It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

So, this post is going up a week after I wrote it because we were without internet access for that long as the telephone/internet service was being changed from René’s name into ours. It’s still new news for you, though, so I thought I would post it as is! Hugs and Happy Thanksgiving to all!  We're having a Thanksgiving pot-luck at our flat on Sunday for all of Sidonie's colleagues - we're excited to share about all the many things we have to be thankful to God for!

So, here's my post from last week...

The first snow fell yesterday morning! It was so exciting! Our first German snow of our first German winter! Now, for those of you who have already had several feet of snow and are not at all thrilled at the prospect of more, let me remind you that last winter we were living in sunny, warm Orlando (not that we were complaining,) and it had been a couple years since we’d seen snow (since we’d lived in Virginia Beach.) Also, I think all of you who have experienced snow, can agree that there is something magical about the first snow of the season! It’s so exciting to see the beauty of a serene landscape blanketed in undisturbed white. It’s like a little gift from God: a bit of beauty to add some cheer to the dark winter day. Speaking of dark, as the season progresses here it does get darker and darker. At the moment, we have sun from about 8 or 8:30 AM until about 3 or 4 PM. By 5PM it is quite dark. I took the recycling out around 5 yesterday, and if I had had to guess what the time was based on the light, I would have said about 9PM – if that helps you picture it.

On typical mornings, we usually get up around 6:15 (when it is still quite dark) to get ready for Sidonie to leave for school (on Mondays, I have to get up a bit earlier for work, as I teach downtown at 7:30, but most other days I don’t leave for work until after Sidonie has gone to school.) After I make juice for the day, I usually go open the blinds so that when the sun shows his face, René’s plants (which, by the grace of God alone, are still mostly green!) will get some light. I’m thankful that the plants are moving with René and Betty to their new flat in about a week! When I opened the blinds Friday morning, I saw it – the spectacular sight of our first snow! Because it had been raining for two days and the temperature was just a hair above freezing, the snow did not stay on the ground except in tiny patches in the shade, but this morning when I opened the blinds, I saw that it had snowed again last night and there was a fresh crisp blanket of white covering the landscape!

As I went down to check the mail this morning (I don’t have to leave the building as it’s deposited in boxes near the front entrance to the building, thank goodness) I saw three little children playing in the freshly fallen snow. There’s still not quite enough snow to build a proper snowman, but they were making a valiant attempt! I love the Holiday season!

I got some pictures from our balcony of the chilly serine morning as huge fluffy flakes fell Friday (look at that alliteration, would you, and I didn’t even do it on purpose! It must be all the good literature I was exposed to as a child. ;)

The courtyard outside our balcony.

As the snow was falling...

...more of the same...

...and still more!

There were several different reactions to the snow among Sidonie’s colleagues. Some of them were almost as excited as we were while the other end of the spectrum was represented as well, with those from far colder (and “snowier”) regions bemoaning the beginning of winter. Ah well, we still choose to enjoy it!

Have a WUNDERBAR TAG!

Quick German Funny...

I know I don't usually post in the middle of the week (and don't get used to it because it won't happen often!) but I simply HAD to tell all of you something funny that happened at church on Sunday, and this is the first available moment I've had to write.  

Before I get to the funny, though, a quick update on life here.  All is still well.  We're taking it one step at a time and seeing what God has for us next.  I'm still teaching English, and have an interview with a theatrical prop-building firm in Hamburg the first week of Dec.  I may also have an audition that week for another show - we'll see.  I am calling this afternoon to see if I can get Sidonie's passport updated to include the year long residency/study permit (I found out yesterday that my work permit should automatically allow Sid to stay.)  The office that handles it, of course, is the one in Bad Oldesloe - the one that takes 2 hours to reach!  Hopefully I'll be able to go tomorrow and take care of everything at once.  ONE trip would be much nicer than three or four!

In other news, Sidonie and I got to see Der König Der Löwen (The Lion King) for free last night!  One of Sid's professors is the pianist for the show, and got us free tickets!   It was loads of fun!  The costumes and puppets were just as amazing in motion as they look like they would be when you see them in pictures!  We had all sorts of amazing animal creations walking (or flying) right down the aisle beside us!  Yay for going to school at the premier production company in Europe - great perks!

So, now to the funny story...

As I believe I've mentioned, we sing about half our worship songs at church in English with German translations under the English text on the screen, and the other half, the other way around.  At times we've encountered some slight Malapropisms in the English translations, but none quite so drastic, or amusing, as the one on Sunday. 

The song went something like this:

We praise You, We lift You up

Almost High, Almost High!

As you can imagine, the first time we saw this we burst into laughter (thankfully it was a loud song!)  Unfortunately, for us, this was part of the chorus, so we sang it again, and again, and again...!  Needless to say, Sidonie and I were very grateful when we moved on to the next song!

For those of you not quite awake when reading this:

"Almost High" sounds quite a lot like "Oh Most High," but has a VERY different meaning!!

Here's to language faux pas!

Work Permit

Just a brief update to let all of you know our current status here...  

One is permitted to reside in Germany as a "tourist" for up to three months with nothing but one's Passport (Pass - in German.)  That time is running out for us! (We arrived on August 22.)  Also, one is not permitted to work without having a work permit.  I started working in mid October, but my work permit had not gone through yet when pay day rolled around at the first of November.  Thankfully, my job agreed to pay me based on the high likelihood that my permit request would be approved.  They did let me know that they would only be able to do that for one month because after that time they could get in serious trouble with the government if they employed a person who was without a permit to work!  We have been praying and trusting that God would work out whatever bureaucratic knots had to be straightened out for me to get my permit.

As a bit of a backstory, I have visited the Ausländerbehörde (foreigner's office) 3 times.  The office is outside Hamburg, and takes about two hours travel from our flat.  After waiting in line at the office and waiting for the train back home, we're talking about a full day used up!  Finally, I was told by the lady "helping" me at the Ausländerbehörde to wait three weeks to call and check on the status of my permit, but when I called, I was told that the foreigner's office was not the right place since I was working as a private contractor, and the office I should visit was just across the street from our flat!  WHAT!???!  

I visited the Rathaus (Town hall) across the street, and noted that they were closed on Tuesdays, and I would have to return on Wednesday.  When I finally spoke with someone there, she told me that they couldn't help me here in Glinde, and that I would have to visit the Ausländerbehörde!  Seeing a pattern here?  I let her know that I would NOT be visiting the Ausländerbehörde again, as I had already used up 3 entire days in this pursuit!  She said that she could mail my information to the office and that I would have it back in about a week.  I said that would be FINE!

Well, long story short(er,) I got my package yesterday!  The only problem was that I needed 55 Euro in cash to pay the postman in order to get my letter from him!!!!  Of course I didn't have that much cash, so he told me that I could pick it up in the morning at the post office - I was sure to ask WHICH post office and he assured me the one downstairs!

I went and picked up my letter today, and guess what I found?  I have a permit to stay in Germany and work as a Sprachlehrer (language teacher) for a full year!!!  Woohoo!  I have to check, but I think this also means that Sidonie is guaranteed a study permit for that length of time as well!  I'll keep you posted on that.  Praise God for His provision!

Sorry no pictures this time, just some great news!

"Goin' to the Cathedral, and we're...gonna get candied apples"

This weekend was quite full and very enjoyable!

I'll begin at the beginning (as that is a very good place to start!)

Thursday night was the premier of another show produced by Stage Entertainment (the company which owns Sidonie's school.)  This show was an ice show called Holiday On Ice.  Sidonie got two tickets, so I was supposed to be able to go with her, but I ended up being called in to teach a class.  If I had turned the class down in order to go the the ice show, I would have been turning it down for good (ten weeks of work,) so we decided that I would teach instead of going to the show!

As it turns out, while Sidonie had a good time, she said that I should not be upset that I missed it.  The Show was replete with less than humorous clowns, men dressed as fairies and women dressed as trolls, various, and at times clashing, costumes on the ice together (as one group finished, the other would come on to being their number,) and several un-rehearsed tumbles!  On the bright side, Sidonie said the set was amazing: a huge Saturn shaped sphere with the rings being ice on which the performers skated.  The sphere also opened to reveal stairways up to the upper levels.  There was a woman who skated on stilts while carrying fire, and some amazing lifts and turns!  On the whole, we're both glad we chose our respective activities for Thursday evening.

On Friday evening, we went to a birthday celebration for Afsaneh.  (Remember the Iranian friend who housed us for our first month here?)  Afsaneh turned 50, and she had a huge hoedown!  There was a buffet with various different cultural specialities, a beautiful array of delicious fruit, drinks of all sorts, Persian music and, of course, dancing!  We didn't get to stay for too long because it started late and Sidonie had school the next morning, but we had a great time, and Afsaneh was so happy to have us there!

Saturday, while Sidonie was in class, I went to check out a street where there were supposed to be many different costume manufacturers where I might find part time employment as a stitcher.  I did not find any of those shops, but I did find a HUGE market filled with second hand vendors!  It was like a garage saler's paradise!  While shopping is not really a luxury we are able to afford right now, I had a look around in case there were any of the things that I had to pick up at the Toom Markt later (Toom Markt is our closest thing to Wal-Mart, and has both groceries and household items.)  I found one thing: a beard trimmer (mine died after we got here, and apparently the charger broke on the flight over because it won't recharge!  I've been trimming my goatee with my razor which feels much more like pulling the hair out than cutting it!)  The trimmer had enough charge to come on when I flipped the switch, so I knew it worked.  I asked (in German, of course) how much much it cost.  The owner said 4 Euro, I said how about 2 since it wasn't in mint condition, it needed to be cleaned, and he said he would take 3.  I said it was a deal.  After buying it, I realized that I'd had my first experience bargaining in German!  I feel like I'm a real Hamburger now!  (Hamburger is the term for a resident of Hamburg.)  Woohoo!

After I got home, Sidonie called and asked if I wanted to go together with some of her colleagues to The Dom that night.  Now, Dom is the word for Cathedral (hence my mildly funny, albeit extremely valiant effort at a humorous title for this post.)  We, however, were not planning a Saturday evening trip to Mass, but a trip to the carnival.  The Dom is a huge permanent carnival, or fair, if you will, which is set up on the site of an old cathedral.  The originators of the fair kept the old name for the location, so the fair has come to be known as The Dom.  (There's your bit of Hamburg history for this post!)

We found that The Dom has free admission, and you just pay for the rides/games/food inside!  It was such fun!  We didn't buy anything, but we had a BLAST walking around and taking in all the sights and smells!

The Dom crew: (l-r) Nina's Mom (visiting Nina for a week from southern Germany - very sweet, and only speaks German,) Nina (German,) Sidonie, Morton (Danish,) Marco (German,) Maxine (Swiss)

Never fear, I took lots more pictures to show you! - see below

On Sunday, after church, we went with René and Betty to see some friends from church who were not well.  We were able to talk and pray with them for about an hour.  

When we got home, we made some food (curried green peas with rice) to take over to René and Betty's flat for dinner.  Betty had made some boiled sweet potatoes with coconut cream dressing,  stir-fried cabbage with carrots and onions, some fried plantains, and some fish (for the meat lovers!)  We had quite a feast, and a wonderfully relaxing time of candlelit conversation.  We all agreed that we should do that more often!

Our friends, Betty and René Siegler

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but Betty is a hair dresser, so before we left, she and Sidonie scheduled a date for this evening to perm and cut Sidonie's hair - poor thing, it's been two and a half months, far too long, since her last visit to the hair dresser.  She's very excited!  We'll post pictures of her new hair next time!  René and I also scheduled time to get together.  They are moving into a bigger flat about five minutes away, and before moving in, they need to do quite a lot of painting.  I offered to help, as I have quite a bit of painting experience (although I don't think they'll need help painting their ceilings like some of our American friends did! :)  I'm glad I'll be able to help paint especially as we've not really been able to give much in way of a thank you for all the Sieglers have given and done for us since we moved here!  It's great I'll be able to help with what they need a bit too!  Now to find painting clothes - I hope they made it here! :)

So, for the rest of the pictures...

As I was taking this, Nina said: Please, we are not tourists!  I told her that it was fine for her to rib me about taking all these pictures, but not to expect to get copies of any of them! ;)

Sidonie's pimp hat!

The other merchandise at the "pimp hat" store!  I thought it was ghetto enough to merit a picture!

A view down one of the aisles - yes the smoke is cigarrette smoke, although we could also see our breath on the air that night as well!

Yay for Bumber Cars - as it turns out, this was only the first of about 5 such attractions!

This ride is loads of fun - Sid and I rode one like it at Busch Gardens in VA!

The Balloon Man!

I thought these little puppet dolls were very cute!

We took a potty break - yes, they are called toilets, and yes, they cost 50 Euro cents per person!

The Ferris Wheel!

Apparently, this is what you do with losing tickets...?

This was a talking tree at the Haunted House - pretty darn funny!

The Roller Coaster - can you find the cars?

The House of Illusion...

Taking a break from the cold for some hot wassail-like drinks.

Morton explaining that the drink doesn't taste good, but you just drink it because that's what Germans drink when it's cold out!

Our Dane finally found some food from home!

The Candy Man (one of MANY) makes candied nuts - they smelled SO GOOD when they were cooking!

There was a HUGE variety of candied nuts available.

Candy straws of every color and flavor abounded as well.

And the desserts kept going...

...and going...

...and going...

...and going...

There was, of course, good old German Wurst as well!  This particular establishment was apparently the royal home of Wurst!

Marco is VERY excited about his Wurst!

And of course, when you're done, the Wurstbasket!

And last but not least, the Candied Apples you've all been waiting for!

In a final bit of news, I have to tell you two very funny things we've learned here.  The first is a joke René and Betty told us yesterday.  I'll spare you the time translating, and just tell you in English.  A Grandma and Grandpa were keeping their little grandson for the night.  He got to their house and was very excited about all the fun they were going to have together.  After a lovely evening, Grandma said it was bed time.  She told her grandson to head into his room and get ready for bed, and she would be in to tuck him in momentarily.  When she arrived in the grandson's room, she was surprised to find that he had no clothes on.  She said: Why are you naked?  I told you to get dressed for bed.  He replied: I'm wearing my favorite clothes to bed tonight.  She acquiesced and let him go to bed in his birthday suit.  After Grandma herself had gone to bed, Grandpa came in from turning all the lights off and locking up, and climbed into bed next to her.  Surprised at what he saw, he said: Why are you naked?  She replied that she was wearing her favorite clothes to bed that evening.  Grandpa replied that if that was her favorite suit, she'd better take the time to iron it!

The second thing is not a joke at all, but a funny German phrase that Sidonie and I learned recently.  When asking one of her colleagues if there was a German equivalent to the American phrase "That kicked my butt!," her colleague quizzically replied that, no, he knew of no such phrase in German, but there was one about a butt.  Sidonie hesitantly asked what it was, and he said: "My backside is eating my pants!"  This, of course, is what one would say if one's pants had inched up into the familiar and uncomfortable wedgie position! 

So, there are your two doses of German humor for the week!  Have a great one, and I'll post again soon!

Thanksgiving comes before Christmas!

Whenever Halloween is over, it seems the stores immediately move their advertising campaigns into Christmas overdrive.  Not that I don't love Christmas - celebrating with friends and family, apple cider, delicious smells (Christmas Trees - baking cookies - cozy fires in the wood stove,) crisp air, and most of all, what it reminds us of: the birth of our LORD! - don't get me wrong, it's just frustrating that such a wonderful holiday like Thanksgiving is overlooked.  I mean, Thanksgiving - a day set aside to give thanks to God for His provision.  I think that's pretty cool!  Now, I do have to give them the benefit of the doubt over here in Europe, as there were no pilgrims and indians eating together as the winter set on, but Sidonie and I have decided to bring Thanksgiving to Europe!  Why not share such a fabulous holiday with our new friends?  So, we've decided to host Thanksgiving again this year (for those of you unsure of what I mean, we hosted Thanksgiving for both sides of our family in central FL last year,) but this time, I think we'll get people to bring their favorite dishes from their culture to share in a kind of Thanksgiving cultural melting pot!  This will give us a wonderful opportunity to share with all of our new friends the reason we celebrate this momentous day, and encourage them to join in!  What say you to this? 

So, before I go on rambling, I should apologize for taking so long to write this time!  I know two weeks without an update from your favorite American-Germans seems interminable, but once I tell you what happened last weekend, and last week for that matter, I think you'll understand!

Where to begin - I have so many stories to share!

I'll start with one I've promised several of you that I would post...the retrieval of the package!!  Mom and Dad sent over a package with some of our Fall/Winter (Herbst/Winter) clothes including much needed scarves and gloves - yay for homemade fuzzies!  It took about a week to get here - not too bad - but it arrived on a Saturday (two weeks ago.)  By the time I collected the mail that afternoon, the post office downstairs had closed for the weekend.  We were very sad because there was a promise of a surprise which any of you who have had my mother's cooking know is a very exciting proposition!  We would simply have to wait until Monday.  

I couldn't be there when the post office opened on Monday because I teach an English class downtown from 7:30-9 (I know, you never thought I could get up that early, but I'll have you know I leave the house every Monday morning at 6:40!)  When I got home from teaching at about 10, I excitedly went to the post office to pick up our package!!  It wasn't there!  Apparently, the green slip of paper attached to the back of the receipt said that we could pick up our package in Mölln.  I assumed that Mölln was probably the central post office downtown or something.  When I looked up the directions on the web site, however, I was quite surprised to find that it was not in Hamburg at all, in fact, I would have to pay extra fare to take the public transportation outside the city limits to reach it (I have a travel card for all of Hamburg proper.)  I thought: OK, it can't possibly take that long... oh, contraire!  It took me an hour and forty-five minutes, several cow pastures, many horse paddocks with the horses wearing their little winter blankets, and countless bus stops labeled with only numbers (Stop 514, for instance) to finally arrive in the TOWN of Mölln.  When I got there the woman at the desk told me that I would have to open the package to see what was there (I was praying they weren't going to take our food away!)  She did look at the food - dried apples and pears from the trees at my grandfather's house! - made a face like: "WHAT is that?", and put it back.  All she really wanted to know was if this looked like my stuff...?  I said: YES!  I asked why (IN THE WORLD) I needed to travel to Mölln to get my package when we live in Glinde, and was told that "Das ist eine Großstadt." (This is a big city.)  Apparently, based on what I've put together from what friends have said, because we don't live in downtown, and because the package was coming from out of the country, this office in Mölln is where all of our international mail will be routed!  So, four and a half hours later I was back home and getting ready to teach that evening (I was, however, wearing my mohair scarf, fingerless gloves, and leather coat when I left home that evening! :)

I substituted for nine English classes (90 minutes each) each of the past two weeks, and I have now been given three classes of my own.  It can take anywhere from 20 to 90 or more minutes to prepare for a 90 minute class!  Some of the classes are great fun, and others are quite difficult, but it's so wonderful to have a job!  God is good!

Last weekend was busy with my first on stage performance in Germany.  Friday night was a rehearsal as was Saturday afternoon, then Saturday evening was the performance.  I hosted the 2008 Gospel Explosion at our church: Wort des Glauben (Word of Faith.)  The reason that they wanted an English speaking MC was that they were to have guests from America who didn't speak any German.  The American guests ended up being held up in another part of Germany, but I still hosted.  I had a translator who stood beside me and translated what I said from English into German.  The person who was supposed to translate for me, Thore, was not able to get there in time, so at the last minute, I had one of the other members of the church translate (she translates English spoken during worship on Sundays into German.)

The Gospel Explosion was a time for Christian hip hop, rap, and vocal artists from all over Hamburg to showcase their talents.  Some of the acts were QUITE good!  There was a group called the Hamburg Break Dancers which was FABULOUS!  There were several rap groups that were pretty good, a beat box duet that was very funny, and various other levels and styles of talent displayed.  The event was organized by two young people from Kenya who are members of the church.  Let's just say that African ideas about schedule and urgency are very different than American ones!  Sidonie and I are both getting used to the German way of thinking about time (early is on time,) as well as the African one (on time is when you get there!)

OK, so enough blabbing on for now - I know you really came to see the pictures, so here some are!  Enjoy!

Sound check for one of the singers in Gospel Explosion 2008 (She was Saaaangin')

This is David - adorable!

David's dad is German and runs the sound for the church, and his mom is from Zimbabwe, and sings on on the worship team.

This is Pastor Corrin talking with some of the worship team as they rehearse on Friday before the Gospel Explosion sound check. (She is from Lebanon, speaks French, Arabic, German, and English - although her English usage can be a bit startling at times!  She preaches in English and is translated into German and Farsi - German simultaneous interpretation, and Farsi from a booth with headsets available to the Persian congregation members.  She did her theological studies in America!)

This is Nicole, who interpreted for me last minute!

Well, hopefully I'll be able to keep up with blogging a bit more regularly, but if not, feel free to email or message me!

Tschüß! Bis später!