Day 21: The Adventure Never Ends

Woke up early, boarded the train, then the plane and we are quickly off to Amsterdam. Here we would connect to our flight that would finally send us home. Its a bit bittersweet leaving, but I feel I’m ready to get home…

But apparently the world isn’t ready for me to go home. We got loaded onto our last plane early and it seemed like we would even get home early. Then the pilot got on the intercom. The was a problem with the luggage hatch light and would soon be fixed. That “soon” turned into a half hour, then an hour, and then eventually 3 hours. They let us get off the plane and gave us a bunch of snacks. After another hour of waiting they said the flight would be canceled. Delta airlines told us to go to the transfer desk to get hotel accommodations and info on the flight. So now we hop on a bus to this hotel which turns out to be wonderful. Brand new fancy rooms and on top of that a nice fancy dinner on deltas bill. I’d rather be home right now, but I can deal with this.

Day 20: the day of days

Is our last day in Munich. Also or last day in Europe all together. We were allowed to use the entire day to our choosing, so I did what every other runner visiting Munich would have done, visit the Olympic Stadium. This was the sight was the host of the 1972 Olympics, known for the terrorist attack on the Israeli athletes mid-games. For the Americans, most remember Mark Spitz’s seven gold medal run. For any runner though, this Olympics is most well known as the only Olympics the great Steve Prefontaine was able to compete in. Maybe the most well known distance runner in american history took fourth in the 5000 meters at these games at the age of 21, though having a bad race. His legacy is based mostly on what he could have been because before the next Olympics took place he was tragically killed in an auto accident. I was able to walk around the stadium he ran in and could just picture him taking the bold lead he did mid race amongst much more experienced veterans. Its bone chilling when you think of all the history that took place in that building.

To finish out the day the entire group got together at the world famous Hofbrauhaus for dinner. A legendary German beer hall that even housed Hitler for a while in his rise to power. Loud talking amongst the authentic polka band made you feel German. On top of that I was able to down a large plate of sausages. It was a great way to finish off the trip. Tomorrow we leave early to head back to the states. I hope to write at least one more post reflecting on the trip.

Day 18/19: Salzburg, Munich and Nazis, oh my!

The plan for Monday on the way out of Zell am See was to visit Berchtesgaden, where Hitler’s eagles nest is located, but due to rough weather or bus was not able to travel there. Even if we were able to make it, the eagles nest would not have been visible due to the fog. So instead we traveled to the city of Salzburg top roam around and grab lunch. A very impressive city with winding allies full of shops, its another place that would be great to spend a week in. After the visit we then headed out for Munich. The rest of the night was ours as we all explored the city and got to experience some true German pub food. There is one word to describe German food: meat. Everything contains either ox or pig, and everything tastes good.

Also staying in our hostel is bethel’s World War I class taught by Chris Gehrz. Today, which was a “explore the city” day for our class, me and Ryan decided to tag along with Dr. Gehrz and his class as they toured the origins of the Nazi party. We visited the places Hitler lived in his rise to power add well as many of the places his speeches and rallies took place. It was extremely interesting as it involved Dr. Gehrz’s ivy league knowledge and quirkyness. The day was not complete without another German pub dinner.

When taking German classes in high school, or teacher would talk about how restaurants in Germany are very casual and it is not unusual to sit with strangers. I thought that was maybe a tend of the past until dinner tonight. The group of six we had walked in and the server took us to a table and told the three guys already there to scoot down. Then an older man walked in and he added him to the end of our table. The party of six is now ten. Dinner was great, but the conversation made the dinner even better. The three men were college students from Switzerland on a weekend vacation. We talked about college differences between nations and how Minnesota is kind of in the middle of nowhere, USA. The older man was a pub regular end the guts on the other end had good conversation with him. The night left is happy and as all German food does: heavy.

Square of many of Hitler's rallies

The Glockenspiel

Day 17: Skifahren

Today is the day. To quote the Grinch: “the sun is shinin’ and the powders bitchin.” I finally was able to live my dream and go snowboarding outside the Midwest. And what better place to that than the Alps? When it takes 3 gondolas to get to the top of the mountain, you know you’re in heaven. The runs are long and tiring, making them amazing. We got to spend the entire day at the mountain and even then I wasnt able to cover all the runs. We hit some backcountry runs that had so much snow and powder that the top of the trees only poked out a couple feet. That means the ground was still a good 10+ feet below us. By the time each run ended your legs were shot and you got to recharge on the long ride back up. These hills put Minnesota to shame, but I’m content with what we have. The runs are a fraction of the length but there is no chance of you getting lost… which we did a couple times. But that didn’t stop us from going all Johnny Tsunami on the place.

The top

Overlooking Zell am See

Day 16: I Love the Rockies…

Woke up today in Germany and we headed out right away. We are on or easy to Austria, but we had to make one stop first: the Dachau concentration camp. When you talk about WWII you can’t go without discussing the holocaust. But here with the feelings I had walking through, I feel it best not to talk much about it. The horrors of walking through what was once a gas chamber just leaves the heart sickened. 6 million Jews were killed throughout all the camps.

After the camp visit we headed straight to Austria. The majority of the trip wound through the mountains of the Alps. In just a few short hours I will be skiing down those mountains. Along the way we got to enjoy numerous quotes from the movie Dumb and Dumber regarding the mountains. John Denver should have wrote about the Alps.

Day 15: Deutschland

Finally the day has come to put my years of German in high school to good use. We crossed into Germany in the midst of a 7 hour bus ride from Belgium to Augsburg, which is right outside of Munich. Germany contains a truly remarkable landscape. By the end of the ride my neck was stiff from turning to look out the window so many times. The entire route was either long rolling plains or snow covered forests on the banks of mountains. At one point we wound around a mountain while ascending. It was the kind of sights you only see on the travel channel or on a Rick Steves special. When we stopped for lunch I was finally able to use my language capabilities. I gave my full order in German, all the way down to the smallest detail. The cashier then responded in English with, “your total is 3,07€.” Not as authentic as I wanted, but the time will come. I ended with a “danke schöne” and ate my meal.

Tomorrow we get to visit the Dachau concentration camp and then head out to Zell am See, Austria, another German speaking nation. Only 5 days left. Tschüs!

Day 14: Respect

One week from today I will be on a plane back to the great state of Minnesota. The past two weeks have flown by. We visited a couple sights today similar to yesterday so I am going to take this post to talk about some of the leadership qualities we have discussed as a class. The three today are: respect and integrity.

Integrity is all about being honest. 1 lie usually leads to at least 3 more lies. This means the more you lie, the harder it becomes to stop lying. Often times our lies are harmless and pointless, but bad lies can expand like a wildfire. To gain the trust of other people we need to show that we have the integrity that deserves that trust. An example we discussed is the Bethel Covenant for living. It states that while attending Bethel we cannot drink. Is it bad to have an alcoholic drink? When you’re off age, no. But by agreeing to the covenant we are given the opportunity to live in an environment that lets us not worry about the problems that alcohol could bring. Guidelines cause freedom. Integrity causes freedom.

Respect is crucial in leadership and in being a part of any group. A respectful person doesn’t look down upon others. They shoe respect for their duties. They show respect for their gifts and their teammates gifts. Respecting your gifts means not looking at others and wanting what they have. The gifts we have been given have been given to us for a reason. It is our job to use them rather that show jealousy for others. We need to respect or opponents. In sports if you feel you are better than your opponent, you may not give everything you have. By taking it easy you are being disrespectful to your opponent and they may build on that to defeat you. So this raisers the question: does respect need to be earned? Should it be given no matter what? Can you lose respect for someone? Think about it.

Day 13: Frozen

Gone are the days with the temperature in the mid-40s. The temperature today is -5 degrees Celsius. That’s roughly 25 degrees Fahrenheit. To those of you on Minnesota, that doesn’t seem cold, but when you get used to the normal temps of Europe, it comes as a shock. The plus side to the weather is that it puts us in the perfect situation to mimic the conditions of Easy company during the Battle of the Bulge, which we will be discussing today in Bastogne.

The Battle of the Bulge took place from December 1944 to January 1945. It was a long and gruesome battle, in which the Americans where greatly unequipped for. The temperatures were constantly below zero Fahrenheit and the men were only equipped with warm weather uniforms. They weren’t allowed to build fires because it would give away their position. Just a man in his foxhole in the snow. On top of that the men where desperately low on ammunition and medical supplies. The men spent over a month in these conditions until the eventual allied victory.

Today we visited the Jacques Woods where these men fought. With a fresh 5 inches of snow on the ground, the scene was perfect. Qr walked through the woods and had the opportunity to sit in some of the remaining foxholes from the war. We then all set or own to spend some time in solitude on the scene. I found a nice area to post up in. The silence was amazing add I took in the surroundings. to think that about 70 years ago a soldier of my age could be sitting in the same spot looking out for the enemy trying to stay warm. The peacefulness of the woods was eerie, yet beautiful.

Jaques Woods from my spot

Jaques Woods

Day 12: Is this Minnesota?

My alarm goes off at 6:45 this morning and I get up and look out the window. What I see is a thick blanket of snow over the city of Eindhoven. Excited, I threw my running stuff on and headed out. It was the perfect kind of snow to run through: light and powdery with the temp in the upper 20’s. I ran through a park along the river giving me a picture perfect scenery.

Along with this run today we traveled from Eindhoven to Bastogne, Belgium. On the way we stopped at the American cemetery located in the Netherlands. This cemetery, though smaller, is a lot like the Normandy cemetery. This one contains mostly soldiers from Operation Market Garden.

Short day means short post. Hopefully I can get some Belgian waffles soon…

Day 11: What up with that?

For some reason today people would sing snl’s “what up wit that?” For no apparent reason. This is normal behavior for this trip.

Our one full day in Eindhoven is focused on one mission: Operation Market Garden. This the plan by the British to keep the Germans on their heels to push them back into Germany and hopefully end the war by Christmas, 1944. The mission was ultimately a failure as the Germans held the allies at bay. But Easy company was able to achieve some individual victories. Dick Winters led a charge at cross roads that took out 2 German SS companies even though being severely out manned. Many speculate this would have earned Winters the medal of honor if in the post-activity write-up, he had mentioned himself target than the entire company. He only takes about “we” and “us” rather than “me”.

Crossroads sight

Dick Winters is the main figure that we study in this class when talking about leadership. Winters is the definition of a true leader. In the military at the time leaders were urged to lead from the back so they are not in the fish line of fire. Winters felt the opposite of this. He did not view himself any higher than the others in the company. When he lead, he lead from the front. In Operation Market Garden he was the one leading the charge as they stormed across a wide open field in ambush. The courage that it takes to put everyone ahead of you is essential in being a good leader. Never once does Winters think that he is more important than the man next to him.

Often today in life we are shown examples of “leaders” among us, but far too often I have found they are being chosen as leaders for all the wrong reasons. Leaders in sports are often chosen by who is the best rather than who is the best leader. One person that I have been able to work with that I think truly defines the leadership role is Gavin Woodland. He has been our track captain at Bethel for the past 2 years. He is a great runner, but not fastest on the team, but his contribution extends much further beyond the track. He is always aware of his teammates and their needs. He leads by example.