Traipsing down the hill I visited the Schöns. Frau Schön brushed the dirt from her hands to dab her eyes when she recognized me. We spent a few minutes talking, but then I had to go. Erika’s house was luckily within walking distance. The delicious ice cream with strawberries, in addition to the peppermint tea with herbs from her own garden made for a very cozy evening where we talked about old times, the present, and future plans. It all slipped by very quickly… and soon I was waving goodbye on the Northrup’s doorstep. Wednesday morning I went to center city Wuppertal to meet Angelika Günther, my old piano teacher there. After a little window shopping she took me out to lunch, were we spent about two hours discussing life, and especially ballroom dance. She started taking lessons not to long ago, which she enjoys immensely, and as I share her passion, we were able to relate to each other very well. Around one o’clock I caught a train headed to Cologne. The imposing Gothic cathedral towered over me on my arrival, filling me with awe that surprised me a little… I had seen the cathedral before. Tristan was waiting on the steps reading a book. Chatting pleasantly we explored the cathedral, then started on the city. I realized how little I had actually seen of Cologne. There were so many hidden niches crammed with buildings that were obviously several hundred years old, as well as many larger buildings like the Rathaus that I didn’t remember ever seeing before. Tristan was an excellent tour guide because he was so familiar with the area and could translate all of the Latin plaques for me. After showing me a few options museums wise, he let me chose one to see. I felt that my German experience would somehow be incomplete if I didn’t visit the chocolate museum, since chocolate is one of my very favorite things in the whole world. The best part of that was the huge golden chocolate fountain that overlooked the Rhine, spouting milky, chocolaty goodness for samples. What more can one wish for? Thursday morning I decided to try and run by a few fabric stores to see if I could find a bit of lace to sew on the bottom of my dress, which needed a little extra length. Giovanna was an angel and drove me to the first one, but we didn’t have a lick of luck there. Praying hard I rushed to a store at the Hauptbahnhof on the way to the Barluschke’s house. Lo and behold, they had the best and cheapest lace I had found yet right on the shelf. I wasn’t sure it would be enough, but I bought it anyway and rushed on. At Christiane’s I helped her do some shopping and make some lunch. She’s just plain wonderful… she was my Young Women’s teacher growing up, and one of my greatest examples. She made her amazing strawberry quark in my honor. I can’t tell you how good that is, because it is an EXPERIENCE!!!! I watched her daughter Lisa, who is now about four, ride her bike like a pro, then we got out some craft supplies to make cards. All to soon Thomas came to pick me up, but before we left Christiane offered to take me to the airport the following morning. I had been praying I wouldn’t have to take the train. At the Götze’s house I met little Johanna for real. She was absolutely adorable! I had to get her on video… I think I’ll put that up on my blog. We made a huge pizza and then ate it by candlelight. After putting Johanna to bed, it was time for me to go, but before I left I felt prompted to ask Thomas for a blessing. It was one of the most powerful blessings I have ever received, and it sounds like I’ll be doing some missionary work while I’m here in Vienna! One last adventure before I stop writing about the past and focus more on the present in my letters: Friday morning Christiane came to the apartment to take me away. We had a wonderful last talk in the car. I noticed immediately how heavy my bags were, but soothed myself with thoughts of getting rid of them in a few minutes when I checked it. My arms were a lot happier when they were gone. It was only a 1 ½ hour flight to Vienna, and I was planning to read about Elisa von der Recke, but my throat hurt, I had been coughing the last couple of days, and I felt exhausted. The flight (nap) was too short… I actually started feeling worse by the time I left the airplane. Somehow I lugged my bags off the conveyor belt and made it to the place where arrivals meet the locals. Eagerly I scanned the crowd for a sign with my name or American Austro Institute on it. Nothing. For fifteen minutes I scanned the crowd. No sign. No help. My arm was aching. Heaving my suitcase behind me I made it to a payphone and dialed the number I had scribbled in the back of my notebook. It wouldn’t work. It said the connection would start, but then it would hang up on me right away. I put more money in to see if that would help. Same failure. At this point I realized that I could use my money that I was afraid I had just wasted on internet access. There was a new message on my email from Lillian that made my sinking heart land on the floor with a splat: “Where are you? No one knows where you are. Come to the institute as soon as you get here” which was followed by directions on what trains to take and the address of the institute. My breathing got irregular and my vision blurred. Panic licked the edge of my consciousness like a hungry flame. I felt miserably sick, and somehow I had to get myself and my bags filled with rocks to downtown Vienna using public transportation that I definitely wasn’t familiar with. My pride is actually what saved me. It was offended at the thought that I couldn’t handle European public transportation, no matter what the odds. Taking a deep breath I somehow found a ticket machine, paid the exorbitant sum, lugged those suitcases into the train taking up two seats, and just sat like I had been run over, quite crazed. Switching trains was painful, since I had to bang my suitcase down a set of metal stairs, creating a ruckus that probably deafened anyone else in the tunnel with me. I was popping cough drops, my only form of anything that resembled medication into my mouth every few minutes. Luckily there was an escalator that took me up to street level. When daylight hit my face I realized I was in the middle of center city, with no clue where to go. I knew I had to look confident though. I walked up to an old man pushing a stroller with a young child in it, and asked him if he knew where Operngasse was. He had the highest voice I have ever heard in my life (boys and girls included), with a beautiful Austrian lilt to it, which he used to explain the way to me. Pulling my bags painfully behind me I started down the street. Every few feet I was forced to stop, wipe the sweat off my forehead and catch my breath, telling myself that I was almost there and I would make it. I found the building. I found the doorbell of the institute. The door opened into a dark hall filled with suitcases with three dark figures talking in the background. I addressed the group to ask them where I should go to find the institute, and upon hearing my name one of the women said “so you’re Margaret!” It felt good to be recognized. It did not feel good to be confronted with a huge two flights of stairs that I had to climb. If the woman hadn’t offered to take my duffel bag, I probably would have collapsed halfway up. At the office they gave me tickets to take care of public transportation for the next two weeks and arranged for a taxi that would me to Goldhammergasse, my new home. I banged my suitcases down the stairs, far past caring about the noise… I broke off part of the bottom in the process, but just picked it up and shoved it in my backpack. The taxi driver was friendly and informative. It took us a lot longer to get there than I had originally imagined, so it was a good thing I knew the institute would reimburse me. Finally we unloaded my bags and I rang the bell outside the gate. Frau Alfons came to greet me, showed me a bed and I crashed.
Wow, I hadn't realized how bad I had gotten with emailing, and what a time to stop! Here's an update about my trip to Germany... sadly haven't had time to finish this installment yet...
It was hard to hug and kiss my mom and brother John goodbye at the airport, but not half as hard as it was the first time I left for Europe by myself two years ago. My suitcase was so heavy with my duffel bag on top that the wheels weren’t turning really well. Painfully dragging my luggage I tried the check in machine, but was unsuccessful, so I waited in line and had an agent sort me out. I was slightly worried when I heard I’d only be getting my first boarding pass and that I’d have to re-check in at my first destination: JFK airport in New York. I knew there wasn’t much I could do about it though, so I made my way to the gate and sat down to read the biography of Elisa von der Recke, part of my ORCA project that I was determined to have out of the way by the time I got to Vienna.
The first flight was extremely short, and provided a bit of unexpected entertainment as the captain called Chantal, the stewardess, Kelly and “Kelly” called the captain Jasmine, after which she couldn’t stop laughing throughout the entire safety announcement.
It seemed only a few minutes after we reached cruising altitude that the pilot was announcing our descent. The plane was tiny… two chairs on one side of the aisle, then one by itself near the window. I got one of those seats, and enjoyed the extra room. Leaving the tiny plane I walked into the airport and asked several people where to find Austrian Airlines. I had to walk outside and switch terminals before I finally found the right ticket counter and got in line. Clutching my boarding pass and praying that my luggage would survive the switch in terminals with me, I found the security line for international flights. That is where I saw a few passengers wearing white face masks, the first evidence of swine flu paranoia I had seen so far on my trip. That made me more nervous than the constant reports on the tvs, talking about a possible pandemic.
Collapsing in a chair at the gate, I forced myself to read some more Recke. It did get slightly more interesting as I went on, but reading Gothic script and old, shakespearesque German gets tedious. I knew I wouldn’t be happy if I had to do a lot of this reading while I was trying to enjoy Germany, so I pushed on for another hour or so after we boarded the jumbo jet. Sleep was impossible, but I knew from experience that getting frustrated about sleeplessness only wears you out even more. Restlessly I closed my eyes and tried to find a spot that didn’t strain my neck or hurt my head too much. Over a wonderfully German breakfast (a hot roll, cheese, a small assortment of meat and some yogurt) I got to know the person sitting next to me, who asked me about my reading. He was originally from Albania, but now lived in Connecticut working as an Italian chef, and was visiting his family in Europe.
My last flight from the beautiful Viennese airport to the one in Düsseldorf that I remembered so well was short and painless. Hoping against hope my luggage had managed to get through, I watched the suitcases pass me on the conveyor belt. My duffel showed up, but then the belt stopped, and my heart sank. Making my way to the luggage office I described my bag, and was told that they didn’t know where it was. I kicked myself mentally for not listening to the prompting to put an extra change of clothes in my carryon luggage. Now, all the clothes I had left were the ones I was wearing. Resolving never to make that mistake again, I walked out the door to find Hans Gerhard, Romana, Alexander and Nadien Erstfeld waiting for me. The ride to Wuppertal brought me back down memory lane, especially as I watched the lush green vegetation wiz by from the window of our old blue van that was still sporting yellow and white fish stickers.
The whirlwind had just begun. Leaving my lonely duffel bag at the Erstfelds’ house and praying that we would be able to find its friend soon, I got into that big old blue fishy friend of the family. He/she/it (not sure what to call it) transported me to Münstner Brücke, one of the tallest train bridges in Europe.
The park at the base of the bridge, right next to the river, had been rather run down and empty when we had moved. Now it was teaming with children, dedicated walkers and nature lovers, and dotted all over with big brown bronze mushroom-esque blocks that asked you riddles and told you stories when you stood on them. The sun that so seldom graces Wuppertal caressed the grassy banks of the river. Soon I was seeing one of my favorite things in the whole wide world – familiar faces! Götzes were there with their little Johanna, Daniella with her husband and two little girls, Bergmanns with Nathalie, Kevin and the dog Guiddo… each face brought back memories that had gotten rather dusty after 2-4 years of disuse.
The hours of talking, good German food, wading in the Wupper and braiding daisy chains were over before I knew it, and by the end of the evening my Normadic existence for the next two weeks began. Instead of going home with the Erstfelds, I went along with the Bergmanns, to spend some time with Nathalie before she had to go back to school in Freiberg. The afternoon we spent talking, and in the evening we went to some of her friend’s house for an intense game of phase ten that lasted till about midnight.
How I managed to stay up and on top of the conversation till that hour going off of less than 24 hours of sleep, I will never know. What I do know is that I slept like a rock without moving an inch, and that when I woke up I noticed that I started breathing again. Our early morning activity was a visit to the Trödelmarkt, an open-air market with clothes, shoes, jewelry, perfumes and more. Wanting to be prepared, I bought a dress and a pair of shoes to wear to stake conference, in case my suitcase decided that 24 hours wasn’t a long enough vacation from my sometimes abusive use. I tried to thoroughly repent for all of that abuse, believe me. Joined by Nathalie’s grandparents the Schmidts, we breakfasted at Ikea… they have the best hot chocolate machine ever!!!! Free refills J. About that point Kerstin got a call from the Erstfelds, who informed us that my bag had been found and would be arriving at their house at 2:00pm.
After enjoying some delicious Turkish paste with Nathalie, she dropped me off at the Erstfelds where I happily embraced my runaway suitcase. Hastily grabbing a new outfit, and doing a quick make-up job I raced out the door and met Laura in the city. Since we only had two hours, we sat down in the mall café and ordered ice cream. It was so good to talk to her again, but much too short. Promising to get in touch with her soon, I barely managed to catch Kerstin, who was going to take me to the first session of stake conference in Düsseldorf. At the stake center the opening hymn was starting, so I managed to slip out of my jeans and into a dress within about 60 sec., just before the meeting was fully underway.
I had squeezed into one of the back rows, which was very advantageous, since I could pick out several unsuspecting people that I wanted to say hello to afterward. The topic of the conference was very interesting – missionary work. It hit me as I listened that this just might be the very week for me to do some missionary work. I really felt like the conference was geared specifically to me and my needs.
My plans of greeting specific people after the conference went rather well… most of the people who I hadn’t seen in 4 years (people from wards outside of Wuppertal), had a hard time recognizing me at first. All I had to do to remind them was say the magic phrase “I’m an Ebeling”, at which point I would get a hug, exclamations of surprise, eager inquiries about my family etc. Before I knew it, I had joined the stake choir, which was in desperate need of strength. Finally it was time to leave. I went to the Erstfelds, and blacked out on the couch.
Dressed in Sunday best I hopped in the car with Giovanna, who had decided to follow the Erstfelds in her car to help her find the stake center. The ride was all lively conversation, as it always is with Giovanna, and seemed quite short. After several more recognition games and warm greetings from different members of the stake, I took my seat in the front with the choir.
That, I soon realized, was a big mistake. The chapel soon got quite warm, and I found out that although I thought I had conquered jet-lag, it must be still hanging on tight. My eyelids were incredibly heavy. I tried pinching myself, shifting my weight, blinking fast and slow, sitting up straight, but nothing seemed to work. If I had chosen to sit in a pew I could have unobtrusively closed my eyes or leaned on the arm rest at the end of the bench for a few minutes, but since I was on the stand, in full view of the whole congregation, it was my duty to stay awake and alert to set a good example and listen attentively to each speaker. The only reasons I didn’t just conk out on the bench: the rest hymn (we got to stand up for that), and a hard candy my neighbor offered me in the last few minutes of the meeting.
Afterward I got to talk to more people… Constance, Sarah Malms, Schw. Münch, Daniel Münch, Tim Egley, Jana Hatzik, Karen Hatzik, people from Duiesburg like the Davids and the Braxmas, and Tristan Kempkins, people from Köln like the Hodgekins, and so many other unbelievably good, dear people like Schw. Manchievsky, Brother Orth, the Karthauses… the list should be a lot longer, but I’m so behind with this report I’d better move on.
At the Erstfelds I enjoyed some lasagna with a delicious fresh strawberry dessert. In the evening Giovanna came and picked me up. I’m still not sure how we managed to get my heavy bag into the back seat, but we did J. The next two days provided a bit of recuperation that I sorely needed… I spent hours and hours and hours just talking to Giovanna, enjoying the 4 adorable guinea pigs, and doing fun things like having a dance party with the kids, watching a movie and messing around in the kitchen.
Wednesday was extremely full. In the morning I went back to visit my old school. Not much had changed in the two years that had gone by since I last visited. I got there just after the first five minute bell, so everyone was in class. I saw several people walking into class late, one of whom was one of my former class mates, Tim Niklas. I called his name, but he kept walking, then he changed his mind and turned back. “Do we know each other from somewhere?” he asked. I just laughed a little and he turned around and left. The principal walked by, and she did remember me. After chatting a few minutes with her I sat on the heater by the window just remembering everything, both good experiences, and ones that I had had a hard time forgetting.
I have no idea how long I sat there, but it was a while. There were footsteps on the stair, and to my surprise it was Tim Niklas again. He almost just walked by me, but then decided to stop after all. “Sorry, do we know each other from somewhere?” he asked again. “Yes” I laughed. He peered at my face a moment, and then it dawned on him. “Oh, it’s you!” he exclaimed. I had to try really nard not to burst out laughing. He invited me to come with him to English class, which I agreed to do. Mrs. Bähr Böhm, who had been my English teacher for the whole time I had gone to the Waldorf school, recognized me immediately and invited me to sit down. Class was just as boring as I remembered J. It was actually full of Laura’s class mates and not mine. Tim Niklas hadn’t passed 12th grade the first time. Some of them I barely recognized. I spent the pause talking to Frau Ploch, Frau Berning, Frau Werksnies (now Frau Billmeyer) and some of the other students.
My whole class wasn’t at school, since they were in the middle of Abitur prep, so I didn’t feel a need to stay very long. Thinking I would come back again, I caught the bus to Alter Markt, where I did some shopping for gifts/a trench coat. I LOVED the fit of the coats. Of everything I happened to try on in fact. I hadn’t realized how horribly American clothes fit before… I knew they fit poorly, but I hadn’t realized they fit horribly. I bought a Milka chocolate bar and ate almost the whole thing, relishing every bit. That evening I went with Giovanna and the kids to Young Womens, where I enjoyed some more dancing with the kids, and socializing.
Thursday I was able to take it pretty easy again. After Laura was done with school, I hopped on a bus and managed to find where she lived. The apartment complex was really nice, the rooms were spacious, and the kitchen up to date. We talked for a while, then I left to go to institute. I met Ann-Kathrin at the Hauptbahnhof and got on a train to Düsseldorf. Institute was great. We talked about faith, a topic that has really interested me ever since Elder Peckering’s talk this past general conference. Socializing with several of the young adults again during the simple meal that followed the lesson sent me down memory lane for the twentieth time that week.Just before I left I had the sudden thought to ask for a BOM to take with me. Back at Laura’s apartment we made a pallet and talked until my words were so slurred and my German so confusing neither of us were quite sure what I was trying to say anymore…
Bright and early we got up to get ready for school. It was a weird feeling to sit in the same classroom for the whole day with the same people just like I had in middle school, and be confronted with high school mentality/maturity levels. Biology was a little hard to follow, since my vocab in that area isn’t the strongest and I was fighting lack of sleep. Math seemed like a very chill class. English was amusing… the teacher was a native German, but he had lived and studied in England for some time. This was the perfect recipe for a flavorful accent. At lunch time we went to a bakery and enjoyed our food in a nearby park. Spanish proved to be my favorite class of the day. I didn’t really get much of what they were saying, but it sounded cool. The teacher organized a little sketch, and even gave me a line to say. I have no idea how it sounded, but I kind of fell in love with the language…
After school we went to find a cheap straightener for me to use for the rest of my stay in Europe, which we did without to much trouble. We cooked an amazing stir-fry and some rice, which we enjoyed by candle light. We talked, and talked and talked the whole time, until I finally drifted off to sleep.
The glorious morning came with David and Martina. Saying goodbye to Laura and stowing my backpack in the car, I thoroughly enjoyed the 1 hour drive to Arnsberg. We spent the majority of the day talking. We talked with their parents over a delicious meal, we conversed during our tour of the museum of natural history and walking the streets of Arnsberg. David and I reminisced about high school – teachers, friends, activities – while Martina and I discussed university life with its challenges and highlights. Talking didn’t stop till far into the night. David got behind the wheel again, and we talked some more, up to the very doorstep. Hugging David and Martina goodbye, I waved until the car disappeared from sight.
Sundays are glorious! It was so neat to be in the Wuppertal ward and enjoy the meetings, talk to everyone and take pictures of all the kids. The afternoon passed by pleasantly with food and conversation. After the kids were in bed Giovanna and I started b-day prep for Lucas. First we decorated the living room with tons of balloons, made a banner for the hall way and hung balloons from the door, then we started the cakes. Yes, plural! First we made brownies in the form of cupcakes for Lucas to take to school in the morning to share with all of his class mates (following German tradition), then we started a chocolate cheese cake that would be for the adults… oh my goodness, the batter tasted AMAZING with some leftover brownie bits. When that confection was finally in the oven we started baking a chocolate sponge cake for the kids that we planned to decorate in a pacman theme. It was really late when we were finally done… our words started getting slurred and when I got to bed I crashed….
Next morning b-day prep started again as soon as the kids went off to school. Kids’ cake was first priority. While whipping up a chocolate frosting, Giovanna poked holes in the cake, poured sweetened condensed milk over the whole thing and let it soak in. After adding a layer of chocolate icing we took smarties (the German version of m&m’s) and made a colorful pacman with four ghosts. Then we made dips – artichoke, and a Mexican chili-esque dip and both looked absolutely delicious. And they were. But the chocolate cheesecake – ohhhhh my goodness!!!! My newest favorite cake by far! Lucas loved his new light saber and was really excited to start riding his new bike right away. So much good food!
Tuesday Giovanna and I snatched an hour to go to the store, where I found one of the cutest black dresses ever, two adorable shrugs and one white skirt that was on sale! We kind of lost track of the time a bit while we were there, so I had to rush to get to Frau Stahl’s. On the way down the hill from the bus stop I took a million pictures of each bit of that so familiar, yet still breathtakingly beautiful landscape. Frau Stahl was waiting for me at the door. She called a taxi, and directed the driver to take me to the restaurant we had been to on my last visit. The huge wiener-jagdt Schnitzel with mushroom sauce and little fried potato rolls was insanely delicious...
And now for a quick peek into the present: VIENNA!!!
My Gastmutter (host mother) is awesome. She used to be a ballerina and travel the world. Now she lives in the richer part of Vienna and Lillian and I live in a 2 room apartment on the first floor of her house... we have the whole 1st floor to ourselves, and can even cook really basic food in our apartment. I love living with Lillian. We talk all the time. Vienna is sooooo amazing as a city. Everywhere you look there are old buildings with rich sculptured faces and colors. It all just seems to exude culture. It's really quite tangible. Class is cool. We walk through the streets of Vienna, and Professor McFarland will take us to certain buildings and talk about their context, sometimes getting really general and talk about what a city really means. I never noticed the different time periods that are built into almost each cathedral... since they took so long to build they're a hoge podge of different styles, a kind of embodiment of the progress of the city. Such a cool thought! I haven't started my grammar class yet, and Prof. McFarland said we wouldn't really worry about research yet either, so it's really not to bad. This weekend we went to Graz for a YSA (Young Single Adult) Sporttagung (sports activity that lasted 2 days). It was pretty fun, and there was an awesome dance too....
