Nathanael visits me in Hamburg

Another good week! Some highlights: On Wednesday, an officer here invited me and Kyle to play soccer with some friends at a Sports Club. Starting at 9pm, we played on the indoor turf field that he had rented out. Then we went into the clubhouse and watched the highlight/match recap reels.

On Thursday after class, I took the metro systems and visited Tante Maria again in her flat. We had evening bread and cheese and talked. We talked about her trip to Sweden, my trip to Switzerland, and about each member of my family. Going there to pick up a boodle package that my mother had sent me turned into quite a wonderful evening!

After class on Friday, I took the train to Tostedt to meet my brother Nathanael, under the care of Jochen and Irene, a very warm and generous couple who live in a beautiful German village nearby. We had coffee and cake, sat and talked for two hours before eating classic German guesthouse food. We then went back to their home, and with German folk music in the background and a fire crackling in the pit, talked about everything from family, politics, Germany, and the economy. For the most part due to my ignorance of the last three topics, Nathanael and I just listened and learned!

On Saturday morning, they drove us up to Hamburg where we parked on the south side of the Elbe. We walked through an underground (actually, underwater) tunnel to the Hamburg Harbor where he reflected on old memories as a child there with his mother and as a merchant marine. One learns the most about a city when one has a guide like that!

They dropped us off at the main station, where we took the tram to a soccer game between Hamburg SV and Hertha Berlin. What an experience that was… The platform was so crowded I couldn’t check my watch, and we stood in the tram between two opposing parties who traded fightsongs and insults. The match was also incredible, and Hamburg scored the tie-breaking goal in the last minutes!

We then just did our normal thing, walking throughout the city. Providentially, we didn’t have our backpacks with us and the evening didn’t turn into a pre-race “warmup!” Throughout our walk, we savored various German delicacies, starting from salty to sweet: sandwiches, pretzels, rolls, and pastries. We weren’t up to another “meal in the park” like in Cologne, and we didn’t want to sit down for dinner. We just kept walking..and eating!

We woke up early on Sunday to visit the famous St. Pauli Fish Market, which was a lot bigger than we both expected. We therefore had to rush through it before taking the train to catch our half marathon across the Elbe. I knew Nathanael was having a good time, despite being up extra early before a race, when he said that we were definitely going back next time!

The half marathon in Hamburg-Neugraben was pretty painful for both of us. He had just recovered from a sickness, and I entertained the thoughts of just veering to the side and stopping! Prayer sure helped... The race took place near a region called “Alten Land,” which Jochen said is one of the main fruit producing areas in Europe. The post-race energy table had bananas and huge apple slices that proved Jochen right!

Waiting for the awards ceremony sucked up a lot of time, and by the time we cooked a mid-afternoon dinner (lunner we called it), it was time to walk comfortably back to the train station to see him off back to Essen. It was sure sad to see him off.

We, once again, had a great weekend together and are very thankful for it.