Culture Shock

Mood: disoriented
Stage notes: conference center lobby

Last evening I arrived at Evangelisches Johannesstift Berlin. This beautiful conference center has approximately 50 buildings. These stately brick buildings have interestingly varied archetectural features, and are snuggled among rose gardens, sculptures, and even a small aviary. Although we are just at the edge of Berlin, you could easily imagine that we are in the middle of a great forest. In fact, I have been told that 50% of the city is occupied by trees and lakes. This is an amazing thing considering the level of destruction following the War.

For the first time since arriving in Germany, I am experiencing a noticable sense of culture shock. This is not from the German surroundings, however, but rather from all of the Korean and Eastern European people I have met here. The most obvious thing is that many people here do not speak English or German, and the teachings are translated (more or less) from Korean into English by radio. More impactful, however, has been the style and structure of the Korean church organization that is hosting the conference. It is significantly different from that of either Riverview or the churches I have attended while in Koeln. They have one main teacher whose sermons are then broadcast around the world. I am still trying to process what I think of the 6 1/2 hours of sermons that I have heard so far and the conversations that I have had with people at meals. It is good to meet so many brothers and sisters from around the world, however, and this is a comfort.

Fun note: I randomly picked a woman to sit next to during my first meal here. Although there are only about 200 people here, the woman surprised me by responding to my German in American English. She then proceeded to tell me that she had just graduated from MSU law school a few months ago!