by Will Vogelsang | Fall 2023 |
If you told my sixteen-year-old self that in just three years, I would be traveling Europe for a semester, I would never have believed you. I did not see myself as a traveler, I had never left the country, and could not fathom how I could afford to do that. Yet I find myself abroad in Germany and traveling Europe, seeing the world’s best museums, eating the best food, and learning a new language. As I write this, I am flying to Norway, a truly surreal thing to do and to say I am doing. Studying abroad has been one of the biggest and most special opportunities I have been given in my life. I would not trade it for the world, and I count myself and my peers as some of the luckiest people alive. It is important to me, as this amazing time comes to an end, to remember the highlights of what I have gotten to experience, the lessons taught in those experiences, and how I am shaped as a result.
From Rome to Athens and from Prague to Berlin, the trips of this semester have been full of surprises and truly unique experiences. Throughout all our travels, I ended up visiting Italy, Greece, Czechia, and now Norway! More importantly, I saw many different parts of Germany, including Berlin, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Torgau, Weimar, Erfurt, Wittenberg, and Dresden. My home to come back to and the place I grew to love was the city of Leipzig. Here, we ran to catch the tram for German class, found our favorite spots for coffee, shopped at the markets downtown, went to church, kayaked down streams, laughed late into the night, planned trips, called home, and sang around the piano. It will be hard to leave. All these experiences, even the more minute and daily ones, displayed truths about God’s world to me.
The first “lesson” I think of is the lesson taught by looking at God’s creation. While hiking gorges in the pouring rain in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, and riding a ferry across Lake Como, Italy, I saw the most beautiful parts of creation I have ever witnessed. I remember hiking, soaked with water, just simply unable to not sing in worship because it was just so awesome. Surely, I can say God is powerful. Surely, I can say he is beautiful. Surely, I can trust his steadfast plan. Thanks to my camera, although it fails to capture the full glory, I will never forget these magical places and the way they glorify God. Beyond what I saw in nature, I learned how to travel well. After spearheading most of the planning for my group’s ten-day trip to Italy, I now know more about finding flights, booking Airbnbs, and picking restaurants. After completing these trips, I have also learned how to better pack, capture the trip in photos and video, and manage my outlook. This is a small glimpse into the number of things I have learned.
However, it is not just about what you learn but how those lessons work out in your life. I can say with confidence I have grown and been shaped by this special semester. My last name is Vogelsang. It is German and means birdsong. While I have always known that I was partly German, I clearly had no ties to the culture or people. Now, I have been shaped by the traditions, places, and life of Germany and can say I am truly part German. Learning when to keep inside spaces and trams quiet, learning to love walking (especially to Christmas markets), craving a Bratwurst, and getting to know so many cities in Germany are all examples of this. This semester also reignited my passion for hobbies. I played the piano in the villa often, captured and edited thousands of pictures on my camera, and helped cook some dishes I had not made before (I also made two pumpkin pies from scratch by myself). Finally, my viewpoint on denominations has shifted after going to an Anglican church in Leipzig. After learning about their denomination and structure, I realized that my preconceived notions had proven wrong, and I was thoroughly encouraged by their services. This gospel-centered church also showed me the universality of the church. All the way across the globe, the same gospel was being preached, the same songs were being sung, and God was working through his local church.
I pray against the odds of my very forgettable brain that I always remember these times and memories. Because of the relationships formed and grown, my own personal growth, and all the food, museums, and hikes in between, I am now a self-proclaimed lifelong traveler who is determined to explore, even in the places I am familiar with and call home.
