I love traveling all over the world and getting to see and meet people from different countries. But my second favorite thing to traveling is coming home! I've been gone for the past six weeks and gotten to experience living life (or at least in a short-term basis) in Sweden, Germany and Italy. I'm so thankful I have the opportunities to be exposed to different parts of the world because it opens my eyes to how people live other than what I'm used to in the U.S. We have a saying on project as we encounter new cultures that "it's not wrong, it's just different! There was nothing like coming home to my own bed last night, though! Today, I'm experiencing the normal effects of jet lag and a general sluggish feeling that I've found normal when I come back to the fast-paced life in the U.S. Life is simpler overseas: there were only 20 people for me to spend time with and a limited number of people I could communicate with!
Before our students head back to the U.S., we always have a few days of debriefing from project to help them think through things they might experience once they leave their time overseas. We spent a few days in Munich, Germany this year for debrief and had some meetings and some fun times sightseeing together. After a month together as a project, it can be hard to leave each other, so they had a great time hanging out one last time. We took a train through the German countryside to Newshwanstein, a German castle in the Bavarian Alps that was the creative inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty castle. We were really sad when we got there and stepped out onto the bridge and saw they were renovating the back of the castle! Oh well, I guess renovations have to happen sometime...
We also toured Dachau, the concentration camp a few miles north of Munich. That w
as really sad, especially because the audio guided tours had survivors' personal testimonies
about life in the camp. One of the most moving quotes for me was from
George Tievsky, who was part the liberation effort. Upon arriving at the camp and seeing the crematorium, he said, "I got the feeling that this was another planet. This could not be. It was unreal."
Looking out the window of one of the recreated prisoner bunkhouses.
The inscription on the front gate of Dachau that reads "work will set you free" in German.
Glad you are back friend.
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