An Update: Back to Berlin, Weihnachtsmärkte, and Bergfest at Oberursel

Classes have been continuing much like they started; I'm getting better at German (certainly not as fast as I would like), but the professors are becoming more and more understandable. We have three more days of school before Christmas Break, which is two and a half weeks long. I'll be staying here for that time; I'm very grateful for various families who have invited me to dinners and events during that time.

Last weekend I got the chance to visit Berlin again for the baptism of Noemi Müller; if you will remember, I stayed with Benjamin and Sonja while studying German at the Goethe Institut in September. It was very nice to see them again, this time with their new daughter. She's quite a cuttie and is nicknamed "Sonjamin," which makes me chuckle every time I hear it.

I'll upload more pictures with me holding Noemi when I get them from the Müllers.

There were six of us that traveled to Berlin from Frankfurt on Friday; group tickets make everything cheaper, which I was thankful for. We got in Friday evening and talked and chatted a bit. Travis Berg had made the trip from Ft. Wayne to be the "Patenonkel" (godfather)- he was in Germany two years ago and still remembers the language; we were about at the same level, which was comforting. He filled me in on the goings on at Ft. Wayne, which I don't hear much about anymore. There was also a secular Catholic German; girl there; she was a grade school friend of Sonja and had traveled in our group. It was interesting to talk about various issues, in spite of my broken German. We broke the two rules of conversation with new acquaintances: don't talk about religion, and don't talk about politics. It was hard to understand everything she was saying, but it was interesting to hear Benjamin respond to her concerns, until he retired for the night. After that, it was just Travis and I, but I don't think we completely got our points across; oh well. The religious points were about the Pope, tradition, Sola Scriptura, and Law and Gospel; and the political points revolved around the War on Terror and why America needed to go to war.

The next day, Saturday, Travis and I visited Simon Volkmar in his apartment; he had studied at Fort Wayne last year, and I made it a point to see him again. We gave up all pretenses of speaking in German; English theological (and political) conversation ruled. To be honest, I was relieved and eager to discuss theology and understand everything that the other people are saying. It was a treat, and one I don't have often. When we returned to Ben and Sonja's apartment (where we were staying the night), the religious and political conversations revived.

On Sunday, we all traveled via bus to the SELK congregation in Marzahn. If you remember what I said about SELK people and ordination, you should see them with a baptism. There was excitement among the congregation, and one of them even turned to me and said, "I wish we would see more of these." They just don't have many young families in the congregation, so the baptism was quite a big deal. The service was a normal Gottesdienst from their hymnal, but the baptism was in the middle of the service instead of at the beginning, as I'm used to. I don't think that having it in the middle is normal here either.

Afterwards, we all went back to Ben and Sonja's, packed into their apartment, and ate delicious food, talked, and drank beer. It was quite a good time, one that lasted the rest of the day. That night, instead of getting into politics or religion, we talked about literature and accents, both of which topics the three of us could discuss with some proficiency in German (sometimes in English). We watched Youtube videos of various English accents, and then some German accents. I learned how to distinguish Hessish, with it's now annoying "sh" sounds. Isch möschte gern nicht Hesshisch zu hören. In researching a good example, I found a hilarious video. For those who don't know English, just listen to the German's "sh" sounds. They get annoying after a while. Germans, I think you've love this.

On the way back, we traveled through Wittenberg, so I took a quick picture of the skyline, with the two churches (one is behind some trees to the left).

Moving on, Germany is known for its Christmas Markets. The best approximation is to think of a county fair but with a Christmas theme. There's a lot of stalls selling food, drinks, and crafts. There were rides at the bigger ones like Berlin, but not at the small one at Oberursel. Nonetheless all were very festive, and I heard a lot of English Christmas music. I drank some Glühwein (mulled wine), which was very tasty and did have a warming effect. I bought Christmas presents for my family, which they'll hopefully get before Christmas.

And then...Bergfest! Bergfest, which took place last Friday, was a bit like Reformationfest at the seminary. There was music, food, beer, and a talent show. I didn't take part in the last, I assure you that. The theme was "The 70s," so you can also be assured that I didn't dress the part. There were some very classy costumes and haircuts, though. (Some of the Germans told me afterward that I could've gone to an Army Supply Store, bought a uniform for cheap, and dressed up as a veteran, which would've provided some contrast to the hippies that showed up.) All the professors had something to perform for laughs, whether it was singing songs from the 70s, or giving a presentation about the sports, culture, and religion of the 70s. I was just waiting for him to make a jest about Seminex, but thankfully that didn't happen...otherwise Aaron Uphoff would've popped up saying "Seminex? What about Seminex?" (Sorry, inside seminary joke there.) The talent show was very well done, and the moderator kept us laughing.

Finally, I have a picture of the seminary for you. I realize that I don't put up many picture of myself, so I'll try to do that more often. This was taken with Prof. da Silva's camera and put on the Hochschule's facebook page. I hope I have permission to post it.

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