(no subject)
Oyay. I haven't updated here in forever. Let's see what I can do about that.
First: Trip to Nürnberg. I left on Friday the 10th on the train. I met up with Cecilia, who I had met two weeks before at the meeting for my scholarship, and her parents' friends. The couple was really nice, and seemed very disappointed that we couldn't stay longer than just one day. They insisted that we eat something that night, even though Cecilia had already eaten. Then we had fun discussing german grammar with the couple and convincing them that the german grammar wasn't really that easy. We are learning constructions that they have never heard of (I wonder how useful that will really prove to be...) Cecilia and I had a great time talking about languages and various other things until late in the night before going to bed, so we were kinda tired the next morning. Breakfast was really good, and after that we visited with some visiters of the couple's. When they spoke together, they spoke in Frankish (a dialect in Bayern, or Bavaria, where Nürnberg is). Cecilia and I had fun trying to understand them, because they spoke so quickly and with this accent that we couldn't really catch much of what they said. After that was lunch, a true German meal. We had saurkraut, bratwurst, and steamed potatoes. It was really good, but after that we had to go off to see the Kristkindlemarkt. We got into the city around 1 or so, and had fun wandering around looking at things and eating Lebkuchen, which is basically gingerbread, before meeting one of Cecilia's friends from Ulm, Carl. He had been having fun around the Nazi mueseum that is in Nürnberg. After wandering around a little more in the Markt, we also went up to the museum. It was quite amazing, and I would love to go back again. Because we wandered around the grounds for a while before going through the building, we only got about an hour inside. I could have probably spent the entire afternoon in there. After that, the three of us went to the Bahnhof to wait until our trains left. They went to Ulm, and I went back to Tübingen. I got to ride on one of the IC trains, one of the nicer and faster ones. Lot's of fun.
Pictures from Nürnberg.
Last weekend it snowed here too. I was so excited. I was with Andreas at the time, and we went out and had a snowballfight right off. I kinda won by default, because he didn't have any gloves. Unfortunately, there isn't any snow now, it all melted away, so no white Christmas, but there is snow forcast for tomorrow.
Snowy Tübingen
Christmas here has been great. The first thing Andreas' parents wanted us to do when we got here was decorate the tree. When they asked me how we decorated our tree in the US, and I explained that our tree was very colorful, they said, well, we'll do it that way then, and got out the balls with different colors. I was kinda worried about whether Andreas' mother would like it, because she seemed very much to want a themed tree, but in the end, she decided that a colorful tree looked good. After that, we ate dinner, Spätzle with a mushroom sauce and some pork. Next, Andreas took me off to do some shopping and meet with his friend Thomas. They wanted to take me to an American restaurant called Danny's. Unfortunately, they were having a party, so there was no food so instead we went to shoot pool. That was really fun. I think I may be better than both of them, but don't tell them that. It was still fun to go out and shoot pool when I haven't done it in a while. We left at midnight because we had to get up early the next morning (Christmas Eve) to do some last minute shopping before the shops closed. I will say though, Poor Andreas. Murphy seems to like him. He couldn't find one part for my present, and the place he wanted to get his father's present was closed, and to top it off, when he found my present, his card wouldn't work. Everything worked out though, and we had fun running around doing things. His father and I went walking around the town. The Weihnachtsmarkt was already closed, so we went to see the castle. That was very pretty, even if we only got to see the outside, and just a little bit because Andreas was finishted. Then we came back and had lunch. Andreas' mother is a wonderful cook. The afternoon was spent whiling away the hours in various ways until dinner.
At dinner we had Fondu, but not fondu in any way that I imagined it. There was meat cut into strips that you wrap around the fondu fork and place in a soup with beansprouts to cook. Then, when it is finished, you dip it in different souces and enjoy. It was reeeeeeally good, and I think I ate too much. After dinner, I gave them the Kolachis and Apple Pie I baked. They liked that very much. It was quite funny having them trying to guess what was in the pie tin and the box. "Cookies? Cake?". I think next time I come I' bake brownies or something. They really enjoyed the pie though, and were really impressed that I baked them all myself. Of course, baking them wasn't the hard part. It was all the preparation for both of them and at the same time doing laundry enough for two weeks. (For mom: I figured out a warm place for the dough to rise. Put hot water in the sink, bowl in hot water, cookie sheet over hot water. Worked like a charm.)
Another break with tradition they did for a couple of reasons was to open presents on the 25th, so Andreas was up til late preparing my present. I am now regreting telling him about how my mother gave me my car. He used the same technique as she did....a trail of riddles that led to my coat pocket and an invitation to a restaurant in Stuttgart. Very nice. He also got me a german keyboard, so now I have umlouts (üöä) without having to be creative. On the other hand, now I have to get used to new places for all the other symbols. His parents also gave me a toaster. Now I can have toast without using the oven and having to wait 15 minutes. Lunch today was a wonderful thing. A lobster soup and salad, with späzle and duck. That was really good. I am starting to wonder how much weight I am going to gain here. I finally got online to type this up. Soon we will play cards, so I will finish this up in a bit.
Edit: More pictures to come.
First: Trip to Nürnberg. I left on Friday the 10th on the train. I met up with Cecilia, who I had met two weeks before at the meeting for my scholarship, and her parents' friends. The couple was really nice, and seemed very disappointed that we couldn't stay longer than just one day. They insisted that we eat something that night, even though Cecilia had already eaten. Then we had fun discussing german grammar with the couple and convincing them that the german grammar wasn't really that easy. We are learning constructions that they have never heard of (I wonder how useful that will really prove to be...) Cecilia and I had a great time talking about languages and various other things until late in the night before going to bed, so we were kinda tired the next morning. Breakfast was really good, and after that we visited with some visiters of the couple's. When they spoke together, they spoke in Frankish (a dialect in Bayern, or Bavaria, where Nürnberg is). Cecilia and I had fun trying to understand them, because they spoke so quickly and with this accent that we couldn't really catch much of what they said. After that was lunch, a true German meal. We had saurkraut, bratwurst, and steamed potatoes. It was really good, but after that we had to go off to see the Kristkindlemarkt. We got into the city around 1 or so, and had fun wandering around looking at things and eating Lebkuchen, which is basically gingerbread, before meeting one of Cecilia's friends from Ulm, Carl. He had been having fun around the Nazi mueseum that is in Nürnberg. After wandering around a little more in the Markt, we also went up to the museum. It was quite amazing, and I would love to go back again. Because we wandered around the grounds for a while before going through the building, we only got about an hour inside. I could have probably spent the entire afternoon in there. After that, the three of us went to the Bahnhof to wait until our trains left. They went to Ulm, and I went back to Tübingen. I got to ride on one of the IC trains, one of the nicer and faster ones. Lot's of fun.
Pictures from Nürnberg.
Last weekend it snowed here too. I was so excited. I was with Andreas at the time, and we went out and had a snowballfight right off. I kinda won by default, because he didn't have any gloves. Unfortunately, there isn't any snow now, it all melted away, so no white Christmas, but there is snow forcast for tomorrow.
Snowy Tübingen
Christmas here has been great. The first thing Andreas' parents wanted us to do when we got here was decorate the tree. When they asked me how we decorated our tree in the US, and I explained that our tree was very colorful, they said, well, we'll do it that way then, and got out the balls with different colors. I was kinda worried about whether Andreas' mother would like it, because she seemed very much to want a themed tree, but in the end, she decided that a colorful tree looked good. After that, we ate dinner, Spätzle with a mushroom sauce and some pork. Next, Andreas took me off to do some shopping and meet with his friend Thomas. They wanted to take me to an American restaurant called Danny's. Unfortunately, they were having a party, so there was no food so instead we went to shoot pool. That was really fun. I think I may be better than both of them, but don't tell them that. It was still fun to go out and shoot pool when I haven't done it in a while. We left at midnight because we had to get up early the next morning (Christmas Eve) to do some last minute shopping before the shops closed. I will say though, Poor Andreas. Murphy seems to like him. He couldn't find one part for my present, and the place he wanted to get his father's present was closed, and to top it off, when he found my present, his card wouldn't work. Everything worked out though, and we had fun running around doing things. His father and I went walking around the town. The Weihnachtsmarkt was already closed, so we went to see the castle. That was very pretty, even if we only got to see the outside, and just a little bit because Andreas was finishted. Then we came back and had lunch. Andreas' mother is a wonderful cook. The afternoon was spent whiling away the hours in various ways until dinner.
At dinner we had Fondu, but not fondu in any way that I imagined it. There was meat cut into strips that you wrap around the fondu fork and place in a soup with beansprouts to cook. Then, when it is finished, you dip it in different souces and enjoy. It was reeeeeeally good, and I think I ate too much. After dinner, I gave them the Kolachis and Apple Pie I baked. They liked that very much. It was quite funny having them trying to guess what was in the pie tin and the box. "Cookies? Cake?". I think next time I come I' bake brownies or something. They really enjoyed the pie though, and were really impressed that I baked them all myself. Of course, baking them wasn't the hard part. It was all the preparation for both of them and at the same time doing laundry enough for two weeks. (For mom: I figured out a warm place for the dough to rise. Put hot water in the sink, bowl in hot water, cookie sheet over hot water. Worked like a charm.)
Another break with tradition they did for a couple of reasons was to open presents on the 25th, so Andreas was up til late preparing my present. I am now regreting telling him about how my mother gave me my car. He used the same technique as she did....a trail of riddles that led to my coat pocket and an invitation to a restaurant in Stuttgart. Very nice. He also got me a german keyboard, so now I have umlouts (üöä) without having to be creative. On the other hand, now I have to get used to new places for all the other symbols. His parents also gave me a toaster. Now I can have toast without using the oven and having to wait 15 minutes. Lunch today was a wonderful thing. A lobster soup and salad, with späzle and duck. That was really good. I am starting to wonder how much weight I am going to gain here. I finally got online to type this up. Soon we will play cards, so I will finish this up in a bit.
Edit: More pictures to come.