The end of 2010: Christmas and New Years in Deutschland.
Hey everyone! I probably shouldn't have left this journal to sit like this over Christmas, but I was traveling, and had homework, and *excuse, excuse, excuse* Long story short, I did end up writing an entry for the Dickinson in Bremen blog about our Berlin trip from Dec. 9 to 13, but that entry was about the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in Oranienburg and I decided that Christmas wasn't the best time to be posting something like that. So I'll add that entry here later.
Now, this is my Christmas in Germany entry! I had an excellent time, and since I've got quite a bit of time on my hands right now, this post will be decently long, with a few pictures. Also, this entry has a lot about food. :)
Technically, although Uni Bremen didn't start break until the end of classes December 21st, I started my break December 18th, as my professors cancelled classes for the rest of my time there. I spent the weekend getting last-minute presents for my host families, cleaning, making buckeyes for a few people, packing, and wandering around the Weihnachtsmarkt (or Christmas market) in Bremen. I have seen the Weihnachtsmärkte in Berlin, Bremen, Hannover, Freiburg, and a little bit just outside the Hamburg train station, but I think Bremen's is my favorite. No, I'm not biased at all. Really. I took a few pictures and must apologize for the picture quality. My camera gets cranky at night.
This was just going into the market. The Weihnachtsmarkt in Bremen takes place in the old inner city, in the old marketplace. This space is normally open, and is surrounded by the old and new city hall (Rathaus), the financial district, the cathedral, and the Roland. The Roland, the cathedral, and the old Rathaus (as I may have mentioned earlier) were the only things in the marketplace to survive WWII relatively unharmed. The financial buildings were leveled, and all the buldings you see to the left of the Christmas tree are facades, rebuilt in the 1950's to preserve the look of the inner city.
This is the old Rathaus. You can see a tiny, tiny sliver of the new Rathaus to the very right of the picture, but it's not as pretty so I didn't take a picture of it. :P
The Cathedral, which originally had asymmetrical towers until the citizens of Bremen decided that was annoying in the 1800's and fixed it. It was heavily rennovated at the same time as it was abandoned and left to decay after the Protestant Reformation, and now the insides are of beautiful marble and wood.
This is the Roland, the city protector. The legend was that as long as the Roland stood in the market of Bremen, Bremen would remain a free state (Bremen historically has a tradition of being a "free city," dating back to the Hanseatic League, hence why the Bremen Musicians wanted to go there in the Grimms fairy tale-- but more on that one later). Hence, during WWII the Roland was walled up and filled with sand, which ultimately preserved the statue when a bomb landed in the market that leveled the financial buildings.
And these are the famous Bremen Musicians of the Grimm Brothers fairy tale. You all know the story-- a donkey, dog, cat, and rooster are mistreated by their owners and decide to leave to be musicians in Bremen, where all men are free and treated fairly. As they travel to Bremen, they grow tired and look for a place to spend the night. They find a house belonging to robbers, who have lots of money and food inside. They decide to perform for the people inside, hoping to stay the night, and stand on one another's backs and start to make "music" that sounds so horrible that the robbers run away, leaving the animals to stay in the house. They never make it to Bremen, but they get a statue by the old Rathaus anyways. :P
Additionally, before I left Bremen, this is what it looked like outside of my window and on my walk to the tram stop:
Anyhow, yes. Bremen = best. :P
So on the 21st, I packed up and got a train to Freiburg, where my host family there picked me up and brought me back to Gundelfingen. It was really, really nice to be in a family environment again. Normally at Dickinson I get a break from college life every couple of months or so, but this had been several months of living in a single apartment. I enjoy my solitude, but being somewhere with parents and children again was really nice.
The 23rd I went into the city to visit some of my friends from the language course I took in Freiburg in September. I went to the Weihnachtsmarkt in Freiburg with one of them, and I found it was quite adorable (although my bias for Bremen won :P ) and had Glühwein (spiced wine), Currywurst, and something called a Dampfnudel, which was this massive dumpling that we shared. It was filled with cherries and drizzled with vanilla sauce and more cherries. Soooo delicious. After that, I went back to her apartment and we made burritos, which was awesome because I've been missing decent Mexican food in Germany. We then went to an Irish pub and met back up with a few people. Overall, an excellent day.
The next day was the 24th, or Heilige Abend. The family I was with has a pretty structured set of traditions for Heilige Abend. First of all, they go up to a mountaintop in the Black Forest and meet with a bunch of old friends and have a bonfire, with homemade Glühwein. Then they eat at a little restaurant up there. The one hitch in the plan this year: it started snowing like crazy that morning. We actually had to go switch cars, since the first one we were driving didn't have good enough handling in the snow. I remember thinking while in the car on the way up, "I'm driving up a mountain in the Black Forest on Christmas Eve in the middle of a SNOWSTORM to go drink wine at 11 AM. I'm kind of in love with Germany." <3
After a delicious lunch, we went back home to rest a bit before the church service that evening. This family is Catholic, and I am Lutheran, so it was my first time in Mass for a while. I discovered I would make a bad Catholic: I think I'm allergic to the incense. :/ I had a sore throat for about three days after getting a whiff of the stuff. But the service was quite beautiful, and I enjoyed singing the Christmas songs in German.
Once Mass was done, we went back home and the children (including me) were not allowed into the living room while the parents set up for Christmas. When we finally were allowed in, the presents were under the tree, and my family was on webcam, along with the son of my host family who is currently living in America with my family (long story). But they watched us open up presents and sing Christmas songs, and it was really nice. The host family really was too generous to me, and it was a beautiful Christmas Eve. It felt strange to know that I had opened all of my presents before it was even Christmas day in America, though. We had a dinner of lots of little delicacies, like salmon and special meats and so on, I went to bed that night with season 2 of Hetalia on my laptop and watched the whole thing. XD
Christmas day we drove three hours to Wetzlar to visit the paternal grandparents of the family. I felt bad because I ended up Skyping with my family for 2 hours and not socializing, but they understood. Right after we got there in the late afternoon, we had tea and cakes, and then that evening we had fondue. It was quite delicious. The next morning I got up and met with the son and the mother of one of my mom's friends-- another one of our random connections to Germany. They were both impressed with my level of German, which pleased me quite a lot, and the son took me on a driving tour of Wetzlar before returning me to my host family. Wetzlar is an adorable little town with interesting history-- Goethe lived there when he wrote Werther, for instance-- and I'd love to go back.
The host family and I then drove to Usingen, where the maternal grandparents live. We had the traditional Christmas dinner with them: goose, potato dumplings, and red cabbage. After sitting and chatting a bit, the parents and I said goodbye to the kids, who stayed with their grandparents, and we drove all the way back to Gundelfingen. I conked out for a good deal of the ride, and we got back rather late.
The next day, the 27th by then, I went into Freiburg to meet with one of my friends again for dinner-- at a very good Mexican place, actually, because I am insatiable when I want Mexican. :P Afterwards, I met the parents at the concert house in Freiburg, where they took me to see Das Phantom der Oper-- but not the Andrew Lloyd Webber version. It was a production I'd never seen before, but I enjoyed it very much.
I left Gundelfingen on the 29th to visit my other host family, who lives in Dörnberg, a small village not far from Kassel. It was nice to be with them, too-- the family dynamic is different. The family in Gundelfingen has children who are younger than me, the oldest is 16, the youngest 10. With the family in Dörnberg, the daughter (who was an exchange student with my family in high school) is about my age and is also in college. We commiserated, because we both had a load of work to do over the break and it was No Fun. :( Most of the time I spent with this family, I spent doing homework, so I don't have as many exciting adventure stories about Kassel, unfortunately.
New Year's Eve, however, was spent at the daughter's boyfriend's house. We mostly played video games and chatted until midnight, when all of a sudden EVERYONE went out into the streets to set off fireworks. Children were running around with sparklers, church bells everywhere were tolling, and you could see fireworks and smell smoke everyhere. It was one of the most awe-inspiring, beautiful things I'd ever seen, because I felt like everyone was celebrating the new year... But all I could think was, "I really wish my friends and family were here so they could see this."
I got back to Bremen the 4th. It was really good to be home... and I celebrated it by pulling an all-nighter to finish the paper that was due. x_x But I've fully recovered now.
I'm looking forward to 2011. I turn 21, though that doesn't mean much in Germany. It's the year when three of my friends are coming to study in three different countries in Europe, giving me new visiting opportunities, and when a few more friends might drop by good ol' Germany to visit me. My mom and my aunt are coming at the end of February, my sister might visit in May or June, and my brother and dad might come together in the summer. I will be going to Vienna, Rome, Paris, Utrecht, Amsterdam, and possibly London, Venice, and Salzburg if all goes well. I go home in 2011, and possibly go straight from home to Otakon the next weekend-- if mom will let me out of her sight for a weekend after a year from home. :P 2011 is also the year I become a senior, which is just freaking scary. I'm going to try to make 2011 the best year I've ever had so far, and I hope it treats you all well too.
Now, this is my Christmas in Germany entry! I had an excellent time, and since I've got quite a bit of time on my hands right now, this post will be decently long, with a few pictures. Also, this entry has a lot about food. :)
Technically, although Uni Bremen didn't start break until the end of classes December 21st, I started my break December 18th, as my professors cancelled classes for the rest of my time there. I spent the weekend getting last-minute presents for my host families, cleaning, making buckeyes for a few people, packing, and wandering around the Weihnachtsmarkt (or Christmas market) in Bremen. I have seen the Weihnachtsmärkte in Berlin, Bremen, Hannover, Freiburg, and a little bit just outside the Hamburg train station, but I think Bremen's is my favorite. No, I'm not biased at all. Really. I took a few pictures and must apologize for the picture quality. My camera gets cranky at night.
This was just going into the market. The Weihnachtsmarkt in Bremen takes place in the old inner city, in the old marketplace. This space is normally open, and is surrounded by the old and new city hall (Rathaus), the financial district, the cathedral, and the Roland. The Roland, the cathedral, and the old Rathaus (as I may have mentioned earlier) were the only things in the marketplace to survive WWII relatively unharmed. The financial buildings were leveled, and all the buldings you see to the left of the Christmas tree are facades, rebuilt in the 1950's to preserve the look of the inner city.
This is the old Rathaus. You can see a tiny, tiny sliver of the new Rathaus to the very right of the picture, but it's not as pretty so I didn't take a picture of it. :P
The Cathedral, which originally had asymmetrical towers until the citizens of Bremen decided that was annoying in the 1800's and fixed it. It was heavily rennovated at the same time as it was abandoned and left to decay after the Protestant Reformation, and now the insides are of beautiful marble and wood.
This is the Roland, the city protector. The legend was that as long as the Roland stood in the market of Bremen, Bremen would remain a free state (Bremen historically has a tradition of being a "free city," dating back to the Hanseatic League, hence why the Bremen Musicians wanted to go there in the Grimms fairy tale-- but more on that one later). Hence, during WWII the Roland was walled up and filled with sand, which ultimately preserved the statue when a bomb landed in the market that leveled the financial buildings.
And these are the famous Bremen Musicians of the Grimm Brothers fairy tale. You all know the story-- a donkey, dog, cat, and rooster are mistreated by their owners and decide to leave to be musicians in Bremen, where all men are free and treated fairly. As they travel to Bremen, they grow tired and look for a place to spend the night. They find a house belonging to robbers, who have lots of money and food inside. They decide to perform for the people inside, hoping to stay the night, and stand on one another's backs and start to make "music" that sounds so horrible that the robbers run away, leaving the animals to stay in the house. They never make it to Bremen, but they get a statue by the old Rathaus anyways. :P
Additionally, before I left Bremen, this is what it looked like outside of my window and on my walk to the tram stop:
Anyhow, yes. Bremen = best. :P
So on the 21st, I packed up and got a train to Freiburg, where my host family there picked me up and brought me back to Gundelfingen. It was really, really nice to be in a family environment again. Normally at Dickinson I get a break from college life every couple of months or so, but this had been several months of living in a single apartment. I enjoy my solitude, but being somewhere with parents and children again was really nice.
The 23rd I went into the city to visit some of my friends from the language course I took in Freiburg in September. I went to the Weihnachtsmarkt in Freiburg with one of them, and I found it was quite adorable (although my bias for Bremen won :P ) and had Glühwein (spiced wine), Currywurst, and something called a Dampfnudel, which was this massive dumpling that we shared. It was filled with cherries and drizzled with vanilla sauce and more cherries. Soooo delicious. After that, I went back to her apartment and we made burritos, which was awesome because I've been missing decent Mexican food in Germany. We then went to an Irish pub and met back up with a few people. Overall, an excellent day.
The next day was the 24th, or Heilige Abend. The family I was with has a pretty structured set of traditions for Heilige Abend. First of all, they go up to a mountaintop in the Black Forest and meet with a bunch of old friends and have a bonfire, with homemade Glühwein. Then they eat at a little restaurant up there. The one hitch in the plan this year: it started snowing like crazy that morning. We actually had to go switch cars, since the first one we were driving didn't have good enough handling in the snow. I remember thinking while in the car on the way up, "I'm driving up a mountain in the Black Forest on Christmas Eve in the middle of a SNOWSTORM to go drink wine at 11 AM. I'm kind of in love with Germany." <3
After a delicious lunch, we went back home to rest a bit before the church service that evening. This family is Catholic, and I am Lutheran, so it was my first time in Mass for a while. I discovered I would make a bad Catholic: I think I'm allergic to the incense. :/ I had a sore throat for about three days after getting a whiff of the stuff. But the service was quite beautiful, and I enjoyed singing the Christmas songs in German.
Once Mass was done, we went back home and the children (including me) were not allowed into the living room while the parents set up for Christmas. When we finally were allowed in, the presents were under the tree, and my family was on webcam, along with the son of my host family who is currently living in America with my family (long story). But they watched us open up presents and sing Christmas songs, and it was really nice. The host family really was too generous to me, and it was a beautiful Christmas Eve. It felt strange to know that I had opened all of my presents before it was even Christmas day in America, though. We had a dinner of lots of little delicacies, like salmon and special meats and so on, I went to bed that night with season 2 of Hetalia on my laptop and watched the whole thing. XD
Christmas day we drove three hours to Wetzlar to visit the paternal grandparents of the family. I felt bad because I ended up Skyping with my family for 2 hours and not socializing, but they understood. Right after we got there in the late afternoon, we had tea and cakes, and then that evening we had fondue. It was quite delicious. The next morning I got up and met with the son and the mother of one of my mom's friends-- another one of our random connections to Germany. They were both impressed with my level of German, which pleased me quite a lot, and the son took me on a driving tour of Wetzlar before returning me to my host family. Wetzlar is an adorable little town with interesting history-- Goethe lived there when he wrote Werther, for instance-- and I'd love to go back.
The host family and I then drove to Usingen, where the maternal grandparents live. We had the traditional Christmas dinner with them: goose, potato dumplings, and red cabbage. After sitting and chatting a bit, the parents and I said goodbye to the kids, who stayed with their grandparents, and we drove all the way back to Gundelfingen. I conked out for a good deal of the ride, and we got back rather late.
The next day, the 27th by then, I went into Freiburg to meet with one of my friends again for dinner-- at a very good Mexican place, actually, because I am insatiable when I want Mexican. :P Afterwards, I met the parents at the concert house in Freiburg, where they took me to see Das Phantom der Oper-- but not the Andrew Lloyd Webber version. It was a production I'd never seen before, but I enjoyed it very much.
I left Gundelfingen on the 29th to visit my other host family, who lives in Dörnberg, a small village not far from Kassel. It was nice to be with them, too-- the family dynamic is different. The family in Gundelfingen has children who are younger than me, the oldest is 16, the youngest 10. With the family in Dörnberg, the daughter (who was an exchange student with my family in high school) is about my age and is also in college. We commiserated, because we both had a load of work to do over the break and it was No Fun. :( Most of the time I spent with this family, I spent doing homework, so I don't have as many exciting adventure stories about Kassel, unfortunately.
New Year's Eve, however, was spent at the daughter's boyfriend's house. We mostly played video games and chatted until midnight, when all of a sudden EVERYONE went out into the streets to set off fireworks. Children were running around with sparklers, church bells everywhere were tolling, and you could see fireworks and smell smoke everyhere. It was one of the most awe-inspiring, beautiful things I'd ever seen, because I felt like everyone was celebrating the new year... But all I could think was, "I really wish my friends and family were here so they could see this."
I got back to Bremen the 4th. It was really good to be home... and I celebrated it by pulling an all-nighter to finish the paper that was due. x_x But I've fully recovered now.
I'm looking forward to 2011. I turn 21, though that doesn't mean much in Germany. It's the year when three of my friends are coming to study in three different countries in Europe, giving me new visiting opportunities, and when a few more friends might drop by good ol' Germany to visit me. My mom and my aunt are coming at the end of February, my sister might visit in May or June, and my brother and dad might come together in the summer. I will be going to Vienna, Rome, Paris, Utrecht, Amsterdam, and possibly London, Venice, and Salzburg if all goes well. I go home in 2011, and possibly go straight from home to Otakon the next weekend-- if mom will let me out of her sight for a weekend after a year from home. :P 2011 is also the year I become a senior, which is just freaking scary. I'm going to try to make 2011 the best year I've ever had so far, and I hope it treats you all well too.