Happy Birthday David!

Happy Birthday to the best brother ever!!

I'm sorry I won't get to celebrate with you at home, but I'm sending lots of love from Germany. I hope you have a great day! I love you!

So Jesse sent for his son [David] and had him brought in. His skin was tanned. He had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, "Get up and anoint him. He is the one."
1 Samuel 16:12

Hamburger DOM

One-Sentence Summary: Last week, labmates and I made a spontaneous after-work visit to the Sommerdom, Hamburg’s large summer festival.

When I got into the lab last Tuesday morning, I thought it would be a fairly routine day of running experiments at work followed by a quiet evening in my room. Little did I know that Christiane, one of my labmates, was planning an adventure to the Hamburger DOM. In the morning, she announced that we were going to the Dom festival. I had heard of this festival before because it’s big news in the city. This festival/carnival is held three times during the year: Frülingsfest (spring), Sommerdom (summer), and Winterdom (winter) and boasts the largest transportable Ferris wheel. I agreed with her that we needed to go to the Dom festival. Later in the day, she mentioned that we were going to the Dom festival that day. Thinking she was joking, I readily agreed. At about 5 PM, she turned to me while I was working and asked, “Are you ready to go to the Dom?” And that’s when those of us still in the lab stopped our work and left for my first visit to the Hamburger Dom, in my work clothes and heels.

Main Entrance to the DOM (through the car window)

Rides, including the biggest transportable Ferris wheel

I am so thankful for Christiane’s spontaneous invitation. The Dom festival was so much fun! I felt like I was a child at Disneyland, just without all the Disney theme. Although I didn’t ride the huge Ferris wheel, Christiane and I rode a spinning ride called Viva Mexico (video of ride). The cars and the platform spin much faster than in the video (or at least it feels like it!), but the video is just an example since I was a little preoccupied to take pictures. The ride was a lot longer than I expected but I enjoyed it. Right after the spinning ride, we all got in individual cars for a time of bumper cars. I can’t even remember the last time I did bumper cars! Now I can say that I’ve been on the “road” with other German drivers. Our group of four also rode the Atlantis Rafting water ride just before some rain started to fall around 9PM (at 1:20 on video). We played one of the carnival games and my friends surprised me by winning a small stuffed animal keychain for me. All my lab mates were such great hosts in showing me the best parts of the Hamburger Dom. It was so much fun, and I hope I can go again before it ends on 23 August 2009.

Bumper cars!

Atlantis Rafting!

In addition to having rides and carnival games, the DOM also has portion called “World of Seventies.” There’s a mini-man-made beach where we took a breather from all the fair activities. I learned that the “Dom” means “cathedral,” and the Hamburger Dom got its name from 11^th Century history or so. There used to be dealers and craftsmen in Hamburg’s Mary’s Cathedral until 1804 when the building was demolished. The festival and its followers did not a have a permanent site until 1893 when the city assigned them to the open space where the Dom/Cathedral previously stood. Now, Hamburg has this great Dom festival three times a year for Hamburg citizens to enjoy. Most people think the Sommerdom is the best one, so I’m glad my first Dom experience was Sommerdom.

World of Seventies stage

By the time I got home in the evening, I felt like it was a Friday. I was a little disappointed when I realized it was a Tuesday evening and I still had to work the rest of the week. It’s a good thing I enjoy my work, or else it would have been very challenging for me to get out of bed in the morning.

I am staying healthy for the most part, but please pray that I would not get any bug bites. I think I inherited sweet blood from my mom because she and I are both prone to insect bites. Since it’s August, the mosquitoes are starting to get more active and I’ve already gotten more bites than I would like to admit. In addition to praying that I wouldn’t get bug bites, please pray that I do not excessively scratch the existing ones.

Can you believe it’s already August? Only 35 more days in Hamburg!

You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.
Psalm 4:7

Den Haag and Amsterdam

One-Sentence Summary: The highlights of my weekend in the Netherlands were the Peace Palace in Den Haag and the Anne Frank Huis in Amsterdam.

This past weekend, I visited the Netherlands for the first time. I did not know much about the country before I arrived, but I definitely learned a lot while I was there. The flight from Hamburg to Amsterdam was less than an hour. Then I took a train into Den Haag (The Hague) where I stayed for the weekend.

On Saturday, I started by visiting the Corrie Ten Boom Museum in Haarlem, which is about three-fourths the way from Den Haag to Amsterdam. Unfortunately, the English tour of the house was not given as scheduled, so I was only able to see the outside of the house. I also tried to go to the Frans Hals Museum, but it too was not open until later. I made the quick decision to get to Amsterdam rather than wait for all the places in Haarlem to open, which would have been another 1.5-2 hours. It just meant that I was able to spend more time in Amsterdam.

The trains were very easy to use in the Netherlands. I felt they were more like subways than trains because they were so easy to get on and off. For the first time since I’ve been here, I had my ticket checked on the train. I’ve heard that there are major fines if you are caught riding the train/subway/bus without a ticket. As always, I had my train ticket ready.

I arrived in Amsterdam and was immediately swallowed in the crowds of people. Amsterdam is an especially dense city, especially since there is limited land on account of all the canals. Most of the people are attracted to the walking streets that are lined with trendy shops and cafes. I walked down one of the more popular shopping street Kalverstraat and looked into shops like H&M, Espirit, America Today, etc. If the dollar to euro exchange rate were better, I probably would have returned with many souvenirs, but I guess it’s better that I remember I have to stay on a student budget.

I walked to Museumplein where the “I AMsterdam” stands. The weather was beautiful during the day so I enjoyed a simple sandwich picnic on the grass in between the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. While I was in Holland, I learned that Van Gogh is properly pronounced “Van Gog-h” with a short “o” and hard “g” sound and not “Van Go.” This was something new to me because I didn’t really know whom people were talking about when they said “Van Gogh” when I first arrived.









Although I didn’t go to the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, I was able to go to the Anne Frank Huis with only a short wait in line. I was very excited to see the annex that 13-year old Anne lived with seven other people. The annex turned out to be bigger than I expected, but I think this is also due to the fact that there was no furniture in the annex. Anne’s father Otto was the sole survivor of the eight Jewish people who were hiding in that annex. When he returned to the building, he found that the Nazis had taken all of the furniture. When Mr. Frank decided to open up the house, he wanted the rooms to remain empty.

I was not allowed to take pictures throughout the house, but I think this helped me experience everything in the moment. I spent more time reading through the exhibits and studying the building. I tried to imagine myself as a 13-year-old girl having to live in a confined space for an undetermined amount of time with seven other people whom I may or may not get along with. I can definitely see why Anne would need a diary as an outlet for all her pent-up energy, thoughts, and emotions. One of the memorable things from the house was seeing the original wallpaper in the annex. The Franks marked the heights of Margot and Anne as they grew during the time of hiding from July 6, 1942 to August 4, 1944. The video interviews of Mr. Frank and family friends were also especially compelling.

On Sunday, I attended Trinity International Church, a sister church of IBC-Hamburg. Though the congregation was smaller due to summer holidays, I enjoyed meeting the church members. I even met some Californians and Hamburgers (haha). In the afternoon, my kind host family took me on a driving tour of The Hague. I saw the beautiful Peace Palace, which was constructed after the donation of Andrew Carnegie and houses the International Court of Justice. As the name suggests, the Peace Palace is the location for mostly peaceful international arguments such as border disputes. Criminal cases and the like are addressed in the International Criminal Court, which is seated elsewhere in The Hague.

In addition, we drove by the Paleis Noordeinde, which is the Queen’s official work-palace. Imagine having a separate working palace. I wonder how many different palaces she has. The building that houses her horses and carriages was very nice. If the building for her horses is this nice, I can only imagine what her residential palace looks like. The Dutch Parliament also meets in The Hague. It’s a little confusing, but while Amsterdam is the official capital of the Netherlands, The Hague is where all the government work actually gets done.

(Queen's Horse Stables)

To make the tour and the weekend complete, I got to see the beach resort Scheveningen. Don’t ask me to pronounce the word because I find it very difficult, but the beach was nice. I was surprised to see people still flocking to the shore because it seemed like a chilly day to me, but apparently it’s the height of the summer and the day was supposedly a great beach day. I think I’ll wait for a little bit warmer weather to go into the water. The main resort at Scheveningen is the Kurhaus, which has some rooms overlooking the beach. I don’t want to imagine what the rooms cost in euros let alone dollars. On Sunday evening, I made it safely back to Hamburg.

As always, it was a full weekend of traveling, but I enjoyed it. It’s hard for me to believe that Hamburg has more bridges than Amsterdam and Venice combined because I saw so many bridges in Amsterdam, but I’ll keep bragging about Hamburg while I’m here.

Thank you for your continued prayers for travel safety. Please pray that my research experiments would be more successful. I’ve hit some setbacks in my work that have been a bit discouraging and disappointing. I would appreciate your prayers that I keep making progress in my project… and fast progress too! I’m sorry I haven’t been keeping the blog up to date, but I would like to change that soon if anyone is still reading. Please send me a summer update when you can!

indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many. 2 Corinthians 1: 9-11

Berlin

One-Sentence Summary: During my 48-hour trip to Berlin, my favorite sights were the Reichstag and Schloss Charlottenburg.

Last weekend, I visited Berlin, the capital and most populous city of Germany. My friend Marie was an amazing tour guide and host for me. I saw so much in the short time I was there. I didn’t realize the city was so big. The Hamburg public transportation system seems small compared to Berlin. The map was a little confusing since I wasn’t familiar with it, but Marie helped me learn the way by Sunday, especially since we used the U- and S-bahn for everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything…

I arrived on Friday evening after a 4-hour bus ride. The double-decker bus took an hour longer than expected due to the rain. I heard it rained in Hamburg over the weekend, but once I arrived in Berlin, the rain pretty much stopped. I was pretty glad about that. On Friday evening, Marie and I went to the Berlin Rathaus, Potsdamer Platz, and Alexander Platz. At Potsdamer Platz, I even got to see part of the Berlin Wall!

At Alexander Platz, there seemed to be some sort of international fair going on. There were different booths set up and it was very fun to view some of the different handiworks that were being sold. This clock in Alexander Platz tells the current hour in different places around the world. Every hour the clock rotates to be updated to the current hour in major cities in that time zone. Calculating from the LA time, you can tell what time we stopped by Alexander Platz.


We started out early for the Reichstag on Saturday morning, trying to beat the crowd that gathers for the free tour of the German parliament building. The building opens at 8 AM; we arrived around 8:45 and still had to wait in line for 40 minutes. However, I think it was definitely worth it. The new dome is the only part that is open for viewing, but the Reichstag experience is so much more than just a building. The dome is made out of glass and you can walk the spiral up to the top of the dome. There is a free audio tour in various languages that you can pick up at the base of the dome. I believe the individual audio speaker is magnetically (?) triggered to start speaking at certain points along the spiral ascent. In addition to learning about the history of the building and dome, I also saw the important landmarks around Berlin that were highlighted by the audio tour. It was a great beginning to my time in Berlin because it was like I was seeing a panoramic view of the city and I was able to see what sites I wanted to see later that day.

Other famous sites I saw were Brandenburger Tor, Berliner Dom, and Gendarmenmarkt. Brandenburger Tor is an old city gate that is an icon for Berlin.




Berliner Dom is officially known as “Oberpfarr und Domkirche” which translates to “Supreme Parish and Cathedral Church.” I can definitely see why people would want to call it “supreme.” It is beautiful church. Since I had so much fun climbing “die kuppel,” or “the dome,” of the Reichstag, I decided to also climb to the dome of the Berliner Dom as well. I wasn’t able to go to the very top, but I went as far as was allowed and it was another great view of the city. However, the climb was not as much fun since it was all stairs and not a smooth incline like at the Reichstag. My quads definitely got a work out that afternoon. Gendarmenmarkt is a Berlin square that faces the Konzerthaus. To the left and right are the Deutsche Dom and Franzosische Dom. The French cathedral was built first, but both were destroyed in World War II. The cathedrals were rebuilt and look very similar to each other today. Of course, I climbed as high as I could in the Deutsche Dom, and was able to look across the Gendarmenmarkt to the Franzosische Dom.

On Sunday, the weather was beautiful. Although Marie and I considered going to the famous Pergamon Museum, we thought it would be a waste to spend the day inside. Instead, we visited Schloss Charlottenburg. This was a really good decision since the schloss was one of my favorite sites all weekend. Now that I’ve seen Schloss Charlottenburg, I have decided that I want to live in a schloss when I grow up. What is a schloss? A palace, of course! Look how beautiful it is! I also want my schloss to have gardens and a fountain in the backyard like at Charlottenburg. If anyone knows where I can find a place like this, please let me know! I’ll be sure to invite you to my house-warming party. =D













There were many other sites that we saw, such as two different Saint Nikolai kirches, Spandau Citadel, Olympiastadion, St. Hedwig’s Cathedral, and Bebelplatz. It was a full weekend. I especially enjoyed catching up with Marie. Before I knew it though, I was back on the bus for Hamburg. Fortunately, I missed all the rainy Hamburg weather during the weekend and made it back in time for wonderful sunny days this past week. That’s part of the reason that this post is being made a week late. I hope I don’t make it a habit to post so late.

Everything continues to be well in Hamburg. Research in the lab is getting a little busier. Please pray that I would be very productive and use my time well. Also, one of the lab members is not feeling well, so I would really appreciate prayer for her. She was not able to come into work all week, so I hope she feels better over the weekend. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33

24

One-Sentence Summary: 24 exciting hours of Karis’ life in Germany!

Sunday, 5 July 2009
1100
What a beautiful day! Since church doesn’t start until 12:30, I have time to sleep in until 10 AM on Sundays and get a little brunch before heading to church. It’s a quiet, pleasant morning. I’ve packed a change of clothes for playing basketball with some of the other young adults in the afternoon. I’m excited to be out on the courts again.

1200
I’m off to church. Do I have my Bible, notebook, and basketball clothes? Check, check, and check! It’s just a 7 minute walk to the U-bahn, a 15 min ride to church, then a 7 min walk to the sanctuary. I should be there right on time.

1230
IBC begins!

1400
Potluck on every first and third Sundays?! Look at all this yummy international food. I think I’ll take some of this rice, and stew, and casserole. Mmm I love church potlucks. What’s even better is the great conversations I can have with the people at my table. There are so many people to meet, and they’re all very friendly. The young adults are still planning to play basketball after we’ve had some time to digest our food… the only problem is that we don’t have a ball. I guess it’ll be an adventure to find one.

1500
It’s hot outside, around the high 20s (°C of course, which is equivalent to low 80s °F). We’ve tried looking for a basketball at the church office and a friend’s apartment. I think it’s time to call it quits and just hang out at an eis café. Eis cream sounds so good right now.

1600
Potluck then eis cream! This is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. It looks like a group of young adults are on the move. Did I hear correctly? We want to walk through the Altona forest? To the water? Well count me in. It sounds like a scenic walk and I’m sure it’ll be fun to get to talk to people along the way.

1700
Now I’m starting to feel the heat. We’ve been walking for about 30 minutes now and we’re still not there yet. I must admit that the scenery is beautiful but trees start looking the same after awhile. It’s a beautiful park if I were dressed to enjoy it. I’m still in my long pants and knit top that I wore to church. I wish I could change into my spare basketball clothes. At least this park is beautiful. I enjoy walking through it and seeing yet another side of Hamburg.

1800
We made it! And I must say it was worth it. The group didn’t tell me we were going to a beach. I would have brought my towel and flip-flops. I didn’t even know I lived within a train and bus ride to the beach. It’s not exactly like Southern California beaches, but I’ll take anything with sand, water, and waves. It’s so much fun to be at the beach during the summer.
I feel much cooler since I’ve finally changed into shorts and t-shirt. I even get to go into the water. I’ll just go in so far that the water is at my knees. Wave! Okay well now I’m wet. I don’t mind though. The cold water definitely feels good in this warm weather. What a great summer Sunday! I guess it’s time to head back home now.

1900
I’m on my way home for a quiet evening in my roo-*Ring ring*
“Hello”
“Hi Karis. Would you be interested in watching a heart transplant surgery this evening?”
“Yes! I would love to!”
“Okay. It looks like a heart just became available, so we’ll be doing the transplant in a couple hours. I’ll give you a call when the operating time gets closer.”
“Great, thanks!”

2000
I’m eagerly waiting for my phone to ring. Please ring, please ring. I’m so excited and have so many questions! How is the recipient? What happened to the donor? When is my phone going to ring??

2100
I think it might be more than a couple hours. I’ll take a shower and Skype with my family. That should pass some time.

2200
More waiting. It’s getting late. I don’t know when the surgeon is going to call me back. Maybe I should sleep and wake up when the surgeon calls back? Oh but I can’t sleep. I’m too excited about this surgery. I guess this is what they mean when they say “on-call.” I’ll just stay awake until I get a phone call. I hope everything is okay.

2330
*Ring –* “Hello”
“Hi Karis. The transplant surgery is a go. I’ll be making the opening incision in about 60 to 90 minutes. You should come to the hospital in about an hour.”
“Got it. I’ll see you in an hour then.”

Monday, 6 July 2009
0030
I’ve made it to the hospital. I’ve never been here at night. It’s really quiet and a little scary in the dark. Good thing I’m in the hospital where all the lights in the hallway are very much on and bright. I bet this keeps all the doctors awake during the night.
My scrub-in nurse is so helpful. She showed me where I can take off all my clothes and put on the fashionable green scrubs. We’re not allowed to wear any of our regular clothes in the operating room (or “OP” as the Germans call it). Even the rubber shoes are green. Now I’m going to meet up with the surgeon before he starts operating.

0130
The opening incision! We had to wait about 40 minutes more because our heart donor team had to wait for the lung donor team to arrive. I didn’t realize before how much coordination is needed with transplant surgeries. The organ donor teams from different hospitals all need to be present and working together so that all the organs can be used. In addition, the recipient surgical team has to be coordinated with the donor surgical team to make sure the recipient isn’t prepared too soon or too late. It’s all about the timing with these transplant surgeries.

0230
The expert surgical team is ready for the donor heart. We expect the donor team to arrive any minute now. There haven’t been any complications with preparing the heart to go on bypass. The heart does not look so healthy since this patient has been on the transplant list for a couple months. A few weeks ago, he had been told that a heart had become available for him. Unfortunately, the donor team found some problems with the donor heart and so he was very disappointed. However, this time the surgery is going very smoothly.
The donor team has arrived with a healthy heart. It is not beating, but I can’t wait to see it giving life to our patient.

0330
The old heart has been removed and the new heart is in. The surgical team is working hard to suture all the arteries and veins. The patient is still on bypass so the bypass team is also busy. The anesthesia team is constantly monitoring the patient’s status.

0430
The heart is beating! It is so exciting to watch the first beats of this heart in a new body. It will still be some time before the patient is fully removed from the bypass machine, but the heart looks much healthier compared to the old one.

0530
The heart contractions are regular and coordinated. The bypass team has done a great job and is finished for this surgery. The surgeons are able to breathe a little bit while the anesthesia team works hard to replace bags of nutrients going to the patient. Fortunately, the patient receives all of his own blood back. Much of the blood that was lost in the surgery is filtered almost instantly and given back to the patient. We’re almost done!

0630
Now I’m starting to feel the fatigue. I don’t know how these surgeons do it. They’ve worked a full day and are on their 5th hour of surgery. I’m tired and I’m not even doing the surgery. I am impressed and thankful that they give up so much of their time and energy to save lives. When the surgeon told me that the whole team had to be on call that evening, I told him that I think the patient is very thankful that they are losing hours of sleep for him.

0800
The last suture is complete. The surgery went without major complications and this man should be very healthy now that he has a new heart. Even though I’ll never be able to meet or talk with the patient, I hope he makes the most of this donor heart.

0830
I’m just in time for my lab meeting. My boss is a little surprised I showed up since she knew that I spent the night watching the transplant surgery. She’s telling me to go home right away. I just need to do a few things in the lab before I go…

0930
No eating or drinking in the lab. Exit the building if you hear the fire alarm. Don’t put flammable chemicals near the heater. Got it. Safety training done!

1030
I’m on my way home. It has been a full 24 hours and I’m exhausted. Everything I did was worth the lost hours of sleep though. I had a great time attending church, going to the beach, and watching a heart transplant surgery! I hope the summer gets even better from here.
In the coming days, I will be praying (and I invite you to join me in praying) for a quick recovery for the heart recipient, comfort in a grieving time for the donor family, and much-needed rest for my physical body.

1100
Sleep!

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

Hamburg Bus Tour and Harbor Cruise

One-Sentence Summary: On the bus tour and harbor cruise, I got great views of the city landmarks and waterways.

The Rathaus (Townhall)
This weekend I had another amazing tourist excursion. Two medical students were visiting our lab, so six of us explored the city during the day. We rode a double-decker Hamburger Stadtrundfahrten bus that stopped at various points in the city. The total ride was about 2 hours and showcased the best sites in Hamburg. We drove down Monckebergstrasse, which used to be the city of the city. It is still a very popular street with classy shops lining both sides of the street. The actual road is closed off to public traffic; only taxis and buses are allowed to drive down the street that is filled with pedestrians. We also drove down the Reeperbahn, which is not as scary when you’re on the top deck of a double-decker bus but during the tour I heard more scary stories about the area so I’ll continue to stay away.

An area that was reconstructed to look like Hamburg back in the day.

The bus tour was perfect because I got to see the outer areas of Hamburg without having to walk there. Hamburg is a pretty big city, too spread out that I don’t think my legs would survive walking the whole distance. Hamburg is a mix between old and new. There are very old parts of Hamburg, including an area that was reconstructed after The Great Fire to look like traditional Hamburg. Even the streets are cobblestone. Then there are dozens of construction sites for the new Hafencity (Harbor City), a city project involving many millions of euros. The apartments, schools, and business buildings will be located very close to the water and the center of the city, and thus, very expensive. Do I hear early birthday gift? =D I got to see where Hamburg has had its Fischmarkt every Sunday since 1703. During the summer, it starts at 5 AM and includes more than just fish, I hear. Since IBC doesn’t start until 12:30, I have plenty of time to visit the Fischmarkt one of these Sundays. Stay tuned for a Fischmarkt post in the future.


Hafencity under construction.

The harbor on the Elbe River.

The permanent theater for Der Konig Der Lowen (The Lion King). You can only reach it by ferry.

Two of many bridges in Hamburg

After the bus tour, we went on a harbor cruise of the Elbe River. It was a beautiful day to be on the water because it was sunny with some clouds, not too hot when the breeze blows your hair. Hamburg is a nice city to live and work in because there are so many waterfront properties. Many office buildings are right on the water with a beautiful view. I don’t know how good that would be for me because I would get distracted whenever I look out the window. Still, I wouldn’t say no to such a view. I’ve heard that Hamburg has more bridges than Amsterdam and Venice combined. Yay for Hamburg!

It was a full day and I’m so thankful that I have fun labmates. We’re able to get work done in the lab but also share laughs and spend time together on the weekends. Please pray that our experiments would be successful this week. Everyone loves successful experiments, especially me! Thanks for reading!

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.

Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.

Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name.

1 Chronicles 29:11-13

Another Park?!

One-Sentence Summary: I have found an encouraging group of young adults from IBC with whom I can hang out.

Blogs are surprisingly hard for me to keep updated. I’ve had a very exciting week but haven’t taken the time to write it in the blog. Then the longer I wait, the more I don’t want to blog because I know I’ll just have that much more to write about. So now I’m finally sitting down to document this past week. I might break this up into different posts since I couldn’t possibly have a one-sentence summary for the whole week.

On Tuesday evening, I attended the Young Adult Group at International Baptist Church (IBC). I was delighted to meet more people around my age and see some familiar faces. Many of the young adults keep telling me that IBC is a good church for me to attend because they’re accustomed to the quick turnover of young adults. Many of the families of the church are regularly attending members, but Hamburg has many young adults coming in and out for schooling and companies that IBC is able to welcome young adults regardless of how long they are staying. I have appreciated this aspect of IBC because I can learn more about Hamburg as well as listen to people talk about their life experiences in different countries. Already, I have had a few engaging conversations about ethnicity, nationality, race, and culture. And of course, you probably know how much I enjoy discussing those issues. I expect and look forward to continuing to have substantial conversations throughout the summer.

Again on Thursday evening, I joined an Eppendorff home group. We met at a friend’s house who lives very close by. We studied the last book of Titus to follow what the pastor was preaching on Sunday. We had a yummy dinner together, and then dove right into the text. The group was significantly smaller this week because families are on holiday. A few times now I have gotten confused by this term “holiday.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe Americans use the term to describe a particular day/event that we have off from work, such as Easter, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas to name a few. When we take time off of work for ourselves, we would consider that a “vacation.” Europeans use holiday to mean time off of work, so many people have been asking me if I’m on holiday and I say no. Usually someone who knows I’m American will rephrase the question and ask if I’m on summer vacation, and I respond yes. It’s a very subtle difference but one that I have to keep in mind when faced with the question of whether I’m on “holiday.”

When I returned from work on Friday evening, I did not have any plans. I went to the train station to buy a monthly pass because I figure public transportation is much more time-effective than walking. On my way back, an IBC friend called to invite me to hang out. Needless to say, I was very excited to be invited to a spontaneous gathering. I even invited my neighbor who lives across the hall from me. I met him only this past week. He is German and speaks some English. We’re able to communicate but I agreed to help him with English if he helps with German. I think I may have the better end of the deal since his English is better than my German. Even though he did not know anybody and did not know that we were a church group, I think he had fun and I hope God will spark something within him.

The Alster

Since it was a warm Friday evening, we got some eis cream before walking to a park. Sorry no eis cream pictures, but I had gummy bear flavor. Yum! We walked to a park that I had never been to before and I’m not sure what the name of the park is, but it was located on the beautiful Alster (a tributary of the Elbe River). We passed a Frisbee, played a few cards games, and just talked late into the night. Germans really know how to spend their Friday evenings at the park because we seemed to be the only group without mini lawn torches for lighting. At midnight, I heard some people cheering (for someone else’s birthday), but I wished my group (from everywhere but America) a Happy July 4th! My English friend was not amused but a South African was also present to back me up.

Playing Frisbee in the park.

I hope everyone back home had a safe July 4th weekend. I am feeling more and more comfortable here, especially now that I am hanging out with IBC friends. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers. Look at how quickly God works! Please pray that my cells will grow quickly in the lab. Unfortunately I had to throw away a flask of cells due to contamination, and it was a little painful for me. I really hope my other cells do not get contaminated as well. It’s hard for me to believe that it’s already July. Please send your summer updates to me as well!

Sunset at 10 PM

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:25