Well, it’s been 37 days since I boarded a plane en route to Deutschland. In some ways, it seems like a vast amount of time has passed; however, at the same time I cannot believe I’m well over a month into my stay. Time is peculiar like that I suppose.
Despite my being in Germany, it often doesn’t feel like it. I’m around Americans and English-speakers so much of my day that it’s easy for me to believe that I’m back in the States until I walk out on the street and see and hear a language I’m not all too familiar with. This has been one of my biggest struggles – this living in two different worlds and trying to find my place in both. I have such a strong longing to be around Germans, to immerse myself in their culture and their language. Even though that’s happened to some extent, I’m not satisfied. One of the biggest blessings has been becoming a part of a German church - Gemeinde der Offenen Tür. I absolutely love this church – the people are so beautiful and so warm. Every time I walk through the doors, it’s like filling my lungs with a breath of fresh, crisp morning air. My desire to learn this language and become an active part of this community grows each time I’m here.
Well, since it’s been over 5 weeks now, you may be asking yourself, “what has Jen done at work?”. That’s a very good question! Let me tell you…
These past few weeks I've been working on and off designing a logo for a new business/ministry that's underway in Indiana (of all places!). That has been good experience for me, especially since I feel my strengths do not lie in logo design. However, the project I'm most excited about is the Creation to Christ Story. Since day one, I’ve been working on the 15 illustrations for this booklet (click here to read the text of the story). It’s been a lot of work, but I’ve enjoyed every second of it. Right now, I have 9 illustrations done with preliminary sketches for the other 6 well underway. Once it’s completed, it will be distributed both in a small printed booklet form as well as released digitally (for use on phones, ipad, etc). It’s kind of crazy to think that something I’m designing (with much needed support and encouragement from the people I work with!) has the potential to aid in the spreading of the Gospel throughout the world. That blows me away. Here’s a little taste of one of the finished pages from the booklet. I'll let you guess which one it illustrates...
And because I love sharing little tidbits about whatever country I’m in, here are a few interesting things that I absolutely love about this culture…
The pace of life in general is much slower than what I’m used to. There’s room to breathe, relax, get to know people. It’s refreshing. It’s also very refreshing to see that almost all shops/stores (even grocery stores!) are closed on Sundays. I like that. I also like that many of the stores close for an hour or two midday for lunch. As I was walking back to work one afternoon, I tried to buy some stamps from the post office. I had to come back after work because the post office was closed for lunch. How cool is that.
Here’s something else that differs from America at large: when you walk into a store, it’s rude not to greet the man or woman who’s working (especially if they look up from whatever they’re doing when you walk in). Most stores here are pretty small and specialize in only a couple things. I’ve yet to see anything that even remotely resembles a Walmart (thankfully!).
One more thing… they have little stands with baked goods, jams, fresh produce from the garden, walnuts, etc. set up on street corners in many of the villages. The really neat thing is that no one tends to these stands – they just put a box out for the money, and it’s on an honor system for whoever wants to buy something. They do this for flowers as well - as you drive along the countryside, you’ll see a few big flower patches along the side of the road where you can stop, pick some flowers, and leave a little money for whatever you take. A common courtesy when going over to someone’s house is to bring flowers as a thank you for their hospitality. These little flowerbeds provide an excellent venue to get this gift (especially when the stores are closed!).
Das ist alles für jetzt. Hast du doch eine tolle Halloween!
p.s. Halloween isn't very big here, well... at least not in the trick-or-treating sense. What is big though are the Halloween parties. I've seen lots of advertisements for those.
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