Where should we go this weekend?

I don't know. Let's just go to the train station on Saturday and see where the trains are going.

A conversation similar to this one took place in the beginning days of last week when discussing plans for the weekend. Feeling spontaneous, that's exactly what we did. With no reservations, both train or accommodation, we arrived at the train station in the wee hours of Saturday morning with minimal expectations and maximum enthusiasm. Feeling inspired, I wrote the following journal entry on my way to the train station:

I've Got a Ticket to No/Anywhere (The "no" was crossed out)
Not physically (yet!) but in my heart. I am especially excited for this trip because it truly is one of my first traveling "adventures." No known destinations (though we have some in mind), no reservations, no plans. Just us, a train, and a yet to be known city. I have my coffee, ipod, journal, Bill Bryson, and stack of biographies to grade. I can't wait to get started! (with the trip of course, not the grading). Here goes anything!

Upon arriving at the train station, we anxiously glance up at the list of destinations to see which we felt the desire to visit.
Amsterdam? Mmm, another weekend perhaps.
London? Too expensive.
Paris? Ditto.
Cologne? What's in Cologne? I don't know. A cathedral? Well, that sounds nice.
And so Cologne it was. At 40 euros round trip, we knew it was our most financially practial option, and with the next train leaving in 20 minutes, we decided it was probably our best timed option as well.

We arrived in Cologne, Germany with high hopes and hungry tummies. Cologne (or Koln if spelled in German) boasts the largest Gothic structure in the world, a cathedral located literally a stone's throw away from their central station. After doing the obligatory tourist gawking and photo taking, we then steered away from the cathedral in the direction of the nearest pretzel stand (we were in Germany, afterall). With pretzels in tow, we then headed through the commercial downtown in the direction of the Old Town and Rhine River, located perhaps 1-2 miles away from the cathedral. On the way we passed not one, but TWO weddings taking place in the same, we presumed to be, town hall. This experience gave us a glimpse into the German wedding ediquette spectrum. While one wedding party was dressed with upmost poshness and sipping champagne, the one celebrating outside right beside it was accompanied by two men, one playing clarinet and the other playing the saxophone, playing along with a boombox to the tune of Careless Whispers. As if that wasn't interesting enough to watch enough, one of the men left the other to walk around with his hat requesting donations. It was all very...intriguing.

So with that taste of Cologne...um...culture, we wandered the streets of Cologne in search of quaint Germanness, which came somewhat in the form of it's Old (and might I add small) Town. It was altogether pleasant, but by 3:00 we were wondering how else we were going to spend our afternoon. I raised the suggestion of visiting another German city, and due to its proximity and affordability, we soon found ourselves on a train to Dusseldorf, Germany, on yet another unexpected adventure.

We arrived in Dusseldorf without so much as a clue as to what could be found there. Our first impressions were rather grim, as the part of the city directly in front of the train station has that whole high-rise, busy-street sort of feel, not at all like the pleasant image of Germany we all had in mind. Of the four of us, two wanted to head back to Brussels that evening, which gave us an hour to spend in Dusseldorf. We were just starting to get the feeling of "Come on, Germany, you can do better than this", when we stopped a local to ask "If you had an hour to spend in Dusseldorf, how would you spend it?" He directed us to Dusseldorf's version of an Old Town, to which we walked quick in step and low in expectations.

As soon as I saw the cobblestone I knew our feelings toward Dusseldorf would change. As soon as I saw the lines of cafes and restaurants I knew we would end up staying more than an hour. And as soon as we walked around it's quaint shopping, pedestrian streets after checking into a perfectly young traveler-friendly hotel, I knew I was in love. Dusseldorf's Old Town sits just on the Rhine River and is filled to the brim with lovely shops (all decked out for Christmas) and authentically German pubs, cafes, and restaurants. We dined on authentically German cuisine (four varieties of pork, potatoes, and saurkraut) and sampled authentically German night-life (in fact, one of my friends and I learned the dance moves to a very interesting and popular German song about a lasso). We had an AMAZING time and I only regret that we gave ourselves only one night to spend there. I can't wait to return.

I wrote the following journal entry waiting for the train back to Brussels in a sweet cafe right by the train station:

Letting Fate Run its Course
Perfect, perfect, perfect ending to this trip. Thank you, God, once again for putting me in a situation that makes me realize that I am right where I am meant to be. I am ending this trip relaxed, drinking tea, and writing in my journal. How utterly perfect. Though Koln offered nothing extraordinary, Dusseldorf was everything I wanted out of this trip: spontaneous, exciting, and altogether perfectly German. The perfect German hotel led to the perfect German street on which rested the perfectly German restaurant and bars. Hooray for another city I will look back on with sincerest affection.

So who's to say planning ahead is always best?

In honor of the Thanksgiving holidays, I am especially thankful for these opportunities to see the world and make me appreciate what God has created. I would never be able to see this in such a way had I not been given the opportunity to work here. Being in situations such as this make me thankful as well for such wonderful people in my life to enjoy them with, and people, who may not be here physically, but who are certainly here in support and who so graciously listen to my accounts of these events. THANK YOU!

Strolling Through Scandinavia

There are so many reasons I love teaching at ISB. I love the diversity in culture and nationality. I love the different perspectives and experiences students bring to the classroom. And I love, a little more self-indulgently, the holidays. Though our various weeks and days off throughout the year are compensated at the end of the year when the school isn't dismissed for summer until the end of June, the holidays scattered throughout the year are little gifts straight from heaven to teachers that, upon reflection, I can't imagine ever teaching without.
The first holiday of the year is a week off for our half-term, otherwise known as Fall Break. To see a new part of Europe, and to pay homage to our collegiate roots, a group of friends and I decided to scamper up north to Scandinavia and visit the capital cities of Stockholm, Sweden and Oslo, Norway (the country from which Luther's founders came). Each city seemed vastly different from each other, and each gave my group of friends and I a different taste of Scandinavia.

Stockholm can only be described as a picture-perfect, quaint European paradise. Timeless in its architecture and street design, I found that Stockholm is to Scandinavia what Salzburg is to western Europe: perfection. Its narrow, cobbled, pedestrian roads would wind throughout its old town, leading my friends past various cafes and shops uniquely Scandinavian, seemingly unscathed by American chains or commercialism. Its mostly bleak weather did nothing to break our spirits, but in fact gave us an excuse to by Swedish mittens and stop into more cafes to escape the cold. With an incredible group to travel with, my trip to Stockholm will always remain in my head as one of my favorites I've taken since arriving in Europe.

After visiting Stockholm, we knew that Oslo had a lot to live up to. And boy, did it not. After such a charming city as Stockholm, the big, dirty city feel of Oslo became even more prominent. Its one major street, Karl Johan's Gate, became our only means of finding entertainment. If I were to sum up our trip to Norway with one word, it would be "wandering." Wandering to find things to do, wandering to find the coast to watch the sunset, wandering to find things to do at night. Throughout our trip to Oslo, we found ourselves in a perpetual state of lost. Had it not been for the amazing company I found in my traveling companions, Oslo would have been a complete bust. I am being harsh. There were some enjoyable parts to Oslo as well (and even more so if we had been there in the summer when more things, like ferries to the fjords, had been open) like a really cool sculpture park on the outskirts of the city, or the island of Bygdøy and it's charming tea room, or Grünerløkka, which is considered to be the "Greenwich Village" of Oslo with its square and charming restaurants. But overall, Oslo left a bit do be desired. What our trip did for me, though, was give me more of a reason to go back and visit another Norwegian city, knowing the charm of Decorah, Iowa, which reeks of its Norwegian heritage, must have been inspired by a village somewhere in Norway.
In the meantime, I will always look back on our trip with fond memories. Though the cities themselves had somewhat of an impact on how much we enjoyed the trip, the group with whom I traveled were the major contribution to how much fun I had during the week. I think one way to measure how a trip went is to identify which emotion emerges when reminiscing about that trip. And when I look back on this trip, I will always remember it with a smile. And often with a laugh. :)