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All I can say is WOW. I don't claim to know what God is up to sometimes, but I have to believe God is very intent on encouraging me. I am so excited about my new living situation, the neighborhood and just about everything that goes along with it. I have mentioned before in this blog that during those times of struggle, I would often end up at "Alex" or Alexanderplatz, which is the main square in the traditional center of Berlin (essentially near where the city was founded.) I would come here to pray. There's something magical about this place for me.
This is one of the places I visited over Labor Day, 1986 as a 16 year old, while it was still East Berlin, behind the wall. This was the commercial shopping center of East Berlin (ie: downtown), the captial of former East Germany. A lot has changed since 1986, obviously. "Alex" is now a vibrant and fun place with shopping, eateries, one of Berlin's largest hotels, the famous TV tower, and is a huge hub for local and national trains, buses, trams and subway transportation. People come here to see the sights, skate in front of the TV tower, hang out with friends by the fountains or just shop or go out to dinner. I have been enchanted by this square, seeing what it looked like 27 years ago, seeing how it changed 3 years after the wall fell, and now, 21 years later, it's barely recognizable from it's suppressed potential of DDR times, thank God! No more soldiers and guns on the square, just shoppers, pedestrians and entrepreneurs selling bratwurst from grills they wear!
Now, I live just a few hundred yards from this iconic place. In 5 minutes I can be in the Nikolaiviertel, which is the traditional birthplace of the city, complete with a nearly 800 year old church. Eight. Hundred. Years. Can you even fathom a building that has been in one place that long???? There are simply too many historic and interesting sights to list here, it's lengthy! And I get to live here!!! So humbled and grateful for this incredible gift.
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| View from my window, leaning out, looking to the left |
Back in June, I went around to a number of hotels around Alex and also along the Kurfürstendamm in West Berlin and I am realizing how many more hotels there are within just a few blocks of my apartment. I am so excited because there are so many places I can apply here, that I can walk into, drop off my resume and meet people. Not to mention, there are nearly countless other tourist shops and opportunities in this neighborhood (souvenir shops and the like). I can't even imagine how many possibilities there might actually be here. I'm very excited to see what God does with this.
I am also encouraged that I can get most places in the city in 30-40 minutes instead of an hour each way! My roommates have been so great and ready to help me with my laptop issues, and have already served me, fed me and just had a good laugh with them. Our next door neighbors are also good friends with my roommates, and they also go to my church! We all had lunch together today and great food together and a great time!
Otherwise I had a good, but kind of strange day. I got up this morning and took the regional train back to Spandau. (Have I mentioned how much I love the regional trains? LOL) One of the lines goes directly from Alex to Spandau, so it was quick and easy! Dropped off the keys and some stuff with the former roommate and then headed back. Got to the Spandau train station and I get up to the platform and about 10 police officers, with a dog, rush past me. About that time a train was arriving on the track across the platform from me and the police officers hemmed in about 15-20 rowdy soccer fans that were exiting the train. They were loud and everyone in the train station was looking at them. I was about 20 feet (6 meters) away from the circle of police officers. A few minutes later, about 20 more police come rushing up on the platform to fortify their presence. It was calm, but tense. I wish I knew what happened on that train!!! My train came shortly after the reinforcements came, kind of relieved actually...
So, I got home and had lunch with the roomies and the neighbors and then had to excuse myself for my weekly Skype call, which lasts usually about 2 hours. After the call, I decided to try to find the nearest supermarket to get some things. I couldn't find the one supermarket I was told about, and the next one was over a half mile away. No biggie, except when you buy a 6-pack of 1.5 liter bottles of water in one arm (about 20 lbs), another bag full of canned and bottled veggies, not to mention my backpack! It took me probably 20 minutes to get it all home. Whew!!
Got home and was excited to have a Skype time with one of my very best friends, Don C, in Spokane. He had some people over for breakfast and I got to say hi to a few others that were there, Sara, Sean & Esmeralda and some others. I was super encouraged by the call! It's hard to believe that I have been gone from Spokane for 7 months today!
After that call, I had about two hours to do some more exploring. I decided to go to "Alexa", which is a shopping mall just off Alexanderplatz. I looked around a bit and ended up going to the grocery store they have there in the basement. The other market was small, with not much selection and was it pricey! This place was a bit further, but much more reasonable. I think I might have to buy groceries elsewhere and bring them here...
Got home and had a conference call in the states at 9pm. You've gotta love technology! So, that was about an hour and then got some time to hang out with the roomies and their guest from out of town. Interesting guy, good-hearted.... He has an interesting story, actually pretty inspiring.
Anyway, tomorrow I have "house church" worship service at 3pm. Looking forward to sleeping in a bit, but for now, it's just past 1 a.m. Nov. 3. I better wrap this up and get to bed. Thanks for checking up on me. Please pray for my call center job interview this Monday (tomorrow) at 3pm (6am PST and 9am EST). Prayers, good thoughts and vibes welcome any time!
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