Frohes Neues Jahr means Happy New Years. In Germany, the traditional saying is taken a little more seriously than in the U.S. For example, someone said "Frohes Neues Jahr", to me TODAY. It is the 12th of January, I got it, thanks. I am going to have a very very frohes jahr! We asked some German friends about this and they said that people will generally say it whenever they see you for the first time since the turn of the new year. Since I see so many people at work (teachers, parents, other staff) it explains why I have been hearing it so often.
Anyways, we did have an awesome New Year's Eve. We went over to a friend's house. Our friend, Pete, is actually from Texas and he is a missionary. He planted a church here 10 years ago and has raised his family here. His wife is wonderful and they have 4 great kids. We also spent our Thanksgiving with the Leininger family. They are an incredible blessing to us; Americans who know all there is to know about living in Germany, what more could we want? Not to mention they are excellent people who we enjoy spending time with.
We started the night off with a fantastic dinner. I can't remember the name of the style of eating we experienced but I am a fan. You can see a large skillet in the middle of the table. Each of us had a mini frying pan underneath on which we loaded our choice of meat, cheese and vegetables. Set the pan on the surface for 5 minutes, devour and repeat. If we would have registered, I would have registered for this!
Then we watched a movie. The kids (and dog) LOVED Scott. At one point when his daughter was climbing into Scott's lap, Pete said, "Megan, what are you doing? You don't even know him".
The 3 boys loved having Scott and Sam there to wrestle with.
Then came the Feurwerks!!! Apparently Germany has no regulations on fireworks. As soon as the clock struck midnight, EVERYONE in the neighborhood was out in their front yard setting off their own, very impressive, fireworks. The city doesn't host any big show so everyone in the city makes their own show. The down town area around where we live was covered in the leftovers from fireworks for a day or two. Not to mention the beer bottles.
This is the lovely band that marched all around the city on New Year's Day- and around and around and around. Conveniently, we live directly above the street that seems to be the main path for any city parades or demonstrations of any kind.
Scott left early on New Year's Day. Sam and I spent the rest of the weekend doing anything that did not involve traveling, picture taking, train riding, map reading or sight seeing. I was happy to do a whole lot of nothing before I started work again.
I have jumped back into the daily routine of working at the kindergarten and then meeting Sam at the gym. We definitely put on some kilos while Scott was here but now we are running our butts off. By the time we finish dinner I'm ready to read a little and then crash!
Sam has made dinner for me (and done the dishes) the last two nights! Lucky me!
We don't have any trips planned until we go to Belgium at the end of February. We could use the down time as well as a rest on our wallets.
We may however use the most wonderful, thoughtful and amazing Christmas present ever (from my parents). They gave us a voucher to spend a weekend in an adorable hotel in Frankfurt. We are trying to figure out the most opportune time to use it. When it's cold and snowy perhaps? I think so.
By the way, this winter Mainz has the most snow they have had in 20 years as well as the coldest temperatures they have had in 20 years. Perfect. Still, it's no Minnesota winter so I can handle it.
Hope you all had great holiday seasons! We enjoyed the experience of Christmas in Germany but we definitely prefer to be around family and friends.
Bis Dann ('Till then),
Die Lacys
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