Reading and Roaming

It seems that I never really did finish that last post. A few weeks have now past. I took my exam, and it went well. I also had to say goodbye to a few friends. That was a bummer. Then we had a week of break. I traveled down to Heidelberg to visit a few friends from Gordon. It was fun, and refreshing. We hiked up a mountain in the area, upon which a medieval monastery and Nazi amphitheater sat (now that was a strange sentence).

It was a rather odd experience. The monastery was, of course, interesting, but it is difficult to know what to make of the amphitheater. it was impressive, but also rather eerie: it was there that thousands of students were indoctrinated by the Nazi regime. Even Hitler spoke there. It's truly frightening. He promised these students a better Germany, relief from economic depression, jobs, a better life. Sound familiar? The Nazis created euphemisms for everything and created a pretty public image. And they were supported by the Church, Of course, there were those like Bohnhoeffer, who resisted from the beginning, but how many of us would have thought that he was some crazy radical? It is scary, and makes me distrust all political and religious organizations. It's all about power and fear.

Yes, these are the joyous thoughts that I have while on vacation. After Heidelberg, I met up with another Gordon friend, and we traveled to Aachen and Wittenberg. Charlemagne's Cathedral at Aachen was the most beautiful church I have ever seen. Externally, it wasn't particularly interesting, but inside, oh inside, the walls were covered with mosaics that glimmered in the low lighting. Since we arrived rather early, my friend and I were the only ones there for some of the time. It was just gorgeous and awe inspiring.

There was also a small room, with a sign that explained that it was for silent reflection and prayer. As my friend and I began to enter, a gentleman, who I suppose I will have to call a curator of sorts, hissed at us and pointed to the sign, indicating that we shouldn't enter. However, when I told him that we wanted to pray ("Wir möchten beten."), his countenance changed completely. He jollily invited us to go and pray. It's a shame that he felt that he had to distrust us as tourists.

Wittenberg was also nice, but left us feeling rather unfulfilled. The history was great, but for some reason it wasn't entirely satisfying. Aachen was great. We thought, Charlemagne built this Cathedral; this is awesome. Wittenberg for some reason didn't have the same effect. Maybe it felt too touristy. I don't know.

Now I've begun my second eight week course here. I'm excited. I was also lent a copy of "Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen", the first in the series. I'm almost finished with it. I once felt that I only wanted to read "real German literature". I think that this has been my problem since coming to college, and the reason I had dry spell of reading. You need to have some fun when reading. Harry Potter is fun, and easy to read. I'll read a few fun books first, then maybe go for some serious literature later.