German Christmas 2007

Frohe Weihnachten!!

Now a chance to write. And I reorganized, deleted and added some pictures that I got from Tanja. I added some photos relevant to the post, or the there is a full slide show at the bottom of the post or the link to the full gallery is here
http://picasaweb.google.com/logan.jones/200712GermanChristmas

I arrived here on the Friday the night of the 21st

Saturday December 22nd

On Saturday Jasmin, Tanja and I took the bus to Aachen for the Christmas Market. I finished up my Christmas shopping and we had a great walk around the beautiful town of Aachen. The Christmas Market was set up around the town hall and the magnificent Dom of Aachen. One of only two Octagonal cathedrals in Europe.

Sunday December 23rd

In the morning we got up and decided to go to Stolberg for the Christmas market around that castle. Unfortunately the Christmas market had already closed up shop. But it was a cool little town and I got to see another German Castle :)



Then we headed into Eschweiler to browse through the shops. I went into a shoe store and finally bought some new shoes. No I don't look like a 'hobo' (according to Mom and Leslie)

The night of the 23rd Jasmin, Helga, Tanja and I decorated the tree while Joseph worked on the nativity scene. The nativity scene has been a expanding work since the kids were small. Back then it was simply the stable. Over time Joseph has added the mountains, the trees, the waterfall and flowing stream with the bridge, all hand made. In addition they've collected quite an assortment of figurines. (Later in a Christmas shop, I saw and took a picture of a nativity scene set up that cost 760Euro...without any figurines. Of course that was the high price, but the average was in the 300Euro range)

At this point there are no presents under the tree.

Monday December 24th

We woke up December 24th and had a nice German breakfast of breads, deli meats, cheeses and jams and honey. There are still no presents under the tree. Helga was busy preparing the cakes and cookies for the upcoming days.

Around 3:3opm Joseph, Tanja, Jasmin and I headed to the local Church for the service. It was a really nice service with the little kids putting on a presentation. Unfortunately I didn't understand much, but I recognized a couple of the tunes including Silent Night.

When we got home around 6pm, the doors to the room holding the Christmas tree were all sealed. We weren't allowed in! So we waited impatiently in the kitchen. Then at about 6:30 the Christmas bell rang!!! And in we went to find the Christmas tree full of presents!

We opened presents from 6-8pm.

I received a sweater from 'the Canadian Santa Claus', a book on the castles of German so I can continue my search for which one I want to buy and live in someday (the day I win the jackpot or something). I also got a book of 1000 Things to See Before You Die. So my travel wish list is still growing. I got some stuff to make me smell good and drive the ladies crazy, some German chocolate and my present to myself the Toulouse Rugby Jersey!


For Jasmin I got her the book Above the Earth 365 days, featuring the incredible aerial pictures by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. For Tanja I got here a Dream catcher (sorta Canadianish...despite the fact I bought it in France) And for Helga and Joseph I found this cool bowl that folds flat.

After this we had our Fondue Christmas supper and it was gooooooooooooooood. Problem with fondue is that you eat slower...and thus stuff yourself even fuller. I felt like the Michelin Man after we finished.


Tuesday December 25th

We slept late and then had a good German breakfast. Jasmin and Tanja's older sister and her husband and kids came for breakfast. We all sat down and played some UNO and then some Trouble. Later in the day Joseph's brother and wife also came for a visit.


In between we went for a nice long walk around town and out to the apple fields and back, try to settle all this food we've been eating.

Wednesday December 26th

Wednesday we headed to the picturesque old town of Monschau. It was really pretty during Christmas time, although I would love to see it covered with about 4inches of snow. Now that would be pretty.

During the night Jasmin and I headed to the Nightclub in Eschweiler. It was huuuuuge! I couldn't believe it for such a small town, this place was cavernous with 5 4 different rooms of music, a central 'quieter' area and an upstairs. When you enter the simply hand you a credit card type thing and you just charge your drinks to that all night and pay when you leave. I could see how that could be a problem for someone if you just started buying away with no concept of how much or how fast you were spending. Oh and you can't 'accidentally' lose the card either, that's an automatic 55Euro charge.


The Rest

The rest of the days we just took it easy, read books, watched movies, played cards and of course ate and ate and ate. I will definitely need to start working out or running after New Years to get rid of this Christmas 'chub'

This morning Jasmin left to head up north to her boyfriends place.

And tomorrow I fly out to Budapest to have a Hungarian New Years with Baly my Hungarian roommate from last year.

Frohe Weihnachten!!

Logan


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I'm still CANADIAN

You know, it's amazing the things you can find to do to avoid studying...like writing on this blog for instance, when I have my 45 minute Oral exam in Flight Dynamics tomorrow :) (Don't worry Ma and Pa, i'll do good)

So anyways, this topic came to mind a couple weeks ago. I watched the Grey Cup. Yep, I found a online feed from CBC at the last moment. So from 11:30pm - 3:30am (with a bit of falling asleep during the 3rd quarter) I watched Saskatchewan finally bring the Grey Cup home! Great to see. (8am class that morning wasn't so great)

But as I was watching it, it made me realize just how Canadian I am. Watching all the Canadian commercials, the CBC , knowing Ron McLean, Brian Williams all these commentators I grew up with and 'know'

So i decided I have to make a list of the 'Canadian' things I miss (excluding the obvious family and friends)

In no particular order

• Hockey - I love hockey!!! Even know, I get up every morning and check the scores from the night before, watch all the highlights, plays of the week. Go to the Oilers message board and see what the rest of the fans are thinking. But nothing beats watching the games, which I have been unable to do (although now that I found this CBC feed, I can watch HNIC...albeit from 4-7am....grrr). Or just to go to the bar and watch the games with friends.
  
• Football - Even though the eskies sucked it up yet again, I still love watching football. The CFL until Grey Cup. College bowl games during Christmas break, and the NFL come playoffs.
  
• Breakfast - not completely Canadian, but the breakfast here in France sucks...a croissant. I love breakfast...back in Canada I never missed breakfast. And when I had time, it was eggs and pancakes/waffles/french toast, maple syrup, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns.... Seriously, Toulouse needs an IHOP...or Humpty's.
  
• Tim Hortons - Coffee also sucks here. It's...concentrated...you order a coffee and you get this tiny little glass of concentrated gunk. And no donuts either....I could go for a donut.
  
• Soft bread - another France thing. Bread here is like a rock. When you go to little sandwich shops you get hard crusty bread...you can't even eat a whole sandwich..because your jaw hurts from chewing

(oops last couple posts have been more things I don't like in France....back on track now)

• Winter - ok so Edmonton doesn't have the best winters, a little too cold sometimes. But overall I still love winter. I love snow, I don't mind the cold (below -25 isn't pretty) but give me -10 to -15 and 3ft of snow and I'm lovin it. Get the quad out, start burning around the country side. Cold wind in the face, bundled up in 5 layers. Then come home to a nice warm fire and cup of hot apple cider. That's the life. I miss winter :(
• Skating - goes hand in hand with winter. What's better than lacin up the skates, going out to some pond with snow banks piled 3 ft high all the way around. And playing some hockey with friends and family. I miss that.
  
• Animals - ok, not a Canadian thing again. But to have grown up, on a farm, with two veterinary parents, dogs, cats, horses and just about everything else you can imagine...I miss my animals. I know it seems first thing I do when I come home after a while, is chase the dogs around the house until I can hardly stand. And then sit in the chair with a cat in my lap.
  
• Pyrogies - seriously, growing up in Edmonton you take them for granted. We have such a strong Ukrainian culture around Edmonton it just seems normal. But even just moving to Seattle...think anyone had heard of a pyrogie?, let alone be able to buy them in a store. mmmmm pyrogies and sausage.
  
• Indoor Soccer - only in country with 8months of winter :) But it's such a different game then outdoor soccer. But i like them both equally but for different reasons. It was nice to have both seasons in Edmonton. They have futsall here in Europe..but it's not really the same either.
  

Ok, that's all I can think of for now. Feel free to add things you think I might have missed.

This video says it all really