I woke up early this morning so I could listen to a sermon online since I knew I wouldn't have a chance to go to church today or listen later. I started listening to a sermon by John Piper, but it wasn't really an exegesis on a text like I was looking for, so I searched for a sermon by Ravi Zacharias. I couldn't find an exegesis there either, so I listened to his “food for thought” on ethics and read Romans 2.
Helena then came in and said we were leaving in half an hour, so I quickly got ready and helped Nancy get everyone breakfast (English muffin with butter and thin pork strips, toast with peanut butter). I think it was the first time I felt full since I got here. We left the house and headed to Berlin to find the friends from Spain. We found them at the Sony Center smoking and drinking a traditional Christmas hot drink (wine, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, orange peel, brown sugar, rum). Oliver had deduced from last night’s dinner that I didn’t like alcohol so he ordered hot chocolate for all of us girls. We walked around the sidewalk Christmas booths and froze. Obviously my shoes are not warm enough because my feet froze!
After saying goodbye to them, we went to another Christmas flea market where they had mostly antiques, but there was an indoor section, so we walked through there and then ordered drinks. The market was in between and around two churches (one French, one English? The king had two sons who chose different religions, so to ensure they wouldn’t fight over the church, he had two built). In front of one of the churches, musicians sang and played instruments. I ate smoked pork inside a bun. It was delicious!
Then we went to a restaurant in the market where Carlotta’s parents joined us for dinner. I ordered something safe and apple juice. After we finished eating we stayed at the table waiting for Mark's business partner and his brother to arrive. Mark keeps joking that I’m not actually from America because I don’t know anything about American pop music. Most of the music Mark plays for me though is music from the 80s, so in my defense, I wouldn’t really know it anyway, but that doesn’t count to Mark. He jokes that I’m really from an invisible Wisconsin in Norway. It’s hilarious!
Everyone warned me that Mark’s partner was a womanizer. When they entered the restaurant, Mark told me to switch seats and sit by him. One brother was 71, lives in Orlando and is a radiologist. The other lives in Berlin, is 60, has long hair, obviously fake tanned, and makes advances on lots of women. I was nervous and everyone, including Carlotta’s parents kept looking at me and smiling in sympathy. Carlotta’s mom said if I wanted to I could always go sit down the table with them. I tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible. because he made me feel uncomfortable. Thankfully, there was an older woman in the restaurant that caught his attention. They ordered desert for everyone: ice cream, a pastry and warm plums. Then Mark got this alcoholic thing that you put on top of all of it. I liked it (without the alcohol), but was so full from eating so much. The brothers knew before coming in that I didn’t drink alcohol. My reputation is preceding me. J
There were so many people when we left the restaurant that we had to navigate through the crowd to reach the car. The girls thought my interaction with the business partner was funny. I just wanted to avoid him. It made me feel special when the girls stayed by me as we walked, talking and laughing.
I thought we were going home after that, but we ended up making another stop at the apartment of two brothers who live together (with one of the girlfriends). They own an advertising company and Nancy worked for them 15 years ago as a secretary. Their apartment is very modern, with art and lots of photographs. Mark showed me one professional photographer’s album and there were nude pictures in there of celebrities. AHH! I averted my eyes as quickly as I should. The girlfriend (who gave the book to her boyfriend) had inserted nude photos of herself. And that is deemed okay and even normal! I was and still am flabbergasted. He also showed me a picture of how Berlin used to be with the wall. Behind the wall was about 10 yards of sand with hidden mines, then another metal fence with barbed wire on top. They went to great lengths to keep people in the East side. It was amazing to see the picture because today I had seen all the new development that is the result of the wall being torn down. It’s incredible. There are bricks in the road to outline where the wall stood. It’s amazing to hear Mark and Nancy’s stories about living when the wall was still built and pretty much the only still-standing original war-time apartment building. It’s incredible how much history is one city!
Mark was telling me some of his beliefs. He believes everyone should test out and trying new things to find what works for you and makes you feel good. What a twisted point of view. No wonder society is as twisted as it is! While we were talking he said, of course you can’t just go kill someone. To which I interjected, “so there is a standard of some kind.” He agreed, but we didn’t get into what or WHO the standard IS.
At the apartment, they made MORE food. I looked at Nancy and said “oh no, more food.” She said she wasn’t going to have any, so I felt free to decline as well. They had a microwave and a pan (more like a wok) that was built into the counter. I’ve never seen anything like it. They gave me a small glass of the hot wine concoction. I took one sip and then used it to warm my hands. I showed them my house from google satellite, which they thought was amazing! They started looking up everyone’s houses including the one Mark lived in when he was a foreign exchange student in Nebraska!
We were talking around the table and someone asked me if I liked Obama. I shook my head no. Then they asked me if I liked Bush. I was thinking, “Oh great, what am I getting myself into? These people know more about US politics than I do. I don’t know what to say and I don’t want to say yeah or nay for anyone.” So I politely said, “I am thankful for some of the things he did and other things, well, maybe I wouldn’t have done them that way.” One of the brothers wanted to know what I was thankful for. So I wracked my brain and came up with the strides he made with the abortion issue. The brother said he didn’t think any politician or man should make laws about abortion. He thinks it should be a woman’s choice. I wanted to ask him what he thought about the baby's choice, but refrained. So they asked me if I got pregnant and knew the child was not healthy, would I keep it. I said yes, which I think surprised Nancy because I know it surprised Mark. They asked me why and I said life is precious and if that happened, the Lord was giving me that baby. I wish I had tacked on “who am I to say I don’t want it and get rid of it…kill it?” But I didn’t. I was nervous just to say that much! (unfortunately)
Mark told me he is in charge of all of Brandenburg for hunting. He is in charge of the hunting schools, figuring out what the population is of different animal species and which ones need to be protected. He has the authority to arrest anyone, higher even than the police (who really aren’t respected here). That explains why he is so busy! He was in Mongolia for a speaking engagement on the environment and pollution and was given an honorary doctorate from that school.
I actually really enjoyed myself at the apartment. I talked to one of the girlfriends about the taxes in Germany. It’s over 50% of their income. They have a love/hate relationship with the taxes because they don’t like paying so much but if they were to lose their jobs the government would pay them to still live comfortably.
As we were saying our goodbyes, I was talking with the American brother. He said he has known the Weinholz’s for many years and they are a great family. He then added and he thinks I’m really good for them too just based on the little bit of background he found out about me. That was encouraging and surprising at the same time. Nancy told the second brother that I have four sisters and he asked if they were all as beautiful as me. I didn’t know how to respond, so I answered that I’ve been told we all look alike.
Nancy drove home tonight. I didn’t think Mark looked or smelled drunk or even tipsy, but I guess he knew he had too much to drink and drive. The laws here are very strict. If you are arrested for drinking while intoxicated, you lose your license for a year, have to pay heavy fines, and before you can get it back, a lawyer must vouch for you. Also, they have a point system here, but instead of losing points (like in the US if you get pulled over, etc.) you gain points. When you reach 20 points, your license is revoked for good. If you don’t gain any points for two years, your points are deleted and you start over again.
We headed home and as soon as I got back to my room I got on facebook and saw Wendy had posted just five minutes early for me to get on skype, so I quick skyped them and then eventually we got the whole family on. I got to see everyone, including Meredith and Lincoln. Lincoln had a haircut! He looks like a such a young little man! So cute! I guess when Meredith saw me she pointed and said “Lolo”. I love it!
As I turned on the shower, the hose detached from the showerhead and sprayed water everywhere! Oops.
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