Retreat(s)!

At the risk of seeming like some sort of religious zealot, I figured I’d update this thing with some info of what I’ve spent half the weekends in February doing: that is, retreats with a couple of the church communities I’m part of here.

A couple weeks ago we had a planning retreat for Shema across the border into France in a town called Peillonnex. It was a nice time that allowed us to gather and not only come up with some goals for the “missional community” within the next year, but also just enjoy each other’s company. It was fun to be around kids for the weekend as well, since three of our families on the core team have them.

Here’s a picture of the crew from the retreat:

l to r, Row 1: Byung-Soo, Chris Vrieling, Julia Henke, Laura Case, Yannick (with Cody) Ries; Row 2: Josh Case (with Jacob Ries), Lammert Vrieling, Max Vrieling, Conny Vrieling, me, Sébastien Heiniger, and Andy Ries. Not pictured are Todd Dellanegra and his family and Antje.

Here are the posters I’ve done for the various series’ so far:







Next up: a logo overhaul…


This past weekend I went on the YAGS (the young adults group from the Baptist Church) winter retreat which was a lot of fun. A bit like being back in youth group. But still fun.

We headed to a town near Montreux called Les Mosses and had a pastor (who is currently based in Monaco) lead us through the book of Daniel in between meals, board games, skiing, and poker.
The weather was pretty dismal on Saturday morning, so despite our attempts at two different locations, skiing looked out of the question. After lunch we headed back to one of them and conditions had improved a bit so we were able to pay for a half day and get a few hours in. It’s been about 6 years since I last skiied, so I was moderately impressed at how (reasonably) well I did, only falling a handful of times and getting back into it without many problems.

Here are some pictures from the weekend (only the ones on the slopes are mine; the others are “borrowed” from Nathan and Filippa):


The place we stayed

Low visibility kept us from skiing Saturday morning

Jeanette, myself, and Frank, all dressed up and nowhere to ski

What to do next but play Scrabble? With Mary, Tyler, and Jim Beerley (who led our sessions for the weekend)

The weather got a bit better for the afternoon

On the slopes: Me, Austin Beerley, Tyler (in the background), and Jeanette

All that clearance stuff I got at Target over Christmas came in handy

Jeanette, Darryl, and me stirring the fondue for Saturday evening’s dinner. Mmm…

Evening poker. I was first out. Not a good night for me.

Filippa, Jeanette, and me waiting around for something to happen

Natalie (trying to pretend she’s not being photographed) and me at lunch on Sunday

Valentine’s Visitors

On Tuesday and Wednesday I had the privilege to host Maggie, who I think I’ve known since before kindergarten, who was passing through Geneva on her way home from visiting her boyfriend in Senegal (via France) and her friend Tess, who is from Cincinnati but went to school in Colorado and met Maggie when they were both living in France.

It was nice to have a connection to home and their stay afforded me the opportunity to revist some of the sites and landmarks I now take for granted.

They drove in Tuesday evening and I proved that although I can get around on foot or by public transport, I’m a pretty poor navigator in a car. Eventually we found our way and had fondue on the lake at the Bains des Paquis which I understand to be some sort of government subsidized project. It’s basically a pier that has spa and sauna facilities and where people go during the summer to get some sun or have a drink overlooking the water. There is also a restaurant (Buvette) known for their tasty and reasonably-priced fondue. It was a very good meal—I don’t think there’s any such thing as too much bread and cheese—and good company.
The lovely ladies

Maggie and myself


After dinner and dropping the girls’ things at my apartment, we walked through Parc de Bastions (reasonably close to my house) which includes giant chess sets and the Reformers’ Monument. Here’s me pretending to ride the knight. I swear, I only had one beer before this.


We walked through part of the Old Town as well, passing by the cathedral which looked quite nice at night.

I took the girls to AMR, the jazz club I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, since Tuesday is their open jam session night. Unfortunately they now charge a cover, but it’s still pretty cheap by Geneva standards and was worth it to have some lite entertainment.


I took Wednesday off of work so I could show Maggie around. Tess had to head back to Albertville (where she’s currently living) for a class, so after bidding her adieu Maggie and I began a day of Genevois sight-seeing. The weather was pretty crappy—rain and temps just cold enough to make that annoying—but we still managed to see quite a bit.

We went by the UN, which I haven’t posted any pictures of yet, so here’s my best Gene Kelly.


We walked up towards the Red Cross Museum (which we didn’t tour, but I went to a few months back and generally enjoyed), and then headed back to my office to say hi to everyone. We grabbed lunch at Manor, the giant grocery/department store downtown, and then headed over by the lake. Fortunately it was warm enough for the city to have the Jet d’Eau on, so we got to see that. After about 10 attempts, this is the best picture we could come up with. (the only photoshopping I did was lightening our faces, but we actually are in front of the fountain and not pasted on)


Other sites: the floral clock at Jardin Anglais, the statue commemorating Geneva (left) becoming part of Switzerland (right), and a fountain within the garden, among some other things.




After walked around Rive, the main shopping area, for a bit, we headed back towards home and bought some pizzas to have for dinner that night.

We hung out and watched the Grammy Awards which I’d downloaded and had a nice meal as well as dessert with Farhad and Nicki.

Maggie headed out yesterday (Thurs) morning, just in time for the sun to actually make an appearance in the city, and hopefully has made it home safely, though with the weather there and her flight connecting in New York I’m not sure.

Anyway, it was a good couple days and I hope to have more visitors in the future (this means you).

Hamburg, Germany Part 2: Sight-Seeing

On Friday morning I awoke earlier than I expected to and embarked on the day’s journey. Meggan, one of the American ex-pats I had met at the concert, had the day off from work and offered to show me around for a few hours, so I was to meet her at the train station (Hoptbahnhof) at noon. After shelling out for cabs to expedite my travel the night before, I resolved to walk as much as possible for the rest of the trip. The university area was only about a couple miles from the station and took around half an hour to walk to, so no big deal. I left around 10am, giving me some extra time to meander around before the meeting time.

Along my way I noticed a lot of things that I would have never expected to see in Germany, many of them evidence of rampant Americanization.
Proof that every major city has a street named after Martin Luther King:


In case you were wondering, Germany doesn’t have a West Coast:


JFK said he was a Berliner, right? Not Hamburgean (or Hamburgleran, or whatever)?:


Nothing like real American BBQ in a European city known for its seafood:


The most distressing sight of all and potential sign of the apocalypse:


Then there was this at the airport, which I’d seen in a magazine, but was pretty cool in person:


So anyway, I met up with Meggan and she showed me some of the touristy highlights of the city. It was pretty overcast (as you can see below), but I guess that’s pretty common (as is wind and rain), and the temperatures weren’t too bad (low-mid 40s).


We went through the shopping district to the Rathaus or city hall which is a nice-looking building.

From there we walked over to the lake (pigeon ladies know no geographic boundaries) for lunch.
We ate a cafe/restaurant called “Alex” offering a view of the lake. I had a really good schnitzel with hollandaise sauce for a very reasonable price.
Following the meal, we went through Alt Hamburg (the old town) including the Kramer widow houses which were built for widows in the 17th century but have now been rehabbed and are home to arts and craft shops. From there, we made our way down to the harbor, along the way passing these offices that remind me a lot of the architecture for the Steger Student Life Center at UC.

The harbor was a pretty neat area, with several little shops and restaurants lining the walkways.

And of course, when you see a giant rudder along the waterfront, you pretty much have to climb it.


Next, we headed past the St Nikolai Memorial, site of a church (the 4th largest in the world) that was bombed out during the war with the steeple still remaining. It was a haunting, yet strangely arresting locale.


One of several statues on the grounds
This statue, titled “The Ordeal” reflects on the legacy of the concentration camps. Is accompanied by this quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “No man in the whole world can change the truth. One can only look for the truth, find it and serve it. The truth is in all places.”




Next we headed to the Hamburger Kunsthalle, the city’s art museum. There were some interesting pieces, but on the whole, I was a little disappointed, especially after the number of excellent works at Zurich’s. After stopping for coffee, Meggan had to leave for a meeting, so we parted ways. It was cool to have a tour guide who spoke my language and probably saved me a lot of time for not having to refer to maps or get lost. I headed back to the train station to grab a burrito at the food court (hooray Mexican!) before beginning my trek home.

Since it was only around 7pm at this point and I’d been on my feet the whole day, I figured I’d go see a movie. Fortunately a theater fairly close to where I was staying shows some original language films so I took in Dreamgirls since it was one of the few I hadn’t seen and was vaguely interested in. I enjoyed the movie and found the performances very enjoyable, though I have to say that it probably wouldn’t make it into my top 10 of 2006.

On Saturday I got up early to go for a run along the lake. The city has really great bike routes and running trails and it was a good place to go. After returning and showering, I had breakfast with a couple of the friars and then embarked on more sight-seeing.

I headed down towards the Reeperbahn, the world’s second most famous red-light district after Amsterdam.

While I wouldn’t necessarily call it family-friendly, it’s pretty main-stream and not too seedy. Kind of like if they’t cleaned up Times Square but left the strip clubs and porn shops. It’s also slightly strange, because amongst all this stuff you have the theater where Mama Mia! is being performed and a large outdoor stage that I assume hosts concerts in the summer. The juxtaposition between “traditional” businesses and less-reputible ones was amusing (see photo), though it was slightly depressing when you think about how many women must be employed in these establishments to keep them afloat, and how many patrons they all must have as well.

This was really close to the same area the concert had been on Thursday and here’s what that sidestreet, Große Freheit, looks like at night:


I continued my walk through the St Pauli area of town (not affiliated with the beer, which comes from a different part of the country) and happened upon the Bismark Memorial looming through the trees. It’s a statue honoring Otto von Bismarck, the first chancellor of the german empire.


The skies were actually much clearer Saturday, with even some sun breaking through as I neared St Michaelis Church, which is basically the symbol of Hamburg.

Outside was a statue of Martin Luther which reminds me a lot of a hobbit.


And above the main doors is a stunning depiction of Michael’s triumph over the devil:


I continued on, towards the train station again, and wandered around some of the bridges and canals—apparently Hamburg has more of them than Venice.

I also happened upon the Port Authority which has some pretty neat buildings.


I neared the shopping district and browsed around some of the stores, finding a scarf for 2 Euro and a tie for 3. Hooray for deals! Then I grabbed a sausage at one of the many nearby stands and made my way to the Museum für Kunst and Gewerbe (or Art and Design).

Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures at the museum because they charged 4 Euro for a “photopass”—not that bad, but I opted to buy a poster instead. Regardless, the museum was amazing. In addition to traditional art, they have collections of musical instruments (including an amazing amount of early harpsichords and pianos), porcelain, posters, a wing devoted to Art Noveau, a room devoted to Bauhaus and the New Style (with a collection of chairs just slightly more impressive than Gordon’s house), a room on the Deutscher Werkbund, a hall of contemporary industrial design, and more. It was pretty much like my sophomore History of Modern Design course come to brilliant life. Even with construction on the building causing a few of the areas to be closed (including to my chagrin Photography, Islamic art, and Italian Design), I loved the place. The special exhibitions were equally exciting, including a spectacular collection of photographs from Thomas Hoepker. The following prints were all included (these are taken from the website of his studio, Magnum Photos).








After spending several hours taking everything in, I headed outside (where clouds and rain had reclaimed the skies) and began the journey back to my room to pack up for the flight.

I took a shuttle bus to the airport and made my flight without any problems, returning to Geneva around 9:15 in the evening. For only a 2-day trip I think I got to see quite a bit and had an amazing time. You never know what to expect when venturing into the unknown, but thanks to the kindness of strangers I enjoyed everything about the city and my time there.