Frohe Weihnachten
I hope everyone had a merry Christmas (frohe Weihnachten) and safe travels.
My german Christmas adventure began on Christmas Eve when I left cloudy Bonn for cloudy Wuppertal with a quick stop in cloudy Koeln. Since I had a good hour in Koeln, I made a quick stop in the Dom. I really must go there more often. There's something about a 600-year-old gothic cathedral that calms the modern, digital soul. I can't imagine what it must've been like for people in the 6th, 7th, 8th centuries to see such a building.
Afterwards I caught my train to Wuppertal, and arrived at the Unger's just in time for a lunch of soup and wurst. Before I continue, I should explain that the Unger family was Andy's host family during his high school student exchange program. They are a very nice and generous family. Early evening we went to a luthern church service. It was a surprisingly simple service with very little pomp or formality. I finally got to sing "Silent Night" in German. Ever since I started learning German I've wanted to print out the german lyrics and have always forgotten. I never imagined singing it in German in Germany. After church was dinner. Sauerbraten, Knoedeln, and Rotkohl. Sauerbraten is roast beef that's been marinated in vinager, oil and onions for a week and then baked. Quite possibly my new favorite German dish. Knoedeln are similar to noodles, but in the shape of a sphere and an inch and a half in diameter. Rotkohl is red cabbage which is served pickeled and warm. Very typical German meal.
Once we couldn't eat anymore, it was time to open the presents. They open all their presents on Christmas eve rather than Christmas day in Germany. St. Nicklaus also only comes on the evening of the 5th of December and not at all on the 24th. Doro couldn't seem to grasp how Jesus and Santa Claus could come on the same night. But anyho! Afterwards we watched Aladdin because Doro got it as a gift and went to bed.
You may be asking yourself what the Germans do on Christmas if their presents are already open. And that's a fair question. In our case, we ate a whole bunch more, the day the was otherwise like any other Sunday. Lunch was Schweinbraten with more typical german sides. Schweinbraten is like a pork chop without the bone. In the afternoon we took a short walk in the sunshine. Yes sunshine! Or at least what sunshine one receives at a latitude of 50.5 deg N. Then we had afternoon cake and coffee, and shortly thereafter I got to talk with my family. Then we played a game. A nice, quiet day.
Monday morning we went to the zoo in Wuppertal. In September and October two mommy elephants had babies, so we went to look at the baby elephants. Oh they were cute! They must have been no bigger than three feet tall. Ok maybe four. In fact the entire zoo was full of baby animals. The monkies, the tigers, and many that I've already forgotten. The zoo is no where near the size of Omaha's or St. Louis's, but there was lots of vegitation and the newer enclosures were very well done. Unfortuntely my camera was acting up, so I didn't get any photos of the animals, but if I get copies from the Unger's, I'll post some.
After the zoo was a lunch with the rest of the Sauerbraten. Late afternoon it started to snow, but not too much. Shortly thereafter I headed back down south to Bonn.
Today I was back at work. The institute's unbelievably quiet. I'm busy the next few days preparing for my guests. Aaron arrives on Thursday and Andy on Friday. Yippe!
My german Christmas adventure began on Christmas Eve when I left cloudy Bonn for cloudy Wuppertal with a quick stop in cloudy Koeln. Since I had a good hour in Koeln, I made a quick stop in the Dom. I really must go there more often. There's something about a 600-year-old gothic cathedral that calms the modern, digital soul. I can't imagine what it must've been like for people in the 6th, 7th, 8th centuries to see such a building.
Afterwards I caught my train to Wuppertal, and arrived at the Unger's just in time for a lunch of soup and wurst. Before I continue, I should explain that the Unger family was Andy's host family during his high school student exchange program. They are a very nice and generous family. Early evening we went to a luthern church service. It was a surprisingly simple service with very little pomp or formality. I finally got to sing "Silent Night" in German. Ever since I started learning German I've wanted to print out the german lyrics and have always forgotten. I never imagined singing it in German in Germany. After church was dinner. Sauerbraten, Knoedeln, and Rotkohl. Sauerbraten is roast beef that's been marinated in vinager, oil and onions for a week and then baked. Quite possibly my new favorite German dish. Knoedeln are similar to noodles, but in the shape of a sphere and an inch and a half in diameter. Rotkohl is red cabbage which is served pickeled and warm. Very typical German meal.
Once we couldn't eat anymore, it was time to open the presents. They open all their presents on Christmas eve rather than Christmas day in Germany. St. Nicklaus also only comes on the evening of the 5th of December and not at all on the 24th. Doro couldn't seem to grasp how Jesus and Santa Claus could come on the same night. But anyho! Afterwards we watched Aladdin because Doro got it as a gift and went to bed.
You may be asking yourself what the Germans do on Christmas if their presents are already open. And that's a fair question. In our case, we ate a whole bunch more, the day the was otherwise like any other Sunday. Lunch was Schweinbraten with more typical german sides. Schweinbraten is like a pork chop without the bone. In the afternoon we took a short walk in the sunshine. Yes sunshine! Or at least what sunshine one receives at a latitude of 50.5 deg N. Then we had afternoon cake and coffee, and shortly thereafter I got to talk with my family. Then we played a game. A nice, quiet day.
Monday morning we went to the zoo in Wuppertal. In September and October two mommy elephants had babies, so we went to look at the baby elephants. Oh they were cute! They must have been no bigger than three feet tall. Ok maybe four. In fact the entire zoo was full of baby animals. The monkies, the tigers, and many that I've already forgotten. The zoo is no where near the size of Omaha's or St. Louis's, but there was lots of vegitation and the newer enclosures were very well done. Unfortuntely my camera was acting up, so I didn't get any photos of the animals, but if I get copies from the Unger's, I'll post some.
After the zoo was a lunch with the rest of the Sauerbraten. Late afternoon it started to snow, but not too much. Shortly thereafter I headed back down south to Bonn.
Today I was back at work. The institute's unbelievably quiet. I'm busy the next few days preparing for my guests. Aaron arrives on Thursday and Andy on Friday. Yippe!
posted by laura s at 6:17 AM
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