Köln

The Köln Cathedral was one of the first things that caught my attention as soon as we stepped out of the Hauptbanhof along with the endless amount of tourists swarming around the majestic structure.

Worshiping in the Köln cathedral was a unique experience for me because of how much it contradicted the Pentecostal church I’ve grown up in. I was amazed at how tourists would sight see at the back while the service was going on. I found the burning of incense interesting and a bit disturbing. Majority of the service consisted of singing in Latin and a German sermon, languages I am not very conversant with. A part of the service I enjoyed was listening to the organ and the musical accompaniments as we sang the hymnals. It was also tiring yet refreshing to climb up the 600 and some stairs and take in the beautiful view from the top of the bell tower of the cathedral.

blog Q6

Reflect on your experience of worshiping at high mass in the Köln Cathedral.  How is this different than your home church?  What parts of the service did you like?

My church doesn’t have the preist in robes and we do not sing hymns or light incense down the aisles. My church is much more contemporary with a paster in jeans and a button down.

It is estimated that more than 20,000 people visit the cathedral each day – What were your thoughts of seeing all the “tourists” waiting to get into the church when we were leaving the service?

I thought it was very strange how the church does not have much privacy at all. Hundreds of people were flowing through the back of the church while church was in session. Surprisingly it was not that loud and I could focus on the sermon easily.

Köln Cathedral

I have been to a Catholic church a few times because my dad’s family is Catholic. However, this is not how my home church is. We do not burn incest or do all the other proceedings of a Catholic church. However, it reminded me of the times I had been to a Catholic church, except that this mass was in German, and I was able to follow some parts of the service. I mostly liked the parts where the congregation and the choir sang.

I was a little bit overwhelmed that even before the mass ended, there were already tourists waiting to get into the church. I tried to imagine what the locals thought and how they felt about that. It also shows how important and big of a monument and tourist attraction the Köln Cathedral is to everyone: Germans and tourists.

Germanyyyy: full experience

First Thoughts

I am on this summer program to learn about the culture of Germany, develop my german speaking skills and create new relationships with other students. My strength is to help others who are need of help in any way if is in the context of this engineering class we are taking. My prayer is to hope that nothing wrong happens throughout the whole trip.

Gerald Ford Airport. Saw some trusses.

 

Initial Reflections on Germany

Before I went to Berlin, I was expecting tall buildings and some archaic buildings made out of wood and sometimes cement. However, when I went to Berlin, I was really surprised because I was getting a feeling of familiarity. This was due to the cement buildings and short buildings, unlike the United States which use mostly metal and wood. Where I’m from, Ghana, almost everything is short and mostly made of cement.  Thus, I got a nostalgic feeling of home and feeling of curiosity towards the city.  Staying in Berlin has made me miss getting water and ketchup for free. It made me realize how I took them for granted.  What I am really going to miss the donner kebabs. If they brought it to the states, I would buy it every day.

 

 

 

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

This trip to the concentration camp made me feel emotions of anger, fear, and disappointment. I felt angry that something so evil happened, I am also disappointed in the people, for example, the churches, who allowed this evil to thrive and made me fear what will happen in the future due to the fact that this catastrophe was started by man, therefore meaning another catastrophe similar could be caused by another person.

 

 

Köln Cathedral

I have been to a lot of churches but that church was the biggest and one of the most detailed churches I have ever seen. I was even shocked and understood why it took them 600 years to make something this grand building. The church service was also interesting. Unlike, the catholic churches I’ve been to, they used incense. This use of incense changed the feeling I was receiving from the church. Throughout the whole trip, I never saw people waiting and standing for another service of a church. I was sad and happy to see that because even though most are coming as a tourist, there is always a chance God will touch some of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Koln

The trip to the Koln Cathedral was pretty surreal. I have been to many Catholic churches but The Koln Dom stands out among the rest. Even though the church service was conducted in Latin and German, it was performed exactly as any other catholic church I have been to. It was also amazing how a lot tourists were waiting to have a look inside the church after the service

Cologne Cathedral

The service in the Cologne Cathedral was a catholic one and I could not really relate to that since I am charismatic. However, I learnt some interesting stuff such as the use of an incense for purification purposes, and many more. The part of the service that fascinated me was when we kept singing German Catholic hymns. I really liked them.  However, I was also surprised how many tourists wanted to view the inside of the church and participate as well. I then read on the history behind the cathedral and how long it took to build it and many more. It really was a good experience.

Kolner Dom

As a Catholic worshiping, at the Cathedral it felt very exciting. The structure was very impressive and it kept me captivated throughout the whole service. I thought it was very interesting how I could recognize the main sections of the mass and follow along even if it was in a whole different language that I am not used to.