Seventeen Days!

The countdown to Christmas 2009 began December 26, 2008, but now there are so few days left, that it actually makes sense for one to announce to the world how long 'til Christmas.

I sent my 16.9 kilogram package to America on Saturday, November 21. According to an article in the newspaper the week before, people should send their packages by November 27th if they want them to get to America from Central Europe by Christmas. As of Sunday, my parents had not received the package, but hopefully it will arrive this week. The package cost 65 Euro to send. With an exchange rate of 1 Euro to $1.49, that comes out to a grand total of $96.85. A tip to anyone thinking of sending packages from Central Europe to the U.S.: Make sure to send them well before the date you want them to arrive, and think about sending only one big package the entire year. I will definitely not be sending 3 or 4 more $96.85 packages to America anytime soon! (And that total doesn't even count what I spent on the things in the package!)

So far, I have been to two Weihnachtsmärkte in Germany. My host family took me to the huge Weihnachtsmarkt in Aachen twice, and on Saturday, my host family and I, along with my host dad's brother, sister-in-law, and niece went to the Weihnachtsmarkt in Monschau. The Weihnachtsmarkt in Aachen seems huge to me, but I know there are bigger ones in Nürnberg and other places. The entire square in front of the Rathaus in Aachen and the entire place between the Rathaus and the Dom is filled with wooden huts and vendors selling jewelry, soaps, ornaments, clothing, shoes, roasted nuts, bratwurst, waffles, Reibekuchen (sort of like hashbrowns), pastries...basically every holiday themed thing you can think of is sold at the Weihnachtsmarkt in Aachen. The Weihnachtsmarkt in Monschau is smaller, but nevertheless very popular with bus tourists from England, France, Belgium, Holland, and other parts of Germany. One thing I noticed about the Weihnachtsmarkt in Monschau is that it seems like more food is sold there than non-edible items. I always assumed there would be a couple stalls selling food, but everywhere I looked, there was another vendor selling Glühwein or Lachsbrötchen.

The night of December 5-6 is called Nikolaus in Germany. Check out this link for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolaus#Celebration_in_Germany
Meike let me borrow one of her riding boots to put outside my bedroom door. When I woke up in the morning, there was a bag of chocolate ornaments, a chocolate Santa, and shinguard bands in the boot! I think I am probably a little old for this tradition (just like Halloween) but I loved it, and having never experienced Nikolaus before, it was another experience to add to my list.

This Saturday, we are going to Herne to see Christal and Willie one more time before we leave for Österreich. I love going to Herne and visiting them because it is so different from Lammersdorf. Lammersdorf is up in the Eifel, exposed to the wind and the rain and the snow. It's also a lot of farmland with tractors on the roads and farmers leading their cows to a new pasture. Herne, on the other hand, is made up of 8.4% Turkish people, has an U-bahn, and is in the huge metropolitan area that also includes Düsseldorf, Bochum, Essen, and Dortmund. Many people live in apartments and there is more diversity than in the part of the Eifel that I live in. In addition, Christal and Willie are so nice and I feel really comfortable around them. They remind me sometimes of my grandparents.

Well I will wrap this post up now. I am in the room at school where there are some books and 5 computers (3 that actually work). I wouldn't call it a library, but it is a study room for kids who have free periods.

I miss everyone and I hope you all are having a good holiday season.

Carrie