I've proved my theory right: I'm just not the writing type. Numerous times I've purchased journals with the intention of writing in it regularly, yet I failed to keep it up for more than a week. This blog is kind of like that. Sometimes I think about blogging, but then I just don't feel inspired. So, readers of my blog, I'm sorry for so rarely updating the thing.
Right now is the best time of year to be in Germany, despite the temperature rarely climbing above freezing. Why, then, you ask, is it the best time of the year? Because it's Christmas time! And if there is one thing the Germans know how to do better than anyone, it's spread the Christmas cheer. The German Weihnachtsmarkt - or Austrian Christkindlmarkt - is a thing of wonder, beauty and joy. It brings people together; there's singing, christmas-related trinkets, toys, and all sorts of fun regional specialties for sale. Then there are the tasty drinks: rot oder weiß Glühwein (red or white mulled wine), Punsch (hot rum, wine, sugar, ect.), Jagatee (the deadliest of the drinks consisting of wine, schnapps, rum, and, if you're lucky, a bit of juice or sugar), Heiße Schokolade (hot chocolate with or without alcoholic additon), and the infamous Die Feuerzangenbowle (see: Feuerzangenbowle for more information). As for food, you can't go wrong with a sausage or a spießbraten in a brötchen.
I've visited four different Christmas markets and tried many of the different drink specialties. My favorites have probably been the Feuerzangenbowle with the Weißglühwein + Zimt und Apfel (hot white-wine drink with apple and cinnamon) at a close second. Below are pictures of the various markets, all wonderful in their own way :).
Other than Christmasy type things, there's good news to report: things at school are getting MUCH better. First, I talked to my supervising teacher to tell her all of the things at school with which I was unhappy. That didn't help - or so it seemed for a week and a half. But things truly are much better now. I've made friends with some of the younger teachers at the school, so I've been spending quite a bit of time with them during the past week. I've gone to the Christmas market with different teachers a few times this week, and today I went with Frank and his friend, Christoph - a teacher at the BBS in Elzay, to a Bach Christmas concert at a church. (There's also over a foot of snow on the ground here now..) This past week was the week of my long-awaited workshop, a tradition started by one of the other assistants two years ago. Although I had worried it wouldn't go over so well, I got really positive feedback. Yesterday on my way to the Rewe (supermarket), one girl even stopped me to tell me how great she found the workshop. Then I talked to her for about 45 minutes - in German, she said she didn't feel comfortable speaking English - about the US and its politics, after which she told me that I'd helped make her impression of the US much better. What an awesome feeling! It's exactly the kind of cultural exchange Fulbright was hoping for when he created the program, and the kind Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, was talking about in her speech to foreign language assistants earlier this year. You feel really proud when someone compliments you like that, proud that you've helped make a better impression of your whole country. Recently, I've also had the chance to teach about things which are important to me: local foods, economics, the US political system, the american dream, ect. Sometimes being direct and assertive does have its advantages.
Just a few more days, then Christmas break! Maybe I'll write more then, but I can't promise anything...
Also, I'm starting to think if I had a dollar for every time I've heard something like "your German is perfect! seriously, you have a bit of a dialect but it makes you adorable" that I'd be pretty rich. In fact, make that a euro for each time I've heard it.
Fröhliche Weihnachten und einen guten Rutsch! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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| Professor Hommel and I made a trip to the Mainzer Weihnachtsmarkt while she was in town! |
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| Post-Thanksgiving dinner trip to the Binger Weihnachtsmarkt - best Glühwein ever (Bingen is in a great Rheinhessen wine area, so naturally the Glühwein was delicious)! |
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| Wiesbadener Weihnachtsmarkt. |
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| Typical rotating grill of sausages. |
