for you, Germany

I am getting ready for bed so that I can get up and study more about the kidneys (trust me, you should looooove your kidneys for all they do). For some reason, I started feeling nostalgic for Germany.

I miss it. I can't believe I can actually say "this time last year..." about Germany. What? How? When did that happen? On Feb. 1 (guess it's really the 2nd), 2009, I was in process of learning the beautiful city of Dresden--learning places, people, customs, and culture... and still there is so much I didn't learn. Not until after I left. I pray for you Dresden, and for the Dietz family, and for Amy, because they are doing amazing things in that beautiful city.

Every time I think about that place, and those months, I tear up. Tears of joy? yes. Tears of sorrow? yes. Tears for fears? no. I changed because of you, Germany. I changed because of what God wanted me to do and become and see and believe because of you Germany. And I am forever grateful for you, Germany.

I'm baaaaack

Good news! I've moved back down to the greater Jackson area! I'm excited. I've got a house, new roommate, and cable. Food, adequate furniture, and my own internet? not so much. I'm making my way there. School orientation starts next week--a wonderful 4 day orientation. After that, REAL school starts, and my life will never be the same. Exciting? yes. Anxious? HECK yes. That's all for now. Maybe a few pictures that I never posted from my time in Europe. Yay.

Dresden by Night

Weesenstein Castle

Dachau Concentration Camp

I'm home? Really????

I'm home. Really, I am here. This is not a dream. This isn't some sort of alternate reality. I am actually here--in America, in my favorite state, with my family and friends, back to home. I've said that to myself over and over and over.... because I am trying to convince myself that this is real. To hug my mama and daddy, to laugh next to my sister, to sit around the table at Borders with my friends, to eat dinner with my family... all these things I have been aching to do, and now I have finally done them. No more of this virtual life. I don't have to see my friends and family through a video camera with skype. I don't have to find out about important, life-altering news through facebook or gmail. This is real!

I have been officially back in the states 24 hours now and have some (but not a lot, yet) time to think. It's hard to grasp the fact the day I've been longing for has come. My heart went home before me, so it's nice to be reunited. Some people ask me how it feels to be here. What emotions am I experiencing? My answer is simple: my utterly blissful joy outweighs any other emotion. Yes, I have plenty of emotions stirring under the surface. At the moment, they are all being held at bay because I want to enjoy every moment of this. I told my friend Nikki yesterday that I don't think I have ever been this happy in my life. Sounds a little extreme, right? Well, it's the truth. I can't believe I am here.

When "reverse culture shock" attacks, I'll be sure to write about it. For now, know that I am happy to be home! I love you America!

Wrapping it up..

Well, I've returned safely and soundly from vacation. I have to admit--Bavaria and the little of Austria I saw are INSANELY beautiful. It was picture perfect. I really hope to go back again one day. I spent 5 full days traveling. We stayed in Munich all 4 nights of our trip and used it as a base to visit the surrounding area. We had 3 days of sight-seeing: Day 1--Dachau concentration camp and Regensburg, Day 2--Schwangau, location of Mad King Ludwig's castle and the Alps, and Day 3--Salzburg, Austria.

Dachau was one of the most sobering places I've ever visited. The videos, pictures, and stories of the camp make you wonder how humans, in their right mind, ever treated anyone like that. The camp was the first one built under the Nazi Regime, and it served as a model for the camps to come. Regensburg holds a bridge that dates back to around 1135, used by crusaders who wanted to cross the Danube and head to the Holy Land. Neuschwanstein castle was as magical as I expected it to be. Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty would be right at home. The Alps were as breathtaking as I remembered them when I saw them on my previous visit to Europe... and Salzburg. If you've seen The Sound of Music then you've seen much of the city. Mozart was born here, and the city is full of culture and beauty. I definitely want to see more of Austria after visiting here.

On a completely different note, I'm now down to 3 full days left in Germany. Lord willing, I'll fly out to Paris early Friday morning, spend the weekend there for debriefing, and fly to the U.S. on Monday morning. It's hard to believe that my five month trip to Germany is coming to a close. It's been hard; it's been rough at times, but it's been worth it. God has taught me things about life that I would've never learned in the comfort of my life at home. He needed to remove me from everything I knew, from everyone I knew, and show me how much I need Him. It's been a life-changing experience.

As this long weekend approaches, I would like to ask for your prayers for safe travel. All the Hands-on teams located in Western Europe will be traveling to Paris on Friday, and either back to the U.S./back to their European locations on Monday. Please pray for our flights and trains. We really want to return back home safely! Can't wait to see you all.

pictures to come.

This is STILL not Mississippi

Here's the rest of my list of differences. Be it a European thing, a German thing, or just a Saxony thing--it's different than what I know back in the good ol' Mississippi.

24. You have to pay or tip to use most public restrooms.

25. You have to ask for your ticket to pay at a restaurant.

26. Their ketchup here is usually a lot sweeter than ours.

27. Peanut Butter isn’t used much. Even worse, PB&Js… thought of as weird. As a major fan of peanut butter, this hurts a little.

28. Warning: their water served in restaurants and in plastic bottles—do not, under any circumstances, drink it. It’s almost always carbonated. Even if you get "still water," it may "still" taste funny. Oivay.

29. Smiling at people for no reason apparently makes people think you’re “of weak mind”?

30. Dresden is not the fashion capital of the world--that’s for sure. :)

31. They don’t have any get-everything-you-need-in-one-stop stores.

32. Their mustard is full of horse radish (which I particularly like).

33. Public Transportation is absolutely amazing all over the country. Trams, metros, trains, buses, ferries...

34. Not only do you need to watch out for car traffic but also bike traffic!

35. When you are paying for a meal, they bring a change purse to the table with them and make your change right there.

36. Indecent exposure in movies—nothing to bat an eye at in Germany. Violence in movies—only if you’re old enough! Backwards, huh?

37. Their calendars start the week on Monday.

38. They have a shelf milk option that’s very common—you can keep it for as long as you want. You don’t even have to refrigerate it. That is, of course, if you don’t open it.

39. Speaking of refrigerating, they don’t refrigerate their eggs at the grocery store. They let them sit on the shelf.

40. Their chedder cheese is white?

41. Many German buildings, even those with 4 or 5 floors, have no elevators.

42. Even when the road is clear of all moving vehicles, people still don’t cross if the Ampelmann (the pedestrian crosswalk symbol) says not to.

43. The option for having an apartment without a kitchen is quite common.

And lastly,

44. ..... prostitution is legal.

Outside a bathroom in the mall.. 50 Euro cents first, please!

Wow, I must be of weak mind.

The Ampelmann says no, so we don't go.

Hamburger

Well, I have to admit, this past week was superb. Within a dot over a week, my team and I went to Berlin, Hamburg, and Prague. I wrote a little about Berlin in the last post. It was an unplanned, decided at the last minute kind of outing.

Our experience in Hamburg was fantastic. It was nice to see what western Germany looks like. Yes, the wall fell 20 years ago, but there are still differences between the East and the West. Hamburg is quite an international city, and it was nice to hear English on their metros. We talked to several university students during our 2 full days there, and we even had one join us for dinner and games our last night! His name is Ivan, and he is from France. He's been to America before and thoroughly enjoyed it. He had a great time playing Connect Four and the Wii. It was a good trip!

On Saturday, our supervisor's wife took us to Prague. Let me tell you--it did NOT disappoint. If you ever have the chance to go there, do it. I would say it's the most beautiful city I have visited. We spent all day there, taking pictures, shopping, and watching an interesting "Zombie Walk." I hope I can go back there one day!

This week is back to beautiful Dresden and time for us to focus our efforts on the local University. Also, please keep our German "tutor" in your prayers. She suffered from a stroke on Friday (she is 86), and she is still in the hospital. We visited her today and she seems to be recovering well. I can only pray and hope she will fully recover. That's all for now. Tschuess!

German word:

die Gesundheit--health

Hamburg Rathaus

Hamburg city

Prague Church of Our Lady Before Tyn

View from Charles' Bridge

View of Prague

Prague Museum

Quickly, now

So, I haven't much time to write a blog, but I'll see what I can do when I only have a 10 minute time window. Here goes!

Last weekend, I visited good ol' Berlin! You don't realize how blessed you are to live in country full of such history (even if some of it is pretty dark). I won't go into total detail of the places I saw here is a list of places including but not limited to: the Berliner Dom, the memorial to commemorate the book burning where over 20,000 books containing "un-German" ideas were burned on May 10, 1933, the memorial to all the murdered Jews in Europe, the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), the Reichstag (Parliament building), Checkpoint Charlie, remnants of the Berlin wall, and of course, the hotel where Michael Jackson held a baby out the window. The experience was unreal. I thank God for this opportunity and can't wait to share my experiences with others.

In other news, our conversation partner, Joanna, is as sweet as can be. She is teaching us a lot about Poland. She grew up there and still visits her family often. We are getting to know her much better. Also, the Hands-on team had the chance to hang out with the local Baptist church's youth group. We were able to encourage them as well as learn much about how their friends and family react to the gospel. A few of them are the only Christians in their family, and they explained how difficult that really is. Please keep this youth group in your prayers as they all are very vulnerable in their faith right now. They don't have much support from family or friends so you could imagine the difficult situations they've dealt with. Anyways, I have to hop of the computer now. Hopefully another update next Sunday!!

German word:

Sofort--Immediately

P.S. I will be at a retreat all week learning about my teammates and supervisors as well as myself. Pray for us all. We need to take all of this into account when we return to Dresden on Friday and continue this ministry.

Berliner Dom

Reichstag

Remnants of the Wall

Brandenburger Tor

This is not Mississippi

So, I haven't much to tell you, minus the fact that my mom and sister are for sure coming to visit me! They've made reservations at a local hotel, received their FIXED passports, and purchased airplane tickets. It is really happening, and I'm counting down the days! I want to update my blog, so I have been keeping a running list of differences between here and home. Some of these differences are European, some German, and some are just local to Dresden. There are plenty more to come.

1. They like to eat standing up at some places, like the mall or McDonalds.
2. You cannot leave your key in the door on the inside and expect to be able to open from the outside. Not cool.
3. They’re a lot more affectionate.
4. They like extreme colors in their hair.
5. Germans recycle everything. Including plastic bottles with soft drinks. And plastic bags for bread.
6. BODY ODOR.
7. Shoes are taken off at the front door and replaced with slippers.
8. They repeat outfits… a lot.
9. Toilets do not have handles.
10. Salsa = suck
11. Their tops to plastic bottles are really strange. Let me see if I can explain this: Instead of having two pieces break apart when the seal is broken, the lower half piece just splits apart from itself in two places, but stays connected to the top half of the top. VERY annoying.
12. They don’t commonly sell antiperspirant. Only deodorant.
13. Their light switches aren’t like ours. They’re similar to clickers.
14. They don’t give refills.
15. They don’t use ice in their drinks.
16. Their cars are tiny. Like a baby.
17. They don’t sell very spicy things.
18. They don’t like cinnamon candy.
19. You have to pay for bags for groceries and convenient stores.
20. They don’t use trashcans at fast food restaurants. Instead, they have places for you to set your tray.
21. They don’t tip. If they do, it’s very little.
22. They listen to American music everywhere.
23. They sell their milk and juice in VERY small cartons.

That's all for now. Stay tuned.

German word:
der Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung--speed limit

Shoes to Slippers

Small Cartons

No handles for toilets

Crazy bottle top

Light "switch"

All the trash to be recylced

February 13

Last weekend was a bit interesting. Friday, Feb. 13, marked the 64th anniversary of the bombing in Dresden near the end of WWII. If you haven’t heard about it, or read much about it, you can go here. The most devastating destruction was the falling of the Frauenkirche. The church wasn’t completely destroyed in the bombing, but the fires in the aftermath caused it to entirely collapse 2 days later. There is a memorial service held every year in remembrance, and this year it fell on a Friday night. The service was held at 7 at night, with singing and speeches. One speaker was a POW in Italy during WWII. All 4 of us Hands-on girls, along with Jason (our supervisor) and Amy (journeygirl), attended the service. We spoke as little English as possible that night. Neo-Nazis were coming to town, and they aren’t exactly the biggest fans of foreigners—especially Britons and Americans on that weekend. They usually have marches on the anniversary date, but because the anniversary was on a Friday, they saved their marches for Saturday.

Saturday was very uneventful for us because we were practically in hiding. There were protests held all over the city, including a place near our apartment, so we spent all of Saturday at the Dietz’s house. There were rumors of anywhere between 4,000 to 6,000 Neo-Nazis in town for the marches and protests. Over 4,000 police were here, as well as almost 10,000 Anti-Neo-Nazis. The Anti-Neo-Nazis had their own marches protesting the Neo-Nazis. As you can see, being in heart of the city was the last place we wanted to be. Fortunately, nothing big occurred, and we Americans are back out in the city once again.

Also, thank you to everyone who has been praying for my team and I. We have truly felt the prayers and have seen some of them answered. God is so amazing and deserves to be glorified!

German word:
groß—big

So Kalt

Well, I’ve officially attended a German Baptist worship service. Naturally, I didn’t actually understand anything going on, whether it was during the worship songs or during the message. I also was fortunate enough to be there when their annual business meeting took place…which lasted an hour and a half. In German. Let’s just say I got some quality Bible reading in on Sunday. They also serve lunch, consisting of several types of dishes. No worries for I tried everything on the table. After church, my 3 teammates, Jason, Cheryl, and their kids, all had an English worship service at home. I can tell that this will definitely be needed the longer we are over in Germany and start craving a worship service that we understand ☺ For now, I want to thank you all for your prayers. I have seen some of them answered! With this cold weather here (we actually had a decent snowfall last Saturday), I am surely starting to miss my Mississippi weather!

German Word:
Schnee—snow