einigkeit und recht und freiheit

[escapri]

(berlin/oranienburg/amsterdam)

Back from my maiden trip beyond the borders of the UK whilst in university. T'was a crazy week indeed:

1. Talk about starting this holiday off with a bang: unexpected train delay left us stranded at an intermediate stop (which coincidentally turned out to be a convenient station that we weren't even supposed to stop at) for over half an hour, forcing us to seek alternative means of transport and eventually pulling the emergency brake to force open the train door to take pre-booked cabs outside the station. Still reached the airport too late, still missed the original flight. Also had to re-book 2 new flights because the earliest replacement flight couldn't seat 9 people. And while we were trying to book those seats the places on the next flight out kept being snapped up.
2. Thankfully things went better from there. Maybe excluding the fact that we missed the Bundestag (German Parliament) tour too, but in retrospect that seems quite minor compared to all the trouble we took to even leave London.
3. I don't think I've ever been much of a history buff, but Berlin's history is something that's difficult not to get sucked into (never mind my German bias). Took a walking tour/history tour round the city on the second day and couldn't help wondering 1) how the seed of war and desire for total domination even emerged, and even more importantly, 2) what sort of miracle went behind the fall of the Berlin wall. Sure, there were structural factors weakening the areas under Communist control and such, but how did a press conference go so wrong for no reason that it made things turn out right? If that wasn't God working in the city of Berlin, I don't know what that was all about. (But of course that also raises questions on why wars even happen; which is also something I'm still pondering about.) Then fast forward to today and I wonder how Berlin, and the rest of Germany, is slowly but rather surely facing up to its past and its scars. Pretty darn true that we need history to teach us what we should never repeat.
4. The concentration camp experience was particularly harrowing. There was the added effect of the snow and the biting cold, simulating the worst seasonal condition prisoners of war back then could have endured. It was kind of like being trapped in a Narnialand wrapped in brick walls and barbed wire, surrounded by eagle eyes on lookout posts and the threat of being shot ringing silently against your head. When I came to the pathology and read about prisoners being injected to death with poison shot straight to the heart that was it: how humans could be possessed with such evil I really don't know, and it is frightening.
5. These war-related realities also reminded me (with the help of friends) of other countries in the world that have yet to face up to their past. Yet another depressing thought.
6. On a lighter note, on the day we went to Oranienburg to visit the concentration camp, we had lunch at a roadside kebab shop run by a very nice Turkish man who was just in his first day on the job. I managed to sustain a very pleasant and enjoyable conversation with him auf Deutsch, an opportunity which I am very thankful to have had. It's weird how speaking German makes me feel happy, even though my grammar gets messed up and I forget bits and bobs of vocabulary here and there.
7. I also managed to find a German bible whilst in Berlin! I knew I wanted some sort of book and when I came across a book of Psalms auf Deutsch in the Jewish Museum shop, I thought having something similar would be nice. Finding a German bookshop itself turned out to be quite the adventure: wandered through the streets of Charlottenburg as the sun began to set, bumped into some, er, quirky characters (thank goodness I didn't end up looking for this bookshop alone), and finally found a second hand bookstore which had a new, full, real bible auf Deutsch for 10 euros!
8. Moving on to Amsterdam, I suppose just being in the city alone raises lots of questions about women and prostitution and how individuals and cities feel towards these things. Being there in Good Friday made things even more interesting, and the only vague answer that is in my head with regards to all these questions revolves around praying for the people who need to be protected the most. For what form of protection I'm not entirely certain either; these delicate issues are incredibly confusing, albeit also important. Basically half of my mind was quite troubled during this time thinking about these things.
9. But Amsterdam had its pleasant parts too. The canal scenery and the architecture are still very pretty (though I must admit the circular nature of these canals made it pretty darn difficult to navigate this city, at least in my opinion). After church on Good Friday we popped into a few design shops along streets close by and coincidentally we managed to explore the Droog Design shop/Hotel Droog, which design*sponge recommended as a must-visit in Amsterdam for design lovers. And true enough, they were right: loads of supercool stuff all over the place. Stedelijk Museum for modern design was pretty good too (I also really really love the ticket stub I got for that museum). Totally made up for not being able to visit Keukenhof due to the sucky weather.
10. Oh and Amsterdam had decent Indonesian food. Not the rijstafel, more like food sold by actual Indonesians. Some of whom I also conversed with yay.
11. I also bought a packet of tulip bulbs to try growing.

In any case, I've come away with a bunch of prayer points for things: the world, this surrounding region, and even for myself (because I realise that when I travel my kanchiong spider mode goes on overdrive and it does drive me nuts). But I've been so incredibly thankful to be blessed by company that's x67126712 more cool-headed than I am, plus they're experienced Europe travellers. And also thankful for the opportunities I had to speak German again. And I guess travel stress completely took my mind off work stress, which isn't entirely a bad thing. So life's good. Pretty much.