Saturday, July 4, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Meine Damen und Herren-
Wow its been a while. I'm just sitting at home during the Easter Break. Acutally, today is the first day of Easter, but the holiday also includes tomorrow, Easter Monday. I've heard that not much is really done on Easter Monday accept the working community gets the day off. I'll probably go into Stade and draw tomorrow with some friends or something along those lines. My parents visited last week- they left on Thursday. We spent about half of the time, starting the 1st of April, here in the north, adventuring Stade and Hamburg and so on. We actually saw quite a bit of Hamburg that I had never seen, so that was cool.
Afterward we shipped off to the south of Germany, hitting citys like Kassel, Köln and Heidelburg. I've been told that the south is pretty much what American's would call 'stereotypical' Germany. Beer, lederhosen, sauerkraut, and so on. We had a blast. I played navigator and translator through most of the trip, with help from my mother, who turned out to be pretty good at navigating the German 'natural-built' roads. Their cities aren't planned like ours were, with the purpose of being a large, easily-navigatable center of activity. They were built before cars were invented or widely used, so all of the roads GO somewhere (i.e. a town center, a theater, or a shopping district), but not always where you want to go. I'm a little nervous, because AFS Germany called the yesterday and asked about my parent's visit, of which they had had no previous knowledge. They didn't reach us because we were out celebrating Heide's father's birthday... I thought that AFS America would have taken care of it, because my parents had finished all of the required paper work and so on. Appearently not... We'll just have to see how that works out.
Well, I'm looking at my blog and I can see that I haven't written for more than a month. You're probably wondering what happened to that time, and all I can say is, I'm not entirely sure. Varrious judo tournaments, church events, and outings ate it up rather quickly. I took several test, with nothing surprising about any of them, really, just the normal struggles with specialized language and unknown words pertaining to Politics, Religion, and French (the unknown words there being namely the French ones). I also wrote a four- or five-page report on my Praktikum, which was not exactly easy. I'm pretty sure every sentance had to be corrected by Moritz or Heide.
Well, other than that I'm pretty sure not much has happened. AFS warned us about the last three months and how you see the light at the end of the tunnel and want to do all the things you haven't done but meant to do and blah blah blah. I made the mistake of not believing them on this point, thinking I'd just simply pace myself through the entire trip and get it all in without a problem. Now I'm 89 days from return and I feel like every minute I'm not doing something amazing and only possible in Germany is wasted and its driving me crazy. I'm sorry if my blog is the first thing to kind of fall off in my rush to experience everything I can but I'm kinda focusing on having experiences right now, not writing them all down... Maybe I'll just write a book of all my best memories on my way back... Well, see you all soon. I hope everyone is having a great easter and not forgetting for whom we celebrate and what it means for the Believers (I read the crucifixion-resurrection story in each of the four Gospels this morning). Peace be with you.
-Elliot P.
Wow its been a while. I'm just sitting at home during the Easter Break. Acutally, today is the first day of Easter, but the holiday also includes tomorrow, Easter Monday. I've heard that not much is really done on Easter Monday accept the working community gets the day off. I'll probably go into Stade and draw tomorrow with some friends or something along those lines. My parents visited last week- they left on Thursday. We spent about half of the time, starting the 1st of April, here in the north, adventuring Stade and Hamburg and so on. We actually saw quite a bit of Hamburg that I had never seen, so that was cool.
Afterward we shipped off to the south of Germany, hitting citys like Kassel, Köln and Heidelburg. I've been told that the south is pretty much what American's would call 'stereotypical' Germany. Beer, lederhosen, sauerkraut, and so on. We had a blast. I played navigator and translator through most of the trip, with help from my mother, who turned out to be pretty good at navigating the German 'natural-built' roads. Their cities aren't planned like ours were, with the purpose of being a large, easily-navigatable center of activity. They were built before cars were invented or widely used, so all of the roads GO somewhere (i.e. a town center, a theater, or a shopping district), but not always where you want to go. I'm a little nervous, because AFS Germany called the yesterday and asked about my parent's visit, of which they had had no previous knowledge. They didn't reach us because we were out celebrating Heide's father's birthday... I thought that AFS America would have taken care of it, because my parents had finished all of the required paper work and so on. Appearently not... We'll just have to see how that works out.
Well, I'm looking at my blog and I can see that I haven't written for more than a month. You're probably wondering what happened to that time, and all I can say is, I'm not entirely sure. Varrious judo tournaments, church events, and outings ate it up rather quickly. I took several test, with nothing surprising about any of them, really, just the normal struggles with specialized language and unknown words pertaining to Politics, Religion, and French (the unknown words there being namely the French ones). I also wrote a four- or five-page report on my Praktikum, which was not exactly easy. I'm pretty sure every sentance had to be corrected by Moritz or Heide.
Well, other than that I'm pretty sure not much has happened. AFS warned us about the last three months and how you see the light at the end of the tunnel and want to do all the things you haven't done but meant to do and blah blah blah. I made the mistake of not believing them on this point, thinking I'd just simply pace myself through the entire trip and get it all in without a problem. Now I'm 89 days from return and I feel like every minute I'm not doing something amazing and only possible in Germany is wasted and its driving me crazy. I'm sorry if my blog is the first thing to kind of fall off in my rush to experience everything I can but I'm kinda focusing on having experiences right now, not writing them all down... Maybe I'll just write a book of all my best memories on my way back... Well, see you all soon. I hope everyone is having a great easter and not forgetting for whom we celebrate and what it means for the Believers (I read the crucifixion-resurrection story in each of the four Gospels this morning). Peace be with you.
-Elliot P.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Meine Damen und Herren-
Well, I'm back from Prague. Actually, I've been back for a while and I'm just now getting to updating. The trip was pretty awesome, even though we ended up spending only one day actually in Prague. Most of our time was actually spent in Zadsta, a small town about two hours outside of Prague. Skiing was actually quite a large part of the trip, with us spending three or four of our seven days on the slopes. Most of my time was spent figuring out how to ski, and by the last day I had a pretty good grip on the concept, making the entire trip about a week too short. We slept in two pensions (homes whose lower levels are used as small hotels) and it snowed every day. I felt strangly at home there on the mountain. It had a great feeling of solitude and calm which was really refreshing. Another refreshing aspect was the presence of a thriving artistic community, something that is lacking in the German culture.
Every evening after a long day of skiing or other forms of adventuring, Mick, Krista, Ploy, Andrea, Anna and I all sat down in one of the rooms and would talk about nothing until maybe two in the morning. This was due to the suggestion of Mick, who after the first evening of everyone watching poorly-translated German TV, decided it would be a lot more fun if we restricted TV to the daylight hours, during which we were mostly out of the house anyway. It turned out to be a great suggestion, and we all got to know one another very well. The other five boys stayed in the other pension, but the setup still worked out well.
On our tour of Prague we visited most of the major tourist sites, of which I took about 250 pictures (only the best of which I will be posting here). We also visited two Glass Blowing studios, which was quite interesting. A few of us took part, but at that moment I was content just to watch. Its pretty amazing what they do and how confident they are working with exceedingly hot liquid glass.
After I returned, I spent one more night at Krista's place near Berlin (I had spent one on the way over as well). We watched Wall-E and talked with her host parents. I like the family- they're quite welcoming and relaxed. Since then I went to a Jahrgangfeier, which is something like an end-of-semester party. This was directly after yet another three-hour-long judo practice, so I was already pretty hopped up on adreniline and so on. Turned out to be a pretty wicked party.
I also went to the movies that weekend, for the first time since I've been here, with Svenja, a girl from my judo club and one of the better Christians I've met while I've been here. We talked and ate and saw Benjamin Button, which is a good film but just a little too long. Philipp is back home as well, but only for about a week. He's going to take a three-week long class/test to get his Jagdschein (hunting liscence). Other than that everything is pretty much normal over here. I finally finished the Judo animation, and you can view it at http://www.staderjudoka.de/, but I'm not sure if its up yet. Mirko's been pretty busy lately and I don't know if he's had time to get it set up.
I hope everythings been going as well over there as it has here. My parents bought tickets to come visit me over Easter Break just recently, so I should be getting a pretty detailed report fairly soon. I've kinda dropped off on a few good habits I should probably get started up again (i.e. blog, drawing, running) so I'm hoping you'll be getting a more steady stream of posts soon, but I'm not making any promisses. Thanks for the support, you guys. Miss you all tons.
Prague
Mick, Krista, Ploy and I
Ploy and Krista
Astronomical Clock
St. Vitus Cathedral
-Elliot P.
Well, I'm back from Prague. Actually, I've been back for a while and I'm just now getting to updating. The trip was pretty awesome, even though we ended up spending only one day actually in Prague. Most of our time was actually spent in Zadsta, a small town about two hours outside of Prague. Skiing was actually quite a large part of the trip, with us spending three or four of our seven days on the slopes. Most of my time was spent figuring out how to ski, and by the last day I had a pretty good grip on the concept, making the entire trip about a week too short. We slept in two pensions (homes whose lower levels are used as small hotels) and it snowed every day. I felt strangly at home there on the mountain. It had a great feeling of solitude and calm which was really refreshing. Another refreshing aspect was the presence of a thriving artistic community, something that is lacking in the German culture.
Every evening after a long day of skiing or other forms of adventuring, Mick, Krista, Ploy, Andrea, Anna and I all sat down in one of the rooms and would talk about nothing until maybe two in the morning. This was due to the suggestion of Mick, who after the first evening of everyone watching poorly-translated German TV, decided it would be a lot more fun if we restricted TV to the daylight hours, during which we were mostly out of the house anyway. It turned out to be a great suggestion, and we all got to know one another very well. The other five boys stayed in the other pension, but the setup still worked out well.
On our tour of Prague we visited most of the major tourist sites, of which I took about 250 pictures (only the best of which I will be posting here). We also visited two Glass Blowing studios, which was quite interesting. A few of us took part, but at that moment I was content just to watch. Its pretty amazing what they do and how confident they are working with exceedingly hot liquid glass.
After I returned, I spent one more night at Krista's place near Berlin (I had spent one on the way over as well). We watched Wall-E and talked with her host parents. I like the family- they're quite welcoming and relaxed. Since then I went to a Jahrgangfeier, which is something like an end-of-semester party. This was directly after yet another three-hour-long judo practice, so I was already pretty hopped up on adreniline and so on. Turned out to be a pretty wicked party.
I also went to the movies that weekend, for the first time since I've been here, with Svenja, a girl from my judo club and one of the better Christians I've met while I've been here. We talked and ate and saw Benjamin Button, which is a good film but just a little too long. Philipp is back home as well, but only for about a week. He's going to take a three-week long class/test to get his Jagdschein (hunting liscence). Other than that everything is pretty much normal over here. I finally finished the Judo animation, and you can view it at http://www.staderjudoka.de/, but I'm not sure if its up yet. Mirko's been pretty busy lately and I don't know if he's had time to get it set up.
I hope everythings been going as well over there as it has here. My parents bought tickets to come visit me over Easter Break just recently, so I should be getting a pretty detailed report fairly soon. I've kinda dropped off on a few good habits I should probably get started up again (i.e. blog, drawing, running) so I'm hoping you'll be getting a more steady stream of posts soon, but I'm not making any promisses. Thanks for the support, you guys. Miss you all tons.
Prague
Mick, Krista, Ploy and I
Ploy and Krista
Astronomical Clock
St. Vitus Cathedral
-Elliot P.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Meine Damen und Herrn-
Wow, am I lazy these days. Well, not really, seeing as I've made more progress on my judo animation in the past week than I had in the four weeks before then, but still. My blog kinda well down the priority list for a while, and for this I appologize. I've been participating in a Praktikum (a small internship) at a Kindergarten in Himmelpforten. It actually turned out to be quite interesting- the children all liked me and helping with all of the activities was fun, but I don't think I could handle doing it for a living. Don't worry, I DID get picture and I WILL post them soon. Luckly, I already know in which direction I'm headed...
Lets see... Things that happened in the last two weeks: Fought in another tournament (this one didn't go so well, either); went to Enno's birthday party which was pretty fun; hung out with Nikko on the same night and got into a hour and a half long discussion over what it means to be Christian; started training judo six hours a week instead of only three (started going to both the class before the Adults and the Adult class every Monday and Thursday); and finally went to a party at Philip's to celebrate our class's survival through the Praktikum. Other than that, as far as I can remember, everythings been pretty normal around here. Met a cool Turkish guy at a Turkish restraunt (he worked there) and we talked for three hours about nothing. Very cool afternoon.
As I said, I've been working quite a bit on this judo animation and it should be done within the next two weeks. It kinda has to be, because in the third week of February I'm going to the Czech Republic to ski and so on. Should be a blast. I've also been trying to draw a little more. My goal is twenty minutes a day drawing only what I see, so essentially no creativity needed. All other drawing/creating will be done on 'my own time' and hopefully that will be a little more as well... Well, that pretty much wraps it up for these two weeks. I'll try to get back in the habit of writing these, so keep your pants on. Hope to hear from you all soon!
-Elliot P.
Wow, am I lazy these days. Well, not really, seeing as I've made more progress on my judo animation in the past week than I had in the four weeks before then, but still. My blog kinda well down the priority list for a while, and for this I appologize. I've been participating in a Praktikum (a small internship) at a Kindergarten in Himmelpforten. It actually turned out to be quite interesting- the children all liked me and helping with all of the activities was fun, but I don't think I could handle doing it for a living. Don't worry, I DID get picture and I WILL post them soon. Luckly, I already know in which direction I'm headed...
Lets see... Things that happened in the last two weeks: Fought in another tournament (this one didn't go so well, either); went to Enno's birthday party which was pretty fun; hung out with Nikko on the same night and got into a hour and a half long discussion over what it means to be Christian; started training judo six hours a week instead of only three (started going to both the class before the Adults and the Adult class every Monday and Thursday); and finally went to a party at Philip's to celebrate our class's survival through the Praktikum. Other than that, as far as I can remember, everythings been pretty normal around here. Met a cool Turkish guy at a Turkish restraunt (he worked there) and we talked for three hours about nothing. Very cool afternoon.
As I said, I've been working quite a bit on this judo animation and it should be done within the next two weeks. It kinda has to be, because in the third week of February I'm going to the Czech Republic to ski and so on. Should be a blast. I've also been trying to draw a little more. My goal is twenty minutes a day drawing only what I see, so essentially no creativity needed. All other drawing/creating will be done on 'my own time' and hopefully that will be a little more as well... Well, that pretty much wraps it up for these two weeks. I'll try to get back in the habit of writing these, so keep your pants on. Hope to hear from you all soon!
-Elliot P.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Busy with life
Meine Damen und Herrn-
Its been a while, hasn't it? I've been busy getting back into the swing of every day life here, so I haven't had time to post in a while. These two weeks have actually been pretty slow, as far as school is concerned. The entire 11th class is doing a Praktikum (something like a mini internship/shadowship) starting next week and going until the end of January, so these two weeks in between have kind of been do-nothing weeks. We recieved our grades in all of our classes, and unsurprinsingly mine where considerably lower than the ones I usually recieve in American, but higher than I expected in some cases. I got a '2' in art, which is the numeric equivilant of a 'B', but not quite. Here, a 'C' or '3' is actually average, not a '1' (or 'A'). I was actually at the top end of my art class, which was gratifying. I also managed a '2-' in Religion, which was equally as gratifying.
Judo started up again last week, and we've wasted no time getting back up to full speed. Steve, you asked how good I was at judo now in your last comment. Well, I threw 25 people in 30 seconds last night. The average was 15 in 30 seconds, if that gives you any idea. I have a tournament coming up this Sunday, and I'll see what I can do about getting video. Uploading video onto this blog is actually quite difficult, while the internet here isn't all that fast, so I'll post a link to the club website, where video will probably be posted.
Last Sunday I hung out with some other people from the Baptist Church, and that was pretty cool. I finally got to go the the 'Junge Stunde' or Youth Program of the church as well. Needless to say, it was quite small, but that made for a very personal atmosphere that I enjoyed. We talked and played Jenga and ate. It was all very easy-going and relaxed. There's some sort of gathering of the Youth from my church and a few others going on tonight, but its not looking like I'll be able to make it. Moritz's friend Jan is having a birthday party tonight and Moritz said I should come along, so I'll probably end up doing that.
Nothing much else to report. Been playing through the Prince of Persia series in my spare time, gearing up for the arrival of my copy of the fourth installment. I'll be sure to post pictures of the tournament and my Praktikum when I have them. Here's the link to the club videos of the last tournament:
http://www.staderjudoka.de/videos/index.php
I'm in the first and the fourth. The man I'm fighting is named Mirko, he's one of the club black belts- good fighter, very funny, and generally a cool guy. I loose both of the matches, I believe, but I won two others against other people, so its no big thing. Hope everything is going well over there. Leave a comment if you have the time.
-Elliot P.
Its been a while, hasn't it? I've been busy getting back into the swing of every day life here, so I haven't had time to post in a while. These two weeks have actually been pretty slow, as far as school is concerned. The entire 11th class is doing a Praktikum (something like a mini internship/shadowship) starting next week and going until the end of January, so these two weeks in between have kind of been do-nothing weeks. We recieved our grades in all of our classes, and unsurprinsingly mine where considerably lower than the ones I usually recieve in American, but higher than I expected in some cases. I got a '2' in art, which is the numeric equivilant of a 'B', but not quite. Here, a 'C' or '3' is actually average, not a '1' (or 'A'). I was actually at the top end of my art class, which was gratifying. I also managed a '2-' in Religion, which was equally as gratifying.
Judo started up again last week, and we've wasted no time getting back up to full speed. Steve, you asked how good I was at judo now in your last comment. Well, I threw 25 people in 30 seconds last night. The average was 15 in 30 seconds, if that gives you any idea. I have a tournament coming up this Sunday, and I'll see what I can do about getting video. Uploading video onto this blog is actually quite difficult, while the internet here isn't all that fast, so I'll post a link to the club website, where video will probably be posted.
Last Sunday I hung out with some other people from the Baptist Church, and that was pretty cool. I finally got to go the the 'Junge Stunde' or Youth Program of the church as well. Needless to say, it was quite small, but that made for a very personal atmosphere that I enjoyed. We talked and played Jenga and ate. It was all very easy-going and relaxed. There's some sort of gathering of the Youth from my church and a few others going on tonight, but its not looking like I'll be able to make it. Moritz's friend Jan is having a birthday party tonight and Moritz said I should come along, so I'll probably end up doing that.
Nothing much else to report. Been playing through the Prince of Persia series in my spare time, gearing up for the arrival of my copy of the fourth installment. I'll be sure to post pictures of the tournament and my Praktikum when I have them. Here's the link to the club videos of the last tournament:
http://www.staderjudoka.de/videos/index.php
I'm in the first and the fourth. The man I'm fighting is named Mirko, he's one of the club black belts- good fighter, very funny, and generally a cool guy. I loose both of the matches, I believe, but I won two others against other people, so its no big thing. Hope everything is going well over there. Leave a comment if you have the time.
-Elliot P.
Monday, January 5, 2009
I like having things to do.
Meine Damen und Herrn-
Wow, this post is late. In more ways than one, actually. Its almost one in the morning here, and what, four days after I said I would post? Oh well. I've been pretty busy lately.
I went to a Silvester (New Years) party at Tjark's house, and Harris made the observation that this would be the only time I would be with them for such an event. Its a strange thing. I don't really realize that all of the annual holidays will be one-time things for me here. I should probably get as much out of them as I can. The day after that was a recovery day, during which I slept and chatted with some of my favorite Americans. The day after (Friday) I went into Stade to help repair mat's at my Judo club at ten in the morning. We hung around the gym for several hours, ate pizza, watched the new Disney film Bedtime Stories, and talked about judo-people stuff. It was cool- really relaxed and even-paced, with little concern on WHEN we finished, only THAT we finished.
On my way out the door I checked my cell and saw that Esther had invited me to a shindig she was having with other AFSers. I agreed to come, and once I got there (a small adventure in itself. Her house isn't exactly close to where I live) I was pleasently surprised. It turns out that AFS people are actually a lot of fun when they're not doing anything... well, AFS. I mean no insult to the AFS organization, its just that the lack of structure makes for a good party atmosphere. There where talks about past AFS experiences, school, music, religion, economy, a little dancing and Twister, some drinking and finally sleep at about seven in the morning. The next day I made the trip back home (another small adventure) and had another recovery day. To late did I recieve the call informing me that my class's Jahrgangs Feier was that evening, and I really wasn't ready to go party again, so I stayed home.
Yesterday (Sunday) I went to the service at the Baptist Church, like always, and from there to the home of some of the people I met through the church. We had lunch and talked, then went ice skating and returned home with two more of the young people from the church. We talked over this and that- a little music and so on (I was itching to talk about anything art-related. As I've said before, there is a lack of it here). I managed to get three seperate compliments from three groups of people on my German that day. I was pretty proud of myself. Once I got home from our little meeting, Mortiz and I watched Kung Fu Panda auf Deutsch. It was almost as good as the first time, even with the language switch.
Finally, we come to today. I woke up around ten, hurried to get ready, then the rest of the family and I went to Heide's father's house for lunch and to help move some things around. I attempted to repair his internet and failed. Thats the first time I haven't been able to fix such an internet-related problem, so it was kinda humiliating. I did have a time limit, though, and all the prompts were in German, and I didn't have much information to begin with. And probably a hundred other excuses, which I don't feel like listing here. Well anyway, here I am, and its one-thirty in the morning, and I'm pretty much done with blogging for now. One last thing, though- I got final conformation on my trip to Prague today! Its gonna rock so hard. I'll be sure to post some pictures. Well, bis dann!
-Elliot P.
Wow, this post is late. In more ways than one, actually. Its almost one in the morning here, and what, four days after I said I would post? Oh well. I've been pretty busy lately.
I went to a Silvester (New Years) party at Tjark's house, and Harris made the observation that this would be the only time I would be with them for such an event. Its a strange thing. I don't really realize that all of the annual holidays will be one-time things for me here. I should probably get as much out of them as I can. The day after that was a recovery day, during which I slept and chatted with some of my favorite Americans. The day after (Friday) I went into Stade to help repair mat's at my Judo club at ten in the morning. We hung around the gym for several hours, ate pizza, watched the new Disney film Bedtime Stories, and talked about judo-people stuff. It was cool- really relaxed and even-paced, with little concern on WHEN we finished, only THAT we finished.
On my way out the door I checked my cell and saw that Esther had invited me to a shindig she was having with other AFSers. I agreed to come, and once I got there (a small adventure in itself. Her house isn't exactly close to where I live) I was pleasently surprised. It turns out that AFS people are actually a lot of fun when they're not doing anything... well, AFS. I mean no insult to the AFS organization, its just that the lack of structure makes for a good party atmosphere. There where talks about past AFS experiences, school, music, religion, economy, a little dancing and Twister, some drinking and finally sleep at about seven in the morning. The next day I made the trip back home (another small adventure) and had another recovery day. To late did I recieve the call informing me that my class's Jahrgangs Feier was that evening, and I really wasn't ready to go party again, so I stayed home.
Yesterday (Sunday) I went to the service at the Baptist Church, like always, and from there to the home of some of the people I met through the church. We had lunch and talked, then went ice skating and returned home with two more of the young people from the church. We talked over this and that- a little music and so on (I was itching to talk about anything art-related. As I've said before, there is a lack of it here). I managed to get three seperate compliments from three groups of people on my German that day. I was pretty proud of myself. Once I got home from our little meeting, Mortiz and I watched Kung Fu Panda auf Deutsch. It was almost as good as the first time, even with the language switch.
Finally, we come to today. I woke up around ten, hurried to get ready, then the rest of the family and I went to Heide's father's house for lunch and to help move some things around. I attempted to repair his internet and failed. Thats the first time I haven't been able to fix such an internet-related problem, so it was kinda humiliating. I did have a time limit, though, and all the prompts were in German, and I didn't have much information to begin with. And probably a hundred other excuses, which I don't feel like listing here. Well anyway, here I am, and its one-thirty in the morning, and I'm pretty much done with blogging for now. One last thing, though- I got final conformation on my trip to Prague today! Its gonna rock so hard. I'll be sure to post some pictures. Well, bis dann!
-Elliot P.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Frohe Wiehnachten!
Meine Damen und Herrn-
Frohe Weihnachten! I wish you all a Merry Christmas! Today is the first day I've had time to write to you all- its been a buys two and a half days. Lets see...
Heilige Abend (Wensday, Dec. 24)-
In the German Christmas tradition, Christmas Eve plays a much bigger role than I've experienced in America. We prepared and so on all morning (actually, Philip and I played Santa Claus to one of the friends of the family while Heide did most of the preperation), then we went to the Kleine Kapelle (the local chapel) for a small service. Afterwards, we came home, had and amazing deer dinner and then, around nine o'clock, Christmas REALLY started. In order to get your gifts (which you recieve on Christmas Eve in Germany) here you must first read a poem (of your own selection) to the family. I read one entitled 'Heilige Nacht' and for it recieved:
Oreos, an electric picture frame, a normal picture frame, a case of Weizner beer, two Czech beers, a phone card (which I actually haven't seen), chocolates, a print of an American flag done by Keith Herring, and a book about Advent and Weihnachten in Niedersachsen.
Erste Weihnachts Tag (Thrusday, Dec. 25)-
Otherwise known as Christmas in America. On this day we all slept in until at least eleven, while myself and the rest of the children had stayed up until 2:30 playing German boardgames (which are actually very popular here). Then around three we shipped out of Heide's father's house, where we had a miniture Christmas with the extended family and had an extravagant and deliscious four-course dinner, provided by the family of Heide's brother. Then came more boardgames and an early bedtime.
Zweite Weihnachts Tag (Friday, Dec. 26)-
Early to bed, early to rise. More church today, this time in Stade. The service there was bigger and a little better organised than the one on Wensday, probably because the church itself was bigger. Then we went back home, ate a late breakfast, and then Warhammer 40,000 until around five. I loved spending the day with the guys and so on, but that evening the long days and strain of Christmas kind of caught up with me.
Anyway, I slept in till eleven today, too, and had a slow day around the house. Heide's father came to visit for tea at around six, and now here I am, well rested, relaxed, only slightly bored, and iching to watch the second Lord of the Rings movie with the family, which is airing for the first time on German television today. I hope your Christmas was as good as mine. Please, feel free to leave long comments or email me about what happened over there. I'm planning to use this break to answer some of the letters I've recieved, so if you sent me any, be looking for the post in about two weeks.
-Elliot P.
Frohe Weihnachten! I wish you all a Merry Christmas! Today is the first day I've had time to write to you all- its been a buys two and a half days. Lets see...
Heilige Abend (Wensday, Dec. 24)-
In the German Christmas tradition, Christmas Eve plays a much bigger role than I've experienced in America. We prepared and so on all morning (actually, Philip and I played Santa Claus to one of the friends of the family while Heide did most of the preperation), then we went to the Kleine Kapelle (the local chapel) for a small service. Afterwards, we came home, had and amazing deer dinner and then, around nine o'clock, Christmas REALLY started. In order to get your gifts (which you recieve on Christmas Eve in Germany) here you must first read a poem (of your own selection) to the family. I read one entitled 'Heilige Nacht' and for it recieved:
Oreos, an electric picture frame, a normal picture frame, a case of Weizner beer, two Czech beers, a phone card (which I actually haven't seen), chocolates, a print of an American flag done by Keith Herring, and a book about Advent and Weihnachten in Niedersachsen.
Erste Weihnachts Tag (Thrusday, Dec. 25)-
Otherwise known as Christmas in America. On this day we all slept in until at least eleven, while myself and the rest of the children had stayed up until 2:30 playing German boardgames (which are actually very popular here). Then around three we shipped out of Heide's father's house, where we had a miniture Christmas with the extended family and had an extravagant and deliscious four-course dinner, provided by the family of Heide's brother. Then came more boardgames and an early bedtime.
Zweite Weihnachts Tag (Friday, Dec. 26)-
Early to bed, early to rise. More church today, this time in Stade. The service there was bigger and a little better organised than the one on Wensday, probably because the church itself was bigger. Then we went back home, ate a late breakfast, and then Warhammer 40,000 until around five. I loved spending the day with the guys and so on, but that evening the long days and strain of Christmas kind of caught up with me.
Anyway, I slept in till eleven today, too, and had a slow day around the house. Heide's father came to visit for tea at around six, and now here I am, well rested, relaxed, only slightly bored, and iching to watch the second Lord of the Rings movie with the family, which is airing for the first time on German television today. I hope your Christmas was as good as mine. Please, feel free to leave long comments or email me about what happened over there. I'm planning to use this break to answer some of the letters I've recieved, so if you sent me any, be looking for the post in about two weeks.
-Elliot P.
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