on europe

dear friends and family,


as many of you already know, i recently took a sabbatical from the daily grind here in redlands and embarked on a two-month backpacking tour of the european continent. basically, i lived the hipster dream, through and through. upon departure, i vowed to all of you who were present that i would keep a weekly blog, updating you on the goings-on of everything overseas. alas, i failed marvelously, as is evidenced by my first post coming...1.5 months later. those of you who know me well may have expected that as much would happen, as i have earned a reputation as a forgetful person (and rightfully so), but even so, i apologize for not being more diligent. i will pray for the opportunity to discuss the trip at length with all who desire to know the details. for those who don't really care for the details...this post is for you.


the trip was long. and lonely. and stressful. and (at times) sketchy. and frustrating. and disheartening. and lonely. and long.


but it was also short. too short. and filled with new faces, new places, new stories (and you all know how much i love stories). and restful, in the deepest sense. and (at times) cause for celebration. and instructive, or maybe enlightening is a better word. and challenging. and gloriously triumphal...


...all at once.


ok so now that you guys have a better sense of what happened on my trip...just kidding. the truth is, the trip was so many things, most of which are beyond description. all of us have had experiences like that, where the stories, no matter how well-told, just fall short. this trip, for me, was not defined by the places that i visited, the landmarks that i checked off my list, or even the people that i met. no, this trip was defined by the strides that i made in my personal growth, as a follower of christ. many battles that had raged in my heart since adolescence were put to rest, with the savior of the world as my champion. many doubts concerning my identity, my abilities, and even my faith, were assuaged by the power of his love. many fears that i harbored concerning the future, and the present, and the past, were conquered by the affirmation of his sovereignty of his rule above all creation. and, surrounded by the thoroughly secular european culture, the reality of my sinful nature was (often painfully) revealed to me over the course of the trip. i guess all that is to say that i came into my own, as a man of god. i started to think like one. i started to act like one. and i started to believe that i could be one, and possibly even was one already. a small step for some men, but not for me. it was significant. and that was not all that happened for me personally. but, again, this post is not about the details.


i will share with you some highlights, though. because there were a few, i guess :)
* spending the majority of my first day in the frankfurt zoo, taking a nap on a bench in the aviary (serious jetlag)
* impulsively registering for a conference on molecular biology in heidelburg. saw the flyer, caught a cab, enjoyed hours of meaningless babble about enzymes and llama mating patterns. at least it was all in english...
* visiting martin and anke muller in heidelburg. such sweet people
* befriending my first aussie in copenhagen. for those of you who don't know, aussies are the best
* leaving copenhagen. that place is so flippin' expensive
* sharing the gospel with a danish drug lord on the train out. pray for kristian in denmark
* in cologne, watching a german football game in a local pub, with the locals, and drinking way too much beer, with the locals
* catholic mass in the cologne cathedral. all in german, but still, incredible
* watching a bad robert de niro movie with twenty other complete strangers in brussels...and realizing that some humor may just transcend cultural differences. staying up late talking with those very people about the rigors of traveling and the best ways to cope with homesickness (some of their methods were a little unorthodox, to say the least)
* missing trains left and right. i have a hard enough time getting places as it is, but when the directions are in a foreign language, i'm really in trouble
* hitchhiking through the french countryside. being picked up by the sweetest old lady, who drove me twenty kilometers for free. one random act of kindness that changed my trip
* surviving off of mcdonald's one pound mcchicken sandwiches in london (also very expensive)
* took a tour of london (beautiful city). befriended my tour guide, discovered that he was in a band, went to the band's show in what was hopefully the seediest bar i will ever enter
* visiting my gordonian friends in oxford, england. such wonderful people. another act of kindness that changed my trip
* conquering paris in a few days. challenging, but it can be done
* sneaking into a five-star hotel (converted castle) on the french riviera. after touring the grouds for a while, deciding to skinny dip in their heated jacuzzi
* watching five swiss men consume enough alcohol in one night to dazzle me (at that point, i had seen some  impressive displays, but this topped them all)
* relishing every moment spent at l'abri switzerland. heaven on earth, that place
* enjoying the royal treatment at the fankhauser's in bern, switzerland. european hospitality knows no bounds
* paying way too much for a tour of the vatican city
* being confused about italian people
* marveling at tuscan beauty
* bartering with florentine street vendors for hours
* visiting massimo dragon in trieste, italy. a wonderful time
* struggling to find anything redeeming about venice. once you get past the canals, it's just not that cool
* catching the fourteen-hour night train from venice to budapest. talking to my hungarian train conductor for hours about the crazy croatian gypsies
* going folk dancing in a budapest jazz club (the jazz musicians were off that night). all of the instructions were in hungarian. needless to say, they knew that i wasn't from around there
* spending the day at the public baths in budapest. sixteen jacuzzis. old, fat hungarians. oh baby
* meeting a british soccer team at the baths. they were in budapest for a game, and needed an extra player. so i played for them. my soccer experience was limited (to say the absolute least), but they were all so hung over that i don't think they noticed
* befriending two more aussies in prague. exploring the city together. saw a legit shriveled hand, hanging from the ceiling of a church. post-communism europe = weeeeeeird
* having my pocket picked in prague. passport, eurail pass, driver's license...all gone
* visiting dachau. fml
* leaning on my parents more than i ever had in recent memory
* attending a contemporary christian church service for the first time in two months (in munich). bawling my eyes out for an hour and a half
* feeling the strength and support of the body of christ like i had never felt it before
* watching the glockenspiel. lame. but not as lame as the changing of the guard at buckingham palace. now that was a waste of an hour
* making it to amsterdam. last stop
* flight cancelled. united putting me in a sheraton hotel room for the night. compared to what i had grown accustomed to? straight luxury
* coming home. safe and sound


so that was it. a fantastic trip, and exhausting, even to think about. well, it's late. probably should get to bed.


goodnight,
h