Merry Christmas

Well, a post with pictures and detailed summaries will have to wait awhile until I am back in Karlsruhe with my computer and my camera cord and such, but I want to write you all and tell you how much I truly love and miss you all. I think as far as "Christmas without your family" I may be the luckiest person ever. I am currently staying in a condo in the Black Forest of Germany. Thomas' mother manages vacation condos in the small tourist town of Schluchsee (not to far from Tittisee, which you may have heard of...) and so I have a comfortable bed, kitchen, living room and bathroom here and it is simply wonderful! We have hiked a fair amount and seen the breathtaking beauty of the Schwarzwald - I cannot tell you how happy I am to be in the mountains with snow!

Anyway, all that is to reassure you all that I am safe and warm and happy this Christmas. However, being away from family also provides a unique perspective of just how thankful I am for my family and 23 years of being "home for Christmas". I couldn't ask for a better family or a better support system than the network of people who have raised me into the person I am today. Thank you. I love you all so dearly.

Giving Thanks, International Style

At last - the story of Europahaus Thanksgivng (aka: how Bekah and Amy, with the help of a few others, cooked Thanksgiving dinner for 35-40 people) Months ago Amy, Jonathan and I began discussing Thanksgiving and how much we really wanted to celebrate here properly, not just with Americans, but with the people here who have become our European family. Now, that is pretty enough in a theoretical sense...I mean, Thanksgiving is a holiday about friends and family, generosity and thankfulness. The logistics of such a fest, are something entirely different, however. Luckily Amy and I are quite laid back and "go with the flow" kind of people - open to experimentation and mistakes. We began the night before with baking - pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, cookies, and cake. 10 am on Saturday morning we began the "real deal" cooking - more pumpkin bread, a 5kg turkey, 2 turkey breasts, mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Unfortunately, neither of us had ever in our lives cooked a whole turkey ... needless to say, we were a little nervous: 

Clearly, I was a little nervous. To ease the tension, we named the turkey: it was much easier to work with Marv than with a rather intimidating mass of raw flesh and bones. (at least from my perspective) At this point of the day we made the executive decision to serve sloppy joes if the turkey flopped. We also comforted ourselves with the knowledge that most all of the people who celebrated with us  had ever celebrated Thanksgiving and thus had absoultely no idea what everything was supposed to taste like.

Marv nestled in his lovely home...stuffed and laying on a bed of vegetables (aka: just before the point of no return) Note the smiles on our faces: one part hopeful joy, the other part sheer terror! At this point we still had two more turkey breasts to cook (and had no idea how we were going to cook them) We ended up getting a little creative and making an orange-turkey breast and one with lots of vegetables. I would like to say that we pulled off everything flawlessly on our own, but that would be a gross exaggeration: without the help of Cindy (of course - her middle name is Save Bekah's Life Whenever Possible!) Sophie, and our Italian friend Giorgio no one would have eaten mashed potatoes or gravy...the were the 11th hour heroes! Also, Vicki, Melissa, and Justina did all of the decorations: what amazing friends we have!

Somehow, everything really turned out. Jonathan made chicken, sweet ham and apple pies, some people brought salad, some dessert, some drinks...it was an incredible group feast. We talked a little about why we celebrate Thanksgiving (origins, traditions, etc) and thanked everyone for being there...once everyone started eating, I finally started breathing again! Thomas was kind enough to stick by in the flurry and make sure that, in spite of my excitement, I ate something. 

I cannot even begin to describe to you the overwhelming number of compliments we recieved, or the joy that I felt in being able to share such a meal with so many of my good friends here. A friend lived in the US for a summer and lost like 15-20 pounds because he didn't like the food, but went back for 6 plates of food - we restored his hope in American cooking. The family of one of our good friends was in town and they joined us for the celebration - the entire night was just a shower of praise from them: how none of the French stereotypes about Americans seem to ring true with us, that they were so impressed by our work, generosity, cooking, and mostly the amazing community that we were able to gather. I had at least 5 people ask me for the pumpkin bread recipe (which everyone here is convinced is actually cake...) The list goes on. My thankful heart grew at least 10 sizes that day

Our smiles of terror turned to smiles of disbelief, relief, and sheer joy by the end of the night. I could not ask for a better person to do all of this with...and I still can't believe we pulled it off!

My Europahaus (and Karlsruhe) family...most of the group was still there when we took this picture (although a few had to leave a little earlier) I am so thankful. So blessed. ~love~

Confessions of a Delinquent Blogger

My faithful readers:

I am a delinquent blogger...you wouldn't believe the backlog of half-written blogs that are clogging up my thoughts, and yet, I cannot seem to find the time to upload the pictures and write them. Subsequently I have two thoughts/hopes: 1. that you all are just as busy as I am in this crazy time of year and aren't checking my blog that regularly 2. that you all will overlook this delinquency and continue reading my blog as soon as I continue writing in it! 

To tide you all over (because of course I am on my way out the door to go to lunch then go see Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carole" at the Jakobus Theater here in Karlsruhe...so cultured, I know) I would like to fill you in on some of the intricacies of cultural differences that I encounter daily. Today's lesson is about food. The following are two actual conversations that have taken place within the last week or so (translated, of course, for your convience)

Incident #1:

(setting: the train, approximately 6:30pm)

Thomas: I'm hungry

Me: Me too...maybe we should eat some dinner

Thomas: Ok, well, what are we going to eat?

Me: Well, we could make pasta, or chicken stir-fry.

Thomas: But I've already eaten warm today.

Me: You are so German!

Thomas: Well, why do you think Americans have an obesity problem?

Me: I'm pretty sure it has nothing whatsoever to do with the temperature of the food.

Thomas: Well, I guess you're right, but I still already ate warm today.

Me: (laugh and roll eyeballs)

Incident #2

Me: Thomas, what are you doing for lunch?

Thomas: I don't have plans. Lets eat together. But I don't have any food.

Me: Well, I have lunchmeat and cheese.

Thomas: Oh, well, I do too. And I have tomatoes and mozarella.

Me: Mmm...sounds good to me.

Thomas: But thats all breakfast food. 

Me: (rolling eyeballs) You are so German.

I am so not even exaggerating these conversations. They happened (more or less) exactly as here replicated. Germas are so funny about their food. Who cares how many times you eat warm in a day? Who cares when you eat warm in a day? (here its mostly midday, then something cold in the evening) Also, since when is salad, lunchmeat and cheese only for breakfast? I tell you what, these Germans are crazy! As much as I am blending in here more and more, I just can't break myself of my "American" conceptions of food and meals...and thats okay with me! 

More to come, I promise! ~love~