Poor Pete

I really need to stop Pete from making friends with things that don't last. It broke my heart when François died. Now this? Oh, Pete. The Weihnachtsmann lasted an even shorter time than François. Truly tragic.

Nikolaus Tag

Dec. 6 is Nikolaus Day and if you've been good, Nikolaus brings you candy. You are supposed to leave your shoes out the night before so he can fill them.

I forgot all about this until i got up on Saturday and saw a little chocolate Santa left near the door by Nikolaus. It was really sweet of my host family to include me in their traditions :)


I thought i should show you pics of my little chocolate-y Santa before i chowed down on him:

Classic Canadiana

My Aunt had this poem as her Fbook status today:

Jack and Gilles went up the hill,
to filch the font of power.
Jack fell down, pushed by the crown,
and Gilles came grumbling after.

Oh so Canadian. Classic.

Twilight

I bought the first two Twilight books on Sunday as well. They were pretty good, but at the same time a bit cheesy. which made me sad. Although i have to say that i like the idea of a teen angst-y vampire much more than the adult woe-is-me-i-can't-even-drink-from-rats-without-absolutely-hating-myself-and-what-i-am type that certain authors out there like to write about.

I also think that, despite some of the kind of unbelievable things that may happen to Bella and Edward, their love story is kinda nice and sort of believable.

*sigh- sorry about the cheese factor there*

Cologne

I wandered up to Koeln on Sunday to visit Elise. It was good fun, with the exception of the DB once again being ridiculously difficult to use (a way long, complicated story guaranteed to just make me angry all over again). We wandered around Cologne, checking out 3 different Christmas Markets, part of the Chocolate Museum, a book store, and the local Saturn. We lunched, drank Gluehwein, and chatted. I had a good time and i took some pictures for you all:

The "I Love You" Llama

The Cologne Cathedral

A herd of Reindeer

The Floating Christmas Market

A bridge over the Rhine

I got the Stealth

This house is big and drafty. And cold. The Family doesn't know, but i have stealthily gone around and turned the some of the radiators ON and up to 2. MUAHAHAHAHA. it is pleasant to know that it is now warmer upstairs by about 8 degrees (making it a very posh and overheated 17 degrees upstairs). My radiator stays sneakily up at 5 almost all the time to make my room livable. do you have any idea how hard it is to post for you all when i have to wear mittens???

I got the stealth, I got the stealth, I got the stealth...yeah!

I don't understand the attraction to big, impossible to heat homes.

Seriously Already

Germany is the land of no baggers at the grocery store. Sometimes it can be a bit frustrating to try and juggle shoving your groceries into your bags (off the 1 foot square section at the end of the til), paying for them, and getting out of the way before the cashier throws the next person's groceries at you on the aforementioned 1 foot squared of space. To top it off, usually the cashiers are super grumpy and way impatient with you or anything that holds up the line.

So, i was already kinda cranky today, then going to the store made it worse. the customer in front of me had a broken hand and was trying to pay, bag, and get gone, while the Cashier was pulling her usual nastiness and rushing and stressing this poor lady.

I see things like this all the time and it always makes me a little sad. Patience never killed anyone. Sometimes it seems that patience here is not a virtue, but rather more of a rarity. It's sad because it always makes me wonder what else those potential 30 more seconds could be used on that would make a real difference. This is one of the reasons i am excited to be that much closer to going home. Even in Canada when things are super rushed and crazy busy, it never feels quite so rushed as here. Although, it could just that i am more used to it at home.

I couldn't even be embarrassed

Today I was leisurely riding my bike home today after school, singing the Magic Penny song out loud. You know the one they always made us sing at Sunday School? And as i am dawdling, singing rather loudly, one of my teachers from my school passed me, gave me a weird look, and gave me an overly-friendly-let's-not-upset-the-weird Canadian hello.

It was that awesome.

*EDIT*

For those of you in the NOT-know, as stated by my sub-headline, I am keeping you in the know. So here are the lyrics:

Love is something if you give it away,
give it away, give it away.
Love is something if you give it away,
you end up having more.

It's just like a magic penny,
hold it tight and you won't have any.
Lend it, spend it, and you'll have so many,
They'll roll all over the floor.

There's my nod to the United Church and its Sunday School.

Spelling auf Deutsch

Today was one of those days where i made up the lesson as i walked into the classroom. I started talking to the 6th grade about Christmas and their traditions. (for instance- did you know that they have First Christmas and Second Christmas on Dec. 25 & 26, instead of boxing day) I decided there was some important vocabulary they should learn, so i wrote the English word on the board and then wrote the German word beside it to help them remember (There are those who disagree with this method, saying it makes them rely on their first language like a crutch- but i disagree, b/c usually having a word explained to me in my second language just frustrates me and i never quite catch the exact meaning, plus if i have the exact meaning i am more likely to remember what the word means when i see it, as opposed to remembering the word but not what it means)

Anyway, i write terribly in German. I may all be phonetic spelling- but i don't really do that so well either. I can tell you what the word is- i just can't spell it for you. So by the time i had finally spelled the first word right, all my kids clapped super enthusiastically for me. lol. They continued to try and talk me through the spelling for more words, clapping after each one. It was so sweet-they were really excited to get to play teacher a bit :)

Ranting

I would just like to take a moment here to express my serious dislike of teenage boys- namely the host brother.

How difficult would it be for him to clean up after his lazy slovenly self?!? I am assuming it would kill him if he tried not to be a filthy slob in every single aspect of his life and that is why he never even pretends to make an effort. Seriously- not so difficult to do your chores and clean up after yourself. AKA- if it is your turn to clean the filthy sty you have made of the bathroom and all the hand towels are dirty- WASH THEM- don't wait a week until I get pissed off waiting for you to finish your chores and do it myself. I am NOT your F*ing mommy. And stop using my friggen Shampoo dude- cause I seriously do notice when you have used half the f*ing bottle I just bought.

I think somewhere along the line, he has forgotten that I am NOT a) a sibling b) his fucking maid. It's not like I am not paying to live here. I don't mind doing a few chores- but I refuse to pick up the slack for an 18 year old shithead, who is basically too incompetent and incessantly lazy to breathe without his mommy riding herd on him. Also- he should either get a haircut or start actually taking care of his hair. Long hair is a girl thing, you GD hippie.

Thank you for your cooperation and patience.

Death of a Snowman

I am sure you all remember François the Snowman. I built him from the snow on my window sill last week. Unfortunately, the snow did not last long and neither did François. I came home to find this the next afternoon:


Oh, François the Snowman. You met a terrible end. His pieces are still sitting out on the sill. I can't bear to move his little arms and eyes just yet. It's just so sad.

Rothenburg's Loose Ends

I have found some pictures that warrant a spot on the blog, but not a whole post. So I present to you the ragtag remnants of my pictures :D

Only in Germany a) does a quad require a license plate
b) can it be considered a street legal vehicle

Sword fighting on the streets of Rothenburg

No explanation needed here.

The girls taking pictures

The things required by three girls for a weekend trip

The Night Watchman

As mentioned below, one of the things we did in Rothenburg was take a tour in the dark with the Night Watchman. The guy dressed up all authentic like and talked about the history of the city and several important places in Rothenburg as he led us around part of the walled city. It was very interesting, but unfortunately, it was very similar to the tour we had taken of the town earlier that day. So us girls took some photos, laughed at some weird idiot children, and drank some Gluehwein (basically a mulled wine).

Here are some of the highlights of the tour:

Meg, the Night Watchman, and Me (drinking our Gluehwein). And yes, the Night Watchman did go for the arm around Meg. It was a bit awkward :s

Me sitting on part of the old city wall. It was really low on that side of the city b/c of the steep hills on that side.

The East Gate to the old city at night.

Me playing Night Watchman. Arrrrrr- I'm fierce, eh?

Our shadows waving from the walkway on the old wall.

There May Have Been a Keg Involved :s

Of course, no girls weekend out is complete without a mini keg, which was thoughtfully provided by the local grocery store. But, it was way to early to drink it when we bought it and we couldn’t lug it around with us on the night watchman tour we were going on, so we buried it.

Meg carting the beer

Not in a hole mind you. Simply under a pile of leaves in a dark place about 20 feet from the door to the hostel. And we carried on with our tour.

The hidden beer

Meg uncovering the beer

Thankfully, the weather was cold enough that the keg was thoroughly chilled. Then came the three of us girls trying to figure out the crappy directions printed on it. Hmmmm… eventually we figured it out and the party began. There was much junk food, much gossip, and much beer. Awesome :D

Tapping the keg.

In fact it was so awesome that when we didn’t finish it all, we left it where anyone who wanted it could take the rest. We even added a sign. It’s a bit difficult to read in the picture, but it basically says (in German) “free beer, tasty and well priced, and enjoy yourself”. Classic.

Rothenburg- The Christmas Market

We went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria last weekend. Rothenburg is a really old city, sitting on two really important line of trade from the medieval times (Scandanavia- Rome, and from the east of Europe to Paris) It is a well preserved and ancient walled city. It is also known as the land of perpetual Christmas and i figured that was as good a place as any to start my Christmas Market visits here in Germany. Rothenburg has stores that sell Christmas decorations and Christmas-y type things all year round. It is also the home of a Christmas Museum that is open year round (it also, kind of randomly, has a museum dedicated to the history of crime and punishment in Germany).

Elise, Meg, and I all wandered down to the city by train. Except, I had not had enough time to look up either the name or the address before we left Meg's place, so it was on blind faith and vague memories that I lead us to the hostel. We immediately started in on the Christmas revelry and started checking out the market.

The Christmas Market by night

Meg in front of "Zur Hoell"- one of the oldest buildings in Rothenburg. Its foundation is almost a thousand years old

The Christmas Museum

Elise and I drinking hot chocolate at the Market

The main Christmas tree in the town square