First Snow, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Markets

Not like putting everything into one blog, but time flies when you are busy!

We had our first snow fall at the end of November. It only snowed two nights but the snow lasted on the ground for a week even though it was only about two inches thick. It just stayed cold enough. On that Monday, we brought the kids at the Kindergarten to Theresienwiese, the large open space where they have the Oktoberfest. We walked through the snow and made a snowman with the two inch layer, but it was fun. I looked around as the kids were running and throwing snowballs, and was just at awe. These kids growing up in a place like this is just hard for me to understand for I grew up in a whole different world. The huge cathedral in the distance that looms over the city is just breathtaking. The kids see this every day. They don't know any different. They probably would think the US with its tall skyscrapers and streets that go straight down a hill like a slide is a sight to see. It warmed up and the only thing we had seen since is rain, but this last Thursday, it started snowing again. This time quite a bit, but it is already melting and doesn't look like it will snow much more this round.

Since Thanksgiving is only a US and Canadian holiday, we did not have work off. We invited our work friends over for a Thanksgiving potluck dinner at our place on the Sunday afterwards. Chris and I went to the market the weekend before to reserve a turkey. When we went to pick up the turkey they did not have the one we ordered but had a larger one or two baby turkeys. We ended up getting the two baby turkeys for fear of fitting the larger one in the small ovens here and plus, it is soooo expensive. Turkeys are not very common. It cost us about $70! Oh well, the cost of having fun. We were glad we were doing it potluck style. We made cranberry sauce and stuffing from scratch, since those aren't seen in the stores. We had someone bring a potato dish, another a salad, and another drinks. The night was great. We all had a good time. This time wives/girlfriends were there, so it wasn't all science talk! It was fun to compare cultural differences. Justin is from Canada, so it was interesting to hear his celebrations of Thanksgiving. It is not much celebrated there and it is on Sunday with Monday off work he thinks (again not very big there). Karl is from Austria and commented the way we slice turkey is not what he is used to. They would break off chucks instead. It was a great night.

All through December there have been the Christmas Markets all throughout the city. I guess there are about 20 around the area. Each market has a different theme. One is a medieval theme where the people are even dressed up in medieval outfits and the gluewein is served in goblets instead of mugs. One is a nativity theme where every stall has figurings for your nativity set. All the items at these markets are handmade crafts. They are amazing. Tollwood is the hugest in the area. It is at the site of the Oktoberfest but not nearly as big. Tents are up and stalls are set up in and outside. Tollwood is themed as the international market. Crafts from all over the world. There is Indian, African, Native American, Japanese, etc. All these markets were great to shop in! Too many ideas! At the markets there is of course, food and drink! Gluewein is the German's drink of this season. It is everywhere at the markets and tons of people are standing around drinking this stuff. It is hot spiced wine. Mold wine. I guess they like it but we don't much care for it. I am now getting used to sausage. It is what you eat at the markets. Crepes are also a highlight.

Germany celebrates St. Niklaus on December 6th. We had St. Niklaus come to the Kindergarten in his bishop outfit holding his staff. We also saw him at the Christmas Market. He brought up each child one at a time and said three praises about the child (parents of course gave him these the day before). It was great to see the kids reactions to him knowing these things and they got a bag of goodies from him. It is also tradition here to leave out one shoe they have cleaned pretty and wake up to having a gift inside that morning of the 6th. Two shoes would be greedy. (sounds like the stockings we have on our mantel for Santa Claus). They have the Christmas Eve Night Man (Santa Claus). It is said to be the adopted American holiday here. But it is not St. Nick. They celebrate Christmas Eve Night. Christmas is more based on the religious Catholic holiday than Santa Claus. They also have a run through Tollwood of the Krampus, who are little scary men that chase kids that were naughty. We did not see this run but it sounded quite funny.

We bought a Christmas tree and carried it home on the train. It ended up being twice as expensive as we thought, for when we asked what the cost of the trees were the day before we bought it, we did not hear him say (or he just assumed we knew) the words "per meter." Oh well! We have a tree now! We decorated it and enjoying the Christmas season.