SOUR '日々の音色 (Hibi no neiro)
MY FAVORITE - IF YOU WATCH ONE MAKE IT THIS ONE PLEASE


JK The Wedding Dance


Enjoy! I pray all is well.

RTQ

I turned 26 today at 9:29 AM. First and foremost, I want to thank my mom for carrying me around for three quarters of a year. Sorry I turned upside down and made you have a C-section. Second and secondmost, I want to thank my dad. He didn't get to be in the room when I was born because he did not take the C-section class you have to take (note to self, take C-section class just in case), but was waiting for me when I came out of the room and always tells me about watching them count all my fingers and toes.

Not quite sure how I feel about being 26, but thus far I cannot complain.



Seminary is good, but busy. My fall break is next week and so I hope that I will finally complete my Edinburgh post and a European trip video that I have been planning to make for quite some time. I also want to make the blog less Kenyan and more seminarian so I can blog every other week or so. Furthermore, I hope that by writing that I am going to do said things that I will do said things next week. You all are my witnesses, hold me accountable. Have a good day!

I left Berlin at 12:30 in the morning.  This was my first experience using a sleeper car on the train.  I found my car and room, but it was already locked.  People who had gotten on earlier were already in bed and asleep.  I tried to knock timidly to no avail and then knocked more thoroughly.  Suddenly a hand appeared from one of the beds wrestling with the latch and waving me in speechlessly.  The door to the room listed the bed assigned to each person so I quietly slid into my bed and tested to see if I could fully extend my 6'5 body... nope.  I tucked my bags out of the way of everyone else and put on my blinder.  As I slept through Germany, I came as close as I would to Twistringen, where my mom's mom's mom was born, Dinklage, where my mom's mom's father was born, and Hohenwestedt, where my mom's father's father was born.  I went to sleep thinking of my heritage with a weird feeling of home wishing that I had more time to stop and explore my family's history.  I awoke with an hour left to Amsterdam.

The overnight train from Berlin to Amsterdam:


The Royal Palace


The Royal Palace - Dam Square in the late-17th century: painting by Gerrit Adriaenszoon Berckheyde:


I only spent a day walking around Amsterdam before I flew on to Edinburgh so I felt the least amount of connection with it.  I walked from the historic train station to the Royal Palace where I sat for a while reading and people watching.  There were 30 or more people who were standing dressed as a princess, a monster, and everything else you can think of.  It was interesting and obviously tourist central.  I then decided to walk down past the Red Light District and follow the canals around until I eventually made my way back to the train station after a baguette.  I truly missed having a local person with whom I was staying to show me around and ground me to the area as I had been blessed with in every other town I had visited.  I could tell that I was tired and frustrated with only a day in Amsterdam.  I hopped on the train from Amsterdam to the airport and struck up a good conversation with a young man from the southern part of the Netherlands.  My time in Holland came and went too quickly.

The bags looking back up the street toward the train station:

When I first think of Germany, I think of WWII and the Berlin Wall.  Both horrible events which occured in the previous century, so pretty recent.  I also think of half of me with my mom's side of the family because our ancestry is fully German.

I was blessed again with an amazing host, Bob, who is from upstate New York.  I rented a bike and he showed me around the city via bicycles.  We rode from his house to the Victory Column (from where Obama made his speech last summer in Berlin)...

Berlin Victory Column (Pic from Wikipedia):


Looking out from the Victory Column after climbing it towards the Brandenburg Gate:


We then rode down the street above to the famous Brandenburg Gate.  The Berlin Wall was built right outside the arch.  This is from where Reagan spoke and said, "Mr. Gorbachev, bring down this wall"and Clinton spoke in 1994.  The Chariot, Quadriga, on top was installed in 1793 (facing East into the city).  From 1814 to 1919 only the royal family was allowed to walk through the center archway so I chose to walk through it numerous times for a nice confidence boost.  It worked.

Brandenburg Gate and Berlin Wall in 1989 when the Wall came down (Pic from Wikipedia):



Brandenburg Gate and Me:


Hotel Adlon right on the east side of the arch (where MJ stayed):


We then rode by the Reichstag building (which is the site of the German Parliament), the  Berliner Dom (which is the largest church in Berlin and Protestant), and quite a few other famous and beautiful buildings.

Then we arrived at Checkpoint Charlie which is the most well known Berlin Wall crossing point.

Checkpoint Charlie:


Then we followed the road down to where a section of the Berlin Wall is still standing in it's original place.  From 1961 to 1989, the Wall was built to stop immigration from East Berlin to West Berlin, however, 5,000 people still attempted to cross to West Berlin and estimates are 98 to 200 people were killed trying to cross.  I was only six when the Wall came down, but do remember watching the people rejoicing on television even at six.

Berlin Wall and Me:


Wherever the Wall was they put brick down representing where it stood:


Then we road our bikes to where Hitler's Bunker had been.  It is now a parking lot and the only thing marking that it was Hitler's Bunker is a sign on the side of the parking lot.

(Pic from Wikipedia)
"July 1947 photo of the rear entrance to the Führerbunker, in the garden of the Reich Chancellery; Hitler and Eva Braun were cremated in a shellhole in front of the emergency exit at left; the cone shaped structure in the center was part of the bunker's ventilation system."


Today (Pic from Wikipedia)


Today (my lousy picture):


After this we rode back to Bob's home.

I went out exploring on my own and looking for a post office to mail post cards and ran into the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church for which Bob told me to look. 


Back around 1900 (Pic from Wikipedia)


Today, after surviving WWII:


Berlin Guitar store across the street from my host's home (Praise Jesus!):


Maggie people watching:


I must once again say how amazing my hosts have been on my Europe trip.  Bob and Ralph were excellent hosts.  Bob took me all around Berlin and was continually helpful.  I asked Bob if we could go out for a German dinner one night so we did.  I asked if I could pay to show my appreciation for letting me stay with him.  The bill came and I got out my wallet and I think that Bob saw that the bill was all the Euros I had left.  So he quickly took out money and paid for our meal telling me that I would need my money on the rest of my journey.  I was challenged by Bob's hospitality and many of the people with whom I stayed in Europe.  I am excited about continuing the chain of hospitality when I get back to the States and daily.

My hosts, Bob, Ralph, and Bailey, with me:


Good business model:


Yum:


Me and German dinner:

I'm still alive.  Sorry for the three week silence, but since I've returned to the States I've studied for and taken two ordination exams, moved back down to Austin, and started classes again yesterday.  I am working on my final posts for Europe and will post them tonight or tomorrow and then start blogging about being back.  Yep.

Today was quite the day!  Apple keynote by Steve Jobs with new iTunes, remastered Beatles, Obama's health care speech, and it being 09/09/09.  Cool, crazy day.  KGSR (one of the best radio stations I've ever listened to) played the remastered Beatles all afternoon and at one point Twist and Shout was played.  The DJ said that John Lennon would sing this song with such passion that he couldn't talk after singing it sometimes.  Somehow, I heard the song in a way I've never heard it before which led me to watch it on YouTube several times.  So, here you go.

I arrived at my couchsurfing host Guenter's home after mid-night.  He welcomed me with a smile and food.  He got the bo-jazz with which to make a sandwich and I started constructing.  He asked if I wanted tomatoes (one of my least favorite vegetables) to which I said, "No" and he proceeded to watch me ungracefully try to spread some unusual form of cheese on my bread.  We both laughed and he decided I needed to experience some Austrian tomatoes.  So, we sat and I ate my sandwich and tomatoes (which were really good) as we talked about our different cultures and religion.

Guenter is an open air museum curator and has a vast knowledge of history.  The next morning he took me around Vienna and explained all of the major sites to me.  We went by where Beethoven lived, where Mozart lived (Wolfgang is a great first name), and several beautiful churches and government buildings which without him would have not made much sense.  I was fascinated with the rich history of Vienna and what a central city it has been in the world for so many more years than the States has existed.

Me with frankfurt in Austria:


St. Steven's Cathedral:


Dinner in front of Sigmund Freud's apartment:


Wiener Schnitzel:


Austrian dessert and Me:


For dinner, Guenter took me to a place with traditional Austrian food that was located across the street from Sigmund Freud's apartment where he lived most of his life.  I had Wiener Schnitzel, which is a cutlet of veal that is pounded flat, coated in flour, egg and breadcrumbs, and fried in clarified butter.  Dinner was very nice as I sat and pondered how bizarre it was to be sitting across the street from where Sigmund Freud lived.

Austrian host, Guenter, and Me: