Surprise, surprise, another catch up blog post. Without going into too much detail, I’ll just say I will never forget to transfer pictures to my iPad before deleting them off my camera again. What. A. Mess.
Oh, Germany. Let me start off by saying, I was not satisfied with my time in Germany. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy myself or that I disliked the country. I just didn’t feel like I saw enough to get a sense of what makes Germany unique. Before leaving I already had it in my mind that I needed to come back and see more. Which brings me to a quote that I’ll mention later.
Arriving in Warnemunde, Germany on Monday was not the first time I had seen the German countryside. That came the week before, while sailing through the beautiful Kiel Canal en route to Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Kiel Canal was dug by the Germans through their land as a way to avoid having to sail around Denmark each time a ship headed further into the Baltic Sea. It takes all day for our ship to make it’s way through the canal, meaning that I have now spent two days on this gorgeous piece of Earth.
I remember waking up on the first morning we were in the canal and being extremely confused. Muddy water. Livestock grazing. Bike trail along the bank. Cornfields?
It looked just like the Missouri. Or the Nishna. Or any other lake and river I’ve ever seen in Southwest Iowa. I was home.
I had to go to class before I could take any pictures. But once I had the chance, I just stood up on the top deck and stared for hours.
Somewhere over there is Denmark. On the other side, miles and miles of beautiful German countryside. I liked to imagine that Denmark was closer than it really probably was. Many of my ancestors immigrated from Denmark not so many generations ago. Did they live in farms that looked like this? Is it too far fetched to wonder if that’s why so many Danes and Germans chose to settle in rural America?
I knew it was Germany, but it a strange way I felt closer to my great Grandma Chickee and her parents, my Grandma’s grandparents. I made myself a promise to come back and explore the German and Danish countryside another time. Maybe next time, I’ll take Grandma with me.
I also found all the Germans who stopped to take pictures of us incredibly funny. There were lined up all down the canal. In pulled over cars. In sailboats. In their front lawn. In lawn chairs. Just taking pictures of the massive blue cruise ship headed down the canal. They were probably just calling their neighbors up the river to say, “Hey, go look for this ship coming!”
So when we finally hit Rostock, which ended up being Warnemunde, a week and a half later, I was ready to see Germany from on land.
The first day in Germany I had to myself. I planned to just wander and explore Rostock. That didn’t happen.
I never found Rostock.
Instead, I spent half of my day on various trains trying to read German, hoping that eventually I’d end up in the city that we were told was only 20 km away. Once I gave up that quest, I spent the other half of my day in the tiny coastal town of Warnemunde.
I suppose there were worse places to be “stuck.”
“I am a lighthouse…”
I would have never expected such a beautiful, Caribbean looking beach in northern Germany. Seagulls, white sand, kites in the wind, picturesque lighthouses. I spent hours there, just taking in it. It’s one of my favorite parts of this voyage so far.
Guess the graffiti artist didn’t care this wasn’t Rostock..
The next day, I had a day trip to the city of Berlin, with a stop at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. I don’t have much to say about this, because I don’t think I can ever comprehend what I see and hear about the Holocaust. I will say it’s strange to be walking through what you see in pictures though. Reciting the numbers and glancing at pictures will never do justice to the emotions you feel as you pass by grave after grave.
After the camp, we drove the last few miles into Berlin and began our bus tour. This is where I was slightly disappointed with our time in Berlin – I was hoping to be able to stop at each of the places on our day’s itinerary, but we only got off the bus twice. So yes, technically I’ve seen many of the famous sites of Berlin, but through a moving charter bus. Which doesn’t really count for me.
Our two stops were for lunch and to see the Berlin Wall. By the time we got to the Wall, I was ready to slow down and look around. The guide told us we had seven minutes, yes, SEVEN minutes to see the Wall and be back on the bus. I run down to where the wall is and start taking pictures.
The Berlin Wall is a cool place. Really cool. I’ve studied the history of Berlin all last week, I’ve had a few meals with a professor from the ship who actually lived in Berlin when the wall went up, I’ve attended lectures on the subject. I’ve done my research. So, I’m standing in front of it now, toying with the idea of taking a small piece, (just a pebble!) for my best friend Berlin. (No clue what in the world she would have done with it, I just thought it would be cool!) And I’m reading the signs and taking pictures and trying to take it in, and suddenly I look up.
My group is gone.
Ladies and gentleman, I panic. I know there would be no head count on the bus, no making sure everyone was there before the driver left. Because we had SEVEN minutes, I didn’t think to bring my bag, my phone, or a single euro. I didn’t even have the slip of paper with the contact information in case we were lost. Nada.
I take off running down the wall, all the peace and awe of the place gone. I’m pretty sure I’ve never run so fast in my life. I can’t see anyone I recognize, the bus looks like every other bus on the street, I’m pushing through crowds of other tourists..
When suddenly I see another Semester at Sea student, someone I’ve never talked to but recognized because I was jealous he had better hair than me. I’m serious. I take off after him, (he’s running too) and by some miracle he must have known where the bus was. Together we it and jump on right as the doors are closing to pull away. Since then I have talked to this guy, and thanked him for saving my life. Literally. Steph told me it was the worst opening conversations I’ve ever had with someone. Oops.
One foot in East Germany… One foot in West Germany
And I didn’t get a piece of the wall for Berlin. Or anything at all, actually. I saw this really, really cool t-shirt in a shop as we drove by, with the world BERLIN in colorful graffitied letters that the real Berlin would have loved. Oh well, I’ll just have to get her something next time. (Are you noticing this pattern of “next times”??)
That really concluded my trip to Germany. Like I said before, I was not satisfied, and the entire way home from Berlin I found myself mentally planning when to come back and actually get a chance to properly take in the city. The idea kept growing over the next few days, until I found a quote.
I had been re-reading a section of The Fault in Our Stars on the ship between Germany and Belgium, because I was planning on going to Amsterdam, and I wanted to read the part where the characters go to Amsterdam. I know this book is very popular now, and for some reason (cough, cough, Berlin..) that makes me a little embarrassed to be quoting it now. I did enjoy reading it the first time, but as I am rereading it, I keep finding incredible small pieces, just sentences here and there, that I missed before. So I’m reading along, avoiding homework, and I come across this phrase.
“… and it occurred to me that the voracious ambition of humans is never stated by dreams coming true, because there is always the thought that everything might be done better and again. “
Stunned. After getting over my initial awe that I will never be able to phrase anything so perfectly, I realized that it was one of the truest statements I will ever read. This is my life right now. I am on this incredible voyage, this amazing journey, and already I’m planning all the places that I want to return to. And then my question turns to.. is this necessarily a bad thing? I enjoy thinking about the future, and I enjoy the idea that maybe someday I’ll get to go back. So of course, I do what I do best and I asked Berlin (the person, not the city.)
Berlin, in all her infinite wisdom, answered me with philosophy from an Rachel McAdams movie. (Sorry, I wanted to make that sound worse than it was ;)) She said,
“Even if we DO plan ahead, I think recognizing when we have dreams that do come true is essential for the full appreciation of life. Relishing in the remarkable ride we are currently on…. those are dreams that are now in a state of reality. Making sure that they are recognized is essential. Because in the long run, what we want to avoid is routine WITHOUT the appreciation. If appreciation comes with the routine, so be it, but not stepping back and enjoying the sunshine, or apple cider, or someone’s smile, or the crunchy leaves under our feet–that’s when we start only thinking that the future will be great. We can dream about the future, but we need to relish this exact moment too.”
I think she said it all.
-Carrie
How I (SEA) the World 