The First Weekend

And so we come to the weekend.  It was actually quite boring, at least for the first half.  I took advantage of this first real breather to spend a solid chunk of time blogging and continuing the fight against jet lag by taking a 3-hour midafternoon nap.  I had bought some frozen pizza on that first day but hadn't had a chance to eat it yet, and we only have a microfridge in our room, so I crossed my fingers that the pizza hadn't gone bad from the two days in a fridge (I think Germans put far fewer preservatives in their food than we tend to) and had it for breakfast AND supper, since there were two pizzas in the box.  My first real activity of the day was meeting my double, Dani, and her boyfriend at 8pm to go to something called a "public viewing" of one of the Eurocup games.  (In case you don't know, Germans are OBSESSED about soccer.  And they're pretty good at it, so they have a reason to be.  I personally find it one of the more enjoyable spectator sports, and I definitely want to get to know my German friends better, so if bonding happens over watching soccer, so be it :])  They arrived punctually at 8pm and I met them outside.  Of the "fan gear" they had given me, I had chosen one pin and the wristband to wear, fearing that I would appear over-the-top in anything else.  Clearly I had vastly underestimated German soccer fans.  Both Dani and her boyfriend sported Germany jerseys and had German flags painted on their cheeks.  Since the flag is a simple black, red, and gold stripe, it is possible to buy a face makeup crayon which is one third black, one third red, and one third gold and paint German flags on any desired part of the body (in addition to a simple flag on each cheek, on other fans I saw many patterns - crosses, hearts, etc. - attempted with varying degrees of success).  They remarked on my lack of spiritedness and I promised to do better next time.  I could have run back up and gotten more accessories, in hindsight, as it was a full 20 minutes before my other double showed up with some of her friends.  She practically stumbled out of the car, brandishing a (rather large) empty bottle of what looked like some kind of hard liquor.  I overheard one friend ask rather apprehensively, "Wait, you drank all of that?" to which she nodded an enthusiastic yes.  Whatever it was, it couldn't have been terribly strong because she could still walk and talk just fine, she only seemed a little more enthusiastic than I thought was warranted.  We quickly made our way to the nearby square where the public viewing was held, which was already packed with spectators 15 minutes before the game.  I was introduced to all of my doubles' friends, of which there was now quite a crowd, and a couple of them tried to speak English to me although most, after hearing that I could speak German reasonably well, reverted to their native tongue.  I nodded and smiled and tried to repeat names when I heard them clearly enough, but I don't think I would remember any of them if I met the people again.

"Super Deutschland!!"

Soon the game started, and although the more serious fans in the group informed me that it wasn't a very good show, it was plenty exciting enough for me.  I declined Dani's repeated suggestions of getting myself an (overpriced) beer from the conveniently-located kiosk, but the smell of the wagon next to it selling crepes soon got to me and a group of us went over to order some.  I got one with Kinder (brand) chocolate in the middle and it was quite delicious, although I hesitate to say it was worth 3 Euros.  The game ended happily at 1=0 for Germany and Dani dragged me along to a local bar where they were going to celebrate.  Never having been in a bar before, I thought it would be an interesting experience and acquiesced, figuring that this was a very good and very safe opportunity now that I was with reasonable friends and close to home.  I wasn't particularly hungry and had absolutely no idea what to order from the menu for drinks, since this place specialized in cocktails, something I had never tried.  When I told this to Dani she couldn't believe it, but suggested we get the sampler and split it.  I agreed, not fully realizing that the "sampler" would consist of five good-sized drinks for Dani and I to split between ourselves.  Fortunately, cocktails contain relatively small amounts of alcohol and I downed a Sex on the Beach (which I liked, fortunately, as it is a relatively common cocktail), a JiJi Loco (also good, but a local specialty), and half of a Bling Bling (which was far too sour and alcoholic for my tastes) over the course of two to three hours without really feeling affected.  The night ended up costing 14 Euros, a bit expensive for my tastes but well worth the experience.  Dani and her boyfriend walked me home, which I was glad for when we encountered several fans who had celebrated considerably more than I had and I wouldn't have been entirely comfortable circumventing on my own.  It was past one in the morning when I finally returned home and my newfound German friends laughed at my insistence on attending church in the morning, but I was determined.  I made sure to drink a large glass of water before bed, to ward off any danger of dehydration (the leading cause of hangovers), and tucked myself in.

True, when my alarm went off at 8am, it was not an entirely welcome sound, but I dutifully roused myself (no noticeable headache or sour stomach, I am happy to report) and was out the door by 9am.  I wanted to be sure to leave enough time to be early to church and hadn't previously scoped out my subway route.  Fortunately it was a very straightforward and direct route with a train that came every 20 minutes to the station closest to the CDC, and after only a little bit of fumbling at the end station, I arrived at the church (which was much bigger than I had thought, easily located in its own building with a large sign out front) within 30 minutes of walking out my door.  I should tell you a little about how I decided upon this particular church, as it seemed to me to be a special Providence.  I arrived on a Wednesday but there was no question in my mind that I wanted to find someplace to worship and get connected right away, even though I was only to be in the city for a month and a maximum of four Sundays.  I began by typing "Evangelische Freikirche in Dortmund" into Google.

As I explained last year, the religious system here is divided into the Catholic and Protestant churches, which are supported by the state, and the Free Churches or 'Freikirchen' which operate similar to most American congregations, supporting themselves with the tithes of the worshippers.  The Protestant churches are mostly Lutheran (for obvious reasons) and Catholic churches are the same everywhere, so to find a fellowship similar to what I was used to I would have to scour the domain of the 'Freikirchen'.  I had already investigated Calvary Chapels, of which there are about a dozen in Germany, but none of them were within an hour's drive of Dortmund (nor Remscheid, for that matter - they seem to be concentrated in the south-east region and rather close to each other, with the exception of Berlin, so I suspect that one was started in the area of Stuttgart and the others are church plants from the original fellowship).  I'm not particularly picky, but I'm most comfortable in the young, modern churches (non-denominational in America) in which I grew up.  There don't seem to be many of these in Germany; if you remember, I ended up at a Pentecostal church last year and loved it.  And so I searched with an open mind, reasoning that if the church I found for the first week was totally whack, I didn't have to go back.  The first link I found seemed promising, so I copied the address into Google Maps to see how close it was to the CDC.  It showed that the "Christuskirche" was just on the other side of the city center, but that seemed a bit strange because the name of the church given on the website wasn't "Christuskirche."  Leaving that tab open, I repeated my search within Google maps and again, the Christuskirche was the first hit.  It was listed as a Baptist church, and the summer camp where I attended and worked for six consecutive summers was also Baptist by affiliation, so I suspected it wouldn't be too far out of the ordinary for me.  Wanting to try one more time to find other options just in case, I clicked the second link of my Google search, which led me to a traveler's site for Dortmund.  Under "Churches in Dortmund", once again, the Christuskirche topped the list.  It seemed more than chance that I had now found the same church via three different methods (and one of them evidently a mistake), so I went back to Google Maps and carefully retyped the address from the first link.  Predictably, it gave me a different place - but this one was at least twice as far from the CDC.  Well, that was an easy decision!  And so I came to the Christuskirche, and I suspect it was more than coincidence that brought me here.

When I walked into the building on that first Sunday, there was still 30 minutes until the service began.   There weren't many people there yet but I quickly found someone to introduce myself to, which wasn't difficult as many people were in the habit of greeting everyone around as they walked through the door, and there weren't many people around which ensured that they also got to me.  When they came to me I would give them a cheery, "Guten Morgen!" and they would perhaps look puzzled for a moment before saying something to the effect of, "I haven't seen you around here before.  Are you a visitor?" which was my cue to launch into my spiel about who I was and what I was doing in Dortmund (which is probably the subject I can most easily talk about in German :])  I met a few very nice people before the service started, including some student-age women who invited me up to sit with them.  The sanctuary is very pretty, modern-looking with a balcony in addition to the seating on the main floor.  I would estimate that it can hold about 150-200 people comfortably, and it seemed to be about 2/3 full on this particular Sunday morning.  I couldn't help but smile as the opening song turned out to be "Shine, Jesus, Shine" (one of my most favorite praise songs from the 90s) translated into German - I can often tell by the worship style what kind of church I have found, and I seemed to be quite at home here.  My suspicions were confirmed as the service continued with announcements, a baby dedication, and a pleasantly appropriate sermon titled "God is Love."  I know enough German to understand about 80% of the sermon, even though I was struggling to stay awake at times due to my rather short night.  The pastor emphasized that since God is love, we should also take special care to love those around us to demonstrate that we believe that fact.  My favorite of his practical applications was his exhortation to approach people who seem to be alone during the fellowship times before and after the service.  Fortunately for me, his congregation took him seriously.

After the closing benediction, there was the predictable coffee and cake down in the foyer (not as elaborate as in Clausthal, due to the larger fellowship, but still good).  I grabbed a glass of water and a cookie and carefully positioned myself in the middle of the space so that I was approachable from all sides, but not close enough to any particular group of people that those observing would think I was with them.  In short, I tried to make it as obvious as possible that I wanted to be talked to, though I am not bold enough to approach others when in such a new or unfamiliar situation.  My efforts were soon rewarded as an older man with a bristling mustache and a completely bald head strode boldly up to me and began making small talk about the food.  It wasn't long before the predictable question came, "Are you a visitor here?"  to which I could readily answer about being an American student, here to study and intern, etc. etc.  At this news his eyes went wide and he leaned back a little.  "American?  Ich speaky kein English!  Hahaha.  (All the rest was in German, obviously).  But seriously, your German is so good!"  I politely acknowledged his compliment with a soft laugh and we continued talking.  It seemed the more Hartwig (for that was the jovial gentleman's name) learned about me, the more impressed he became.  I was studying Mechanical Engineering (the name Princeton meant nothing to him, frustratingly - or luckily? - enough the university is not widely known outside the US)?  But women didn't do that!  Or was it different in America? (I assured him that it was - thinking of Birgitt and Kat as well as my other several MAE female friends - a bit more common occurrence in the States.)  What - I would be entering my final year of study in the fall?  But I am only 21 years old!  (This one I can explain - Germans have an additional year of high school and usually attend five years of university, so I am two years ahead by that reckoning.)  By this point he was parading me around with one arm thrown around my shoulders, telling everyone what a wonder-child I was.  I was starting to get quite embarrassed when he turned to me and asked a question I was not expecting.  "Do you have any plans for the afternoon?"  I said I guessed not.  "Good!  Then you're coming to lunch with my wife and I.  Don't worry, we've also invited the youth pastor and his wife.  It'll be a great afternoon!"  I was taken aback but have tried to become more open to spontaneity and one-time opportunities than I used to be, particularly when traveling and on this occasion, my other plans really were limited to napping and blogging, so I figured why not.  We were some of the last people to leave the church, but soon Hartwig, his wife Ursula, and I had all piled into their expansive Audi (one of the bigger cars I have seen in Germany, which was my first clue that this couple was quite well-off) and pulled out of the parking lot towards their home, where Josua and Mirjiam, the other guests, would meet us.

The nicest people ever. They remind me of Nana and Gaffer.

Hartwig seemed a bit erratic and aggressive in his driving, but then again, I have found most Germans to be so in my estimation.  In about 20 minutes we were driving through the narrow streets of a small suburb, finally pulling up in front of a cozy two-story house with bright flower bushes surrounding the front door.  Ursula ushered me inside while Hartwig parked the car and bustled over to a wardrobe where she picked out a cardigan for me (I had overestimated the weather that morning and neglected to put one on as I left the CDC).  She then ushered me to the back door, where a small porch with a sturdy wicker table and chairs overlooked a small paradise.  I've seen pretty gardens before, but this one rivaled the best of them with its perfectly manicured, thick-growing grass, snugly-set cobblestones denoting the various paths and flowerbeds, and a neat little concrete pond in the center, filled with lilies and colorful fish with a net covering the top to keep out the predatory birds.  Colorful flowers of every description filled the rich beds, and in the tour we were given later we discovered that this was only the first layer of the garden and it actually extended out about three times farther than it first seemed, all the way back past the apple and cherry trees to the rows of strawberries, raspberries, lettuce, beans, and tomatoes along the back fence.  I gathered from conversation that there was no gardener, only Hartwig and Ursula who loved working in the dirt and tending to the plants.  Evidently they were also retired.

Soon enough the other guests arrived and we sat down to a splendid lunch of cold cuts, baked potatoes and asparagus with a delicious creamy sauce.  They repeatedly asked if I knew what the vegetable was, but since I didn't know the German word I couldn't say.  They were quite surprised that we didn't have this in America until Ursula brought out the serving dish and I happily exclaimed, "Oh, asparagus!!"  They were boiled, I think, because their normal green color was faded to a milky cream, but they were still pretty good (or at least, I was polite enough to eat my share without complaining).  Accompanying the meal we had, at the insistence of Hartwig, a hearty glass of a sweetish white wine (he asked me beforehand if I would prefer white or red, and I tried to politely decline but apparently was being misunderstood, so instead of trying to explain the different drinking culture in America, acquiesced to the white wine.  It was pretty good, though not the best I've ever had).  Afterwards Ursula brought out a fantastic dessert consisting of vanilla and strawberry ice cream topped with a sauce rich with red berries (cherries and currants, I think) and a strawberry and whipped cream on top.  She informed us that the berries came from the garden, and I'm never one to pass up a good ice cream, so I was happy.

We were all pretty full at this point, so we went out on the back porch to talk and for the aforementioned tour of the garden.  I took plenty of pictures, thinking especially of my garden-loving father and boyfriend and how they would love to have a yard landscaped like this.  At midafternoon, just as I thought things were winding down, Ursula again disappeared into the kitchen and this time emerged with the ubiquitous coffee and cake.  I went for some yummy orange rooibus tea instead of the coffee, still hoping for that afternoon nap, and indulged freely in the various cakes and pastries, again made with fruits from the garden.  Conversation went on and on, and I learned quite a bit of Josua and Mirjiam's life story (this was the first time Ursula and Hartwig were really meeting them, as they moved to the church in February of this year) as well as tales of Hartwig's growing up in wartime Poland.  When Mirjiam expressed interest and admiration for the garden, saying she hoped to start one at their new apartment as well, Ursula wasted no time in slipping on some gardening clogs and moving around the beds gathering clippings for her.  Finally at about 5:30 I began looking at my watch and fidgeting in my chair, thinking about the Skype date I had set up with Joe for 7pm and knowing it would take at least 30 minutes to get back to the CDC.  I still had hopes for that nap, but as the watch hands crept slowly towards six I began to despair of seeing my bed before the evening.  Finally Hartwig noticed my agitation, although I was trying hard to be polite and not complain.  Josua and Mirjiam graciously indicated that it was about time for them to be moving out, as well, and generously offered to drive me back, since they were headed into Dortmund anyway.  This was certainly an improvement on trying to figure out my way back via the trains, so I quickly accepted and we said our (lengthy) goodbyes.  I couldn't thank Hartwig and Ursula enough for their hospitality, but I did ask for their address and promised to send them a Christmas card at least.  They gladly gave it to me and insisted that the next time I was in the area, I would have to call on them.  If I ever am, I plan to do so :)

During the ride back with Josua and Mirjiam I repeated my basic information, which they had missed at the beginning, a little bit but mostly held my peace.  It was past 6:30 when I hopped out of the car and gave them a quick hug and a grateful farewell and "hope to see you another Sunday!"  I dashed up to my room and decided to steal the nap anyway, even though the Internet can sometimes be finicky and it can take as long as 20 minutes to get everything set up.  Fortunately this was not the case and 30 minutes later, after a refreshing catnap, I was recounting my adventures to my bemused and willing listener.  My good luck only lasted about an hour, however, before the connection suddenly and unexpectedly broke off.  I got just enough bandwidth to send an explanatory email and then headed off to bed before 9pm, figuring that I had done enough for the day and needed to get ready for my first day of German language course the next morning.  The weekend was a good mix of rest and adventure, and I was definitely ready for more of both.