Vacation in Saarland

Saarland-- A small German bundesland in the south-west on the border of France, not to be confused with Sauerland, which is in the bundesland Nord-rhein Westfallen. Many people barely know it exists, because 1) it's so small and out of the way and 2) it's changed hands between France and Germany a couple of times in the past couple hundred years, and has been part of Germany now only since WWII.

It's overwhelming to realize that farther north, close to where I live in Wesel, in the Ruhrgebiet, was one of the largest industrial areas which France forced Germany to shut down and unarm after WWI. Saarland also once had a huge industry, and though the area itself is so small, many wars were fought over it. But enough reminiscing of the past, let's talk about Jutta, Stefan and my trip.

It was hailing when we drove out of Wesel, but when we realized we had forgotten the air matress, we drove back to get it anyway. Good thing, too, because apparently I had forgotten my winter jacket as well. Not good when it's snowing and -10 Celsius in Saarland.

The five hour drive passed by without much incident. We saw snowflakes as we raced down the Autobahn, though we mistook them for leaves at first. At a pit stop at McDonalds I got really excited over a car which had the brand name "California: Generation." If you think that's lame, bear with it. These moments of reference to home are few and far between, so they are often special and amusing.

We arrived at Jutta's sister's apartment around 8. Gabi, Jutta's sister, came unexpectedly a bit later, and we decided to go to Döner Kebab for dinner. Jutta and Stefan wanted to take me to their favorite Döner restaurant, but it was unfortunately closed. We tried three different Kebabs before we found an open one.

On Tuesday Stefan had a meeting for his work, so Jutta and I spent most of the day in a mall complex. It was all bedecked for Christmas, complete with sets depicting the story of the one-legged toy soldier.

After Stefan was done, we drove to Elka's, a friend of the Kiefers, house. She gave us all hair cuts before she made a typical Saarlandish meal, potatoes, eggs, and bacon mixed literally in a giant tub and then cooked on the stove. It was pretty good. Apparently afterwards I fell asleep while Stefan and Jutta chatted with Elka and her husband, who happens to be a butcher, in Saarlandish dialect.

Wednesday we drove home again, making it a very short visit. There was lots of snow on the ground, so during one of the pit stops I made a snow angel. Laying in the snow makes you cold and wet (if you never figured that out before) so afterwards I warmed up by waving energetically at the passing semi-truck drivers. They are some mighty friendly people.

Merry Christmas!

Fröhliche Weihnachten!!

Here are a few more random differences between Germany and the US which could have turned up a few posts ago, but they have more to do with Christmas:

1. St. Nicholas (and therefore Santa Claus) does not come on Christmas in Germany as he does in the US. On Christmas comes the Weihnachts Mann. St. Nick only appears on the 6th of December, on St. Nikolaus Tag. The confusion between the two began with a Coca-cola comercial.

2. Christmas is not actually celebrated on Christmas, but on Christmas Eve. That means that, compared to California, I get to open my presents not only 9 hours earlier, but 20, because I get to open them a whole evening earlier!

3. Cookies are only made at Christmastime. You make cookies at any other time of year and people think you're crazy (speaking from personal experience here).

The cookies (Plätchen auf Deutsch) Jutta and I made this year were macaroons and a sort of almondy sugar-coated crescent cookie. I think we made up to 400 total. Basically, a lot. And then there are the cookies we sometimes get as gifts from people, Lebkuchen and Spritzen and whatnot. We'll probably have enough to live on until Easter.

Christmas Eve found us sitting around the table eating "Heisser Stein." A heated stone was put in the center and we cooked small pieces of beef, potatoes, mushrooms, and onions on it. Then we had about 6 different types of sauces we could put on them. Who would have thought that mushrooms taste good with peanut sauce or that onions and black olive creme make the perfect combination? There was also banana-curry sauce, humus, and my personal favorite was the mustard sauce.

Dinner was almost an hour. Stefan said that one would think that with such small pieces of food one would never be full. However, after dinner we didn't even have anymore room for cookies!

Then came present time. This years theme appeared to be books. Jutta and Stefan got books by famous German comedians and popular grammar books, I got books by Jane Austen (German and English!).

Jutta and Stefan loved the quilt mom made for them. They were really impressed with how she could put together such a complex piece of work (as was I). It looks great and totally matches the room.

I was really thrilled to get gifts from home, too. After this post is finished, I'll be cuddling up with Sherman and watching the pajama video. And Jutta, Stefan and I even managed to find room to pack in a couple of salt water taffys!

The best this year, though, has to be the cool watch. If you look at the picture, you can see what time it was when we finished presents:

So ready for the WM, baby!

At midnight I went to a church service in a cow stall with some neighbors. It was really interesting. They had even managed to erect a cross out of stacks of hay up in front.

That was my awesome German Christmas. What was yours?
Peace. -Rachael

Weihnachtsmarkt

Christmastime in Germany is really cool. Besides the weather being practically 0 grad Celsius all the time, virtually every German town or city has a Weihnachtsmarkt, which.

Some Weihnachtsmarkts are so huge you can practically lose yourself. Others are small and cosy, and some are so completely threadbare you wonder why people put them up in the first place.

There are a couple of things you can usually find without fail in a German Weihnachtsmarkt. One is Glühwein, which is hot wine with Christmas spices in it. Normally if you buy a Glühwein (or cocoa or something else) you get a mug which you can keep as a keepsake or give back for some money in return. The other is Bratwurst, which is present at virtually every German city gathering.

However, at most Weihnachtsmarkts are also stands selling candles, toys, musical instruments, candy, chocolate, wooden signs, and a whole variety of goods. The Weihnachtsmarkt in Essen even had a ferris wheel!

The huge fests gather a lot of street performers, too. On one street in Essen alone there were three groups of "Native Americans" alone, all trying to get you to buy the same CD.

I went to markets in Wesel (about 10 times, at least), Rees (one of those threadbare ones), in Münster with AFS, in Essen with friends from school and again with Jutta and Stefan, was sort of in Bocholt (after the market had closed for the night, though), and a couple of others.
One building in Bocholt was made into a giant advents calendar.

Sarah (US), Barbara, Analena, and Sarah in Essen

Essen with lots of lights.

Anyone who had Cadilli for Euro has to know the picture on the bottom left. In Essen, they had Italy for a guest land and they made a bunch of pictures with Christmas lights (e.g., the Birth of Venus and the Colloseum).
Natasha (Rus), Timon (Ger), Sarah (US), and yours truly in Münster

Deutschland vs. U.S.A.

It's the little things in life that count. And every day that count gets higher and higher. Here are a few of those "little things" which are different in Germany than in the U.S.

-Bratwurst really is the German equivalent of a hot dog. The stereotyped German bratwurst is only eaten at markets and fests.

-Traffic lights are on the near side of the street. Drivers have to crane their necks to catch the signal. Possible explanation: This forces drivers to stay alert, so they don't zone out while staring constantly at the horizon.

-The German Autobahn has no speed limit. Only when there is a shield designating a particular speed can a driver be ticketed for driving too fast. (An example of how fast people go here: I was in a car once which was passed up while going 180 km/hr).

-Most German students don't use normal pens or pencils (pencils are hardly ever used). Instead, they use "Füllers," which are calligraphy-like pens. Students receive them in their early school years so they will write neater (plus, you can only amend errors once, and that's only if you have the special pen which dissolves the Füllers ink and writes over it).


-Döner, a delicious Turkish food, restaurants can be found in Germany more often than McDonalds and Burger King put together.
-Free condoms are often passed out to people at markets and fests. Apparently they aren't so widely used or available here in Germany.

-The only restaurants which put ice in drinks are fast food places because it's "American," even when it's -1° Celsius outside.

-In Germany people don't sleep with sheets. They have a bed cover and a comforter, that's all.

-In large cities or fests, crowds often gather around living statues. The good ones are very entertaining and look so real some passers-by actually think there aren't people inside the costume.
-In Germany cookies are only baked at Christmastime.

-Maggi is the German equivalent of ketchup in the U.S. Germans will put it on everything (eggs, noodles, soup, etc.).

Since We're in the Middle of the Holiday Season

Happy Saint Nikolaus Tag!

The 6th of December is a special day in Germany. On the eve of St. Nikolaus Tag children leave their boots outside on the doorstep and so said man comes and if the child was good last year he fills them with candy, fruits, and nuts. If the child was extra good, he or she gets an extra plateful of goodies along with a box of giant chocolate-covered marshmallow sweets.

I got to see St. Nikolaus twice. Once on the 5th in a Nikolaus Parade in Bislich with the Blasorchester and also on the 6th at the AFS Stammtisch. Amazing how he finds time to stop in so many places. It must be a very stressful job, because his voice changes every time. His gift to the Bislich children was no homework! So jealous. But at the Stammtisch, he gave us personalized speeches and chocolate, so it's all good.

St. Nikolaus was accompanied by his shadow, der Schwarze Mann, who carries a bunch of twigs to hit naughty children. He leaves birch rods or bunches of twigs in the children's boots if they were bad in the past year. Then the parents can do his dirty work.

Eating other people's candy = naughty.

At the Stammtisch we had a white elephant gift exchange as well as the visit from St. Nikolaus. You could never guess what I got:

That's right. Champagne with Metternich on it. Everybody wanted to trade with me after that. Like, no?

Other amusing gifts include Fabiola from Mexico receiving a CD of Latin music and Federico from Italy receiving women's shower gel. Yuy from Thailand (who is leaving in January, sadly) got a cool Santa Claus incense burner, from which the smoke comes out of his mouth as he sucks on his pipe.

December 6th, 2005 is also special because 88 years ago from this date Finland won its independence from Russia. Katri showed her patriotism by standing up in front of the whole crowd at the Stammtisch and singing her national anthem.

Happy Nikolaus Tag! Love from everybody from China, Italy, US, Finland, Bosnia-Herzigovina, Czech Republic, Mexico, and Russia.