It’s been an incredible day… but I’ll get to that in a bit…
Well, we’ve made it to our destination as Kyle mentioned – in Munich for the International Convention that we’ve been anticipating for about a year now! Can’t believe it’s actually here! Interesting getting here too… Kyle posted that video of the ICE train, but once again our experience with European rail was not flawless. We headed out of the hotel with our 12 bags, hiking city blocks to get to the subway. Once we stumbled down the steps of the station, dad said he thought he saw a sign that made him think we had to buy an extra ticket for the space our large bags were taking up… and he wanted me to ask the clerk… So I scrambled trying to remember verbs and conjugation, and what I came up with was “Est-ce que nous achetons plus un billet pour les luggage?” And what do you know – she understood! My crowning achievement in France! Kasey… try to let me enjoy it despite whatever mistakes:)
So the mishap this time on the rail came again with the ICE train… those are the nicest trains! Too bad we haven’t had a good experience with them. Everything was good until the transfer. Got on the next train pretty easily – were happy about that for a second… then we realized the diagram at the station was backwards, or Kyle misread it or whatever. So instead of getting on car 3, we found ourselves on car 9 with our 12 bags of luggage. Needless to say, we were again playing the role of confused Americans trying to find where the heck we’re supposed to be. After talking to several stewardesses we found our seats in a (quite nice) private compartment on car 3… but our luggage was still six very long, bouncy and crowded cars away. I tried to haul one piece down there – but it was too wide to pull through the isle, so I had to carry mum’s suitcase (never leaves anywhere without her treasured brick collection)down the six long, bouncy, crowded cars… almost falling a few times… finally when I got to car 3, I was covered in sweat, and we just decided that instead – when the train stops at the next station we’ll move the rest out, and run as fast as we can down the train station with our remaining luggage and hopefully make it to our seats before the train takes off. (Trains leave very quickly in Europe) So my grandpa, dad, Kyle and myself sprinted, luggage in toe, to car 3 in time to spend the next few minutes catching our breath. Whew! Then there was this super annoying, large, loud Indian family in the compartment next to us, who had some sort of Indian yodeling playing, just loud enough to get on your nerves… oh! … But now we’re in Munich!
But you know… a trip wouldn’t be fun without a few mishaps… so we threw in some more at the hotel:) We were not dressed very nice at all… but we saw a bunch of nicely dressed Witnesses with badges in the lobby… so I thought to myself – why don’t I just pull out my badge? I don’t know why I keep old convention badges… but I do… “Guided by God’s Spirit!” Dang… do I look stupid! Not dressed nice and with an old badge… great. But soon my attention was attracted to the front desk as the lady was asking for Carl Wayne Livengood (Grandpa). Well he already got his room card and they went upstairs to hit the sack… but he still needed to clear up some stuff with the reservations. Just then, Grandma comes down, and tells us that their room doesn’t have any electricity… it gets better! When Grandpa finally makes his way down – it turns out, there is another Carl Wayne?! Whose already checked, in and they switched the reservations up and the two Carl Waynes’s have each other’s rooms! Long story short… we got electricity for Grandma and Grandpa, we settled the reservation mix-up, and my mom had a spare “Keep on the Watch!” badge, but with her name on it… tried to write mine over it – but for now I’m Derekda Livengood, who has really girly handwriting…
So it was kinda stressful… but Bible reading and prayer helps get the right mindset for the next day’s touring and the upcoming conventionJ Oh yeah… almost forgot! No washcloths, and the wake up service didn’t work haha! Somehow though, we found ourselves all ready in the lobby waiting to get on the bus that would take us to Herrenchimsee Castle. (More of an insane King’s palace) Unbeliveably extravagant! And what’s especially interesting – unuseful, and unused! By that I mean – it was never finished, it was full of things like: a disappearing table, a bed surrounded by gold but was never slept in, a bathtub that took 8 hours to fill and 12 hours to heat up, a 98 meter hall of mirrors filled with chandeliers that took 25 servants 30 minutes to light – and the only purpose of such a hall was for the King to walk through while meditating on his idle King Louis XIV. What’s more, the King only lived there for 10 DAYS! Used some stuff like once – most things never, because he drowned in a 3 foot lake… Anyways! We had a delicious lunch, (all provided) chicken in port wine sauce with a salad and dessert. Plus, everybody had these huge beers! (Including myselfJ)
After that I had no idea what was coming. There was some confusion concerning our itinerary, and nobody really knew where we were going… but it’s a place I will never forget for the rest of my life… Way out in the beautiful German countryside about an hour from Munich, our bus stopped, and an excited German brother told us to follow him. We got off the bus, walked a few blocks and turned left down a narrow gravel street next to some railroad tracks. Around the corner lay a modest but fine looking Kingdom Hall. We all started taking pictures, but as we walked closer, we saw sisters in traditional German garb giving everyone hugs and greetings… everyone was smiling as we embraced ours brothers we were meeting for the first time. They had a band of 5 brothers on traditional instruments playing music to welcome us… Inside the hall little kids handed out pictures of their congregation and on the back were pictures they drew in colored pencil of the surrounding landscape. We talked with our warm and loving brothers under the vaulted wooden ceiling. After taking numerous pictures and smiling the widest I have in a long time… one of the brothers told us it was time to go downstairs. As we walked down the stairs to the basement, the voices and laughter grew louder. We past a timeline they had made of events with major spiritual importance from Adam’s creation all the way to modern day. I was getting excited to see what lay ahead through the doors of that basement… I didn’t last 20 seconds more… before I burst into tears. Before we even got through the door, we had brothers and sisters shaking our hands, putting their arms around us, asking us where we were from. As we entered, they immediately offered us homemade pretzels and liverwurst they had been preparing for us in the basement kitchen. We may not have spoken the same language, but none of that mattered when we smiled at one another. As the band started to play and more offers came for food and drink that they must have slaved over… I felt apart. Never before have I experience such love and generosity… it hit me like a ton of bricks and took me hours to recover. They were all so so happy to be able to show us how much they loved us. Their faces were filled with joy as they finally got to give us what they had been planning for no doubt months. They gave us food, beer, desserts, hugs, handshakes, smiles, pictures… I was overwhelmed… and could not hold back the tears welling inside of me. I live in a beautiful area, and I have seen many beautiful things. From the Columbia Gorge, to waterfalls, to majestic mountains, the Oregon Coast… I’ve just seen the beauties of Paris, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc du Triomphe… But I can tell you with absolute certainty, that the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life… was that Kingdom Hall basement. I cannot convey the level of love and emotion that was experience in that room. Pictures say 1,000 words… but 1,000 words does not begin to scratch the surface. It’s not what you see, what you hear, what you smell or what you taste… it’s what you feel… and that is beyond description. Never before have I experienced the brotherhood in this way. Something with so much love, so much beauty, and so much power… can only come from Jehovah. Though the music might have been out of tune in spots – it was the most beautiful music I have ever heard… because of the love and joy with which it was played. Though the sisters were not professional chiefs – it was the best food I have ever tasted… because of the delight on their faces at offering it to us. Though these were people I have never met in my life… I felt such an incredible bond, that can only come from being in Jehovah’s organization.
I know today will be a day I never forget.
Take a close look at this custom beer mug!
I love the way Grandpa looks in this one!
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