13. It's a Wonderful Life!

Hey, did anybody go to Flicks on the Bricks last night? They showed "It's a wonderful Life" in Clinton downtown open air (it was freezing!!!) and it was the first time for me to watch this movie. And I was really overwhelmed by it and I decided that it should become now one of my favorite movies :-)

I was really excited by the idea used by the storywriter to confront George Bailey with the circumstances in his city if he had never been born. It showed the effects George's life had on other people's lives and it made him understand better why life is wonderful indeed and that you shouldn't just throw it away.
I do agree with it that your life influences the lives of others, to the better or to the worse. Unfortunately we scarcely remember this fact and that's why we live our lives "they way I want it," selfishly and egotistically.

This movie also reminded me of a friend at home who died in March after he had received a bone marrow transplantation due to leukemia. This man was only in his fortys and only some days ago, memories about him flashed my mind. What he had done, what he had said, things we had experienced together, the way he had laughed. This overwhelmed me and tears filled my eyes. He was a man who was pretty simple in his life and in his thoughts, but he was a person who was a straight Christ follower. Even when he spent his last three months after the transplantation in the hospital, deceising, he still was a witness to Christ. He followed him both in death and in life. He's a person I want to use as a role model on my way following Jesus.

12. Happy Thanksgiving!

Ok, I have to admit that this week's blog is not that originally, at least its topic. But for me as a German guy, it's my very first Thanksgiving holiday! And in addition, I have the opportunity to spend in an original American family (actually, we're kind of international because there are five Americans, two Chinese guys, and the additional German!).
Before the Thanksgiving break, people explained Thanksgiving to me as "Eating - Sleeping - and Eating again!" Well, that's how I experienced it so far. Since we arrived here in Tennessee on Tuesday night, we have only been eating (excellent stuff - my beloved Sauerkraut!), sleeping, playing Wii, and we've been around the area and also in a mal. One of the things I like most, apart from having the awesome experience of an Anerican Thanksgiving, is the landscape and the existence of fall over here in Tennessee (as compared to its nonexistence in Mississippi). All the lawns and fields are full of colored leaves, things are really easy going, everywhere there are little lakes and ponds, and I just relax - that's holidays!

This morning, I saw a survey in TV and they had asked Americans about the significance of the Thanksgiving holiday. In this survey, 53 percent said that Thanksgiving is the most important holiday in the U.S. Well, that surprised me a little because it is just a holiday that people would spend at home with their family. It's nothing like Christmas of the 4th of July which would either have an international/religious implication or a political significance. Ok, there is definitely a historical significance because without the assistance of the Natives to the Pilgrims during their first Winter, it's likely there wouldn't have been any Pilgrims left the next Fall.
However, even if you want to stress the historical significance, I'm a little confused when people ask me if we have Thanksgiving also in Germany. There was nothing like an assistance by a Native people that could be celebrated over there. So, if people ask me about Thanksgiving in Germany, they either have no idea about German history at all or they never understood what's the thing behind the Thanksgiving holiday over here.
So, either or, it's a little strange when over 50 percent of the Americans state that this holiday is the most important one but at the same time they don't really know what it is about or why it is special for the U.S.

Well, I guess it's almost the same in Germany: I suppose people would "vote" for Christmas to be the most important holiday - and there are only few people left who still know why we celebrate Christmas. But for this you should read my entry of two weeks ago ...

11. Boys, that's going to be a little awkward ...

Ok, guys, I'm not really sure how to put it, but I found something out the last week and I don't want to hide it from you.
One of our biggest problems of male humans is - the new hairstyle of a woman. I have to admit that I always fail to act political correct towards a girl with a new hairdress. About 3 years ago, a friend of mine had a new haircut and I said "Wow, you've been to hairdresser, right? Well ... I liked your hairstyle before better." Ok, girls, I know what you think - "Oh my gosh, how could he say something like that???" And actually, this friend, she still reminds me of this occasion now and then. But for us guys it's just "Where's the problem? It's the truth. And also, as soon as in 2 months, your hair will have grown and you can go to the hairdresser again. That's one of your favorite pastimes anyway, right?"

Last week, I had a similar encounter. A friend had a new hairstyle and it was definitely - different! So, knowing that I always mess up these things, I preferred to say nothing. Then she said "Hey, didn't you see? I've been to the hairdresser!"

See, that's the problem: no matter what we do, we will always fail!
Possibility #1: Your friend/mom/sister/girlfriend (exponentiated danger!) has a new haircut. You prefer not to make any comments because you need a little time to adapt to this newness and you don't want to hurt her. The reaction: "I've been to the hairdresser. Why you don't say anything about it? You're such an ignoramus!"

Possibility #2: Same situation - a female you know has a new haircut. You know that girls want you to comment on things that are new in their lives (including new wallpainting, new nail polish, new perfume). Therefore, you decide to be honest and favoring the truth, you say "Oh ... you've been to the hairdresser ... that's ... ok! I think ... maybe, I liked the one before better, a little bit. But still, you look so cute!" Take my advice, guys - try to escape out of the room, out of town, out of state as soon as somehow possible!!!

Possibility #3: The same again - you have to face a new haircut and it scares you. Still, you know that the last time you spoke the truth, you weren't able to come back to your own house for the next 2 weeks! Consequently, you decide on this: "Wow, you've been to the hairdresser. That's great, I love it. You look so good!" Well, you might have saved your life for the next 24 hours, but deep down in your soul, you know that this was a terrible lie and will stick to your bone marrow and eat away your guts for the rest of your life.

See, no matter what you do, it's definitely wrong! Either you're an ignoramus, you're a malignant person, or you're a dirty liar (actually, if this woman finds out about your lie, life will be even worse than choosing possibility #2!).

Well then, good luck in surviving, guys! And don't ask me to solve this problem because I can't!

10. Santa Claus is coming ...

... to town. Well, wait a minute, it's middle of November - that means that there is more than a whole month to cover until it's actual Christmas! And by the way, who is coming to town? Is it really Santa Claus? Isn't it that we celebrate the birth of a little creature to a poor family that would be the savior to the whole world?

Did you know that Jesus' birth is very unlikely to have taken place in Winter? Scholars are pretty sure about that. As far as I know, one of the main reasons that the birth didn't take place in Winter is that the Gospel of Luke mentions shepherds were tending their sheep in the night that Jesus was born. Well, sheep out in the middle of Winter? The weather can get really cold in Israel ...
Even though that is maybe not the most convincing argument, theologians are pretty sure about that (ask one of them and they can explain it to you). In addition, in contrast to today's Christmas "culture" - actually, I'm not sure if it's the same over here in the U.S., but it's that way at least in Germany! - Mary and Joseph probably didn't stay in a stable, but more probably in a cave cut into the rock. And one more thing, neither an ox nor a donkey were present - at least not according to Luke!

So, why do we celebrate Christmas at the end of December? The reason why the Church decided for the middle of Winter - is the feast of solstice. Pagans celebrated it and the Church wanted to establish their own holiday and to weaken Nordic mythology and belief at the same time. And also the Christmas tree goes back to an old Germanic tradition. Scared?

I think today nobody about all thes pagan traditions. However, there are only few people left who care about Christian tradition behind Christmas either! This holiday has become a gift feast in many families and some parents would spend hundreds of dollars to buy gifts.

Well, Jesus definitely was a gift to humankind. But we have to accept this gift, we have to accept him in our lives. Put away all the things that are considered as accompanying Christmas and being necessary and search for the actual, wonderful event that happened some 2000 years ago. Then, things will change and Christmas can become again the feast of love. Receiving the Lord will change your live. That is really a happy occasion.
Therefore - Merry Christmas :-)

9. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke 6,38)

Did you ever realize how annoying different measures can be? Especially for me coming over from Germany to the U.S. - there seems to be no end of converting German measures into American ones and the other way round.
I'll give you some small tiny examples:

You measure long distances in miles, we do so in kilometers. Well, that's why I never have an idea how far the distance is between let's say Clinton and Chicago. So, 1 mile is 1.6 kilometers (actually, I like kilometers much more, just because 6.43 kilometers sounds a lot more than 4 miles when you're running on the treadmill right?). But it's not only about distances - also velocities always confuse me because driving one mile per an hour is much faster than driving one kilometer per one hour!
Well, let's move on. When I had to write my first essay, I was told to have margins of 1 inch each. However, my writing program only knows centimeters. So I had to find out how many centimeters equal one inch (it's 2.54 centimeters - I learned my lesson well!). And also, did you know that we got different sizes of paper? Over here, it's the letter format (meaning 8.5x11'') and we have the Din A 4 format (meaning 8.3x11.7''). That's crazy, isn't it? However, my writing program was at least smart enough to have the letter format.
Having no idea of distances expressed in miles, my problem with sizes of the body is almost the same - how should I know how many pounds I weigh and how many feet I'm tall? Well, in Germany I would use 1.79 m and 77 kilograms (well, if you want to know how fat I am you really have to look it up *gg*).
However, the problem with the body sizes doesn't stop here - what about the size of shoes? In German shoes, it's size 43 - when I bought some sneekers over here it was size 9.
When I knew that I would spend the winter in Mississippi, I had a look at the minimum temperature over here - and they showed it to me in ° Fahrenheit! That's again when I had no idea how cold or warm 32° Fahrenheit is. To me, it sounded pretty warm at first, but when I found out that 32°F equals 0°C - I was thankful to know that it means FREEZING! (32°C would mean almost 90°F!)
One last thing to mention is the measurement of liquids. You always use gallons when we use liters. Comparing the prize of gas to the German prize is therefore pretty difficult ;-) And did you even know that the American gallon has 3.78 liters and the British gallon even 4.54l? Well, if that's not crazy ...
I want to finish with - currency *gg* Back in June, one € was $1.6. This changed a lot and does so every single day (actually, this was even a worse thing to compare gas prices!)

What if we just changed everything: you adopt the € and the metric system - and the world would love you *lol*

Even though I used the verse from the Gospel of Luke only as a nice starting point, I really think that considering all these different measurements shows how often we use different "standards" in our everyday life. Unfortunately, these "standards" are not only different when you cross the Atlantic Ocean, but every single person has his or her own standard. So, if we all measure differently - whose standard is the one we should use? There has to be someone outside of this earth because we humans are not capable to have a neutral measurement system. Only one came from outside this world and gave us standards that will last forever.
Therefore, let's adapt to His.

8. Evaluating Democracy

This week in my "American National Government" class we talked about lobbyism in the political system of the U.S.m In the class I made quite a controversial statement. As I'm still convinced of its correctness, I wanted to repeat it and elaborate a little on it.
"Democracy is a bad form of government - but it's the best we can think of right at the moment!"

Looking back at all the different governmental systems that have passed over this earth, things seem to be quite clear: socialism failed, dictatorship is a horror to the people ruled by the dictator but also to anyone else, monarchy too often resulted in dictatorship-like conditions. Anarchy - you cannot even call it a governmental system and aristochracy, meaning a government ruled by an elite, again suppressed many of the respective citizens.
Therefore, wouldn't it be reasonable to have the people ruling over itself? That every citizen can influence what's going on in the nation, that everyone can make his or her voice heard?

Well, democracy, meaning "ruling of/ruled by the people", is really promising. Greece started off with this idea of direct democracy meaning that decisions are made by the citizens in debates, taking place now and then. Today's states with huge territories, millions of citizens, and complex problems no longer can be governed by making decisions after debates (Switzerland is one of the few countries that still stick to this kind of government). Therefore, the representative democracy was developed meaning that the citizens elect representatives whose profession is to be politicians and who are trained to cope with the several challenges a nation of today has to face. The citizens however can influence political decisions by influencing their particular representative.

So far so good ... or maybe not? The idea to influence political decisions via lobbyism is really strange if not to say corrupt. Simply because it means that who has the most money has the most influence. Therefore it is no longer that one person has one vote!
But even if it were correct and just - I doubt that there will be a better outcome the more people are influencing the decision. Is it not that the more people one has to satisfy the more wishy-washy and therefore unsatisfying will the decision be to anyone? And in the end, the nation as a whole will suffer!
I don't think that everybody has the knowledge to make correct decisions in today's issues. Just consider the economic crisis! I don't know how to solve it and I doubt that any "average" citizen has the knowledge or the skills to do so.

Yesterday, somebody told me that the Israelites weren't supposed to have a king because God wanted to be their leader. But they desperately wanted someone - and they ended up with Saul. Congratulations!

So, my suggestion is *tataaaa* an autocracy by a ruler who really wants the best for the people, who will never be corrupted, and who is wise enough to make the right decisions without acting for selfish ends.
Well, I guess that there will be nobody who is that generous. The only person I could think of is - Jesus, i.e. God himself. Therefore, we're back when God wanted and still wants to be our only leader. A great thing, right? :-)
I'm glad that we will be at this point one day ...

7. German vs. American Perspective on History

Today's blog topic goes close togehter with the title of my blog: The Frontier Experience.

Yesterday, I talked to some people about German history, namely the more recent one like the coming down of the Berlin Wall, but - inevitably - also about World War II and Nazi Germany. What I realized in some conversations over the last couple of weeks now came clearly to my mind: being in Germany, I always thought that the history of Nazi Germany doesn't really affect me, I don't have to be ashamed of it because I was born only in 1985 (ok, for some of you this might already seem old!) and even my parents were born only in the 1950s. I had nothing to do with the Nazi crimes and WW II and therefore, nobody can blame me.
However, being in the U.S., I was a little shocked how slackly people over here, especially professors, treat the topic of World War II and some of the the crimes committed by the Germans. For example, there are teachers who joke about concentration camps. I mean, not bad jokes, but something like comparing the institution of colleges and the arbitrariness colleges show sometimes to German concentration camps. When I heard things like that I really didn't know what to think or what to say; I was shocked and tongueless.

I mean we Germans still treat this topic very carefully. Showing a swastika will be sentenced and owning Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" is also prohibited. Even if you are a historian you have apply for an permission to access this book.
Just the other day, an Italian court sentenced the Federal Republic of Germany to pay almost 1 million Euro. Background is a massacre on 200 Italians committed by German soldiers during World War II as a retaliation for the murder of three soldiers.
Still, as I wrote above I really felt that I don't have to feel responsible for acts of folly of soldiers of German citizenship, about 64 years ago. But being confronted with the handling of U.S. Americans showed me that I still have the feeling of being sorry for what German people did. That surprised me a lot.

So, the question is: how do things of the past affect us, our lives, our behavior and our feelings? For sure, things happening in our lifetime will do so. But what about things happening 30 or 40 years before you were even born?
Actually, I would say that they may affect us, but that they shouldn't make us feel bad. The same counts for U.S. citizens like you, being born in the late 1980s - the racism that was to be found in the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s wasn't your fault at all!
But still - the same as for me - when you are somewhere abroad and you are confronted with this topic, you might think, feel, react quite differently.

That's stange somehow ... is there something like sin of your forefathers that puts pressure on our conscience?
I really don't know.

6. The Ancestors - the Legacy

Over fall break, I spent most of the time reading a book which I will use to do a book review on. So it wasn't nice literature, but a historical account. Its title "The Pennsylvania Dutch" and it's about German immigrants from my area at home, mainly the Rhenish Palatinate. Most of them came over to the U.S. between the 1710s and the 1750s and - who would have guessed - settled in Pennsylvania. Interestingly, you can still find people today who speak their dialect - and it is really close to my own!
I liked this fact so much that - once back in Germany - I'll maybe going to write my master thesis on this topic. Probably not on the dialect itself, but the role of the Pennsylvania Dutch in U.S. history. I don't know my special focus yet, but we'll see ...

However, what struck me when finishing this book was the fact that American citizens have so many different and numerous ancestors or ancestry. I am 100% German, both my parents are, all of my grandparents. Ok, maybe 10 generations ago there was somebody coming from somewhere - but the thing is that I wouldn't know that. And it's completely different with Americans. You would know if you're of German ancestry, of Scottish, or of Italian.
By the way, I looked it up: in the Census of 2000, more than 30 million persons stated to be of German ancestry and that's by far the largest number. The next group following are the Irish with almost 20 million people.

On the one hand, I really liked it that out of 280 million U.S. Americans almost 1/9 are of German ancestry - and it makes me a little proud ;-) Now I know why I feel so happy and at home over here!
On the other hand, I think this shows the many influences that shape our lives and our nation. Even though almost 1/9 are of German ancestry (and you have to take into account that this means probably people coming over to the U.S. 300 years ago!), there are something about 50 other ancestries as well. That's what I meant about the legacy of our ancestors - it shapes us, to the good and to the bad. But it depends on what you are doing about it ...

Well, this wouldn't be an English blog entry of Lukas if there was no hint at my faith (I'm sorry for some friends at home!). I think what helps us a lot in times of trouble is that we remember that we are children of God. Somebody said once that we are citizens of heaven and that we're only visiting this planet!
So, enjoy your trip over here and make the best out of it. And still, the most gigantic and awesome thing is still to come. Look forward to it :-)

5. The Power of Words

Did you ever realize which power your words have? Even the wise King Solomon wants to remember us of this power "There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health." (Proverbs 12, 18)

But today I don't want to talk about the biblical view of the usage of words. Even among linguists, this power is well-known. Scientific articles like "My words are my world" want to emphasize the meaning of the words we use in order to explain the world around us. That means that our words shape our world and the other way round. But probably, the words are more significant in the shaping process because for things that are important for us we want to have words in order to name them. Respectively, things that are unimportant or of no meaning to us, we probably won't have names for them. Especially when comparing different languages, you will be able to find such peculiarities.
Another linguistic article (which however turned out to be a hoax!) treats the words for snow in the Eskimo language and it claims that they have about 400 words for snow depending on its consistency. All these findings hint at the idea that as snow is of enormous significance to the Inuit because it is there world and it's important if snow is dry or wet ... (I'm sorry for not being able to cite the work academically - I can't find it right at the moment!)

All these thoughts crossed my mind when I was reading "1984" by George Orwell. Orwell, who wrote this novel in 1949, writes about the future in 1984 when the world is divided in three huge dictatorial regimes. Winston Smith, the protagonist, lives in Oceania and they have a thought police in order to control all the citizens. Among other things they try to control them by forming a new language, Newspeak. This language is the only one in the world with a lexicon that gets smaller every year; words are destructed on purpose. One of the linguists who works with Newspeak, Syme, puts it like that: "Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it."

To be honest, I found it shocking and fascinating at the same time! Shocking because it shows how easy it is to control people, what they are thinking and therefore also what they are doing. Fascinating at the other hand because it shows how artificial languages are and how “easy” it is to influence them. That's what I like about linguistics, the scientific study of language – you suddenly realize what you are speaking and why you are speaking the way you do it! That's so exciting!

That brings me back to my starting remarks: what we are saying is of great significance – and what we are experiencing as well. We have to look for new words if there's a phenomenon we encounter and we aren't able to name it. But it also shows that we have to be careful with our words ...

4. And what about You - what's your aim in life?

The last couple of days I'm thinking about loads of things. I was even afraid that I would confuse all the people I was telling about my kind of philosophical questions! No matter what, I've to share one of them with you.

What's your aim in life? A question that's closely related, but still heads into a slightly different direction is: what's the reason of your living?
I was thinking about these questions because I realized that my "aims" or "reasons" are not satisfying at all! For example, I realized that my most important aim - and therefore somehow my aim in life right now - is to marry my girlfriend when I return to Germany (well, not immediately, but perhaps in one or two years). But then I had to ask myself: Lukas, can marrying be an aim in your life? What happens if you have married her - then everything, your life would be over as you have reached your aim! So, I didn't like that. Ok, what's next: Well. I would like to have some children (actually I prefer boys, but the only names me and my girlfriend can agree upon are female names!). But then again, what if we got two or three or four cute little children? First, they wouldn't stay small and cute - maybe they would even turn out like Dr. Randle's son who loves broccoli *argh* - and second, this cannot be THE aim in your life, can it?
But ... what is the aim in my life then? Why do I live?

Well, what came to my mind ultimately was that the reason why we human beings life is to glorify and honor God. But, how do you do that? To be honest, I've no real idea. Maybe it's obeying him and pointing at him with our lives and showing his love to the people around us by serving them. So, one person who came to my mind was Mother Teresa who devoted her life to poor people in Calcutta, India. Well, that's a "good" reason in life, isn't it? But does it work for me?

After having talked to some persons I think a great deal of, I realized that I'm searching for an ultimate aim in life, a project, a task, something that's dafinitive and palpable. These people told me however that there's probably nothing as definitive in your life. Do you know where you're gonna be in the next 20 years? Probably not! And by the way, what does your prospective partner think of YOUR aims???
So ... maybe the reason in life is being open to what God will show you and be ready to go where he wants you to go. Maybe it's about spreading his love and his Gospel at the very place where you are - you don't have to go to Calcutta to serve God, even though they probably need help ...

Still, it doesn't loose it's hold on me ... I'd really prefer to have a clear aim ...
However, even if we can't decide on boys' names, what my girlfriend and me did decide on was having one day a house that's open for people, children, youths who need a home and a family because they don't have a home where they are accepted and where they can feel happy.
At least, that's somehow a starting point, right? :-)

3. Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?

I'm a big fan of heavy metal and rock music. I like the extremeness, the speed, the expressiveness (Well, that's taste! And everybody got his own one).

Every now and then, there are discussions like: Rock music, drums, electronical guitars - that's stuff from the devil! (Did you realize something? That's not a discussion, but a statement. However, people think they are right and won't be willing to listen to you!)
Then, I say: WOW - wait a minute! Why do you think like that? Is there anything in the Bible like that? Well, there were no eletronical guitars at the time of David, but have a look at Psalm 150: "Praise him with the sounding trumpet (I mean, that's loud!) ... praise him with resounding cymbals (that's the ancestor of todays cymbals or a drum set!)."
So, I don't think that it's about the instruments or the volume that Rock music is from the devil.

The next thing is: what are rock bands singing about, what's the lyrics? Well, there are bad ones I have to admit. When you start, you wouldn't be able to stop! However, let's have a look at Christian Metal and Rock bands (Yes, there are a huge number of!). Let's take Larry Norman, one of the dinosaurs of Christian Rock music, and his song "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?" Larry had to fight with many prejudices and in 1972, he published this song as a clear vote in favor of Christian Rock music. Hundreds of other bands followed. One of my favorit CD titles is "To Hell With the Devil" by the bad Stryper. I mean - that's message, right? ;-)

Therefore, I want to challenge people not to condemn person for their taste of music and especially not to claim that they are from the Devil or worship him when they listen to such kind of music. You have to watch out for the lyrics, that's right - and it's about the heart of a child of God and the relation between a Christian and his Lord what a person can hear and what he or she can't. As Paul says "Everything is permissible - but not everything is beneficial" (1. Corinthians 10, 23) - so therefore, every person is responsible for his or her life.

Rock for the King - that's the message (Scandinavian band Narnia)
Metal missionaries - that's Bloodgood.

Experience the GOOD music :-)

2. A Roaring Voice " T H E P A S T! THE PAST! The Past! the past! thepast! ... " (slowly fading away)

In my class "Mississippi History" we covered some weeks ago the encounter of the first European with the Indian tribes of today's area of Mississippi. This was somewhere in the 1540s and this guy was from Spain and called Hernando DeSoto (I really like the sound of this name!). Well, dear and nice DeSoto wasn't dear and nice at all because he used some very unkind means or torturing people (cutting their tongues, sometimes even heads) in order to get information about places where the huge amounts of gold could be found he was searching for (actually, it's a good question how people should answer his investigations if he had cout out their tongue! But that's the topic of maybe another entry).
However, DeSoto returned to Europe in 1542 and even though he was a really bad and crazy person, it wasn't actually him who was the most severe disaster and catastrophe for these tribes. It was the diseases he brought over from Europe - probably not by any intent (kids, NEVER forget to wash your hands before lunch, ok?)! The Natives' immune system never had to pay attention before to such kind of germs - and the result was that about 90% of the people had died when a French guy (who answered to the nice name René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle) came to this area 140 years later. This already being crazy enough, the people who had survived had completely forgot about their past, their culture, their customs, why they had built these mounds, and even that their own ancestors had built them! They had forgot everything!

That reminded me of what I had written the other day when we were asked by Mr. Howell what education is and what's the reason of it. One of my thoughts was that education is learning from the past. Things that had a really bad outcome, you probably won't do again - ok, at least you shouldn't! But there are other things that went pretty well and you might want to repeat them.
There are people who wish for a new start in their life - I guess sometimes if some really bad things have happended this wish is understandable. But, just try to imagine what your life would look like, if you had to restart it every new day: Imagine how many people you hadn't met before! Your best friend you're together with since kindergarten. Imagine that you weren't allowed to drive a car because you hadn't taken your driving license.
Ok, that was more of the fun stuff. But imagine that you would have to fight your way through life again every single day. You wouldn't know where Jennings is or that you live in the U.S.
You wouldn't be able to learn from your faults in the past because there would be no past at all and you were condemned and cursed to do these faults again and again. Every single stupid word that comes from your lips and hurts your friend. Imagine there would be another Hilter - because nobody had experienced the first one and all his cruelties!
Yes, I do think that this is a curse!

I never want to be without memories of the past. I would be especially sorry about all the good experiences I had in my youth, at highschool, ...

Jesus forgives our sins and doesn't look to the past. They are gone and he will never again rub them in your face saying "See what you done!" He forgives AND forgets! That is the good thing about forgetting the past.
But we are to learn from the past and try to behave better, trust more, and becoming more like Jesus himself. And that's the blessing we have from the past: it won't count, but it's a really valuable thing.
So I'll try to learn from it. Will you join me?

1. Crazy American Guys - ???

What I mentioned in last week's paper (for people outside the 101 English Comp-World, the topic was "Why did you come to MC?") as a reason for my coming to MC was the "smallness" of this college. The last few days, I told people again and again that "In my home university, we have about 35,000 students!" and I still think that this is crucial. MC has got about 4,600 students (including undergraduate, graduate, and law school -good research, hah!), so it's only about an eighth of the size of my German university. Taking away the Christian basics of the college - what does it mean to be at such a "small" college? Is it different at all?

I think to answer this question, I will have to use a description of the experiences I make every day: in the mornings, all the way up to the Caf, millions (ok, maybe only thousands, but still!) of students are waving, smiling and shouting "Hey, how is it goin?" or "What's up, man?" (by the way: WHAT IS THE ANSWER TO SUCH A QUESTION???). Inside the Caf, after having accomplished the "which sandwich do I want and what's the names of all these ingredients?"-test, I meet Miss Daisy and she also asks me "How are you doin, babe?". When having lunch or dinner, I'll probably sit at a table with a couple of people I don't know. After I tell one of them my first name, maybe he or she will enthusiastically cry out "Wow, you are the German exchange student, aren't you? Miss Fokeladeh [a German professor, my advisor] told us about you. I really love Germany and I want to go there one day!" As I don't know how to react then, I just smile and be happy. And happy I am indeed!

You know, the combination of a) studying at a small college, b) in the U.S., and c) in the South (why the South? Fellow students told me that the North would be very different - I've never been there, I have no idea!) is a somewhat awesome experience! People definitely will be nice to you. They will ask you how you experienced your first days in the U.S., they will give you their cell phone number (my typical answer: "Sorry, but I still don't have a cell phone!") and offer you a ride anytime you might need it. They will ask you about your home country, about the food over there and and what's your major.
One of the best proofs that I really really enjoy it to live and study here is probably the constantly rising number of my friends in Facebook that are from MC - day by day!

To be honest, I was told a lot by people in Germany that Americans are nice at the beginning, but then, they will forget you soon. And I am really happy to be able to tell those people after having returned that my experience were quite different! That I really felt at home. That people would offer me any help that I could need. That people kept their promise when offering me a ride or something else.

For this reason: THANK YOU to all of you out there! Without you, maybe I would cry all day long.

I am so different - no, you are not - SO WHO IS SPEAKING RIGHT NOW?

You know what - I'm different. Different from American people.
But my point is that I'm different from what I would be right now in Germany. Now, on the 5th of September 2008 - not many years back in the past, not some years in the futuere - NOW.
Well, I got so many different needs over there. I'm not used to the things and the way they are proceeding, I don't know how much I have to study for the single test (you simply have to learn the study questions???), most of the time I don't know which people to bother with my problems and even I do so - I might don't understand them! Even in the caf - 2 out of 3 times I end up with a sandwich that was not done the way I wanted it - and I nearly almost miss the question for the dressing *argh*
So, I'm not used to the culture and the behavior on many occasions (do I have to wear a tie for church service? really? I DON'T HAVE ONE!!!)
And that's the reason why I feel that I have so different needs, especially concerning my faith. At home, I liked singing, but here, I really love it to worship the Lord in a community with others. Back there, I used to go to a small group of some Christian students, but I didn't give that much about it. In the U.S., I'm really longing andd craving for a community in the Lord, with people that know me and are interested in me. And that's a difference if I'm at MC where most people are "by chance" Christians or if I go to place where Christians meet by purpose!

Oh man - I get to know myself in a very different kind of way I used to know myself before. Right at the moment, I'm not sad, but really thoughtful. We'll see ...