Frohe Weihnachten!

I have to admit, it was so strange not being home on Christmas, but I was lucky enough to be able to spend it with Courtney and Hannes' family. 

In Germany they celebrate the 24, 25 and 26. On the 24 Courtney and I went to Hannes' for dinner and church. We had wurstschen, potato salad, and salad with his parents and older sister Lea. Theyare all so sweet, and Lea acted as a translator for Courtney but also told us all about her time as an Au Pair in the U.S. After dinner we went to church which is right across the street. It was a good feeling to be there, even though the entire service was in German. 

We went back home to open presents and have dessert, yum. 

It was so nice of their family to get Courtney and I gifts. For my birthday, his mom gave me a German baking book and then for Christmas I got chocolates, tea and a really cute mug...and my favorite: a jar homemade of quitten marmalade and on of quittenmus. Then Oma and the uncle came over and we had baked apples stuffed with four kinds of nuts and vanilla ice cream. It was heavenly!

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I got to skype my mom and Em, Meg and Dani...and they got to meet Hannes' family!

One major difference from the traditions that I am used to for Christmas is that it is normal to go out to parties or clubs on the 24th. So, off we went to Stuttgart joined with Markus and a few more of their friends. The music selection of the night was bands like Linkin Park...interesting, but nonetheless so much fun!

OH...and there were REAL candles on the tree, lit ones. WHAT? I definitely think that was a fire hazard, especially with clumsy me around, but they have a cat too! Weird. I'm still in awe...

 

On the 25th it was my turn to the be hostess. We got a honey ham from the army base in Böblingen, and I made green bean casserole. I had each person bring something to contribute. Tyler and David who are stationed in Böblingen brought beer and the ham, Tricia: caramel apple cheesecake, her boyfriend Chris: mac&cheese, Raymmah: brandied chocolate covered strawberries, Kaiyo: salad, Severin: mashed potatoes and chocolates, and brendan oh wonderful brendan made garlic bread and a delicious white bean soup. We also had an abundance of wines which various people contributed. 

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We spent the night talking and visiting, went on a night hike and at the the end of the day Courtney, Tyler, David, Raymmah and I snuggled up to sleep. 

I think my favorite part of the night was when we all sat down to eat. We each put food on our plates and for a good 5 minutes there was just silence; comfortable, wonderful silence. Everyone was enjoying the food and company and I couldn't help but just smile. 

On the 26th was our lazy day. I woke up to clean and then Raymmah, Courtney and I spent the entire day watching movies. 

The 27th was Court's last day in Germany so I took her to Stuttgart. We wandered around the Königstrasse and had some currywurst. 

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We headed home to Tuebingen with Markus and Hannes from some Mexican food with tortillas from Spain and salsa from California. After that we took Courtney out to a club and then it was sleepy time before we sent her off the airport back to Madrid. 

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Then Hannes felt creative for dinner. 

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