Thankful! (The missing blog post - found! But no pictures...)

Hello again, dear friends and family!  It's been far too long since my last post, but I have been very busy with school and extracurricular activities.  So... let me see if I can catch you up on my adventures.  One of my professors from the HU105 program, Susie Bollinger visited her son Zach for Thanksgiving here in Germany.  Not ONLY did I get to visit with her, which was wonderful, but she brought me presents in the form of books to help me nurture academic growth in my students, and her family invited me to join them for a lovely and delicious Thanksgiving feast!  Since our International school has quite a few American students, we were able to enjoy a long weekend, as well as an international pre-Thanksgiving dinner for the staff the weekend before.  I brought Israel, and he was able to finally meet many of the people from my stories about school.

After Thanksgiving weekend, which was a nice little fall break, we headed full throttle into the Christmas Season!  I have had the opportunity to visit several Weihnachtsmarkt, or Christmas Markets in English.  These are wonderful open air markets that serve traditional German winter foods, including the ever popular Gluhwein (a hot spiced wine), wurst, crepes, and flammkuchen (a thin crust pizza).  Nearly every market is beautifully decorated with lights, has a nativity, and large beautiful Weihnachtspyramide, large wooden carousel structures with propellers that rotate, causing the scene within to spin.  The Market vendors sell locally made as well as more exotic wares.  I did purchase myself a pair of finger-less furry gloves that I adore!  Tomorrow the entire school will be visiting Mannheim's Weihnachtsmarkt - it should be a lot of fun!

I broke down and purchased a new pair of ice skates.  Our school is next door to an ice arena, and during the first three weeks of December I get to take my 2nd graders ice skating every Wednesday morning!  There is an ammateur hockey league that plays, and after expressing my interest to join at the local pro-shop, I was given a great deal on my new Eastons.  I'm breaking them in, but it feels SOOOO good to be back on the ice! Now I just need to acquire some gently used hockey gear, and I'll be set!

Three more exciting things happened:  I received an early Christmas gift: a FABULOUS bike.  A beautiful silvery blue, complete with front lights, back lights, and a bell (all required by German law), and bonus LED lights on the wheels and a WORD lock.  How cool is that?!?  Thank-you, Israel! Next: I FINALLY have a cell phone to use while in Germany!  I will work on linking a US number to my German number so you can easily and inexpensively reach me.  In the meantime, if you would like my German number simply message me.  I also use Viber, Skype, and WhatsAp!  And finally - it started snowing!  Briefly, and it didn't stick, but it made me happy none-the-less!

I will continue to post, and hopefully more frequently.  I love and miss you!  Tschuss!!!

Where, Oh Where, Has My Last Post Gone? November ReCap and December in Deutschland

Dearest friends and family, it would seem that my last post never actually posted!  You may have been wondering why I have been so quit, as much too much time has passed since I have written.  So, here is a quick recap of what you would have read, had the post not vanished:

November was wonderful!  I attended a pre-Thanksgiving dinner at the beautiful home of our school directors in Heidelberg.  It was delicious, and Israel was able to meet most of my colleagues and their loved ones, as well as two of my loved ones: Kyle & Angela. 

I was very fortunate to see one of my professors here in Germany, as she was visiting her son and daughter-in-law for Thanksgiving.  Not only did Susie Bollinger give me presents (excellent texts I can use in my teaching over here), but her family invited me to Thanksgiving Dinner which was so yummy! 

To wrap up the month I received an early Christmas present – a beautiful new bike (thanks, mein Liebling)!

 December was full of activity! Germany is famous for it’s Weihnachtsmarkt, or Christmas Markets.  They are fun and festive, with lots of opportunities to buy classic or unique gifts for you loved ones as well as enjoy traditional fare such as Glühwein (hot mulled wine), Lebkuchen (gingerbread), and Bratwurst.  The first one I experienced was in Kaiserslautern with Israel.  It was small and crowded, but we enjoyed the Glühwein, nativity, and bonfire.  We had embarked with the intention of purchasing Christmas gifts, but were a wee bit disappointed in the selection.  However, it was the first week of December, and perhaps not all the venders were ready with their wares.  I visited the Landstuhl Weihnachtsmarkt the next night solo.  I was relieved to find many more booths and handmade craft items!  Then I visited the two in Viernheim, one with my friend and colleague Alicia and the other on my own.  I visited the three Mannheim Weihnachtsmarkts with my students – it is an annual tradition for the school!  Mainz & Trier I experienced with Israel while also visiting UNESCO sites, then strolled through the Heidelberg market with my friends Suzanne, Greg, and their two sweet children.  My final Weihnachtsmarkt adventure was in Essen with Kyle and Angela.  I now feel an overwhelming urge to drink hot wine and eat currywurst whenever I think of these holiday markets!

Mannheim

Heidelberg

Kaiserslautern

Mainz

Trier - look closely, it a symbol from Carcasonne!

UNESCO Site in Trier

Another memorable December activity was ice skating with my 2^nd graders.  For three Wednesdays in December we went skating, I in my new Easton ice skates.  It was so fun, and oh how I miss playing hockey.  Let’s see if the new year finds me again in pads, shooting the puck with my hockey stick!  It’s entirely possible, as the local EisSportHalle is next door to my school, less than a 10minute walk away!!! 

I spent Christmas with my cousin Kyle, his beautiful Angela, and her loving family in Essen, Germany.  I learned to make tamales, which were fabulous, and saw an enormous cathedral in Köln, explored the outskirts of Essen and discovered a hidden well café, where I ate my first German cupcake!  Of course, being the gamer that I am, I may have spread my love of board games around with Christmas gifts of Munchkin & the Settlers of Catan (both in German) to Angela’s two brothers, but they seem to enjoy playing, so I am very content!  I also played Dixit for the first time – quite an interesting and fun little game.  It’s like Balderdash, only with art instead of words.

One more thing I need to mention – I went dancing twice with colleagues at Zapattos, a salsa club in the Mannheim train station!  I look forward to getting my groove on there again, as it was tremendously fun!  I am very blessed to have the wonderful friends, colleagues, and family that support me on my adventures.  Thank-you to you all, I am happier because you are in my life.  Good luck in the New Year! (I will be welcoming it in Amsterdam!)  Tschuss!!!