6-2 Language Experiments

Location: McDonalds, Neustadt am Rübenberge

Listening to: Eric Whitacre - i will wade out

I know what you’re thinking: “Really Jake?  McDonald’s?”, to which I say: McDonalds is delicious, no matter where you are.  That said, I didn’t come for the food.  Anyone who knows me should know I’d much prefer a brat or currywurst.  I bought a monthly access pass for the T-Mobile hotspots in Germany, and this is the only one in the area NW of Hanover.  I stayed last night at a hotel in Mariensee and saw the church the Bodes attended 150-200 years ago, before they came to Illinois and finally Minnesota.  I’ve ridden past Empede, their home town, twice now and I may hop off the bus and walk around a bit there before my appointment in Mariensee this evening.  I had an interesting evening last night.

I got the chance to talk to mom, mike, and luke yesterday while I took a break in the Hanover train station.  It’s difficult to find times and places that work well for conversation.  I took the short trip to Neustadt, then a bus to Mariensee.  On my walk in, I walked right by the church.  I can’t really explain to you how exciting this was - I was literally walking on the ground Friedrich and Karl (and others) walked on during their 3-mile hike to church.  I get goosebumps now just thinking about it.  The church was closed, but as I looked at the signs out front a woman with perfect English found me.  She studied in Oregon for a few months.  I’m sure she was curious what this obviously out-of-place American kid was doing squinting at a sign for some old church.  She was very friendly and showed me where to find the hotel.  In hindsight, I should have tried to figure out a way to spend a little more time with her, because she was the only English-speaker I found for the rest of the day.  As I thought about it last night, this experience made me realize that I’m going to have to take a few more chances with people if I expect them to return the favor.

The hotel is exactly what you’d hope an old mom-and-pop hotel in a tiny German town would be, almost like a bed and breakfast, as were mom and pop.  I don’t know who that creepy younger guy is on the webpage.  Between my very little German and a very poor (but free) iPod German-English dictionary, I was able to write down enough to explain what the heck I was doing there.  He gave me a key, and it turned out I had just enough cash to pay the bill and save 10 Euro for supper and a bus ride back.  Last night, I walked around and took a few pictures.  I ate some of the best pizza I’ve ever had (it was the only thing open) and made it to bed early.

Unfortunately I didn’t sleep for too long because my the e-Reader on my iPod has reKindled some of my old love for reading (only geeks and Amazon customers will get that joke).  I actually chose “i will wade out” because it thought of it while reading “For Whom the Bell Tolls” last night.  Hemingway’s description of Robert Jordan and Maria reminded me strongly of this poem, and of “The Coolin” by James Stephens.  This is the poem set by Samuel Barber in the third of the “Reincarnations”, for any of you who had the chance to see the Chorale’s tour program.  They all speak of the ecstatically simple, wholesome, genuine, romantic love that we all wish to experience someday in ways so similar it’s almost frightening.  All three also seem appropriate to this trip somehow: an account of the Spanish civil war by an American author, an American setting of an Irish folk tune, and one American’s setting of a poem by another American with a strong affiliation with Paris.  The expression of this very specific emotion couldn’t be bound by an ocean - the sentiment is neither Irish nor American nor Spanish but simply human.  This seems so simple and I probably could have said something like this, but connecting to my ancestry across that ocean continues to make the intrinsic connection between all humanity more visceral and important every day.

This morning, I went over to the church.  I figured out via some signs last night that it also housed some kind of monastery or nunnery, but that it was one of the first churches  to convert to Protestantism.  Evidently the Bode’s carried that spirit to the states - they were there for the first Lutheran services held in the state of Minnesota.  I wandered around inside for a while and finally found a groundskeeper who directed me to a woman who spoke a little English.  It turns out they have a museum dedicated to the monastery - she insisted it’s not a nunnery because it isn’t catholic, but it is exclusively female.  I’ll go back there in a few hours and check it out - it’s only open for a few hours per day.  I tried to explain what I was looking for, and she eventually decided I should try the pastor’s house and then come back.  I did, and she told me to come back at 17:00 (5 pm) because she was preparing for a funeral.  I don’t know how Grandma found this out, but they apparently have records dating back to the time when my ancestors would have been here.  I’ll have to report back later.

I’m still trying to decide exactly what to do tonight - I’m leaning toward just finding a place in Hanover and maybe going to Berlin again tomorrow to see the museums.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like I’ll get to see Marton again until possibly July - we’ll see if I can work out a way to see a concert after I’m finished in Barcelona.  I appreciate those of you reading this blog - I’m putting in a lot of effort on it and I hope it’s not too boring.  Gutentag!