First Impressions from Berlin

Hello from Berlin!

It’s been a lot harder to get Internet access than I thought it would be. Not because it doesn’t exist, but because free time is at a premium. This evening there wasn’t anything on our agenda, so I thought I’d let you know a few details about my trip so far.

In case you've ever wondered, this is what jet lag looks like.

Actually, we had a bit of a scare on the way here. Our flight from Charlotte to Munich had a little hiccup. The captain came on the loudspeaker about an hour or two into the flight and asked if there was a doctor aboard. Later, he came on saying our disembarking would be delayed because one passenger was exhibiting swine flu symptoms. They said to expect a major delay. But we ended up not having barely any delay at all on the ground. Praise God! But that was not the last of our traveling troubles. When we arrived in Berlin they could not open the baggage door on the plane, so all the checked bags were stuck there. I know, it was really bizzare. Thankfully for me, I packed all my things in carry-on bags.

We have a great team here in Berlin. There are 22 of us in total. Ten of us come from Wildwood, my church in Tallahassee. So far we’ve been learning about German culture, about the spiritual needs of this city and how to teach English to middle school children. It’s been intense! Lots of information has been given in a short amount of time.

We’ve had a chance to see some of the sights here in Germany. I’ll post just a quick sample of pictures here.

Name the movie: "Alexanderplatz. Thirty minutes. Under the world clock."

These cows have found a new home.

Check out Martin Luther's church. These are the bronze doors with the 95 theses engraved into them.

I’ll try to post one or two more times while I’m here. If I can get some extended Internet time I’ll toss up a quick video. Keep on praying for my time here. We start teaching the kids on Monday. I have been assigned two boys in 7th/8th grade. I’ll keep you posted.