Christmas music makes me happy!
The Christmas lights are on, and today's the first Sunday of Advent. Yay!!! I got back from Salzburg late last night, so I've yet to make my way into the Hauptplatz to see the Christmas lights all turned on here. But in Salzburg they were beautiful! When we came to Salzburg in high school, I decided that it had to be one of my favorite cities. And I still think so. Especially now that I've seen it in all of the city's Christmas glory. The purpose of going to Salzburg was actually to keep Meredith company at the Sting concert. Well worth the trip, mind you. That was Friday night, and then we spent most of Saturday wandering through the main part of Salzburg around the Dom. It was kind of weird to be there with just a friend, instead of my whole choir and Kamiak group. Out of all of hte Cathedrals I've been in, the Salzburg Dom tops my list. I'm not sure if it's because of how beautiful it is, or because of the memories it holds. The choir risers weren't in the same spot, instead they were closer to the front alter. If I could have had the bulk of Kantorei around right then, we would have sung "Ubi Caritas." Yes, that would have been phenomenal. There are Christmas markets set up all over the city, thousands of little white lights, acres of greenery, and the horse pulled wagons jingle when they trot down the street. Charming, absolutely charming. I'm excited to go back when my family's here!
It's a good hting that the first Sunday of Advent is so close to Thanksgivign this year. In the United States, the Christmas Season is officially kicked off by Thanksgiving. Here, while some decorations popped up in early to mid November, the majority were put up this weekend. Thanksgiving being so close made it seem a little more like home. The SUNY program put together a Thanksgiving meal. The students were responsible for making the pies and turkey, stuffing, and gravy, and we get repaid by the program. They supplied the vegetables, supposedly American style, and large quantities of wine and beer. While 'gross' actually means 'large' in German, we found it very appt that the red wine was labled 'gross.' In English, it deserved the lable. Anyway, Meredith and I made an apple pie on Wednesday, and Thursday we were in Kaiser-Josef Platz bright and early to pick up our fresh turkey. There were 15 teams making turkies, so the quaint little farmers market-- which I have to go back to!-- was overrun with Americans, who surprisingly enough, were as thrilled with Thanksgiving as they would have been at home. There were four of us waiting for the tram on our way home, and we had a bit of a compliction with a couple of the turkeys. The tram pulled up, and as Lindsay and C.J. lifted there respective turkies back off of the ground, we were shocked to see a puddle of blood under each of their turkeys. They continued onto the tram, leaving an incredibly gross trail behing. It was early, I was lacking in sleep, and I had a minor little sugar kick from the cookie the nice Styrian vendor gave me to sample. So, naturally, Meredith and I start laughing. Hysterrically. Tears rolling down my cheeks, abs cramping, clutching our Turkey. Now, we attract attention sitting on a bus. Standing in the aisles of a packed tram, struggling to speak through our laughing, people weren't sure what to think. But we finally made it home...and finally stopped laughing.
So time to pop the turkey in the oven. I admit, we made one call to my mom to double check the timing for a turkey bag. Reynolds should get an award for those. We followed Meredith's Mom's directions to the letter, and three and a half hours letter we had a beautiful turkey. Really. Golden brown, juicy, tender. Sadly enough, at out entirely too Austrian Thanksgiving feast, we were forced into a sitting arrnagment and not seated with our Turkey. But, Thomas, Hamilton, Eric, and our two Belgian friends said it was the vest turkey they'd ever had. Hammie even went so far as to say that the stuffing beat out his Mom's. Sweet! We did get to eat our own pie. Very yummy. So Meredith and I were pretty proud of ourselves.
I was proud of myself because I made it almost the whole day without feeling homesick. I did my all out best to appreciate my new friends, that I got to have some sort of Thanksgiving meal and party, that i wasn't alone...but then when I got bck at midnight, I called home. I talked to Mom, Dad, and Rachel, and in the background I could hear Stuart, Julie, Kyle, and the baby playing and laughing. Hearing the stereotypical, Thanksgiving family scene kind of hit me for a minute. Espcially since that has always been my scene. Even the past two years when I wasn't home, I was still with Sarah, a grandparent or two, and aunts, uncles, and cousins. This year, not so much. Then I talked to Kyle (for clarification, not my aforementioned cousin Kyle, but my boyfriend-- who to keep things less muddled, my Grandma refers to as "my Kyle") and felt more homesick, as after airport delays due to snow storms, he was in his house will all of his extended family. Everyone seemed cosily at home, but I was in my cold dorm room that held the lingering smells from some wierd Bosnian meal. Oh well, cause this is character-building, right? But before I turned out the light, I whipped out my calendar and counted down the days until I see my family, until I arrive back in Norman, and until I see Kyle.
I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving and that you're cranking up the Christmas music!
It's a good hting that the first Sunday of Advent is so close to Thanksgivign this year. In the United States, the Christmas Season is officially kicked off by Thanksgiving. Here, while some decorations popped up in early to mid November, the majority were put up this weekend. Thanksgiving being so close made it seem a little more like home. The SUNY program put together a Thanksgiving meal. The students were responsible for making the pies and turkey, stuffing, and gravy, and we get repaid by the program. They supplied the vegetables, supposedly American style, and large quantities of wine and beer. While 'gross' actually means 'large' in German, we found it very appt that the red wine was labled 'gross.' In English, it deserved the lable. Anyway, Meredith and I made an apple pie on Wednesday, and Thursday we were in Kaiser-Josef Platz bright and early to pick up our fresh turkey. There were 15 teams making turkies, so the quaint little farmers market-- which I have to go back to!-- was overrun with Americans, who surprisingly enough, were as thrilled with Thanksgiving as they would have been at home. There were four of us waiting for the tram on our way home, and we had a bit of a compliction with a couple of the turkeys. The tram pulled up, and as Lindsay and C.J. lifted there respective turkies back off of the ground, we were shocked to see a puddle of blood under each of their turkeys. They continued onto the tram, leaving an incredibly gross trail behing. It was early, I was lacking in sleep, and I had a minor little sugar kick from the cookie the nice Styrian vendor gave me to sample. So, naturally, Meredith and I start laughing. Hysterrically. Tears rolling down my cheeks, abs cramping, clutching our Turkey. Now, we attract attention sitting on a bus. Standing in the aisles of a packed tram, struggling to speak through our laughing, people weren't sure what to think. But we finally made it home...and finally stopped laughing.
So time to pop the turkey in the oven. I admit, we made one call to my mom to double check the timing for a turkey bag. Reynolds should get an award for those. We followed Meredith's Mom's directions to the letter, and three and a half hours letter we had a beautiful turkey. Really. Golden brown, juicy, tender. Sadly enough, at out entirely too Austrian Thanksgiving feast, we were forced into a sitting arrnagment and not seated with our Turkey. But, Thomas, Hamilton, Eric, and our two Belgian friends said it was the vest turkey they'd ever had. Hammie even went so far as to say that the stuffing beat out his Mom's. Sweet! We did get to eat our own pie. Very yummy. So Meredith and I were pretty proud of ourselves.
I was proud of myself because I made it almost the whole day without feeling homesick. I did my all out best to appreciate my new friends, that I got to have some sort of Thanksgiving meal and party, that i wasn't alone...but then when I got bck at midnight, I called home. I talked to Mom, Dad, and Rachel, and in the background I could hear Stuart, Julie, Kyle, and the baby playing and laughing. Hearing the stereotypical, Thanksgiving family scene kind of hit me for a minute. Espcially since that has always been my scene. Even the past two years when I wasn't home, I was still with Sarah, a grandparent or two, and aunts, uncles, and cousins. This year, not so much. Then I talked to Kyle (for clarification, not my aforementioned cousin Kyle, but my boyfriend-- who to keep things less muddled, my Grandma refers to as "my Kyle") and felt more homesick, as after airport delays due to snow storms, he was in his house will all of his extended family. Everyone seemed cosily at home, but I was in my cold dorm room that held the lingering smells from some wierd Bosnian meal. Oh well, cause this is character-building, right? But before I turned out the light, I whipped out my calendar and counted down the days until I see my family, until I arrive back in Norman, and until I see Kyle.
I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving and that you're cranking up the Christmas music!