Heute war ich bei ein Deutsche Hochzeit
I've been doing absolutely too much: too much doing and too much thinking. Yet, I've also been doing not enough: not enough reading and not enough sleeping. Well, I shall try to record a few of the facts for future reference.
Gestern... um, wait... I mean "yesterday." Yes, well, yesterday my lovely host took me on a tour of Aachen. We visited the Dom here (which seems to have begun it's "constructionary" life in the year 800), and I got to see several things to do with Charlemagne. The tours were all in German... and I'm trying to understand it all! Angela also told me several of the tails told by Aacheners. It seems to me like all of the German tails of old about a city and or a church have something to do with the devil (a bit disturbing, I might add). Anyway, we got to see the main historical things of Aachen, including the Lindt factory whereby I purchased some good German chocolate!
This morning I went to church with Angela and Roland. It was a classic-style church, and it's the same one in which they will be married this summer. Then we darted home and were quickly off again and heading to another church. So I attended the first German wedding I've ever been to. German Christians (at least the ones to whom I have spoken in length about the subject) have quite a different view of marriage from what American Christians do. I specify "Christians" because I know that marriage itself means different things depending on different beliefs, so I'm trying to compare "apples to apples" if you will. At any rate, these cultural differences are interesting to me, because I find cultures interesting. It is fun to talk to people about their culture as long as nobody insists on being "right" or the only way to be.
There are some slight ceremonial differences even between people in the US, but entire practices are most frequently omitted from German weddings that are pretty common place in the US. For example, at the wedding today, the bride and groom showed up in a vehicle together. All of us (guests) waited outside the church to greet them on their way in. We were all seated while some music played, and then we all stood up (not for the bride, as she was already there, but) for the preacher! He spoke three different sermons: one that had to do with the "rock soup" story, and what individuals bring together becoming good, the second that had to do with how God loves people to be together, and a third for which I was falling asleep. At the end of the wedding, after some traditional vows were said, the bride and groom waited at the front of the church and we all lined up to greet them. Then guests waited outside, and threw rice and rose petals on the newly-weds. The final piece was the releasing of heart shaped helium balloons. Each balloon had a postcard attached, requesting whoever found it to write its location put it in a post box (postage already paid). The idea is to see which balloon traveled the farthest.
The first thing that "surprised" me was the fact that the bride and groom arrived together. I asked if that was the groom and it was clear that I was expecting a traditional "American" wedding. It was quickly pointed out to me that our tradition of having the father "give the bride away" comes from a system that treated women as property to be traded. That made me frown. I never really thought about it that way, and prefer to think of it as part of including family in the ceremony. I said so, but decided thereafter to keep my mouth shut and simply observe the differences as they came.
Ah well, it's not as though I really have to think about this subject much. It's just even over here in Germany I'm surrounded by people with this insane urgency to get married! ;-) I'm just teasing all of you engaged people ~ you know I think it's beautiful that you're so happy... but also crazy.
I'm nearly beside myself because of how behind I'm getting due to these Aachen adventures. Always after we return from where-ever we've been, no matter how late, I try to get some work done. But that's just been making me over-tired and probably cranky. Angela and Roland have been absolutely wonderful, and I hope they've been enjoying my company. They realize I'm exhausted though, and so tomorrow we've not planned to do anything (ok, so I've planned to get work done...).
One last comment for the day: it's freezing here! It's done nothing but rain and be cold. I've worn my sweater and some of Angela's just about ever minute I'm here. I should have packed warmer clothes!
Gestern... um, wait... I mean "yesterday." Yes, well, yesterday my lovely host took me on a tour of Aachen. We visited the Dom here (which seems to have begun it's "constructionary" life in the year 800), and I got to see several things to do with Charlemagne. The tours were all in German... and I'm trying to understand it all! Angela also told me several of the tails told by Aacheners. It seems to me like all of the German tails of old about a city and or a church have something to do with the devil (a bit disturbing, I might add). Anyway, we got to see the main historical things of Aachen, including the Lindt factory whereby I purchased some good German chocolate!
This morning I went to church with Angela and Roland. It was a classic-style church, and it's the same one in which they will be married this summer. Then we darted home and were quickly off again and heading to another church. So I attended the first German wedding I've ever been to. German Christians (at least the ones to whom I have spoken in length about the subject) have quite a different view of marriage from what American Christians do. I specify "Christians" because I know that marriage itself means different things depending on different beliefs, so I'm trying to compare "apples to apples" if you will. At any rate, these cultural differences are interesting to me, because I find cultures interesting. It is fun to talk to people about their culture as long as nobody insists on being "right" or the only way to be.
There are some slight ceremonial differences even between people in the US, but entire practices are most frequently omitted from German weddings that are pretty common place in the US. For example, at the wedding today, the bride and groom showed up in a vehicle together. All of us (guests) waited outside the church to greet them on their way in. We were all seated while some music played, and then we all stood up (not for the bride, as she was already there, but) for the preacher! He spoke three different sermons: one that had to do with the "rock soup" story, and what individuals bring together becoming good, the second that had to do with how God loves people to be together, and a third for which I was falling asleep. At the end of the wedding, after some traditional vows were said, the bride and groom waited at the front of the church and we all lined up to greet them. Then guests waited outside, and threw rice and rose petals on the newly-weds. The final piece was the releasing of heart shaped helium balloons. Each balloon had a postcard attached, requesting whoever found it to write its location put it in a post box (postage already paid). The idea is to see which balloon traveled the farthest.
The first thing that "surprised" me was the fact that the bride and groom arrived together. I asked if that was the groom and it was clear that I was expecting a traditional "American" wedding. It was quickly pointed out to me that our tradition of having the father "give the bride away" comes from a system that treated women as property to be traded. That made me frown. I never really thought about it that way, and prefer to think of it as part of including family in the ceremony. I said so, but decided thereafter to keep my mouth shut and simply observe the differences as they came.
Ah well, it's not as though I really have to think about this subject much. It's just even over here in Germany I'm surrounded by people with this insane urgency to get married! ;-) I'm just teasing all of you engaged people ~ you know I think it's beautiful that you're so happy... but also crazy.
I'm nearly beside myself because of how behind I'm getting due to these Aachen adventures. Always after we return from where-ever we've been, no matter how late, I try to get some work done. But that's just been making me over-tired and probably cranky. Angela and Roland have been absolutely wonderful, and I hope they've been enjoying my company. They realize I'm exhausted though, and so tomorrow we've not planned to do anything (ok, so I've planned to get work done...).
One last comment for the day: it's freezing here! It's done nothing but rain and be cold. I've worn my sweater and some of Angela's just about ever minute I'm here. I should have packed warmer clothes!