Tea parties, Flea Markets, and the Crowning of Miss Gaenseliesel

Well, the rain has finally stopped, but only to be replaced by a cold, impenetrable fog that makes you feel lonely, even if you are surrounded by thousands.

Okay, Kara us mocking my taking advantage of the fact that I feel like I can write whatever I want because regardless, some of you out there will read this.... but having this blog is seriously so fun because I feel like I am published....

Anyway, on Friday, Pika rejoined us again! She had been in Hamburg and Kiel visiting old friends. Frau Weppener, our neighbor 2 flights down, invited us over for afternoon tea, and so Kara, Pika, Mom, and I showed up to have her give us the marvelously detailed tour of her elaborately and warmly decorated apartment. She is the cutest old lady and took such pride in all her "kitsch" as she called all the trinkety knick knack stuff that she has collected over a lifetime. The tour ended in her sun/sitting room with a lavishly laid out table for tea for four and coffee for herself (she had originally invited us over for coffee, but we explained to her that we didn't drink coffee). She had laid a different kind of tea cup at each place, to show off the variety of complete tea sets she had, and each one was exquisitely intricate and unique. She kept mentioning how her 2 kids were always trying to make her get rid of all her collectibles, se we were really glad to be able to share in the beauty and sentimentality of all her unique treasures. We felt like princesses, as she served a variety of delicious Kuechen and chocolate, along with the most divine strawberry raspberry herb tea I have ever drinken. She is a diabetic, but assured us that she wasn't for the day :)Three hours later, after looking through photo albums and hearing stories of her interesting life, and with stuffed bellies, we were on our way home with the leftover cake and pockets full of tea bags she had made us take home.

Friday night, Kara and I rented a movie from the huge video rental store a mere block away from our apartment.

Saturday, Pika, Mom, Kara, and I went to the Floh Markt (flea market) and found some treasure among the junk: Pika found some traditional Christmas pyramids for really inexpensive along with a rug beater and some pants for herself. Kara and I hit up a used CD stand and perused the plethora of classic american music, notably including original ABBA, David Bowie, and Madonna CDs. Kara bought an old Muse CD that she hadn't been able to find in the states. Mom and Pika found some really nice new authentic German style blazers and jackets and a skirt. Overall, a succesful day at the flea market.

Sunday after church, Dad went to a stake-wide priethood conference in Hannover, while Mom and Kara and I went to the Gaenseliesel Festival in downtown Goettingen. Our neighbor had told had told us that we had to go, so, went we did. It was fun to see how similar small town festivals are, universally. All the Eiscafes and bakeries were open (all the shops and restaurants are normally closed on Sundays) and there were art and food kiosks litering both sides of the streets. We tried some amazing crepes! Mom's had Nutella in it, mine was cinnamon sugar, and Kara's was like a pizza on with mozzerella and tomatoes. We saw the 'crowning of the 2008 Gaenseleisel', which I would compare to the 'Little Miss Lindon' pagenat and a Homecoming pageant, where they interviewed the top 8 finalists on stage with questions such as: What do you want to do when you grow up?, and what makes Goettingen the best city in the world? etc. Upon announcing the winner, the last year's Gaenseliesel gave a litte speech and passed on the basket with a stuffed goose in it to the new girl, and then the Burgermeister (mayor) of Goettingen gave flowers and a kiss on the cheek to the 2008 Gaenseliesel. It was a lot of fun.

So that was our awesome weekend! Stay tuned for the next entry.... which probably won't be until Thursday or Friday because we are going to Berlin for a couple days. Bis Spaetter!