Today we had a guided tour around the concentration camp of Sachsenhausen outside of Berlin. Starting out, we walked down the path that all prisoners would have had to travel down. It was really fascinating to think of all the people in the city that would have witnessed the prisoners being forced to work for their lives. Most people in Germany were led to believe that these prisoners deserved to be put away for the sake of the country, but it is hard to imagine that nobody could see through this false facade.

Our tour guide, Joe, was really insightful on all things about Sachsenhausen and many concentration camps in general. The camp served as a forced labor camp rather than an extermination or death camp like Auschwitz. This made the overall experience different than I expected. Rather than gruesome pictures of medical experiments and astronomical figures of casualties, the camp was much tamer than many stereotypes about concentration camps would assume.

However, this does not take away from the contemplative nature the site has to offer nor the devastation that was brought to many of the victims. We got to walk through a reconstructed bunker that housed hundreds of prisoners; these included political prisoners, social hazard ones, homosexuals, prisoners of war, and Jews. Conditions were horrible, and the lifestyle unimaginable.

It is hard to imagine that such terrible atrocities took place in the last century when the world was supposed to be more modernized and humane. Therefore, it is important to see these kind of sites first hand to try to understand everything that happened so nothing similar happens again. Our tour guide closed with a really powerful quote from Edmund Burke that I will repeat here. “All that’s necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.”

Berlin, Germany isn’t what I expected.  Then again, I don’t really know what exactly I was expecting.  It’s a city very different than anything I’ve experienced, both structurally and historically.

This morning’s tour of Berlin was everything from strictly informative to highly emotional.  We were exposed to many historical aspects of Berlin, including the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the President’s home, and various embassy’s.  It is always so enlightening to be able to physically see what the textbooks have historically taught.

The more emotional part of the tour was the viewing of the Holocaust Memorial.  What one tends to imagine about a particular memorial isn’t at all what Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial is.  The memorial consists of over 2,500 cement blocks, all of different shapes and sizes.  When introducing us to the memorial, our tour guide informed us that the architect of this particular memorial had no underlying purpose in its creation; he wanted it to be up to each individual viewer to pursue their own inspired meaning.

When walking through this vast memorial, I was consistently contemplative about what coherent meaning I could create about the memorial.  My interpretation is as follows:

The simplicity of the cement blocks that make up this memorial are seemingly complicated; they have no order.  No single block is like another.  These individualistic cement blocks represent the various generations that are faced with their shameful German history.  No one generation could possibly feel the same as the next; for some are far more removed from the tragedy than others.
The memorial isn’t necessarily beautiful in the sense that it is pleasing to the eye, but upon profound thought and ample reflection, it becomes such a beautiful representation of what constitutes the German people.  Even though they wish they weren’t a part of their inevitable dark history, they realize it is just that: history, and it cannot be changed.  Instead of ignoring what was once a shameful time, they humble themselves by allowing such an interpretive monument to speak for the whole of the German people; all the while allowing it to speak to each German individually.

What a beautiful experience this was today, and a true preparation for tomorrow’s horrific, yet necessary journey: Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

Being in a different country, especially one with a different language, typically brings about culture shock for the travelers. I have been able to travel around the world for a few weeks here and there, but I have never experienced this phenomenon. I have only now come to understand what culture shock can mean.

Living in Reutlingen, Germany is an absolutely wonderful place to be. The view outside my window is of some mountains in the distance, and, besides the weather, there is nothing really to complain about. The only difficulty comes with understanding all of the surroundings. Coming into this program with a French background and an eventual Chinese minor has not set me up with the necessary German language skills, but I am trying to learn as much as possible.

The most obvious difference is being around people that typically do not speak your own language. There is very little English spoken on a regular basis unless I am trying desperately to converse with someone. Therefore, every time I have ran into a British tour group or another bunch of Americans, I have become overly excited. English never sounded so good.

Other differences are smaller – like trying to do my laundry. My roommate and I decided that we would just know how to do laundry; I thought it was a part of my womanly senses no matter what country I was living in at the time. I could not have been more wrong. There are a vast amount of buttons on German laundry machines and a variety of different cycles. When this happens, my best advice is to watch the video posted on YouTube about doing laundry here. Rather, we took a guess and ended up with a pile of sopping wet clothes that we had to ring out in the nearby sink. That experience has taught me to always read the instructions in your own language first. Here’s some help: watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=essQiVHV9rA. That will get you started!

I cannot wait to see what new things will challenge me in the future. Hopefully, I will be a pro at laundry from now on, but I know there will be new cultural differences to face. And that is the fun of it all. What better way to grow as a person in confidence and tenacity than living in a foreign country for a semester? Future fiascos aside, I know this will be the best time of my life.

Where to begin?  My first week in Reutlingen has been one full of captivation and observation.

The Swabian Alps extend into the sky, reminding anyone who takes the time to admire them that we are seemingly inferior to the vast world around us.  I find it impossible to just glance at the Alps, for they beg of my complete attention and pry into every emotion, ironically leaving me spiritually moved by an earthly presence.

Tübingen, Germany is by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  From the picturesque parks to the classy cafés, it is impossible not to have a love affair with this city.  The town is most notable for the University, dating all the way back to 1477, which still educates students today.  (In fact, Valpo has a year-long study abroad program in Tübingen).  When walking along the streets of Tübingen, you involuntarily picture yourself living there, for it is so enticing that anyone who steps foot will want to be a part of its quaint and romantic ambiance.  Here, too, it leaves me spiritually moved by its earthly presence.

Aside from feeling captivation from towns and nature alike, there is a lot of observation happening with regard to the German people.  While walking downtown Stadtmitte, the town center of Reutlingen, I find myself unable to walk at my normal pace, for the locals are less concerned with “not wasting any time,” rather “enjoying the most of their time.”  Their concept, “enjoying the most of their time,” isn’t hard for me to take part in, it’s the “not wasting any time” attitude that I secretly wish they would adopt!  But, when truly thinking about it, I want more of their laissez-faire way of life.  That way of life is not just evident while walking along the streets, but while sipping on caloric coffee drinks for hours outside a quaint café, or when drinking inexpensive yet sour wine at the local wine festival.  The German people aren’t concerned with skim, whole, or 2% milk, they’re concerned with the meaning behind the drink: with whom they are sharing it.  The same attitude is true with regard to wine: they realize their wine is sour and incomparable to Italian wine, but that doesn’t stop them from sipping on it with those they love.

The past week and a half has required much thought and adaptation, but to call it worthwhile would be an understatement.  I have loved everything from the things that have been easy to love to the frustrations.  As I typed that last sentence I am reminded of Luke 6:32, which says “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.”  We are obligated to love people and things that aren’t easy to love.  Applying that to life abroad, we are called to embrace all that is set before us, especially those instances that challenge our faith.  It’s astonishing to me that it has been only sixteen days; I can only imagine what the next three months will bring.