Travis Weber
Staff Correspondent
HEIDELBERG—It was far from my typical Christmas break.
On Dec. 6 at 5 p.m., the doors of an empty Moore Haus were shut and locked as many Heidelberg students began the first of five weeks traveling through Europe.
Sure, I was free of classes and had no time commitments. It’s true that I spent most of break with close friends and family.
Appearances might suggest that this was going to be the typical cheerful and light-hearted break. But, it was so much more.
There is something about Eastern Europe that contrasts highly with an Oklahoma Christmas. The Okie in me expects to see decorations, lights and delicious homemade pastries. I expect to hear the ringing of the Salvation Army bell as I enter a store while hearing carols sung on the streets.
Back in Oklahoma, I was lucky if the snowfall allowed a few hours of snowball fights.
It did not take long before I realized that I wasn’t in Oklahoma anymore. The differences went beyond the temperature, amount of snow and the fact that my German and English skills were useless. It was upon entering the streets of Poland that I realized why so many of the locals prefer large fur coats and fur hoods instead of a thin REI jacket.
It was picture perfect as snow fell and blanketed the buildings and the streets. Instead of finding lights adorning residences, we found a massive tree covered with bright lights drawing us into the town center.
More than providing the opportunity to see a variety of famous tourist attractions, this trip would soon turn my world upside down.
Although the town center reminded me most of Christmases in Oklahoma, other images from my break overshadow these. Images of Auschwitz-Birkenau, a Nazi concentration camp in Poland, continue to haunt me.
Words do not exist that can describe the experience of Auschwitz. After a person steps onto the very soil where lives were broken, oppressed and humiliated, nobody can walk away the same person.
After a few days in Poland, an overnight train took my group to Belgrade, Yugoslavia. A strong and poignant industrial smell met us as soon as we exited the train.
Knowing nothing about Belgrade, we quickly made our way to the river. Our eyes betrayed our expectations for a relaxing and leisurely stroll down the river.
The river was grossly polluted with waste, cans and runoff. Old rusting boats moored to the shore doubled over as housing. Huts, smaller than a typical Oklahoma shed, housed parents with three or more kids. Poverty to a degree that I have never experienced before met my eyes.
Don’t think that I am diminishing or degrading Yugoslavia in any fashion; in fact, my experience was quite the opposite.
I had plenty of time to think about our world’s history of oppression and the present-day families struggling to get by as I spent the rest of my Christmas break with family. There is a stark contrast between Auschwitz and a hotel on the Rhine River. Very different was skiing in Austria versus walking the streets of Belgrade.
It may not have been the traditional merry Christmas, but it was an experience of reality.
I thank God for the opportunity to see more sides of humanity. Now, the question that remains to be answered is how will I live my life from this point forward?
January 30, 2003
