Here is the second blog post in an ongoing series from Rachel Burton, KM missionary intern in Daun, Germany: Update from Germany #2 - Unspoken Rules, Handball, and German Hospitality May 31, 2014 at 6:07am Do you want to come play handball? my host mother Christa asked me. Handball? What even is that? Ive never played any sport, much less one that I dont know the first rule for. ...But you know what? This internship is supposed to be a learning experience for me. So yes. Im going to learn how to play handball. So Christa and I joined her friends at a handball court in a local school. Her friends excitedly asked me how long I would be staying in Germany and were quite pleased that they would be getting another handball player for ten weeks. We first did a bunch of arm exercises with weights until I was pretty sure Id never be able to use my arms again, and then I very quickly learned the rules of handball (basically a mix of soccer and basketball). And we played. Aggressively. I didnt want to bowl over anybody (they were all at least twice my age, some even three times my age!), but after my teammates told me to get into the game and I almost got whacked in the face by the older German women on the other team blocking me, I got into it. It was a ton of fun. I got the nickname Lange Arme (Long Arms) by one of the women as I blocked several passes, and I even made a goal one time. We played handball like a boss. The cool part was, afterward, Christa told me that she had been playing handball with these women almost every week for over twenty years. Thats friendship right there. Thats only been the very tip of the things Ive already learned in the nine days that Ive been here so far. In one sense, Germany has come to feel very normal for me at this point. I live with a family, I go to work, I do what everyday Germans do. It doesnt feel like life has really been turned upside down. In another sense, though, Germany is so, so different from America and its almost like a new normal life. Its hard trying to describe it. I look out the window and everything seems normal, like Ive been here forever, but at the same time its completely obvious that its nothing like America. Small, flat, cornfield-riddled Kentland, Indiana could never in a million years have prepared for me for Prüm, Germany, which sits halfway up a mountain and is surrounded by forests. I work at an evangelical church thats about a third of a mile from where Im staying and I get there by walking through swerving streets and sidewalks. I have newfound respect for those grandfathers that talked about having to go uphill both ways to get somewhere because that really is how it feels. In addition, Im used to streets being in grid formation. Prüms streets more closely resemble spaghetti. In addition to THAT, its easy to see where youre going in a small American town like, say, Watseka, Illinois (where my home church is, the population being a little over 5,000 people) because there arent a lot of small businesses everywhere. Prüm is about the same size as Watseka and, without exaggeration, probably has about three times as many businesses, if not more. Its got everything. You want a grocery store? Theres three of them. Pizza? Pick one of the four parlors. Or maybe Thai food is your thing? They got that too. Tattoo parlor? Check. Toy store? Check. Strip club? Got one of those about three years ago. If you think it sounds like Im saying Ive gotten lost every time Ive walked to work so far, its because thats exactly what Im saying. At least the town is pretty though. Work itself is really neat too. The small church (about 30 members) has been here for about thirteen years. My office is cozy and Im often tasked with smaller practical jobs so the pastor, Dirk (whos also my supervisor), can get to the larger things. I thoroughly enjoy it. Ive gotten to travel with him and my American supervisor Heather to visit people and encourage them. Last time we traveled to spend time with an old man who used to be an air force chaplain. He had a lot of neat stories and he really, really loved Americans. He lived just across the river from Luxembourg, so it was super neat to drive past that. Dirk and Heather both noticed how excited I was to see it and Dirk suggested, There is a good price on train tickets to Belgium. Maybe we should pick a free weekend and spend a day touring a city in Belgium. I died of happiness inside a little. In terms of adapting to German culture, I studied it thoroughly beforehand in order to not look like a silly ignorant American. And as soon as I got here and had a plate of food put in front of me, I looked like a silly ignorant American. They have so many unspoken rules about eating! Most of them eat continental-style (wrists on the table, always holding your knife and fork in your hands), which Ive managed to get used to. They also eat A LOT (although most are at healthy weights because they enjoy being active) - its almost unusual to only have one helping. I eat as much as my stomach can hold and sometimes that isnt even one full helping, and then Germans ask me if Im feeling okay because I barely ate. Also, for those of you who plan on eating at restaurants in Germany someday, to signal youre done with your meal, you angle your silverwear off the bottom-right side of your plate. If you have one of your silverware angled off the left side, it doesnt matter how empty your plate is or how long its been since you last touched it, the waiter wont take it. Then youll never get the check because youve unwittingly told the waiter, I know my plate looks empty, but dont take it. I plan on licking the crumbs off it in a little bit. A couple of other unspoken rules that Ive had to get accustomed to as an American: #1) Punctuality is practically holy in Germany. I knew this beforehand, but its something else to see it in person. When your supervisors say theyre coming to pick you up at 6:15, it means youd better be out the door at 6:15 because they will be quite annoyed if you keep them waiting until 6:16. At my college, students routinely wander in five minutes late and it isnt frowned that much upon. Five minutes late is absolutely inexcusable in Germany. I dont mean frowned upon. I mean inexcusable. #2) Germans value respect, and honesty is a huge part of that respect. They discuss business and agree to things with straight faces. In America, though, youre taught to smile at everything because smiling shows youre friendly and compliant. You tell the truth with a smile to help others believe your good intentions and to agree to things with a smile to show that theres no problem. So when Dirk, my German supervisor, gave me a list of responsibilities and asked if I was okay with them, I just naturally smiled the whole time and said it wasnt a problem, because it wasnt. I was excited. Then Dirk seemed to study my face for a couple seconds before saying quite seriously, If there is a problem, you must tell me. Do not hide it if you dont like something. I was confused at first, then it clicked. I had been smiling the entire time, which is unusual when discussing business in Germany, and while I thought I was communicating, Im totally happy to do whats been asked of me, he actually read it as, Im actually not happy with that, but I dont want to deal with conflict, so Im going to hide how I feel behind a smile. So I reverted to a straight face and told him there were no problems and then he lightened up. Thats going to be something I have to consciously pay attention to. Alright, this note has already gone on for a while. The last thing I want to mention before signing off is that, without exaggeration, I dont think its possible for the Germans to be more warm and welcoming than they have been to me. It literally has been overwhelming how welcomed I feel in this country. My host family is a chief example. I dont just feel like Im taking residence in their house for a summer. I actually feel like theyve made me a part of their family and that Im cared about. It really has been nice, after leaving my own family across an ocean for the summer, to be so warmly invited into another family. Im sure my parents would appreciate that too. And everywhere Ive gone, with all the people Ive met so far, everyone has been delighted to get to know me, has asked so many questions, and has refused to let the language barrier keep them from making me feel included. This has been among Christians (especially at the church Im serving at) and non-Christians alike. Dirk likes to do Bible-studies with non-Christians so he can reach them with truth and love, and I got to attend one of those on Tuesday. They even talked about how my name sounds like a Hollywood star and humorously started pairing their own first names with Burton to see if theirs had the same ring (and now Dirk introduces me everywhere as the Hollywood star). Seriously, there has been no lack of hospitality and warmth among the German people. If the world were like this, there would be no war. Ever. So, let me sign off with some specific prayer requests for the upcoming week. Thank you, all of you, for your prayer support!- Pray for the evangelical church in Prüm as they continue to actively reach out to their community and to the German people. Germany is very, very short on Christians, but the ones that are here are faithful and trying to reach their country. - Pray for the secularism of Germany (particularly in Berlin, where close to 70% identify as athiests) and that Christianity would be portrayed as a living, even practical hope for them rather than a cold tradition that makes disillusioned people feel better. - The spiritual need in this country is very overwhelming. There is so much ground to cover and so few Christians here, but if God could change the world beginning with a group of 12, He can use the few in Germany to reach many. Pray for the German Christians and for more harvesters to be sent to Germany. Pray that the world (especially Gods people in the world) would not give up on this country. - Please continue to pray for my immersion and language learning. I have gotten over jet lag, but I am newly exhausted by being surrounded by another language and trying to understand it. Mental exhaustion has led to physical exhaustion in the last couple of days. Pray for continued clarity and determination to learn. I speak and understand much, much more than I originally thought, which has been a blessing. - On Thursday, I got what we think is a spider bite on my ankle. It swelled some on the first day, so I thought it was just a mosquito bite or something, but since then it has swelled even more and feels warm to the touch, even after keeping ice on it. Its the third day and it is now painful, especially to walk on, so Im actually limping now (booooo). Please pray that it would start getting better soon so my walk to work is not affected. Walking around a mountain with a painful swollen ankle does not sound ideal. Thanks! Bis bald!
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 11:54:15 +0000
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