Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Pictures from Berlin

Instead of a long post, I thought I would comment on a number of pictures--the most interesting or moving or eye-grabbing of my visit to Berlin. I traveled there to visit Zach, a teammate from Davidson.

Below is the first building that I saw when I stepped out of the train station. As you can see, the top still bears the effect of WWII bombing and one side also has noticeable damage. It was never repaired--to remind the city of the war's devastation. About 90% of the buildings in the city were destroyed!

















Here is the main German capital building. It's an impressive structure, famous for its glass dome protruding from the center section. Tourists can walk to the top, but I was a bit to impatient to wait in line. There was more of the city I had to see!

















Fortunately, not every building was destroyed during WWII. This beautiful cathedral suffered only minor damage. The affected areas were restored and the cathedral looks as it did before the war--magnificent.


















This is one side of the Russian political headquarters used while they occupied East Berlin after the war. The Russians painted this pro-Communist mural when they took over the building. Notice the worker and the authority (politician or boss) are exactly the same height. Universal equality is definitely a Communist ideal. What makes this terribly ironic is that the style closely resembles American realism. So basically the Russians use an American art form to promote communism (I didn't think of all that myself--the tour guide filled us in).

This is the famous Checkpoint Charlie. It was a major American checkpoint on the border of East and West Berlin. I took this picture from right about where the Berlin wall once stood. It's an absolutely fascinating city history and hard to believe that the wall came down only 20 years ago!














Zach and I visited a rebuilt concentration camp and museum in Sachsenhausen, just north of Berlin. It really is a sobering moment to walk through the camp and see pictures of what happened there. It's horribly uncomfortable but necessary to remember this history. I think knowing it is one of the best defenses against Fascism in the future. Let's tell this story so it never happens again!












Here's what remains of the crematory ovens--used to burn thousands of bodies. This was the most moving thing to see for me.

















Zach and I also went to the Jewish Museum at Berlin. It was not just about the Holocaust but about the full history of the Jewish people. I took many pictures but found this quote particularly moving. It comes from a leading doctor of Hitler's effort in eugenics--killing off or sterilyzing whoever doctors deemed unfit for reproduction.
This weekend we play Weisbaden, the only undefeated team left in our division. With a week's rest, we should be up for the challenge.
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God bless!
Ryan

Monday, June 15, 2009

Gaining some momentum

Since my last post, we've played two games--against probably the best and worst team in our division. Last weekend against the Franken Knights, we started the 4th quarter down 21-0 before our offense finally came alive. We scored two quick touchdowns and got the ball back with two minutes left down 13-21. A high snap and interception on the last play of the game made the final outcome 35-13 but it was much closer game than the score indicates.

And the offensive momentum from the fourth quarter of last week carried over into the game on Saturday. We won 63-0. Let me repeat that in case you missed it. 63-0!! I've never been involved in such a lopsided match. Simply put, everything worked--on offense and defense. And in the rare case when something broke down of offense, we improvised--almost always successfully. It must have been one of the hottest days of the year on Saturday. The burn marks on my arms start right where my jersey ends. It reminds me of my pre-season days in Davidson, baking in the Carolina sun.

One of the unexpected surprises of the season for me is running the football more often. I haven't since my high school days carried the ball myself like I am this year. It's been great. The picture I attached is me crossing the goaline for the first score of the game. Our record is now 3-3 and I continue to be optimistic about the direction of our team. We're healthy with a great defense, a powerful running attack, and an ever improving group of receivers. And we seem to having more fun--playing relaxed and growing more comfortable in our roles.

Some other great news to report: my Visa finally arrived!! So I start teaching English this week. While I've been waiting, I've been reading many books, writing, lifting weights, and trying to learn a bit of German. But I'm very exted to set down my books and start working.

I travel to Berlin next weekend to meet Zach, a teammate from Davidson. He'll show me around a bit of the city. It's been a few weeks without traveling so I'm excited to get out of Darmstadt for the weekend.
My German is picking up too. I probably understand 20-25% of what's said around me. In some contexts (like the football field) it's much higher. I still respond in English though so I speak much less than I understand. It's exciting to see this progress though.
Hope all is well! Please keep in touch--I'd love to hear from you too. God bless!
Ryan

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Back to .500

Last weekend, our team got back to its winning ways with a 25-14 victory over Stutgart. Although we left some points on the field, the offense still put up over 20 points for the first time all season!! Yes, we must get better, but I'm still celebrating this improvement. Our record is now 2-2 heading into Saturday's matchup with the Franken Knights, one of the better teams in the division.

My time has slowed down lately. I'm getting more and more used to life here--the people, lifestyle, my own existence. I still feel very much like a foreigner but everything is not so unfamiliar and exciting like it was for the first month or so. My body has found a rhythm in the day to day which is a good thing.
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Last weekend was Darmstadt's annual Scholssgrabenfest. About five different stages were arranged around the downtown area. Live music blasted all night and about a million food tents served food from every nation you could imagine.
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Here are a few pictures from a motorcycle trip I took with Nico and Phillip. I sat behind Phillip on my first ride ever on a bike. We headed to a few places along the Rhine River. The river is only several miles from us but the closest bridge across it is probably around 25 miles away. Countless bridges including many along the Rhine were destroyed in WWII. Some that were close to us haven't been rebuilt and ferries have taken their place.

God Bless,

Ryan