Clara in Germany!

1. You get more sleep: You don't have to wake up insanely early to run downstairs and see what Santa brought you in the night. As a matter of fact, I slid out of bed at about noon today. Christmas eve is present time, so there are no sugar plums dancing in anybody's head when they go to sleep that night. Actual Christmas day is mostly just there for an excuse to eat more food. 2. Charlie Brown and The Grinch are dead: Any references to Charlie Brown's wilting little Christmas tree, or Cindy Lou Who will not register. Nobody is gonna join in on "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch". I know, it hurts.  But, for some reason, Home Alone (Kevin-Allein zu Haus) is really big here. In fact, my host family was more familiar with the storyline than I was. 3.  But Christmas Cinderella has got your back: Another really big Christmas movie is "Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel" ("3 Hazelnuts for Cinderella"), which is a co-production from a German s...

Walking on up to the Hamburg Christmas Market by the city hall (there are markets all throughout the city though. The more the merrier! Oh, Christmas cheer.) Me and my host brother Thor! Lady with an umbrella, not looking too jolly. ESSEN! I got Grünkohl (kale, steamed with tiny onions) and Bratwurst. Look at all the festiveness goin on here. Oh, and that word up there means "play things (or toy) alley" Till next time Hamburg!

The beginning of an exchange is a harrowing experience. Sure, some gentle souls may assure you "oh, it's like the honeymoon phase! oh la, la la", but for me personally, it was mostly just a ton of "you know nothing" bricks being thrown at my face daily. But that's all ok, because now in late December, I am experiencing my own kind of honeymoon phase. Sure, I could blame it on the Christmas cookies that fill every hip and happening German kitchen, particularly Lebkuchen. Lebkuchen, which translates directly to "heaven" in English (naaaa, I lied. ha.), is a thick, dark, cinnamon, ginger and fruity filled masterpiece. Is it cake? Is it a cookie? IT'S BOTH, PEOPLE. BOTH. You can also put chocolate on it, or build a small house from it if you feel so inclined. Nobody gonna judge. But another thing that adds to this late honeymoon phase of mine, is that I have been helping out with my theater group's Christmas musical, which sadly ended today...

Victory: On Friday, we had an "Impro Abend" performance at my theater place, which means I had to get up in front of a crowd of people, and...well, improvise. You might think that perhaps I opted for a shy but friendly mute, or silent pet, but no, I actually spoke words that were understood! And yeah, sometimes those words were clever! Or, you know, people could have just been laughing at my horrific attempt at the German language. Either way, laughs were had, and I was one of the reasons for it. I want a gold star, please. Failure: Hey, remember that time I tried to ride the bus into town, and when purchasing my ticket, put cold hard euros into a slot meant only for euros in bill form, and then everything started beeping, and instead of attempting to fix this problem I slid into a seat in the back of the bus, and observed as the bus driver bellowed out for the hide of whoever committed this horrific act? One lady totally gave me that "oh...

Today was a day of firsts! After theater class, my friend Kathi and I bopped around the bakery stalls  that only grace the streets in December. At hearing that I have never actually tried the famous North German "Berliner", she insisted that we get a few. A Berliner is basically the jelly doughnuts' prettier sister. It's deep fried, and fluffier due to its yeast filled dough. The jam inside is also made with less pectin, so that it has a creamier texture and sets well when it is stuck between the two fried cakes. Mine was filled with strawberry jam, and it was fantastic. Below is our Berliner consumption saga: Kathi got a little excited...   And since it is finally December,I also got to stop by an outdoor Advent party. The neighborhood got together to sings carols, eat cookies,drink hot punch, and almost lose limbs to frost bite. I could get really used to this whole Christmas in Germany deal.