Goslar, Duderstadt, and Osnabrück

Hello and happy 3rd Advent! The past couple weeks have been really fun. Because we had rented a car to get home from Frankfurt after our Italy trip, we decided to take advantage of the fact that we had a car at our disposal for 24 hours. We took about an hour drive to a town called Goslar, which is in the woods and up the mountain aways. We had heard it had a great Weihnachtsmarkt, which is why we chose to go there (I will talk more about Weihnachtsmaerkten later). It was truly magical in this hidden away medieval town and the lights, music, and Kinderpunsch (non-alcoholic version of Gluehwein, which is like wassail) were all amazing. After a few Brats, mugs of Kinderpunsch, and candied hazelnuts, we headed back to Goettingen. We are planning on taking Tom there when he comes here (in 6 days!!!).

Last Friday (the 5th), Mom, Kara, and I went to cute little town called Duderstadt, which is an hour bus ride away from Goettingen. Rosmarie, a cute older lady in our branch, lives there with her husband and has wanted us to come visit her so she can show us her home (built by her husband) and around the town. We toured the extremely oldRathaus, including the jail cells and torture chamber below. Rosmarie's house itself was very cool and had an amazing yard and is a state-protected wild-life environment because of the unique and old trees and at least 51 different bird species. Her husband (Aloys) had built many birdhouses and we just sat at the picture window and watched the birds for like an hour. It was amazing- we saw a woodpecker and dozens of other colored and interesting birds. And there was a beautiful pond with fish in the yard as well .Rosmarie showed as pictures from her wedding 8 years ago to Aloys, and we thoroughly enjoyed hearing stories about her and her husband's life. She is originally from Canada. Rosmarie herself speaks like 7 different languages and is the unofficially appointed translator for anyone in the branch during church, including some French-speaking investigators we have attending the branch right now. The day concluded with a delicious meal she made for us and singing Christmas carols.

Last Sunday, I had 6 of my friends from my German class (which I am not continuing because the next term started 2 weeks ago and doesn't end until February) over for dinner. A group of them all rotate who cooks Sunday dinner, and I had volunteered this time. I had been blown away by the incredible pizza we had tried all over Italy and I wanted to recreate it. It turned out pretty well- I made one pizza with fresh tomatoes and mushrooms on top, another with ham, and the last with olives and peppers. The family was a big help too and overall, it was a really fun evening, especially because I got to see these friends again and I got to tell them about my Italy trip. It was also kind of exciting to find out that we had progressed so well as a class, that they had all skipped the next class and gone to B12 instead of B11.

This weekend, my family took a 25 hour trip to Osnabrueck, which is where Dad served the first 6 months of his mission (33 years ago). He wanted to visit the couple people he still knows there before we go home and we haven't been able to make it work until now. We took a 2-hour train ride and got there in the evening, just as they city was coming to life with the magic ofWeihnachtmarkt. Weihnachtsmarkt , for those of you who don't know, is like, better than going to Disneyland. It is in like every German town and varies between them all, but they all comprise of tons of little kiosks set up all around the main downtown of a given city, where you can buy a variety of different foods. I've mentioned some already, but you can also get crepes, chocolate-covered or candied fruits, hot cocoa, fried cauliflower, fried mushrooms, okay pretty much anything fried, any type of nut or candy, etc. Besides food stuffs, there are people selling a huge variety of handicrafts, from wood-carved ornaments, to blown-glass figurines, to intricately-cut paper lamps, to delicate candles, to all types of jewelry, the list goes on. Anyway, it's not onecertain thing about Wiehnachtsmarkt that makes it special, but just the general splendor of all the lights, decorations, holiday smells, and merry-makers out after dark.

We met Joe Kaiser (a missionary who served here the same time as Dad and then ended up moving back here and has lived here for the past 30 years) at theRathaus, as he had just finished giving an English city tour of historic Osnabrueck . Him and his wife showed us around the town a bit and we climbed a 32 meter tower in a church which looked over the city. They also took us to all the best stands of where to find the best brats,Knuedeln, and roasted chestnuts, etc. They also were so nice to let us sleep at their house that night.

The next morning, we visited Ingrid Reinke, a sister in the ward here who Dad knows through her (late) husband. She and her son were incredibly nice to feed us a delicious meal and we had a great time talking with her- she is such a sweet lady. We then went to their ward Christmas party where she played the angel in a re-enactment of the Christmas story. Dad played one of the 3wisemen, last minute, and the highlight for me was the 2 missionaries playing the camel accompanying the wisemen ... Also, Joe Kaiser played his flute, and then... our family sang Angels We Have Heard On High (in English) and didn't botch it up too bad, considering we didn't know we would be doing it or practice at all :) Afterwards, I got recruited to take some family photos of theReinke's, upon sister Reinke realizing her whole family was there and I had a camera.

Overall, it was a really fun Christmas program and day. We walked through the Weihnachtsmarkt on our way to the train station and then headed home. A short but fun trip.

Tonight we are just back home in our cute apartment and we are discussing the rest of our plans while being in Germany- hence why I have so much time to write this blog entry :)

Viele Grüβe

Emily