music is the best

Tonight I went to my first worship service at Berlinprojekt. Going to a worship service in a language that I almost entirely do not understand intimidates me. But I’ll only be here for a short while and I really wanted to experience what Berlinprojekt is like – so I decided to go.

Once I got there they had bulletins just like we do, I started scanning it for words or fragments that I could understand. I realized the structure is very similar to what I’m used to, sing, pray, read, preach, pray, communion. Great. Then I looked at the songs. To my delight I actually recognized the third song, “So groβ ist der Herr” or for those of you with no German, “How great is our God.” And then once they started playing the first song I realized I knew it as well, “Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König” or as well call it, “Praise to the Lord.”

Exciting!

Even not really knowing the language I can pronounce most of it, if given enough time (thank you Anne Gray’s diction class!) And singing speed is perfect for this. I realized I was able to really participate in this part of the service that is usually one of my favorites. And even though I did not understand every word, I was often times able to get a good understanding of what we were singing much easier than if we had been speaking.

It was just fantastic to feel a part of a worship service through the music even if the rest of the time I only understood 5% of what was going on.

Then at the end of the service there was communion. And this was another instance where suddenly I was able to understand what was happening. But this time not because of the music, but because of the routine and liturgy (This is my body broken for you, this is my blood, shed for you, etc., I think knowing the word for bread helped too) And then I got to receive communion. It was a wonderful reminder of the united worldwide Church. Even though I understood not a word of the sermon, I can still commune with His people through the sacrament. What a blessing!

I even met some lovely English speaking girls at a barbeque they were having after the service and had a grand time discussing the differences between American and German law. They were both law students, I did a lot of nodding. :)

just call me a tourist

So today was the first day that I played the tourist. I don’t have any life lessons worked out yet, but I did have a fantastic time.

I did one of those hop on-hop off bus tours, which for 15 Euros isn’t bad. They take you to all of the major city sites and you can get off at any stop you want to and just hop back on the next bus which will usually come around in 15 min or so. Although, I found that if I hopped off I was more likely to stay for at least 30 min to an hour so I'd just catch the third or fourth bus that came. 

The first hop off site for me would have been the Philharmonic but for some reason we didn’t stop there even though it was listed on the sheet. I was outraged. But instantly appeased by Topographie Des Terrors, our 6th stop. It's is a museum by one of the only remaining sections of the Berlin Wall. The Wall is preserved as a part of the museum and in front of it is a long exhibit about Hitler’s and the Nazi Party’s rise to power in 1930-1933. It was definitely moving. Even just seeing sections of the wall made the whole thing so real. It felt strange to see tourist smiling in front of it with their friend taking their picture. The existence of that wall and all the stories surrounding it are just too horrible.

 A section of the preserved wall

 A picture of the window of a Jewish-owned drug store during the boycott on April 1, 1933

 A picture of members of the Reich party during the celebration of the "Day of National Labor" Hitler is in the center.

Another section of the wall.

After that I hopped back on the bus for a quick ride to Check Point Charlie. I momentarily joined a different tour group where I got to hear the guide describe stories of escape over or under the wall from East to West. We saw a replication of the American side (The Soviet Side would have been to obtrusive to replicate - see picture below.) That’s definitely a spot I want to return to. I didn’t feel like I saw enough. 

 A picture of Checkpoint Charlie in the '80s

After that I got a real treat stopping at the Berliner Dome which is apparently the largest Protestant Cathedral in Germany. Oh was it beautiful! I even got to hear a mini organ concert on their phenomenal organ! Phantastisch!

 From the outside

 The largest inside dome

 The organ

 The Alter

 And this was probably my favorite.  Perhaps because I knew what it said without having to look it up :)

"Er is nicht hier/Er ist auferstanden"

He is not here/He is risen

He is risen indeed!

Finally I returned to the Philharmonic only to find out that they do tours of the building at 1:30 daily but tourists aren’t really welcome to wander the building at other times. I’ll have to put that on my list of things to go back to. 

The outside of the Philharmonic

There were plenty of sites I’d like to spend an afternoon at. I didn’t even hop off at this one but the Museum of German History sounds fascinating! I’ll have to go some afternoon after class!

After my adventures I finally tried the one of the quintessential Berlin dishes (think the Philly Cheese Steak of Berlin), the Currywurst. 

It’s basically a bratwurst with ketchup and curry powder. I had mine “mit Brot” or “with bread” which I assumed would mean it came on a bun, but it actually came breaded and fried. Honestly, I’d been seeing it advertized at restaurants and food stands and thought it sounded gross, but when I heard it was the Berlin dish I figured I needed to try it. And after a full day of sightseeing I was exhausted and starving so I knew that would be the best time. Food always tastes better when you’re really hungry.  And sure enough, it was pretty good. There was a bit too much ketchup on mine (I’m not a huge fan of ketchup) but other than that, I enjoyed it. :) Afterwards I treated myself to a scoop of hazelnut ice cream from a cute shop on my walk home. I don't have a picture of that though, I ate it too quickly. It was delicious.

Overall, I think it was a pretty good tourist day.

do you speak english?

I studied all the pictures in magazines and books

I memorized the subway map too

It's one block north to Macy's and two to Brothers Brooks

Manhattan, I prepared for you

Well I can’t say I’m as prepared as Millie, but this song/musical has been a bit of a soundtrack for my German adventures! I’ve spent two days here and have managed to navigate myself to a couple of places, sans GPS. I’ve already had a few run ins with natives, and used the S-bahn and U-bahn (Berlin’s metro) successfully.  But I’ve been a bit surprised by how self conscious I am about the language barrier.

Gestern war kalt, windig, und regnerisch. 

Yesterday was cold, windy, and rainy.

Not wanting the rain to hinder my adventures, I set out to the nearest grocery store to buy and umbrella. Because of course, even though Rick Steves told me too, I didn't bring an umbrella. After searching the store and finding all sorts of random things, none of which were an umbrella, I had this conversation with a worker.

"Do you speak English?"

"No. "

Uhh... So I smile and walk away. I take another cursory look around the store still find no umbrellas and continue back out into the rain. Now there were a couple of things that were surpriseing about this. First of all, she didn’t speak English. If there was one comment I kept hearing about people in Germany it was, “oh they all speak English.” Second of all, she didn’t seem interested in trying to work through the language barrier, simply said no and went back to her work. Nor did she attempt to direct me to another member of the store that spoke English. She was perfectly conyent to let that be the end of it. So as I walked back out into the cold rain I thought about what I could have done to improve the situation. Well first of all I could have asked her if she spoke English, but in German. I know how to say, “Sprechen Sie English?” This would at least show that I was trying and perhaps she would be more willing to help. Or I could have said “Ich möchte…” or “Ich brauche…” or “Haben Sie…” and then mimed an umbrella – that not having been one of my vocab words. But I hadn’t wanted to say any of those things. Why? Well I thought about it and realized I’m embarrassed. Embarrassed that I’m a grown, educated woman but not actually educated enough to ask a question that a native toddler could manage.  Now, I know, I know, I’ve only had two years of high school German about ten yeast ago, it’s understandable that I’m struggling. “Give yourself some grace!” my roommates would say. And I will, but I want to explore this a bit further. I would rather correctly and accurately speak my own language than have to mangle another in front of someone who will certainly know when I do. When it comes down to it, I’m being prideful. Too proud to struggle in front of a stranger. I ponder this for a while longer and come upon another store that looks like it might sell umbrellas. I get up my courage and go in.

The store is deserted so I walk directly to the counter and wait for the employee to acknowledge me. He does and I now timidly say, “Sprechen Sie English?” He shakes his head no. Oh boy… I then proceed to mime an umbrella (not difficult since It’s currently pouring) and he nods his head yes and points me to a pile on a shelf right next to the door I came in through. I buy the umbrella and he even takes of the wrapping for me after I paid. Phew! I got what I needed and the local didn’t point and laugh! I did, momentarily have to mime like a child, but I’ve gotta get over that. I’m going to make mistakes, a lot of them. And now that I’m living here among Germans I don’t just get to make mistakes in class.

So to sum up, I think this whole experience will be very good for me, in more ways than just learning the language. I’ll also be learning to put aside my pride and just fail at something. Practice is the only way I’ll improve. Maybe next time I can ask what the word for umbrella is. :)

two weeks of madness

Getting ready for this trip has proved to be way more stressful than I had once imagined. All of the little details (things I’m not super great at) started to overwhelm me. However, in the midst of the madness the Lord has been showing me how loved I am. Somehow I’ve gotten to meet up with just about every friend I have made since college in the last two weeks. College friends, show friends, coworkers (old and new), dance friends, church friends, roommates and probably most importantly my family. I’ll only be gone for six weeks. And were it not for this trip, I probably would not have seen many of them for about that length of time anyway. But there’s something about leaving, even just temporarily leaving, that makes seeing people more of a priority than it usually is. I’ve been so blessed to be reminded of what amazing friendships the Lord has blessed me with here, and in a very timely fashion. Right before I embark on a very solitary and potentially lonely journey. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so excited about Germany, but going alone to a new city where I know no one? Well did you read the last post? That can be terrifying. Exciting, just also a bit terrifying. To quote Stephen Sondheim, “…and it made me feel excited, well, excited and scared.”

I feel as if the Lord is using this time these 2-3 weeks of preparation to remind me how loved I am here, and how many people he has placed in my life here so that when I am away and perhaps even lonely, I’ll remember how he has cared for me through his people.  

 So here’s to the adventures, the madness, and the inevitable screw ups. If nothing else, I’ll have some great stories to tell!