Hallo alle! I should start out by apologizing that I didn’t post anything last week as I promised. I realized after the first round of “Blog Monday” that although weekly updates would be informative, I might not have something interesting to post every week. A blog every two weeks or so should give me more time to think of good stories and reflect on my experience here rather than just giving a “blow-by-blow” of my week. So I’m back, with (hopefully) some more interesting stories to tell.
- Hiking to Schönbuch!
I have had a beautiful past couple of fall weeks settling into classes, homework and spending time with great people! Last weekend a few friends and I went hiking through the Schönbuch forest past Bebenhausen, which is a small town and monastery near Tübingen. The ground was covered with crunchy fall leaves, which is always fun, and the weather was warm and absolutely perfect. After going hiking in the snow in Oberstdorf, Bavaria a couple weeks before, the warm weather was definitely a positive change! Throughout the Schönbuch forest there are “book trees,” which are tree-shaped cabinets filled with books. Hikers can take a book to read while in the woods or bring a book with them and exchange it for a book already in the tree. How cool is that? After our day of hiking, we carved pumpkins, ate candy, and watched a horror movie to prepare for our Halloween celebration in the upcoming week. A few of our friends had never carved pumpkins before, and it was so much fun to see their reactions to the process (sticking your hand into the pumpkin goo, making a unique pumpkin creation, eating roasted pumpkin seeds & pumpkin stew, etc.) When Halloween is involved, some traditions from the US naturally have to be involved as well!
- Pumpkin carving!
The next weekend, after an eventful Halloween party (I dressed up as a Starbucks latte, in case anyone was wondering), a few people from Deutsch-Kompakt and I went on a Kennenlernwochenende, basically a “get-to-know-each other weekend,” with the SMD at UniTübingen. SMD stands for “Studentenmission Deutschland,” and they are one of the Christian groups here. I was a little nervous going into the weekend since I knew that I would have to speak German from waking up until going to sleep each day. I was completely right about this, but I had nothing to be nervous about. Everyone we met was so welcoming and willing to talk with my friends and me. The weekend was filled with games, lots of food and hot tea, worship services and praise songs. A few people in the group had studied abroad in different countries in Latin America (including Chile!!), so I even got to speak a little español! This weekend meant a lot to me, since it reminded me how important having a church family is to my idea of being “at home” in a place. Over my first couple of weeks in Germany I went to church by myself, either because I didn’t know anyone or I (wrongfully) assumed that no one would have wanted to come with me. The services were really beautiful and by my second week in Germany I had already made great friends, but I really missed (and still miss) worshipping with friends and the community in the Chapel of the Resurrection at Valpo. This weekend I was pleasantly surprised that along with praise songs in German, we also sang some of my favorite songs from Wednesday night Celebrate services at the Chapel. While sitting in a circle and singing “God of this City” with friends from Deutsch-Kompakt and new friends from Germany, I once again realized that I don’t have to limit “home” to one specific location. I have a home in Christ, and in Him I’ll always be at home wherever in the world I am. This weekend really helped me realize that although I can miss Valpo and Pittsburgh, I can’t let any homesickness get in the way of enjoying and taking advantage of my experience here. I am so blessed to have such great friends here in Tübingen, and people from both Deutsch-Kompakt and around Germany to make up a new church family. “Der Herr behüte dich vor allem Übel, er behüte deine Seele; der Herr behüte deinen Ausgang und Eingang von nun an bis in Ewigkeit” Psalm 121:7-8
Keep checking back every couple of weeks to see what I’m up to! I’m also keeping more day-to-day updates on my ValpoAbroad twitter account @HannahinGermany…follow me!
Peace
and more music!
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