of days already. Another disclaimer that this blog may read similarly to David Rutschow’s, who is also study abroad in Berlin. Although, I pray, being different people, we would have slightly different takes on our time in Berlin. These past few days have truly been a rush but before I get into the meat and potatoes (which are especially delicious in my host mom, Fe’s GurkenSuppe) of my brief time here so far, I should at least try to write down some of my thoughts coming into the semester abroad.

The week before my departure to Berlin was a busy week full of RA training at MLC and cramming all of the “must-do” New Ulm activities into a week, so I had very little time to stop and think about my semester abroad. In all honesty, I blocked the semester from my mind entirely and occupied my time so I wouldn’t have to think about it. Even during the plane ride over to Europe, I hardly comprehended the situation at hand – “I am going to be living in Germany for a semester without the many luxuries, connections, and familiarities of America.” Only then, at the dinner table last night, did that phrase “Nur Deutsch” trigger whatever thoughts I had been blocking out to come to the forefront of my mind. Before my trip over here, my Dad had been joking to me and David about speaking only German the week before we took-off so that we would be familiarized with the language. And his favorite phrase to say was “Nur Deutsch” (meaning “only German”). Even with only a couple days under my belt, that phrase rings true. I truly am excited for my semester abroad and have already seen so much of the country in which I will be living for the next four and a half months. This past weekend I crammed a weeks-worth of sight-seeing into a couple of days thanks to the always helpful, Logan Pankow, who is studying at the Evangelisches-Lutherische-Frei-Kirche (ELFK) Seminar in Leipzig and lives with his wife, Louisa, in Zwickau. They so graciously housed David and me for a couple of days and served as a our tour-guides as we went about the cities of Leipzig, Zwickau and Dresden. Each city had a different, yet special quality about it, and each one of them screamed “German”. I think having Logan ease my way into the German way of life and culture has helped tremendously even in these first couple of days.

Ach so! I have almost forgotten to talk about my expectations for the semester, and they come in three categories – (1) culture, language, and perspective. First, I hope to grow culturally aware of the German culture and the comparisons to be made with the American culture. I would like to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for those subtleties in each of our cultures and how that is translated to the other. Speaking of translation, I hope I develop a knack for the German language and that I can do more than talk to the German people, but actually speak with them. I hope to let a conversation take its course rather than limit it with my own incapabilities, be it a lack of vocabulary or structure. And finally, the structure of my perspective is something I am hoping can be changed for the better. A growth in perspective will aid in my quest to better my toolset for ministry. All of these and so much more are my expectations, however, most importantly I know I will grow in my faith as long as I stay in the Word. So please send your thoughts and prayers and any encouragement for David and me on our semester in Germany! Tschüss for now!

T