Calvin College – Interim 2019

Recently at a local bar, I had the opportunity to have a conversation with a local Germany bartender. He was probably in his early twenties, similar age to most of us on the trip. Our conversation started when I walked through the door with a couple friends and he somehow immediately knew to speak to us in English rather than German. He knew right when we walked in the door that we were Americans and this was very interesting to me. So after ordering a drink and sitting down, I decided to go back up and talk to him about some of the differences between European, specifically German, and American culture.

I asked him first, “how did you know we were Americans right when we walked in?” He said he knew we were Americans because of the way we greeted him. The bartender said Americans always greet the employees and are very excited and happy about everything and ask questions, whereas Europeans usually just come and find a seat and don’t make much conversation. This was news to me because I thought how I acted was a normal thing across the world, but learning it was only an American way of going places was eye opening.

Next, I asked if there were any other social triggers that made you know “oh yeah, they’re American”? The bartender then said the other main factors was how loud and kind of uncaring towards other people we were. He said not in a bad way, but it’s just different from how Europeans enter places and greet people. I have noticed this too throughout the trip as, especially in Germany, that many of the local citizens talk and walk much quieter. Even those in large groups don’t make nearly as much noise as us Americans. This was also very strange to me and made me think how I never really think about how loud I am being and if my loudness is impacting others and their days.

I really enjoyed my conversation with this bartender because he was super nice and was actually interested in the conversation as well. Learning more about these differences has helped me try and fit in more with the European style and not seem like an average US tourist. I am trying to view this trip from a pilgrims perspective, not a tourists perspective.

We drove a couple hours back into Germany to get to a church service at Frauen Kirche in Dresden. The church was destroyed in WWII and left for many years as rubble by the communists. But was rebuilt in the 1990’s back to its beautiful state. After church, we ate lunch and toured the city a bit.

Another couple hour drive brought us to Leipzig where we visited St. Thomas Church and St Nicolas Church. These is where the famed German composer, musician, and conductor Johann Sebastian Bach worked and wrote much of his music. Then we ate another authentic German dinner at the Bayerischer Bahnhof restaurant.

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Going to church today in Dresden helped me realize how traditional church is here. You go in, don’t communicate a whole lot, follow a strict setup (singing hymns, passage readings, the message, and so forth). One thing that I noticed, at least it seemed to me, is that the members do not appear to be happy. Or at least they show hardly any emotion. They were not smiling much and no one got super into the hymns. They were very unemotional. With that said, the church was beautiful. And maybe it was a somber message, but I don’t know since they spoke German the whole time! Attending this church and the one the previous week in France has helped me realize how happy I am to have songs rather than hymnals.

Today, our group spent our morning in the city of Dresden where we attended a worship service at the Church of Our Lady. Dresden is the third largest city in eastern Germany following the cities of Berlin and Leipzig. The city is considered to be the traditional capital of Saxony, and it has been to known to be the royal residence for Saxony’s Electors and Kings. Once known as the “Jewel Box”, Dresden was considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world because of its ornate baroque and rococo architecture. This, however, all changed during World War II.

On the night of February 13, 1945, the British/Americans launched an aerial bombing attack on Dresden killing thousand of civilians. Due to the large amount of refugees living in the area at the time, the exact death toll is uncertain. It is estimated that up to 25,000 had perished, but this number could be significantly larger. The city had experienced such extensive damage that, after the war, it was suggested that the city just be leveled and rebuilt. In the end, a compromise was made to rebuild the Saxon royal palace and its surrounding baroque buildings. The rest would be new construction.

One of the most impressive reconstructions was the church we were able to worship in. The Church of Our Lady, the Dresden Frauenkirche, was destroyed in the bombing and its remains were left untouched as a war memorial for over 50 years. After the reunification of Germany in 1994, it was decided to rebuild the fallen church. The pieces were carefully collected, and using modern technology, could be pieced together to its original state. The exterior was restored by 2004, and the interior was completed in 2005. You can see where the old bricks have been pieced back in with the new bricks. The final restoration is astounding. The amount of detail kept in the exterior is beautiful, and the inside is even more breathtaking. Baroque style is still used in the interior making for an altar that is one of the most detailed structures I’ve ever seen.

It was an honor to be able to attend church that had such a remarkable history. After the service finished, we only had a few more hours in the city to explore before our next stop. The few restored buildings in Dresden contain the same, impressive detail work like the church. The rest of the town contained the more modern Germany building style, but the town, as a whole, is full of character and beautiful architecture which survived the destruction of World War II.

This morning we attended the Church of our Lady in Dresden, Germany.  The church was Protestant and entirely in German, except for in the bulletin when it asked the audience to stand up.  The church was ornate on the inside, possibly rivaling the Wieskirche we visited last Thursday.  The pastor talked about Romans 12:9-16, in which Paul communicates many attitude features which a Christian should hold to.  From the little the group as a whole understood, the pastor seemed to be encouraging the congregation to continue to follow the passage.  I wondered how often the pastor preached to tourists who couldn’t understand his message.

Last week we attended a French Catholic Church.  It was interesting to see the different styles between the two denominations.  Both strictly followed the bulletin and both services utilized the organ.  However, the Catholic Church primarily had call and response songs, while the Protestant Church had only a few small sentences like that and relied on congregational songs printed in the bulletin.  Both Churches served communion, but there was still a minute difference in that tradition.  Reims Cathedral only had one cup which the attendees drank from, while the Church of our Lady had multiple cup stations for the participants.  Overall both had good services and I hope that God will continue to use these churches to reach people for Himself.

This morning we traveled to Dresden for a worship service at Church of our Lady. This church was destroyed during WWll and eventually rebuilt in the 1990’s. It was very cool to see how a city that was in rubble after bombing in the world war has been completely rebuilt. 

The church was Protestant and the service was completely in German. Other than a couple words, I didn’t understand most of the service but I still liked trying to sing the songs in German. But to be honest this usually ended with me humming along with the people next to me. On the bright side, this church was heated unlike most of the cathedrals and churches we have been to. I found it very distracting to be freezing cold in church, so I enjoyed the warmth today. 

Another odd thing I noticed during the service was how many people were coming and going. Typically in the USA, I don’t see anybody leave church during the service unless it is a quick trip to the bathroom. But in this church there were around 20 people that left before the service was over. 

Church services are a great way to experience a places culture. It was cool to be a part of the people and take communion with them. In instances like that you become a pilgrim more than a tourist.

With around a week left on this excursion many of our suitcases have gotten slightly heavier with souvenirs from all the places we’ve been. Unfortunately, there are plenty of things we would love to bring back home but just can’t. So I’ve decided to make a short list of things that will be missed most about Europe and things that will be taken advantage of to the max before we leave. 

1. No sales tax and no tipping. Being able to look at a menu or a price tag and know you won’t be paying a penny more than that is awesome! It makes budgeting easy and splitting restaurant bills a breeze. 
2. Local cafes. If you’re ever feeling hungry or thirsty you can easily just pop in a little cafe and grab a sandwich, a pastry, or a drink. These little stores are everywhere in Europe (especially Paris) and have desserts or sandwiches that are pre-Madeline cheap yet delicious. 
3. History and amazing architecture all around. Sure Grand Rapids has some history and some decent architecture but being constantly surrounded by buildings that are centuries old and have survived so much will definitely be missed. 
4. Food. Everything from a random European snack at a gas station to the three course meals at the restaurants has been awesome! And this is coming from a pretty picky eater. Europeans really know how to eat! 

However, we won’t miss paying to use the bathroom, hotel rooms that hardly fit our suitcases, smokers everywhere, or having to look in every direction to make sure a bike won’t hit you. 

• Chase Morris

Last night, we took a tram ride up to dinner and a look at the castle area at night.

We woke up this morning to a cold (17 degrees) and clear day. So we got our warmest clothes on and set out on a walking tour of the city with a local guide.

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After the tour and an afternoon of free time, we watched the city light up and then had a traditional dinner with traditional live music and dancing!

The visit to Steelcase was unlike any company visit that I had experienced so far.  Steelcase is a office furniture company, but they try to avoid selling traditional cubicle farms to their customers.  Instead, Steelcase seeks to create more engaged and productive workers within the client’s company.  When a client visits the learning center in Munich, the salesman walks them through who Steelcase is and gives them some history.  Next the salesman has the client identify the main business characteristics they want to improve using some magnetic flash cards.  Finally, each person in the clients party is given the chance to rate certain aspects of their company.  From these two exercises, Steelcase forces the client and each individual person in the client’s party to think about what they need.  Steelcase can them use that data to make suggestions on furniture.

The Steelcase learning center was not hypocritical of what they preached.  All of the workstations were either in the open, or in glass rooms.  This was to promote communication between employees.  Even the stairwell was supposedly designed to encourage interaction and a family atmosphere within the company.  One of the most interesting points that I learned was that even the leadership does not have their own offices.  While they are technically higher in rank, even they had to use the common areas, to make them on par with others.

Visiting the Luxembourg American Cemetery was a very reflective experience for me. I think it is under appreciated and not well known that America has a organization dedicated to setting up and maintaining U.S. military cemeteries and memorials. It was so well maintained and beautiful in a sad sort of way with the pristine marble headstones all perfectly aligned. 

Both of my grandfathers fought in WWII and I wondered about how they would feel visiting Luxembourg. Unfortunately, both my grandfathers passed away before I was old enough to ask them about their experiences in the war. What I know is that World War II, as with all wars, was full of human misery and suffering. The things that were seen and that had to be done stay in the minds of the soldiers and civilians long after they return home if they return home at all.  

Walking through the cemetery, I read the names on some of the headstones and thought about something our host said. She said that soldiers are all equal in death. This stood out to me because regardless of how strong they were or how hard they fought or what mistakes they made in life or how they treated others, each soldier is honored for their service. 

It was also fascinating to learn about General Patton’s grave. He died after the war but wanted to be buried with his men. Patton was a critical figure in the Allied victory in WWII and thus was highly visited after his death. He initially had a headstone among the others at Luxembourg but his burial site got so many visitors that the grass got worn and the surrounding graves got muddy. Out of respect for those who were buried around Patton, they moved him to a separate area. This all took place in the temporary cemetery so when they built the permanent cemetery, they aligned all the other graves with Patton’s grave. I think that it is admirable that Patton had such a dedication to those he fought with that he wanted to be buried with them. 

I think that often for things like war and natural disasters, the casualties often unintentionally become numbers and nothing more. As I read the names and dates and states of origin of the people buried in Luxembourg, I tried to think of the people they were. I thought a lot about how much they must have suffered during the war and in the moments before death. I thought about the physical and mental and emotional hardships they had to endure. I thought about the homes they never returned to. I was sombered to think of the widows and the broken hearts and the tears and the devastation that resulted. I pictured the parentless children and the childless parents and all of the pain that remained long after the war itself ended. I also thought of those who did return home like my grandfathers. I pictured survivor’s guilt and PTSD and injuries and nightmares for years and years. Wrapping my head around the lasting effects of World War II is difficult and being in Luxembourg reminded me of that.

I found it fascinating that the unidentified people buried in Luxembourg are still being identified many years after the war with genetic technology and other means. Our guide mentioned a man who was identified in 2017 which is really amazing and can mean a lot to the surviving family. 

Overall, visiting the Luxembourg American Military Cemetery was one of my favorite parts of this trip so far. The flag folding ceremony was very interesting and I think it was nice that we got the opportunity to do it. The cemetery itself was a sad yet beautiful reminder of the cost of war.