First off let me say that within the first five minutes of getting off the plane in Frankfurt, I knew that the entirety of this trip was going to be just one big loop of National Lampoon’s European Vacation for me; meaning that I would not be able to comprehend how anything works in Germany. Here is just a short list of things that wasted little to no time in seeking to confuse and/or embarrass me:
-doors
-toilets
-paper towel dispensers
-bed sheets
-doors
-doors
-freaking doors!
Seriously, everyone had a problem with at least one door (if they deny it they’re lying). Simply put, every push door looks like you should pull it and vice-versa and no you can’t just stand and think about it because that’s way too “touristy” and no matter how many times you use the door or how hard you think about it there’s still a 99% chance you’ll get it wrong and a small German child will laugh at you (this happened). Coupling all this with a sleepless nine hour flight led more often to me just accepting my own American inability to work European devices than to any level of determination in proving my superiority over a toilet.
Anyhow, not being given a strict topic on which to write and completely refusing to choose a single day of which to write about, I thought it’d be far more fun to just give a “brief” (relative to anything longer) overview of the major parts of our trip as a whole:
A for Erfurt: to say that the trip started off on a high note would be a drastic understatement (there’s a music joke here but I’m not cultured enough to make it). The Hotel Radisson where we stayed was absolutely spectacular, from the sauna to whatever tops a sauna. Yes many of us indulged quite a bit in the use of the sauna, almost possibly-probably-definitely more than what is deemed a “healthy” amount of time but Europe uses the metric system so the time conversion is a little iffy. Also we were fortunate to be in Erfurt during the Karneval festival which was completely insane. A few of us gathered to watch upwards of forty floats go through the town in an enormous parade that included rather intoxicated individuals in hilarious costumes flinging candy and tissues at the crowd. Also I think there may have been something about twelve or thirteen American tourists possibly maybe running out into the streets screaming at 4 AM when UNC BEAT DOOK after watching the game via Skype.
Bars and beer: not a lot to say here that hasn’t already really been addressed or assumed. I can honestly say that I have enjoyed the “bar experience” more in Germany than the ones in America. Whether it’s the actual drinks or just the general atmosphere has yet to be determined, but regardless it will be gravely missed. The majority of the bars that I’ve been to so far haven’t been anything more than a standard bar, but last night we made it out to one called Flower Power (a bar that had to have been designed by German hippies obsessed with the Beatles) which was having a karaoke night coupled with a buy-one-get-one-free deal, plus they gave out free shots with every song you sang. In America this would likely be described as “irresponsible amounts of fun” but in Wittenberg it’s called Wednesday nights. Needless to say we did the reasonable thing and essentially took over the bar as well as the microphone and spent the night belting Shania Twain and Creed to the horror/amusement (hormusement?) of the other patrons. Also, German beer >> American beer, not much more to say.
Christians cruising through churches and cathedrals: I’ve read a lot about and seen pictures of old Gothic cathedrals and churches, but not being much for old architecture, it was never really that big of a deal to me. That is no longer true. So far there has not been a single cathedral that I have not walked into and been completely speechless. The designs, artwork, pipe organ, and just everything else about it are just impossible to put on paper or in pictures and appropriately sum it all up. The only thing I regret is that no one has found a way to go back in time to introduce indoor heating a little earlier so it could be integrated into the designs (imagining extremely ornate heaters is a really funny idea to me).
Feasting: That really is the correct way to refer to eating in Germany; one does not “snack” or “sample”, you feast. Every meal that we had in Germany was served in such proportions that, rather than thinking when the next meal was, it was often times more common to think if you would need another meal that day. Even their salads and appetizers are served in such gargantuan amounts that they could be mistaken for the meal itself in America, but without the possibility of being a little hungry afterwards. Of course this was not really an issue as every meal was absolutely incredible. Even I, commonly described by family and friends alike as “insanely picky” (my idea of a perfect burger is meat between two buns, you be the judge) never had the slightest difficulty in finding something to eat. On a related note, swearing off sweets or certain favorite foods for Lent while in Germany is clearly one of the most difficult things to do, as shown by my fellow LCMers. I imagine that doing so is much like Augustus Gloop swearing off chocolate. Many of these declarations were altered to include the phrase “after Germany” or “in America” to provide a nice loophole. Even our residential vegetarians who swore veganism soon resorted to political wording tricks to allow them to enjoy whatever it is that vegetarians enjoy.
Martin Luther aka Saint George aka “Manlier Truth”: Of course the main reason that we traveled to Germany was to follow the life of a man who helped to reform the Christian way by being a rather large thorn in the side of Pope Leo X and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Not being raised Lutheran, my knowledge of Luther and his life was essentially limited to what I had learned in my history classes and the movie “Luther”, which mostly boiled down to: he was a man who made the pope look like a crazy guy who wore a funny hat. Shortly before heading off on our trip, we all had a chance to learn more about the man behind the Reformation, and I took a few trips to the library to try and understand a little more who Luther was and what made him tick. I found that this, however, was completely unnecessary, as the amount of information, landmarks, artifacts, and souvenirs that we found related to Martin Luther provided enough knowledge to begin a master’s thesis about him. Luther not only permitted the lower class to develop their own ideas about Christian theology by translating the ENTIRE BIBLE into German from Latin (at the time only slightly less dead), but was eventually the catalyst that caused the birth of new Christian practices, which gave way to sects of Christians like Methodists, Protestants, and, the most obvious, Lutherans. Luther continued to debate religious ideas for the rest of his life and settled down with the runaway, knife-wielding nun Katharina von Bora (seriously). Luther has definitely earned his spot in the history books and Germany has made a point to pay tribute to him by doing all it can to put him into every nook and cranny of every city, even for the most exaggerated reasons, essentially making him to Germany what Coca-Cola is to America.
Scouring Schloss Mansfeld: Probably the most rewarding days of our trip were the ones spent at Mansfeld Castle. Yes, an actual castle; bridge, towers, “moat” and all, be jealous. Besides being able to cross off something from my 8-year-old bucket list, the stay in Mansfeld presented a much needed mini-retreat from the large cities that we had been in and would be returning to shortly. As you could imagine, trying to relate or spend time with everyone in a group of fifty while in a country where you do not speak the language and cannot call or text across town is slightly on the darker side of difficult. The stay in the castle presented a kind of “forced interaction” time for all of us, but in the best way. I think we all enjoyed the opportunity to bond with people whom we normally did not have the opportunity, explore underground tunnels, and climb questionably stable walls at possibly dangerous heights supporting yourself on what *appears to be* deeply rooted vegetation. Discussions of life and what you want to do with yours seem to come up rather commonly when intermittently discussing how to get off the wall you just climbed, which happens to be on the edge of a hundred foot drop that neither of you noticed. It’s magical. We had the chance to play games of tag and giant, exaggerated human chess with one another, giving us the chance to forget that we were in a foreign place and make Germany seem a bit more like home. This is also where we had our service portion of our trip, primarily in the cleaning up of the castle both inside and out. I spent the service day sorting rocks and deciding the line between “big” and “little”, which is as dull as it sounds but leave it to college kids to make it a game of finding state shaped rocks and collecting them to create a petrified United States. I even found a heart shaped rock which I was very eager to present to my recently crippled-by-his-own-machoness roommate in a very cheesy, Kodak picturesque style.
I suppose I should write something a little deeper or more serious to avoid incurring any wrath from Pastor Mark. Still being a bit of a new-comer to LCM, and this being my first Spring Break trip with the group, I guess I really was not sure what to expect. I’ll admit, the thrill of going to Europe for the first time was my initial reason for thinking about applying, but it was the talks of last year’s trip to New Orleans that really got me set on going. I know full well that if I had applied only on the thought of “Oh, Germany!” I never would have been accepted and I would’ve rather been spending one more break in the all-too-familiar comforts of my home in Charlotte. The opportunity to learn more about the foundation of this organization that I’d joined essentially on a whim, also would not have guaranteed me a ticket on this trip. For me it was the chance to form an even closer bond with my fellow LCMers, whether they are ones that I had known for years, or only a few short months. It’s that time that I’ve spent with them that will be the most memorable to me, whether it was getting lost in the streets of Berlin, chatting in the saunas of Erfurt, or just laughing over a beer, all these experiences have made this the best Spring Break ever.
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