Ishmael in Deutschland

BREMEN EPISTLES

/ ishmaeldotse / Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

Dear friends,

Grace and peace be unto you. In my last blog, I wrote about how challenging it was adapting to the autumn season. When I thought I had been able to build some fortitude towards it, there came winter which required greater resilience. I experienced my first ever snow at Hamburg, while on a 3 day seminar trip. It appeared very beautiful, on the contrary the weather become colder and unfriendly. Upon our return from Hamburg, I was told there was a tradition called snow man/woman and I would have to build my first snow man/woman at the office in Bremen. We went to the garden and with the assistance of some staff members, we made a very wonderful snow man/woman. It was just astonishing how the snow could be made into larger balls and stayed fit together. Daylight continually decreased and night length was on the rise, this affected my productivity and made me sleep a little more so I became worried. Saskia, a member of ESG in Bremen, made me aware that whatever I was feeling is actually the norm during Winter so I should not be so much perturbed but keep moving with the flow. She spoke to me about winter depression and how everything else is affected due to the darkness and little light. She encouraged me and gave me some remedies for the winter season. For example taking Spekulatius with tea always. Speculatius are moderate spicy biscuits you find on the market during Christmas. Funny though, I got the Spekulatius and it worked a little bit. She also said I could decorate my room with lights which would kind of salvage the darkness situation.

Gradually, the Christmas season crept in with decorations such us folks lighting up the frontage of their homes and the mounting of Christmas trees at vantage points. These sights were worth beholding. I also visited the Christmas market at the city center of Bremen. There were lots of Christmas souvenirs, drinks, food and fun activities that one could participate in. I was amazed about the large numbers that patronized the Christmas market amidst the extremely cold temperatures at night. The city center looked so beautiful with all the colorful scenes, lighting, decorations and commercial activities that were organized.

I spent my Christmas Eve with my mentor, Pastor Andreas Quade and his family. On the 24th December we attended a family church service together. The service was conducted by the wife of my mentor Pastorin Annette Quade, apparently she’s the resident pastor of the congregation we worshipped with. She gave me the opportunity to take a portion of the scripture reading during the church service and also assist in some protocol tasks. It was a very remarkable experience for me. After service we drove to the apartment together and had a typical German Christmas Eve feast. Dinner was served and the famous kartoffel salat couldn’t have been absent from the table, it been a typical German cuisine. I also tried some new dishes. After dinner, Herrn Quade asked us to move to the living room for the second part of the feast, to my surprise it was a moment of gifts exchange which was totally a new experience to me. I was presented some gifts by my mentor, of which I am very much grateful for. However, I felt selfish because I didn’t come along with any gift for anyone not knowing how it was done. I really enjoyed the night with the Christmas carols and music that were also played. On the 26th of December, I was again invited for lunch. After lunch we had a walk along the River Weser in Bremen, such an experience it was, with the cold breeze along the river. 

At New Year’s Eve, my self and other colleagues volunteers met at the Residence of a former volunteer, Daniel Dabi in Oldenburg. We spent time together, prepared some African dishes, ate together and there was the beautiful fireworks which ushered us into the new year.

I began my year in a foreign country, looking forward to all the adventures this year would come with. Until my next Bremen Epistle let me say bye for now, dear friends.

OCTOBER BLOG

/ Bele Hesse / Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

(published for Ishmael Dotse)

Dear friends,

Grace and peace be unto you.

Having lived over two decades of my life in the tropics, the climate shock I experienced was not that intense during the summer season. I was amazed about the prolonged hours of daylight as compared to the short hours of darkness, notwithstanding I adjusted quickly. Eventually, summer was over and we made a transition into Autumn. I began experiencing intense climate shocks, the weather was becoming cold and cold as the days came by which translated into a complete change in costume everyday. Decrease in day length and increase in night lengths. Nature and the trees are even singing the melodies of Autumn which is spectacular. The colour of the leaves keep changing to orange brown and can’t stop falling to the ground. This is very significant for me because, it resonates with the fact that as humans we also go through seasons of life and each season comes with it’s peculiar purpose.

We attended a mid-term seminar in Wuppertal where we had the opportunity to evaluate ourselves and to also psych ourselves for the months ahead. There was a session in which we discussed the various stages one goes through upon traveling into a new jurisdiction. I found this philosophy to be true, after evaluating myself by it. By discovering the stage I was, I was filled with strength and hope to still journey on. After the seminar we had the opportunity to visit some cities around, for example Köln. We saw the Gothic architecture of the Kölner Dom, which is said to be Germany’s most visited landmark, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day. A very notable landmark and tourist attraction. At the end of October, all current volunteers and some alumni came together for a Networking seminar in Bremen. This was a moment of refreshing for me, getting to see colleague volunteers once again after a while. We spoke about our individual endeavours at our work placements and listened to past experiences of former volunteers. We also had a radio workshop. We were taught the strategies required in having a radio interview, which we would need for our podcast later. 

Dear friends, these are some of my engagements thus far. I can’t wait to come your way with more, until then it’s bye for now.

BREMEN EPISTELS

/ Bele Hesse / Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

(published for Ishmael Dotse)

Dear Comrades,

Grace and Peace be unto you.

I was welcomed by a cosy and sunny weather after the aircraft touched the land of Bremen. Apparently, I thought I had just embarked on a trip from the region where I lived to another region in Ghana due to the climate at the time. To my bewilderment, any German I came in contact with was excited by fact that I arrived in Summer and that the “Weather Is Good” a statement most of them made. For an individual who came from the tropics this was no news to me because of the Tropical Climate Zone of West Africa. It was here I realized that, others love and long for the climate we have in West Africa.

After arrival and eventually settling down I went through a short orientation at work and was assigned my roles and responsibilities for the next one year at the Norddeutsche Mission. I have had some experiences working with the Education, Public Relations, Projects And Media Departments and some Partner Churches In Bremen. This has been great thus far, a myriad of experiences and discoveries.

At the beginning of August I was enrolled on a four weeks International German Language Course at the University Of Bremen. Comrades, this program was not only comprised of language studies but science and intercultural learning. We were tasked to do projects on Sustainability. My group chose the topic Biodiversity, specifically Insects and we made a clarion call for the protection of the habitats of butterflies. Butterflies are known as bio-indicators in the biodiversity, their presence in an environment determines how healthy the environment is, hence the need to protect these insects by planting more flowers and choosing sustainable agriculture methods. During the course, we had all races represented. This was an opportunity to develop intercultural competencies and also break barriers that has long existed among races in the world. One of the ways globalization can be achieved is when intercultural learning is sufficiently anchored in schools and public places.

Comrades, this was to present to you my progress thus far in Deutschland. I am going to keep you updated as the days come by. May the peace of God abide with you forever.