It is the season of Christmas Markets over here in Germany, and Colin and I went to our first one the other day. It was a small one in Kaiserslautern, but still really fun. We had deer brats and sat by the fire. They put their fires inside cut logs, no barricades or enclosures to keep people safe from falling in or burning themselves. It's kind of fun, because in America that would never happen. someone could get hurt, and more importantly, someone could sue! ha. There was a surprising amount of people there, all of them crowding around the band that was playing. It is hilarious, because they love American oldies. They sing along and nod to the beat, some even dance. It was like being at a fair in America, but you couldn't understand what anyone was saying.... They have some of the same 'fair' food that we do over here, but mostly a lot of crepes, brats, and these doughnut looking things. I wasn't sure what they were but they looked good. The markets also sell Christmas type gifts and homemade items, such as wood carvings, ornaments, and these paper stars with lights inside. It looked like this one was mostly food. We'll have to see if the pattern holds true at others. We;re pretty stoked about going to this one in a few weeks one of Colin's co-workers told him about. It has a live nativity with "All the usual animals, the camel, the sheep, the monkey"... monkey!?! I guess around here monkeys are typical of the nativity scenes... I can't wait to go check it out, since it just isn't that typical of our traditional nativity scenes. It should be fun.
Other than Christmas Markets, we're just living life. Putting away all of our stuff, hanging pictures, relaxing. Colin's working, and I've applied for a few jobs. We don't really need the money, but it's hard not to get lazy when you're stuck at home all day car-less. I've gotten so bored I've even been cleaning! gasp! ha. Mostly I spend my days doing laundry. German washers and driers are a LOT smaller than american ones, and if I don't do a few loads a day even I wouldn't have enough clean clothing. They also take a really long time. No speedy cycles around here. I always go downstairs thinking it will be done to find its only half way there. Also I can't do laundry during quiet hours, which makes it take even longer. Not before 9, from 12-2, or after 8-9. Not complaining, some things are just different over here and I just have to adjust. It's actually pretty nice, because you never have to worry about your neighbor's loud parties, and if you have kids(like our neighbors), no one will be doing construction on the roads during their nap times.
I'm loving cooking in my beautiful kitchen and enjoying all the space we have. Also enjoying their gluten-free things. Surprisingly, they have a lot of stuff here for me. It will take a while to try it all and decide what's best, I limit myself to one thing each time we go to Globus (have I talked about Globus yet? I love Globus). They have a huge section with tons of different kinds of breads, cookies, snacks, and pastas. Bigger than any I've seen in the states. Also, Globus is open late (10pm) and on all American holidays(that aren't shared by Germans. They're closed for German holidays), so I can go whenever! It was very nice on Thanksgiving when we wanted stuff and realized we could go to any German store :)
