Germany – 2ndmanswife

Monday night of this week we had a final supper with the Clarks before their departure to the U.S. This is when they introduced us to a new food called the döner kebab. This is a Turkish dish that is found everywhere around here right now. We, in the states would probably call know some of its relatives, the gyro or shawarma. It’s meat, usually veal or chicken cooked on a vertical rotisserie and then shaved off into portions and served in a German pita bread with vegetables and sauce. This stuff is money! So good! After dinner we said our goodbyes and well wishes and headed back to our little apartment. We were on our own now, with high hopes of being a blessing to this church.

On Tuesday morning we moved from the little Airbnb apartment to the Clarks house. Everything is smaller in Germany including the roads and cars. However, we were determined to do this in one trip, so we stuffed everyone into the vehicle and then Lynn went about stuffing the luggage onto our laps! It looked like a horder’s circus act, but we did it! It’s a strange thing to move into someone else’s house and try to make it your own. They actually have a larger house than ours back in the states with four floors counting the basement. We aren’t used to stairs and especially ones that tend to curve upward and are hard stone. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a feat of great proportions if we all make it home without anything broken. All of us have had a slip or two on the stairs as we are getting used to going up and down. We’ve found that we don’t even go down without assessing if something needs to be taken with us, the same with going up. I’m also hoping for some calories burnt by this as well.

Moving: One and done!

That evening was our first Bible study night. We planned on leaving early to make sure we got there before everyone and got the church set up with the tables to sit around for the discussion. Well, we headed out a little bit later than planned and wouldn’t you know we got lost on our very first time out! We left the house about 15 minutes later than we had planned. It was dark out and our first time navigating out of the little town of Brühl and into Mannheim, which should normally take just around 20-25 minutes. The Clarks had put the church into the GPS system of their vehicle, but she takes some getting used to. She’ll say things like, “take a right and then go left,” this can be very confusing at times, but we’ve learned that she means that some exits on the right have you travel further down the road so we must stay left until our actual exit. We didn’t know all of that then. So, the very first exit we needed…we missed. One of the quirks of the Autobahn is that if you miss your exit, you’ll probably be traveling a few minutes before there is another one where you can turn around. We finally got turned around and wouldn’t you know we missed another exit! By this time all of us were feeling the panic. You know that feeling where you panic, and you can’t think about the simplest of solutions? Well, we were there. Poor Lynn! I can only imagine how frustrated he must have been inside as he was trying to navigate himself while little miss GPS was also trying to navigate, and I was in the next seat trying to navigate him as well! When we finally made it to the church it was 7:00 right on the dot! Thankfully, the members here tend to run late, so we actually beat them all there anyway. Whew! It was dicey there for a few minutes!

We brought with us, from the States, copies of the study by Jim Berg called Changed into His Image. I’ve been through this study twice already and still learn more each time. It’s an in-depth sanctification book that’s great for discipleship purposes at pretty much any level. We figured it would aid the discussion if we have an actual workbook to go through while we’re here, giving the participants homework each week to fulfill. This first week was just an introduction night as he explained the study and how we will go through it. We also had a bit of a testimony/meet and greet so as to get to know some of the members a little bit better. I loved hearing all of their testimonies of how they came to know the Lord and how they came to this church. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, I’m humbled when I realize what a small world we live in and how Christ has permeated all these different nationalities.

We also started back into homeschool lessons with the kids this week. It felt good to establish a bit of a routine. This, of course, has to be a flexible routine with all we have planned to do, but routine, nonetheless.

Late in the week we took the kids over to Heidelberg during the day. We were still getting used to driving in Germany as well as driving a manual stick shift which neither of us have done for quite a few years. We made it thankfully, but on one of our wrong turns we ended up on a hill of a street that certainly seemed one way since there was a stone wall on one side and it was so narrow. But, no, not in Germany they figure you can get a few cars lined up side by side in the space of about two and a half meters wide – Oh wait! Let me speak American – that would be around 8 feet. We decided to turn around in a driveway along one of the crests of the hill but backing out was also a challenge. The Volkswagen that the Clarks own has a sensor system for backing up that beeps at you. We are familiar with cars that have back up cameras that seem very helpful, but this just beeps and as you get closer to any objects it beeps faster and louder which is always a good mix for keeping the driver calm as he’s backing out in a dollhouse size area along a hill on which any second another car could come zipping around. Thankfully, Lynn did it well and we were on our way back to where we needed to be.

Cute Streets of Heidelberg
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We walked along the old town part of Heidelberg which was our first taste of old Europe and all of the beautiful architecture. We found some really cool shops including a used bookstore that was about 3 stories high with a spiral staircase in the middle of it. Katie was in a wonderland here. She just loves books and to be surrounded by all of these treasures made her giddy with delight. Of course, most were written in German, so we didn’t find any English books of interest for us, but it was still a really cool store. This area of Heidelberg is like the idea of Branson Landing (if you’ve ever been to Branson, Missouri), put into 600-year-old buildings…aka charm galore!

Katie in her element
Bookstore in Heidelberg

Heidelberg university is also situated in this area and is said to be around 600 years old! Imagine the feel of walking on a university campus that is older than our own country!

Architectural Detail: Heidelberg
Church Too Big For My Camera! Heidelberg
Architectural Detail Heidelberg
Architectural Detail Heidelberg
Because why not have a little moxie?
Heidelberg

We lingered and enjoyed the day so much that we didn’t even have time to go up to the castle at the top of the hill. We’re hoping to do that on another day.

Lynn and Jarod Heidelberg
Lynn and the kids in front of Heidelberg Castle
Selfie time!

Our first Sunday flying solo went very well. At first, we were a little worried as, again, people showed up just right on time or a few minutes late, and I mean everyone. However, we were relieved when they did show. Our kids have taken on the challenge of running a Children’s Church program for the young ones which went very well. We brought over some Abeka Bible story cards and the girls are each taking a week teaching the lesson while Jarod helps with singing and games and helping the little ones listen.

Lynn brought an awesome message called “Don’t Pray it Safe.” He’s preached this before, but has to go through his sermons and do some editing for the cultural nuances and applications. He did a great job of preaching and communicating his message without losing anyone language wise. After service we realized that these folks like to talk about the message! This is great as it provides feedback to Lynn on how they understood the message and it’s also encouraging to know that they aren’t just listening but are thinking it through as well. This is always an encouragement to a minister when he knows that the crowd connected with the message.

After church a sweet family from the church, Rene and Marina, invited us to dinner with them at a local döner place that they frequent. We enjoyed getting to know this sweet young couple and can sense we’ll be good friends through this experience.

Well, that’s the week two highlights. More to come as we adjust to living here in Germany.

Exhaustion thy name is jet-lag! I cannot recall when I have been more physically tired in my life than upon the day we landed in Germany. We flew out on Monday Jan. 28^th at noon from Oklahoma. We landed at 8am Jan. 29^th in Frankfurt, Germany. However, to us it was more like 1am! The Clarks met us at the airport to help us get our rental car and settled into our apartment for the week. They encouraged us to NOT give in to the overwhelming desire to take a nap, but one by one we fell prey to this debilitating fatigue. I believe someone could have performed surgery on any one of us without the threat of our awakening. Truly this was awkward in many ways. For one, we have never been to their home in Germany. I was hoping my kids, as well as Lynn and I would give a polite and warming first impression. But the luring weariness, just controlled us all. Here I was excited to be in a new country and see my friends’ home for the first time and I simply laid out on her sofa and fell asleep! When I awoke looking for Lynn, I went up to their third floor bedroom/office to find Bro. Walter studying at his desk while my husband was practically passed out across their bed! I didn’t remember having this feeling when we went to Romania a few years ago, but it was the real deal now.

Our random greeter at the rental apartment we stayed in the first week.

That first evening we went to the Bible Study that they hold on Tuesday nights at the church. We were all nervous but also excited to meet everyone. Bro. Walter did a good job leading the Bible discussion, but I must be honest – I cannot even remember what the discussion was as the room was spinning while I struggled to stay awake. At one point I thought I was falling out of my chair! My only hope is that I was able to keep my eyelids open enough that nobody would notice!

After dinner we went to a family’s home that were members of the church. When they can, they hold a prayer meeting on Thursday evenings. We were impressed with their sincerity and openness with the prayer time for their personal needs as well as the church needs. They were all very welcoming and we enjoyed the fellowship after our prayer time. This is where we were introduced to all that the Google Translator App can do!

The view from our little apartment. Yay for snow! Boo for parking, only allowed on one side of the street and usually full. We had to do a lot of walking that week.

Driving was an intimidating concept to say the least. Only Lynn was on the rental as a driver since we would only have this vehicle for the first week until the Clarks left for the States. However, as I observed and learned the rules of the road along with him, I was overwhelmed. There aren’t any stop signs over here, just turnabouts. This is a good thing in my opinion as it keeps the traffic flowing. However, there are many more pedestrians and bicycles than what we ever see in the States. Our family joke has been repeating Bro. Walter when he told Lynn, “Watch out for the bikes and pedestrians. They really frown upon hitting them over here.” As if they don’t frown upon that back home. But we understood what he meant, they have rights over here and are in more abundance over here than at home in Oklahoma. So added to the observation of the driver is the roundabout rules, the yielding rules to the side roads on your right and the bikes and walkers. This doesn’t even touch on the Autobahn and all the rules of that road. you can practically feel the breeze as cars speed by at warp speed. Believe me there are no problems with people dawdling in the left lane around here!

This guy was hanging on the wall at the Schnitzel restaurant making me feel guilty throughout my meal.

Schnitzel: Walter and Dalene took Lynn and I into Heidelberg on night three. By now, we were still tired, but able to function like normal humans. This is where we tried Schnitzel for the first time. Basically it’s chicken fried pork cutlet with any of 101 sauces over it. The atmosphere was great, the company was great, the conversation totally enjoyable. The schnitzel -meh. I think it will have to grow on me. I guess I have 100 more options to try before my final verdict, but so far, I do not care what Julie Andrews says, this is NOT one of my favorite things. We walked around Heidelberg that evening and totally enjoyed the old European flair of this amazing city. The castle was lit up above us on the hill and was awe inspiring to behold! Lynn and I both felt like we were at an amusement park in the States that was built to look like we were in an old European city …but, no, it was real!

Heidelberg at night! The castle is so pretty all lit up!

This leads me to my next impression:

Grocery Shopping: Dalene took the girls and I into town to grocery shop on Friday. We started with the bottle recycling area.

Fun times recycling plastic bottles! Seriously, we need this back in the States.

Side note: Germany is green extreme! This is not a criticism, it’s an admirable thing. The garbage isn’t even near the same as they recycle everything they can, so there are four trash bins, paper/plastic, compostable, glass, and then the “everything else” bin. As good a thing as it is, I’ll admit, I suffered from a paralyzing fear of putting something in the wrong trash bin for the first week or so.

Basic run of the mill garbage cans in Germany. Can you see why I got nervous?

Anyway, we were walked through the steps of taking plastic bottles to recycle so we could get credit on our groceries. This wasn’t much different than when I was a little girl and we would take in our glass pop bottles to get dimes at the grocery store. We were at the store for a couple of hours I’m sure as Dalene showed me the differences and how to find the things I’m used to finding. This proved to be one of my biggest culture hurdles at first when I tried this on my own and felt lost and rushed. Thankfully, that church members who introduced us to the camera feature on the Google Translate App saved my life as a shopper! I can scan the shelves at the store and translate items so as to choose the right one. It’s not 100%, but it sure is a life saver! It still takes me a couple of hours to grocery shop, but some of that is my own dilly dallying around the store.

How Cool is this grocery cart feature! There’s a little extra shelf that flips out when needed. I could also see myself using this as a step stool #shortgirlproblems. As you can see all stores work like Aldi back in the States. You have to put a coin in to get your cart and you get it back when you return the cart. You also have to bring your own grocery bags/baskets or buy them from the store.

Bratwurst (brot vurst): On Saturday of our first week, we went with the Clarks into downtown Mannheim. It’s a bustling large city like most I’ve been to, so the size wasn’t too unfamiliar. Of course it mixes the old with the new as some parts of the city or buildings are older than our own country! It was here we tried our first pretzel on the street – oh so delicious! Then, for our first real German bratwurst. Of course I didn’t get pics because I was too busy stuffy my face. This too was delicious and large! It was a delightful day navigating around this large metropolitan area. Our favorite part was the marketplace that had stands with fresh cheeses, olives, flowers and the list goes on. It was abuzz with people everywhere. It was unfamiliar with the language barrier and trying to navigate a large city, but we felt at ease having the Clarks with us as guides.

Money: We fast learned that people in Germany do most of their transacting with cash only. Even Burger King! This wouldn’t have been a big problem but that even though we had gone to our bank before ever leaving the U.S. to make sure our ATM card would work, we still ran into problems. After a few emails with our bank’s fraud dept. things were set straight and we were able to access our accounts and navigate on our own without having to constantly trade money with our friends.

Rhein River Baptist Church: Mannheim Germany

Church: The whole reason we are here! We went with the Clarks in the morning to a service of another missionary in town who holds his services all in German. It was a good service, well as much as we could get out of it. We did feel our novice status here as we were observers more than participators in the service.

However, in the afternoon at the service with the church for which we came to help, we were able to feel more at ease. They share the same building as the church that holds the morning service, but minister to an entirely different demographic of people. Rhein River Baptist Church is made up of an international group who all speak English due to their diverse backgrounds. There are people from Brazil, Russia, the U.S., England and Africa all in one little body of believers. I love this diversity as it feels like a glimpse of Heaven to me! Sometimes, in day to day life we get caught up with our own little part of the world and forget that we have brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world! I find it such an energizing feeling when I am able to meet people like this! Of course this is also a relieving detail since Lynn doesn’t have to learn an entirely different language or work through an interpreter for this short 3-month stint as filling the pulpit.

Since it was also the first Sunday of the month, they have a time of pizza and fellowship after the service. This was an enjoyable chance to get to know some of the members and chat for a while.

The Clark family. Our favorite Germany missionaries.

We felt like we were getting our land legs as the jet lag was subsiding and we were learning new things each and every day. That one week felt like an entire month, but we were in for more as we approached the time of the Clarks leaving us for the States…

Tag: Germany

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First Impressions: Germany Week 1