My reading professor made a very dramatic illustration in class on Thurdsay night.
She read the ingredients in the milkbone dog biscuits and pointed out that all of the ingredients were items we could understand....and then she ate one! Yuck!
Then she told us about the ingredients in McDonals Chicken Nuggets...half of which we could not pronouce.....
She also compared the calories in the dog biscuits & chicken nuggets....guess which one has alot fewer calories....yep, the dog biscuits!
So is it we don't eat dog biscuits...but we will pay lots of money to eat mystery meat thats loaded with fat and calories....!
Let's just say when I drove by McDonalds today...I had no desire to stop and order chicken nuggets!
The point she was trying to make was the power and effect of a label!
We make judgements about people and kids based a label, and not what's inside the package!
When we should take the time to learn about the inside of the package, before forming an opinion.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Germany-Some Final Thoughts
Germany is a beautiful country full of history.
I loved all the old building, castles, and downtown plazas and pedestrian areas.
Germany is very clean and the people are very environmentally friendly (all their trash must be sorted and vehicles need special stickers to drive in the large cities).
The people are different..we are used to southern hospitality and friendliness...but friendly is a not a word I would use to describe most Germans you meet on the street. Not because they are intentionally rude...they just aren't friendly.
I love the autobahn....Germans are the best drivers..everyone knows the rules and they follow them. No wonder they are safe drivers with no speed limit.
Having to pay to go to the bathroom was something that took getting used to. It didn't matter if you were eating at the McDonalds, in the mall, or at a rest stop on the autobahn ...you have to pay 50 euro cents. But I have to admit, when we stopped at the rest stop on the autobahn it was the cleanest bathroom I have ever seen. The toilet seat automatically cleans itself after every flush...so its was well worth it!
Having to pay for ketchup also seemed strange.
Germans like sparkling or mineral water...so you have to be careful about which water you get ...no gas/no bubbles!
The missionaries we saw are doing a great job...and made me stop and consider what my priorities should really be! Because in eternity, most of the things we value will be worthless.
I loved all the old building, castles, and downtown plazas and pedestrian areas.
Germany is very clean and the people are very environmentally friendly (all their trash must be sorted and vehicles need special stickers to drive in the large cities).
The people are different..we are used to southern hospitality and friendliness...but friendly is a not a word I would use to describe most Germans you meet on the street. Not because they are intentionally rude...they just aren't friendly.
I love the autobahn....Germans are the best drivers..everyone knows the rules and they follow them. No wonder they are safe drivers with no speed limit.
Having to pay to go to the bathroom was something that took getting used to. It didn't matter if you were eating at the McDonalds, in the mall, or at a rest stop on the autobahn ...you have to pay 50 euro cents. But I have to admit, when we stopped at the rest stop on the autobahn it was the cleanest bathroom I have ever seen. The toilet seat automatically cleans itself after every flush...so its was well worth it!
Having to pay for ketchup also seemed strange.
Germans like sparkling or mineral water...so you have to be careful about which water you get ...no gas/no bubbles!
The missionaries we saw are doing a great job...and made me stop and consider what my priorities should really be! Because in eternity, most of the things we value will be worthless.
Germany Day 14
Monday
We still had lots of souvenirs to buy, so Gary and Chastity took us back into Frankfurt to try to find some stuff to bring home.
Everything was so expensive, then when you figure out the exchange into dollars-you don't want to buy anything...but then you realize that this is one of those once in a lifetime opportunities and just quit worrying about the cost of every item.
We rode the train..and that was an interesting experience.
We ate at Kentucky Fried Chicken in the train station...it was good but its not the same...and of course it was alot more expensive. A 2 piece meal with fries and a drink was over 7 euro...which equals about $10.50.
See...I am not exaggerating about the cost of everything.
We still had lots of souvenirs to buy, so Gary and Chastity took us back into Frankfurt to try to find some stuff to bring home.
Everything was so expensive, then when you figure out the exchange into dollars-you don't want to buy anything...but then you realize that this is one of those once in a lifetime opportunities and just quit worrying about the cost of every item.
We rode the train..and that was an interesting experience.
We ate at Kentucky Fried Chicken in the train station...it was good but its not the same...and of course it was alot more expensive. A 2 piece meal with fries and a drink was over 7 euro...which equals about $10.50.
See...I am not exaggerating about the cost of everything.
Germany Day 13
Sunday
We had Sunday School in English with Bro. Gary. He did a really good lesson on the person of Jesus Christ. Then we had a regular church service in German. We recognized a couple of songs because they used the same music. Thankfully Bro. Gary translated for us, while Bro. Michael preached.
Then we drove to Frankfurt to have lunch with Bro. Gary's church. He has a group of Burmese people who made us a German lunch of ham, mashed potatoes, and sauerkraut.
I never saurkraut in the States, I don't even like the smell of it...but I ate this sauerkraut-it was delicious.
Then we had church in German..but Bro. Michael translated while Bro. Gary preached. It was a really good service.
We had Sunday School in English with Bro. Gary. He did a really good lesson on the person of Jesus Christ. Then we had a regular church service in German. We recognized a couple of songs because they used the same music. Thankfully Bro. Gary translated for us, while Bro. Michael preached.
Then we drove to Frankfurt to have lunch with Bro. Gary's church. He has a group of Burmese people who made us a German lunch of ham, mashed potatoes, and sauerkraut.
I never saurkraut in the States, I don't even like the smell of it...but I ate this sauerkraut-it was delicious.
Then we had church in German..but Bro. Michael translated while Bro. Gary preached. It was a really good service.
Germany Day 12
Saturday
Road Trip!
We all piled in the van and we drove for over 2 hours form Frankfurt to Weimar in what was Eastern Germany.
We went to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
I have read read lots of books on this time period, and I am familiar with alot of the torture the Nazis inflicted on not only Jews, but everybody they didn't like-gypsies, mentally handicapped, political prisoners, the elderly. But somehow that knowledge made walking through the camp all that much harder.
It is so hard to describe. I took lots of pictures outside, because of course you are no allowed to take picture inside.
When we entered the camp we walked into to the crematorium and saw the ovens and the cellar. Out of respect, it is a place of silence-but you could sense the weight of the atrocities committed there. It was such a mix of emotions, part of me wanted to puke..the other part just wanted to cry.
Then we went into the museum portion of the camp. They took the storehouse building and turned it into 2 floors of artifacts and information. As you entered a new section in the chronology there would be an English description, but the frustrating part was that most of the descriptions were in German, and I kept having to ask for a translation. Even with the language barrier, you could still figure out what you were looking at.
We also saw the disinfecting rooms, where the people were processed when they arrived.
It is a place I will never forget.
Then we left the camp and were going to go to the castle where Martin Luther translated the Bible into German, but exit from the autobahn was closed. But from the autobahn, we could see the castle at the top of the hill.
Its ok...I will just have to see it when I go back.
Road Trip!
We all piled in the van and we drove for over 2 hours form Frankfurt to Weimar in what was Eastern Germany.
We went to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
I have read read lots of books on this time period, and I am familiar with alot of the torture the Nazis inflicted on not only Jews, but everybody they didn't like-gypsies, mentally handicapped, political prisoners, the elderly. But somehow that knowledge made walking through the camp all that much harder.
It is so hard to describe. I took lots of pictures outside, because of course you are no allowed to take picture inside.
When we entered the camp we walked into to the crematorium and saw the ovens and the cellar. Out of respect, it is a place of silence-but you could sense the weight of the atrocities committed there. It was such a mix of emotions, part of me wanted to puke..the other part just wanted to cry.
Then we went into the museum portion of the camp. They took the storehouse building and turned it into 2 floors of artifacts and information. As you entered a new section in the chronology there would be an English description, but the frustrating part was that most of the descriptions were in German, and I kept having to ask for a translation. Even with the language barrier, you could still figure out what you were looking at.
We also saw the disinfecting rooms, where the people were processed when they arrived.
It is a place I will never forget.
Then we left the camp and were going to go to the castle where Martin Luther translated the Bible into German, but exit from the autobahn was closed. But from the autobahn, we could see the castle at the top of the hill.
Its ok...I will just have to see it when I go back.
Germany Day 11
Friday
Chastity took us to another cool castle called Ronneburg, just north of Frankfurt. This castle has a well that is almost 100 meters deep. When we pour the water down it takes over 12 seconds before you hear the water hit the bottom. It was the neatest thing.
This castle was different from the one Hanau, it was much older and alot more hands on. We climbed up to the very top of the parapet...those were the steepest stairs I have ever climbed, but the view from the top was worth it. You could see the whole country side. I also found some cool souvenirs, like a replica of the sword of Richard the Lionheart!
Chastity took us to another cool castle called Ronneburg, just north of Frankfurt. This castle has a well that is almost 100 meters deep. When we pour the water down it takes over 12 seconds before you hear the water hit the bottom. It was the neatest thing.
This castle was different from the one Hanau, it was much older and alot more hands on. We climbed up to the very top of the parapet...those were the steepest stairs I have ever climbed, but the view from the top was worth it. You could see the whole country side. I also found some cool souvenirs, like a replica of the sword of Richard the Lionheart!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Germany Day 10
Thursday
Today we had to drive back to Heidelberg to get the rest of our luggage, and to say goodbye to the Castellaws. It took us about an hour to get there and almost 2 hours to get back because of the traffic on the autobahn. The sky has been gray all day...the Luticks told us that duringh te month of November it will be gray and rainy almost every day...:(
On Thursday nights, the Lutricks have their mid week service. They go out into the town and invite people to come. Then after the service they feed everyone a meal, and take them back home.
Today we had to drive back to Heidelberg to get the rest of our luggage, and to say goodbye to the Castellaws. It took us about an hour to get there and almost 2 hours to get back because of the traffic on the autobahn. The sky has been gray all day...the Luticks told us that duringh te month of November it will be gray and rainy almost every day...:(
On Thursday nights, the Lutricks have their mid week service. They go out into the town and invite people to come. Then after the service they feed everyone a meal, and take them back home.
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