Nur Deutsch!
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