Bremen!

Today was the third day of my four-week intensive German course in Bremen, through the Goethe Institut.  The first day was orientation and placement testing so I had most of the day free.  Placement tests are quick when one doesn't know much.  During the process, I met Fern, my new friend from England.  We walked the streets of Bremen for over five and a half hours Monday afternoon.  She taught me about the term "bloke" and we conversed about the meaning of "pants" in our cultures.  Not only am I learning German, I'm also learning English!

Bremen Town Musicians

Of course, the Bremen Town Musicians statue had to be my first find.  Everything in Bremen has some mark of these critters, including the fabric on the tram seats. 


Unser Lieben Frauen Kirche
Windows by French painter Alfred Manessier.



Bell tower of St Petri Dom...on the way up with Fern.

My calling to be a suit of armor has not disappeared since I was the Wartburg College mascot in the Homecoming parade.  Though, I have no desire to wear one again, it's still one of my romantic ideas. 


Fern and me.




Saturday's flea market along the riverwalk.







St Petri Dom





This is St Petri Dom, the Lutheran cathedral in which I worshipped in on Sunday morning.  What an amazing experience as, not for the first time and hopefully not the last, I was able to follow the German liturgy by the rhythms and patterns.  As much as so many dislike "traditional" services because of the liturgy, it does indeed unite us across cultures and languages, across time and space.

One of the things I am quite enjoying about Germany is that if I'm going to do something stupid, nobody is going to put a fence up and tell me not to.  If I hurt myself, it's my own fault.  Now, I'm not going around trying to get myself in trouble, but I love the freedom in not being protected from myself.  This is a good place for me to be--a place in life where I can be the person I know I am and not get in trouble for standing in the nook of the tower or going down the slide in the city playground--the simple but fun bits of life that I've missed because I never allowed myself to break rules, even if they were stupid rules.  Remember when Mom offered me $1 to get my name on the board at school and I wouldn't do it? 



The scenic route from my hostel to downtown.



Die Sögestraße und die Schweine







By the way, there are pigs everywhere in Bremen.  Stuffed pigs.  Pig decorations.  Pig statues.  Then there's the pork.






Pax.