Rothenburg & Würzburg Christmas Markets

Hello! I decided to do a vlog, for several reasons that you don't really care about it. However, I was exhausted, between jet-lag and a long weekend trip, so I only went with one take. Please to forgive any errors or oddities. I say umm a lot. Enjoy!

oh ho ho

I'm here! Flight from Minneapolis was delayed 2 hours, and the 2nd flight out of Amsterdam by another 40 minutes, but that meant I got to watch the sunset over the city as the lights came on, and read more of my book. I made it through about 750 pages of the Hunger Games books. (I never touched my knitting.) I also got to watch the stars out my window through my sleepy daze, which was glorious. There was a man singing on the plane at what approximated 2 am. He sang only in short, loud bursts - kind of like [off-key] musical Tourettes. And I have not broken my streak of never having a working television on a transatlantic flight.

Brad was there to greet me, however, unfazed by the delays. We drove back through cold and rainy German countryside, and I admired the dark clouds and the bare trees and the green hills with the vineyards stripped of their crop. The river is swollen and undulating with muddy water from all the rain, covering the fields and the bike path. We stopped at Globus and I ate my first real bratwurst and pommes in ages, and went by the IACS office to get my pass - much quicker this time.

We headed back home, where Debbie greeted me with a huge hug and a tour of those things in the house that have changed - not much, it still feels like another home. I unpacked into my old room ("Nellie's Room"), took a shower, and took a brief nap before it was time for the Christmas party.

Most of the people I know from before have long since PCS'd out of here, and in my increasingly jet-lagged state the evening is kind of a blur of new faces. I do have two friends from before, Rosie and Angelica, wonderful girls I met right before leaving 2 and a half years ago. They both have beautiful baby girls that I thoroughly enjoyed holding tonight. We ate dinner, sang Christmas carols, played some games, had a brief devotion, and enjoyed a gift exchange and lots of Christmas cookies. I got a cute new scarf and some long, white, knit mittens! I've already gotten to work on my video projects for Brad. I'm gonna finish a bit of uploading so I can share with you, and then it is time for me to pass out, since we leave at 8:30 am for Rothenburg!

I am soooooo tired. And so thoroughly delighted to be back in Deutschland!

tomorrow! I mean, today! I mean, tomorrow!

It's so close! It's almost time to get up and get dressed and get on an airplane! Which means I should probably go to bed, since tomorrow has become today. I go to Germany today! But because of a time shift, I get to Germany tomorrow!

Time travel. Wheee!

As usual, my wonderful mother helped me pack my piles of stuff into the allowed luggage requirements quite successfully. And as usual I am running over a list in my head constantly, trying to figure out what I'm forgetting. And wishing that it was already time to leave, but all of a sudden I'm finally getting sleepy.

Also, gute nacht! Nun ab in die Heia.

One Week till Germany!

A week from now, I will have been on a plane for 11 hours already. In case you haven't heard, I'm going back to Germany! I'll be working for Brad and Debbie for about 3 weeks over the holidays. That means it's time to bring back this blog, though I'll probably double-post on the regular one, A Little Rambling, too. If you're curious about what it is I do in Germany, go browse through old posts on this blog, or go check out some of these videos on youtube. I'll be making more, as that's the main purpose of this trip. I just got a new camera and better software, so they'll be improved!

I'm really praying for a white Christmas, though right now it looks like rain rather than snow. (Please oh please!) I'm excited to see some old friends and to make new ones, and to spend time with two of my favorite people in the world.

I have my voice jury tomorrow, and then my semester is over. That gives me the better part of a week to get a couple more warm clothing items and everything else I need for Germany, and to spend time with my most ubiquitous friends celebrating the season. It all goes so fast! I'm going back, across the ocean to where a good portion of my heart is tethered, to cobblestones and castles, bakeries and the balcony, döner and Deutsch. (I had to finish the alliterated pairs somehow!) I'm looking forward to Weihnachtsmarkts and chapel services (yes, even those!), to nertz on Sunday afternoons, hikes to the castle, prepping for dinner, discussions and Bible studies, even the smell of the mopping solution and walking down the hill to the garbage.

Be prepared for an onslaught of pictures and posts, though they may be spread out and very long.

A New Blog

So, I've decided that I really feel like blogging again. However, it feels weird to use Across the Atlantic, since it's all for Germany, and I am reluctantly stuck in Arizona again. Thus, a new (& domestic) blog is born. Here's to a lot more rambling! Or, in the interest of promoting my own title, and preserving your interest, only A Little Rambling.

Veteran's Day

I'm not sure I've ever really noticed Veteran's Day before. Yes, I remember being in church growing up and seeing all the vets stand up, and I remember getting the day off school when I was younger, but that's all it really was. It didn't mean anything to me. This year, it does.

This year, many of my very close friends are veterans. I saw them go off to Iraq in April of 2008. That summer, I went to my first military funeral. I waited, writing letters and e-mails and sending off care packages for 15 months. I prayed for them, hoping they would all come back and dreading that they wouldn't. In May and June of 2009, I was there to hug them when they got off the bus in Baumholder - and to go to a few more funerals.

Freedom isn't free. We hear it all the time, but I understand that so much more now. I have friends who lost dear friends in Iraq, and I've seen the hurt it causes. I've seen the pictures and heard the stories and seen the videos that they bring back. I've seen the effects of the nightmares, and seen the tears. Freedom isn't free - it costs lives.

Even without paying the ultimate price, every soldier has given up a part of their life for ours. Today is the one day we have set apart to thank them. To let them know that we remember them, and appreciate them.

So, thank you, all you who have served, from the bottom of my heart. God bless.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALS7wRSN0Gw

Bresso, ich hab dich vermisst!

So, it was pointed out to me last week that I never post anymore. I was surprised to hear this, as I've only ever thought of this as a while-I'm-in-Germany blog, and figured no one would bother with it otherwise. But as it was mentioned, I thought about blogging a bit more - and then had a German moment today and thought it would work out.

I have Bresso! Bresso is an herb-y cream-cheese substance that I ate for breakfast and dinner every day for 9 months of my life. Sounds repetitive and boring, but it's delicious enough to make no never mind. Anyways, I brought some home with me, and found it in my parents' fridge today - and still good! So, I brought it home and am enjoying it immensely, even though I have to eat it on a normal bagel and not a delicious kurbis-kaese-broetchen. (a roll with baked cheese and pumpkin seeds on it, my favorite morning fare from Deutschland) All this to say, I miss Germany, and miss my daily breakfast. It also included a slice of gouda and some salami or kaiserbraten (some kind of delcious ham) and a cup of fresh, hot black tea. Oh...yum.