Räuchermännchen

Today's topic is "Räuchermännchen" which is translated into English as "smoking men." It's a typical German product that you can find at most Christmas Markets here. You burn incense in them and the smoke comes out their mouthes. Often times they are holding pipes but there are other versions as well where it may be the chimney of a small house or something. They range in price from 3 € to 100€ depending on the size, detail, and quantity of materials. Many of the nice ones have large beards that are made of fur, perhaps rabbit. You can google image search "Räuchermännchen große Bart" to get a better idea (that is "smoking men big beard").

Below you can see pictures of my cheap one with a fake beard. He's a night watchman and makes me happy. I had to wait until today to post it because Jesse is getting the same one for Christmas =)

Real

What is Real? I'm not talking about our sense of reality and what exists, but instead about this idea I see about me. People want to be real. Maybe it's a new phenomenon and maybe not. I know what it's not. It's not Fake. It's the rebellion against the fake that we're all sick of seeing, whether that be in the media, the generations before, or even the church. Real is not wearing a mask to cover up who you really are. Real is not forcing yourself to conform against your will to the norms. It's admitting what doesn't make sense to you and not walking along as if it did just because the people around you seem to get it.

What does that mean in practice though. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Should we strive to be real?

I think yes, but with a caution.

We're born evil. Sinful nature. To me that's pretty clear just looking around. The danger then is this. We place being real on a pedestal and say, I know this (whatever this may be for you) is wrong, but if I don't do it, I wouldn't be being true to myself. I wouldn't be the true me. I would be fake to not do it. Therefore I must do it.

No. The idea isn't "be true to yourself." Instead the idea is "be true to who you should be." Find out what you were created for and,

pursue it,

openly,

honestly,

fully.

When what you know is right and what you feel is right disagree, don't just blindly pick one, following what you know and being fake, or what you feel because you want to be real. Instead Question, Search, Think, Observe, until the two things become aligned. Some times that's a shift in what you know, or thought you knew, and other times it's a shift in how you feel.

Always admit to yourself what bothers you, what you don't understand, what you disagree with, but don't leave it there. Fix it. When you've fixed it, you've grown. The Real you has become closer to who it should be. That's the difference. There's the people who reject themselves to make it look like they are who they should be. They look like they've progressed while they leave their real selves far behind. That is fake. Real, is when what you really think, and how you really feel is how you act, and that real you grows each day to be closer to the you that should be. Those two different lives will look the same for a time, but in the end, one will be going through meaningless motions and the other will be living from the heart.

Real is not an excuse to give in to your nature. It is not an excuse to be lazy, not to struggle. Real is a challenge to do nothing thoughtlessly. Both being fake, and being "true to your nature" kill you, while being Real and true to who you should be, gives life.

City of Snow - Schneestadt

Firstly I just want to point out that this is my 100th post and I started this blog in mid-February. I'd say that counts as perseverance. Definitely enjoying having all this stuff together in one place and going through the process as well.

Secondly I just invented the word "Schneestadt" but I think I'm allowed to do that because that's how the German language works. Instead of using adjectives they just cram words like "Schnee" (snow) and "Stadt" (city) together.

I've mentioned I think that my church meets on the 6th floor of a building on the north edge of the city. I've been meaning to bring my camera for weeks and I finally did. It's a lovely snowy day. The first picture is a close up of the second one. You'll notice that those churches are about the tallest buildings in the city. They are situated pretty roughly in the middle. Granted Osnabrück is a small city even by European standards, but it's a stark contrast to skylines like Pittsburgh.

View more recent photos here. I just added another 15 photos to the end of the album.

German Manners

So I've eaten with Germans a good handful of times now and am trying to learn to eat like them. It's an awful lot of work. While both "Continental" and "American" manners are both common in the US, I was raised on American manners. The clearest difference between the two styles is that I was raised to cut a bite of food and then set the knife down, switch the fork to my right hand then eat... a little tedious but it's a habit now. In Germany they use "Continental" manners which means the fork stays in the left hand and fork in the right so you end up eating left handed when using your knife. My impression of the style is that it looks like one is rushing and trying to shovel food into their mouth without taking the time to switch hands. They're impression of my manners is that it's childish. Children often have trouble eating with the left hand so they switch the fork back to the right. To the German defense, they by no means appear to be shoveling food; in fact it's quite the opposite.

Let's look at the example of pizza. Yes, they use utensils for that. I rarely see people use their hands for pizza. We American's probably look barbaric to them... Anyways, so you stick the fork in the pizza and then cut the piece off, you have a bite on your fork and you... well, I would expect you would eat it... but nope. First you inspect the bite. If it's too big you set it back down and cut a little off. If two small, then you cut a little more to add to the bit. Then, oh wait... there's a little bit of cheese hanging off, so the knife is used to set the cheese all on top of the fork. The little sauce that dripped on your plate is then spread onto the bite with the knife. The bite must then be shaped perfectly to fit in the mouth. The knife pushes, spreads and shapes the bite in motions resembling the motions of frosting a cake. When that is all said and done the knife probably has some food on it so that food is then wiped off onto the fork and the bite is taken. That's right, each bite is the perfect bite. The size and shape are ideal and the proportions of cheese to sauce to bread to pepperoni are perfect as well. Then the process starts all over again. With years of practice a German can execute that whole process from cutting to eating in less than 15 seconds! I've been practicing and hope to be able to demonstrate similar skill by the end of my time here.

Mother's Arrival

A week ago today my Mom arrived in Osnabrück. She stayed till Monday and now I finally have time to post. It was great. I was noticing though what a depressing look the Osnabrück train station had though... not a beautiful place to arrive necessarily. Fortunately the rest of the city makes up for that.

8th Grade Project

Here are two videos I made with flash while I was in 8th grade. I didn't know how to export them to something useful at the time, so I haven't been able to open them until recently. Enjoy! They are unique =)

Good Morning

Rise and Shine Ryan

Throw open the blinds

let the day begin

oh..

Good morning to you too! Hello =)

A good way to begin the morning.

Spannend Pläne (exciting plans)

As of today I have officially made some rather exciting plans and bought all the plane and train tickets to make it happen. Our semester ends February 11th and RIT starts March 7th I believe. That means I have some time to see more of Europe. First I'll relax for the weekend. Then Monday through Thursday will be just south of London with some friends from Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Then I take a train under the English channel to Paris. Thursday through Monday I will be there with my cousin. She has been studying there for a few years now. From there I take a train through the Alps to Milan, Italy where I can stay with a friend I met here from Monday till Friday. I have my "7 days to learning conversational Italian" book with me so maybe I'll come back half fluent in Italian too if I'm lucky. That's a good bit of time in Milan so maybe there will be some mini trips involved there to the Alps or the Mediterranean perhaps. This is my first time in Europe and I've hardly seen anything so far, but I'll get to see a fair bit before I leave. RyanAir is the greatest airline ever. It will cost me $20 to fly to London. Maybe after I ride on their trashed plane I won't appreciate them as much, but for now I'm just excited. After Milan I head back to Osnabrück for one last weekend and then Monday February 28th I head back to Pittsburgh to spend some time with the fam.

Also, my mom is visiting on Tuesday till the following Monday. Can't wait. I need a hair cut so the timing is perfect ;) This may be the first haircut of my life that doesn't take place in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania (excluding any haircuts before the age of 2 since they would have been in Virginia).

Saturday I go with my church to invite people to a Christmas Eve service. If there are enough costumes I may find myself dressed as Santa Claus. We'll see. I hope to have pictures.

later,