Germans celebrate the saint's death day every year on December 6 as Nikolaus Tag. The man who we Amerikaners know as Santa Clause comes during the night to put candy and fruit into children's shoes. Somewhat confusing, because they also have a Weinachtsmann who comes on Christmas Eve to bring presents. German children have twice the fun.
I returned to Erfurt on Saturday after 10 days away to find the whole town blanketed in thick snow. I'm not going to guesstimate how much because I've never been good at math or perception, but it's alot of snow. I'm still in the snow honeymoon stage, although my walk to the city center each morning has gotten a bit more tricky. I've come to really appreciate shoveled paths...the streets and paths that are not shoveled have become sandy, muddy, snowy mixes that are not fun to walk on. Lots more snow comes Wednesday, and I want to make a snow man.
With the snow and all the Christmas markets about, it really feels like Christmas, maybe moreso than it ever has in the USA. Almost every German town has a big Christmas market in its city center that sells lecker food, drink, and lovely handmade Christmas presents. It's a wee winter wonderland in the middle of the city. And Erfurt definitely has a great one. On weekends people from all around get on buses by the thousands to come. I'm looking forward to many nights at the markt drinking hot gluh wein :)
Dankfesting three times across Germany was, as expected, a complete gluttonous blast. I traveled from Erfurt to Mainz to Frankfurt and finally to Dortmund for the three celebrations. A highlight was seeing my great (and crazy when together) friends from Bremen again. We put on a delicious feast and fested late into the night for two days. I proudly made my favorite Thanksgiving dish, my grandmother's green bean casserole, which tasted just like home. Thanks Oma! (And thanks to Chrissy for finding the french fried onions on the military base...it wouldn't have been the same without them).
Straight from Dortmund I headed to Bonn for a week of United Nations role play. Who knew that simulating the European Union could be so much fun? I had the oh-so-fortunate role of representing Greece for the EU Council, a tough job especially when the topic is stability of the Euro ;/ But I fared OK and learned alot about economics and the Euro crisis in the process. Dorky, much?
Days were filled with endless policy debates, and the evenings with fun activities. I slept very little, and had very much fun. A highlight was a karaoke night where I performed the female parts of "Summer Lovin'" and "Barbie Girl." Ran out of time to sing "You're so Vain," though. Darn.
I've traveled a good bit in my short life, but I have never been in such an international situation before, and I loved every minute of it. People came from over 40 countries to attend the conference - Asia, Africa, the Middle East, errywhere. My roommates, for example, were from Spain, Ghana, and Ukraine. I loved too, that despite everyone's very diverse backgrounds, we were all able to communicate in English. It made me a bit proud and thankful of my mother tongue, although I still got super jealous when I met people my age who speak 5 languages. I speak one and a half, I joked...hopefully two by the time this year is up.
I also loved that despite the fact that no stereotype is accurate, everyone in some way fulfills a bit of the stereotype of their country. The hilarious guy from Hong Kong had his camera out literally every minute, documenting the entire conference and immediately uploading to facebook (yes, there are videos of me performing the said karaoke songs). The Germans were the ones most likely to be on time. And we Amerikaners have more ridiculous slang words and expressions than anyone else, which we happily explained to our new friends. One of my new favorite past times is now translating American speak to those who want to learn. How does one accurately explain what it means to "open up a can of worms?"
I think this photo best shows the hilarious randomness of our group:
Whew. It's been a long ten days. I haven't been so exhausted since I first fought jet lag upon arriving to Germany. Now it's catch up time.
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