A Very Merry Christmas

Hello all! To start things off, I would like to wish everyone reading my blog a wonderful Christmas (or Weihnachten)! If yours was anything like mine, then you had a good time.

To everyone dealing with "Snow Storm 2008" back home in Western Washington: Be safe asnd don't have too much fun without me!

So, a little bit about my German Christmas. I arrived at my uncle Stefan's house in Lübeck on Tuesday the 23rd. Lübeck is a beautiful city in Northern Germany on the Baltic Sea. It is the marzipan capital of the world as well. If you haven't heard of marzipan or have never eaten it, that is simply a shame. Marzipan is a delicious, sweet treat made from almonds and sugar with (normally) a chocolate coating. Just ask my good friend Sara Bear (Hi, Sara!).

I was welcomed with open arms into House Stefan Olbrich by the man himself, his wife Thesi, their two sons, Lutz and Jan. On my first night with the family, Lutz and I promptly went to a local "disko" to do some partying/dancing (Lutz pretty much took care of the latter of the two).

The next day was what we Americans know as Christmas Eve. Here it is called Heilige Abend. This day is the Germans' true celebration day for Christmas in terms of spending time together, going to church, opening presents, etc. Christmas day is also important, but Heilige Abend is the equivalent to our Christmas. We ate a nice dinner, went to a short church service (where the pastor used Harry Potter as a metaphor to his message), then returned home to do the opening presents thing. Now, I like to think of my time here in Germany on the Fulbright Fellowship a good enough present: I am essentially on a year-long vacation, get to see my Mom's side of the family, and have the opportunity to fully immerse myself in a new culture and learn a great deal of 'stuff.' However, I was taken aback when I was given a few very thoughtful gifts from my uncle's family. Add them to the gifts that were in a rather large box sent from the States (from, guess who, my lovely mom) and I essentially made out like a bandit. So, I'd like to thank Family Olbricht and Family Wacker for a surprisingly enjoyable Christmas! :)

The actual day of Christmas was more or less a lazy day around the house. The high point of the day was definitely in the evening, when I got a little "cultured." One of the Christmas gifts from the day before were tickets for the whole family and I to go see a movie called Buddenbrook. This movie is based on Thomas Mann's novel about the rich Buddenbrook family in Lübeck in the 18th century and it's eventual demise. It was a good experience. A pretty good movie that gave me a good perspective on how port cities thrived in the "olden days."

Just when I thought things couldn't get any nicer, the day after Christmas day the boys of the family and I went to visit Oma! (that's grandma for you non-German speaking folk). The last time I had seen her was waaay back in 1997, the last time I was in Germany. We spent a great afternoon talking with Oma and exchanging yet even more gifts. Oma seemed to be in very high spirits and surprised me with her agility when she moved around the house. It sure was good to spend a day with the only grandparent I have yet.

Apologies for the lack of photos in this post - I am using Lutz's computer and don't have the necessary equipment with me to upload photos.

Tomorrow Lutz and I are going to Hamburg to take part in what sounds like a very fun night of what essentially amounts to bar/disko hopping. That should be interesting!

So, again, I wish you all a safe and Merry Christmas!

If you have a chance, drop me a post and let me know how you are doing! Keep tuning in. Ciao!

russ.