Good Week

So we left off with Sunday's hike.  Let's skip to Thursday.  The international student group all went ice skating.  It was quite a good time.  I take for granted that ice skating is a part of our culture and we've all grown up doing it at least annually.  Not the case worldwide.  For much of the group, it was their first time putting on skates.

Come Friday, I found out that Germany does have hardware stores very much like what I would find at home.  I went to "OBI" and found some good wood glue to fix the guitar I broke...  I also used it to fix the hole I made in the wall when I tore a picture down. 

Saturday morning I got up early (8am) to make sure I had eaten and woken up by my 9am appointment with my landlord.  The meeting was about finding a bike.  See next entry for details.  It made me happy.  That afternoon I met up with a friend from PUMA (Lisa) to go the Toy Museum (Spielzeug Museum) in Nuremberg.  For just 3€ it was quite a good time.   A few pics below.  This morning, the church who provides us a room for the international student meetings invited us all to the service followed by lunch provided by them.  I quite enjoyed it.  We went for a stroll afterwards around a part of the city I hadn't seen before.  All I keep thinking though is, "wow, this would be so much more awesome in summer!"  Oh well, summer is coming.  I can't wait.

In other news, I got a biomechanics of footwear book the other day from 1987 written in German.  I'm going to try to plow my way through that.  My flatmate also finally finished unpacking and is going to lend me a few novels in German to try reading.  That's all for now.  Off to write an entry about bikes!

These folks flip one over the other down the stairs like a slinky

This is a toy kitchen.  Many of the ovens let you put a candle in to heat water.

Stieff toys "with button in ear" was their slogan.

American toys - Popeye the Sailor man

Lisa at her masterpiece

Fränkische Schweiz

So last Sunday 17 of us headed out for a hike through a nearby mountain range.  Perhaps just a half step grander than central PA, but then with cool stuff added like this cave and than castle fort thing.  High of 30 degrees F (-1 C) meant ground was good and frozen.  perfect.  k I'm out.

December - part II - in which I went North

Come the second weekend in December it was time for my first vacation.  I took Friday and Monday off to visit friends in Osnabrück where I studied last year.  Right off the bat though, an 8 minute delay on my first train made me miss my connection turning a 5 hour commute into 7 hours.  Conveniently just enough for me to get a refund of half my ticket (enough to cover my expenses for the rest of the weekend).  The afternoon involved cooking and eating and friends, and christmas cookies (not the "R" I made on top right =).

That evening I went back to stay with Jonas and Marlene who were hosting me for the weekend.  Marlene introduced me to "The Voice of Germany," a fun show along the lines of American idol, except the judges can't see the singers until after they vote, and the judges pick teams and have a competition of sorts.  We also saw the Christmas market in Melle that evening which was small but quaint and nice.

The next morning we went with people from church, all dressed up as Santa Claus, giving out candy and Bible verses at the Osnabrück Christmas market.  Went quite well and had opportunities to really encourage some people, and to pray with the people of the city.  Fun on all sides!

Later we ate Döner, knocked out some shopping, and then went to play a big game of Risk in German.  I got lucky with an easy mission and won  =P

Sunday was church at my favorite church in Germany, followed by lunch out.  It was great with 16 or so of us all squeezed around the table at Vapiano's, and Italian chain restaurant.  I stuffed myself, and then went back to Melle.  After some tea, Jonas and I went for a run... way to close after eating.  Did NOT feel good.  Oh well.  We hung out in the evening, played some music and then watched "Tatort," (translated as "scene of the crime." One of the few German phrases shorter than the English version)  a popular German criminal investigation TV show.  I got a lot of German culture this weekend.

Come Monday, Marlene had to head to work early, and Jonas to Uni, so I hung out with some other friends and enjoyed their company before taking the train back to Erlangen that evening.

Fun relaxing weekend.  I'm looking forward to doing it again when it is warmer.

I'm off to bed now.  Christmas will come early tomorrow.  Have a good one!

December - part I - in which we attended the Christkindlesmarkt

This was my second December in Germany, although this time I am home for Christmas.  It was a delightful month.  Here are some stories, and maybe a few pictures if I get inspired to add them though my photography skills are deteriorating.


Early December I made my way to the Christmas market in Nürnberg.  It is know as the Christkindlesmarkt and is supposed to an excellent one.  Accompanied by Karen, Melissa, and Markus all from work we went to check it out on a Wednesday after work, hoping it would be less crowded than the weekend.  Well as we arrived, the crowds of people were all streaming out...  The wind was whipping sleet in our faces, and lightning was etching itself across the sky.  It only lasted about 15 minutes, cleared out the market, and then left us to enjoy the market in peace.  Definitely a memorable start.  (trash cans began filling up with wind broken umbrellas).


We all picked up some hot drinks.  Karen set one down on a counter of a nearby booth to take a picture.  I noticed the dirty look the booth owner gave her. "psst Karen," I said, "you probably shouldn't leave that there."  She wasn't too concerned though.  When she retrieved her drink we realized she had put it directly on top of the sign that read in German "Do Not Set Your Drinks Here!"  Oops, I'm a foreigner and can't speak German, is the motto that gets us through situations like that unscathed even if it's not entirely true sometimes  =P  - I'm obviously American, and then we had a Canadian, Austrian, and one German, but she would pretend to be Dutch when necessary, making us the perfect combination of clueless foreigners. 

Arriving in the rain

This has already turned into a full entry, so I'll stop here and talk more later.  I've gotta run spot my brother lifting downstairs...

laters,

a snippit of Bremen

City of Snow - Schneestadt

Firstly I just want to point out that this is my 100th post and I started this blog in mid-February. I'd say that counts as perseverance. Definitely enjoying having all this stuff together in one place and going through the process as well.

Secondly I just invented the word "Schneestadt" but I think I'm allowed to do that because that's how the German language works. Instead of using adjectives they just cram words like "Schnee" (snow) and "Stadt" (city) together.

I've mentioned I think that my church meets on the 6th floor of a building on the north edge of the city. I've been meaning to bring my camera for weeks and I finally did. It's a lovely snowy day. The first picture is a close up of the second one. You'll notice that those churches are about the tallest buildings in the city. They are situated pretty roughly in the middle. Granted Osnabrück is a small city even by European standards, but it's a stark contrast to skylines like Pittsburgh.

View more recent photos here. I just added another 15 photos to the end of the album.

Good Morning

Rise and Shine Ryan

Throw open the blinds

let the day begin

oh..

Good morning to you too! Hello =)

A good way to begin the morning.

Winter

Winter Morning

Bright and Early

Osnabrück

3 months more