FROHE WEIHNACHTEN VON LÜSSOW!!!

On the 21st of December I woke up at 4:30 AM in order to make to the train station ready to catch my train at 5:30 to Berlin. Before I knew it I was staring out the window of the train watching the sunrise over Northern Bavaria. I arrived in Berlin and changed trains to go to Güstrow in the Bundesland of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. I arrived in Güstrow without a hitch and Wolfgang was there to pick me up. As we drove the 10 minutes from Güstrow to Lüssow around 3:30pm, the sun was starting to set. It was the shortest day of the year, but a long one for me. I finally arrived at the house of Sybille & Wolfgang, my fourth cousins twice-removed.

The next couple of days were relaxing. Whenever I stay with Sybille & Wolfgang it is all German all the time, which means that my German always improves after being there. I also tend to gain weight because I get fed so well and in the winter, there isn't a lot of moving around to be done to burn calories.

On Tuesday Wolfgang and I went golfing. I lost.

On Wednesday it was Christmas Eve Day, which is as big a deal here as Christmas Day is in the States. I helped Wolfgang cut down a pine tree from their back yard to use as their Christmas tree. We dragged it into the living room and Sybille decorated it.

That afternoon I went with S&W's daughter, Antje to the Christmas Service at the neighboring Lutheran Church. It was pleasant and interesting, but I was really tired for some reason and had trouble staying awake. The Christmas tree on the left was also provided by S&W from their yard.

After the Service, we had a pleasant dinner and then went into the living room to open presents. When Antje and I walked in we found that the Weihnachtsman (Santa) had left some goodies under the tree for us. I got some marzipan, a giant chocolate Santa (which I accidentally crushed this morning), and a pocket calendar.

Next it was time to exchange gifts. S&W had something nice for me...

I opened my present to find...

A pair of hiking/winter boots! It wasn't really a surprise because on Monday we were in Güstrow running some errands and Sybille said to me, "you need some shoes for the winter." And she marched me straightaways into a shoe store and after trying on a few pairs, we found some good ones made from real yak leather. Wearing shoes made from such hide has severely curbed my desires to talk back.

Next, it was my turn to give and so I gave Sybille & Wolfgang a fun golf book and some treats.

Sybille then fetched a package for me from Mom in Utah. It had many goodies inside, including some iTunes gift cards and my very own copy of Utah Business with Mike and Dad on the cover. Also inside were earplugs from the Winder bottling plant.

On Christmas day we slept in a bit and then went to visit the family of S&W's son, Gunnar. Gunnar and Stefi live about five minutes away with their three-year-old son Elias who is my sixth cousin without removing anything.

Elias was very excited to show us the new train set he got from the Weihnachtsman. When Sybille handed him present to open, his eyes grew wide and with a "danke, Oma!" he went to the table to unwrap it. As he saw the truck with a horse trailer inside he kept shouting, "Ich glaub'es gar nichts!" which means "I can't believe it!" It was really funny to watch...

We had fun playing with everyone's gifts.

Sybille and I played some foozball with Elias as goalie/referee...

And we found a puppet to scare Elias with...

We ate a hearty lunch of pork chops & peaches, with potatoes, braised red cabbage, and a yummy sauce.

After lunch and some lounging around we went for a walk. Elias brought his bike.

Wolfgang found some white berries still clinging to the wintered bushes. He through them on the ground for Elias to ride over them. If the berry was still good you could hear a small "pop."

Then we started lining the berries up on the road for Elias to run over...

After running them over he would turn the bike around to get the ones he missed...

It was a nice Christmas day, and there was a beautiful sunset. That evening back at S&W's I phoned home for Christmas and was able to talk to the fam, including cousins, aunts, uncles, and Grandma Winder at the traditional Christmas Breakfast at Aunt Karen's. It was great!

The next day Sybille's two brothers and their spouses and also Gunnar's family and Antje came over for the Christmas feast. Sybille had prepared a wonderful roast goose with plums and apples, a fine gravy, a starter soup from the giblets, braised red cabbage (Rotkohl), and of course, potatotes. It was excellent!

That evening we had "Brotzeit" or supper, with all kinds of good cheese, salmon, smoked duck, schinken, and cherry tomatoes. More good food.

We spent the next few days eating left overs and relaxing. On Saturday I went golfing with S&W again. I lost. Again.

It had been a fun, relaxing, German-intensive, time filled with wonderful things to eat. Sybille and Wolfgang were extremely gracious to let me come and be a part of their Christmas tradition.

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Today I'm in Berlin...







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MERRYCEDES CHRISTMAS!!!

All month long, holiday decorations have been strung about the city of Munich. The Christmas market stalls and Christmas Tree have been in and around the Marienplatz looking festive.

People have ice skated in front of the Palace of Justice...

And the Mercedes building celebrates every year by creating an Advent's Calendar with cars from different years, makes, and models shining for all to see in their window. They are covered by a curtain with the day of the month on it, and when that day comes, the curtain opens and reveals the car inside.

Of course the Mercedes building is not far from my apartment, and each night as I look out my window I see the glow of the Mercedes logo. At Christmastime, however, I also get a glimpse of the Christmas Tree of lights.

Of course I'm not in Munich right now, I'm in Lüssow with Sybille & Wolfgang and enjoying the holidays North German style. Stay tuned for more about our Christmas celebrations and stay even more tuned to find out where I'm going for New Years!


Merry Christmas to all and to all--buy a Mercedes!

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EXIT MUSIC (FOR A FILM)

This is something that several of my friends have done on their blogs and I thought it was too funny to pass up.

Directions:
1. Put your iPod, iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the “next” button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY OR NON-SENSICAL IT SOUNDS

(as a side note, I will do this with my playlist that is everything but classical music. Otherwise it would just be a bunch of classical titles like "Symphony No. 4- III. Allegro" and that would be no fun.)

1. IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
Don't Stop Until You Get Enough - Michael Jackson

2. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
I Am Easily Assimilated - Candide

3. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY/GIRL?
Epilogue: Ragtime (Reprise) / Wheels Of A Dream (Reprise) - Ragtime

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Wraiths on Wings - The Two Towers soundtrack

5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE PURPOSE?
Meet James Ensor - They Might Be Giants

6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Every Story Is a Love Story - Aida

7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Homeless - Paul Simon

8. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Heroic Ewok - Return of the Jedi soundtrack

9. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
The Departed Tango - The Departed soundtrack

10. WHAT IS 2 + 2?

Fixing a Hole - Beatles

11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Love Changes Everything - Aspects of Love

12. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Merry's Simple Courage - Return of the King soundtrack

13. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Turning - Les Miserables

14. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Deliver Us - Prince of Egypt

15. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Candle in the Wind - Elton John

16. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Slip Slidin' Away - Paul Simon

17. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
A Machine in India - The Flaming Lips

18. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
Gollum - The Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack

19. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
The Music of the Night - The Phantom of the Opera

20. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
This Here Giraffe - The Flaming Lips

21. SONG THEY WILL PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Yellow - Coldplay

22. WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Exit Music (for a film) - Radiohead

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DIE U-BAHN DES LEBENS GEHT IMMER WEITER

I've been working quite a bit lately and so I haven't had much time for trips and travel. The weather has also been quite winter-like with cold and snow all in character for the season.

Unfortunately I became quite sick towards the beginning of December. It was quite an illness as the entire office staff of my work was ill with the same thing more or less at the same time. The fever and aches were quite severe and they evolved into a persistent cough, but now I'm more or less healed and feel officially ushered into the cold Winter months, which have never been my favorite. Of course, one appreciates the warmth and beauty of Spring and Summer all the more after the dark and frost of Winter. And Winter can be nice too sometimes.

Some things, however, known no seasons such as one's church calling. Mine, as I've mentioned, is 2nd Counselor in the Young Men's Presidency. There are five young men in our ward and one in the neighboring ward who attends class and activities with us.

In October one of our activities was a Halloween pumpkin-carving. Of course Halloween is an imported holiday that isn't really celebrated too much here, but carving a pumpkin is still a fun thing, and there's nothing like stabbing a knife into something big and orange.

Here we are before the carving began. We had three pumpkins and a plan (Joseph, the YM President is taking the pictures)...

We carved and drew diagrams...

The tops were cut and they were hallowed out...

And after some very artistic carving, we produced some very dignified Jack-O-Lanterns...

In November we played Monopoly one night for our activity.

I wasn't doing too bad...

But the game started to drag on as no one was trading properties even after I offered to trade mine in exchange for real euros...

It was still fun.


Last week we played dodge ball in the church. The bishop came (his son is the newest deacon in the ward), and we played several rounds before switching into a chaotic game of soccer but with only one goal. This often happens. It was not snowing inside the church. I don't know what the little fuzzy things are... ghosts?

I still can't quite figure out why and how everyone is so posed in this next picture. I was coming to get my camera back, Malte, the boy next to me, looks like he's doing a jig, the bishop in front of the curtains looks like he's ready to break dance, and there's a mysterious foot growing out of my elbow...

Last night I was invited to a Christmas dinner at a nice restaurant in downtown Munich with the office staff from my work. It was very pleasant and the food was excellent. I enjoyed chili and mint squid for an appetizer, and roast deer cutlets with a wildberry gravy and mashed sweet potatoes. For dessert: Crème Brulée!

Here we are finishing off our desserts...

Sometimes when teaching English strange things can happen. Last week I had a rather dramatic student. She came in one snowy morning and as we had our customary morning chat she jokingly suggested that we go out and build a snowman. I laughed courteously but before I knew it she was breaking down into tears! What!? I didn't know quite what to say... somehow switching into a discussion about prepositions didn't seem quite appropriate. She mumbled something about her father when he was alive and then she cleared up and it was like nothing had happened. Ok... on with the English.


Next Sunday I will be traveling to the North once again to visit Sybille & Wolfgang, my distant relatives. I will spend Christmas with them and then for New Years I will be flying to somewhere I've never been.

Where am I going?

...you'll just have to wait and find out. (ps. if you know, don't say!)

The S-bahn

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IN MEMORIAM
WHITNEY "THE MEAN AND BLACK"
1989-2008

Even though Mom & Dad had no intention of letting us kids have a pet, when I was eight-years-old, we persuaded Mom to let us take home one of the kittens from my piano teacher's cat but only for a one week trial. We chose a white and gray tomkitten named Oscar. We had fun with Oscar and after his week was up he had already endeared himself to us and not even mom could give him up. A week after that, he was gone, never to be seen again. So we went back to the piano teacher's for another kitten, this time a shy black kitten by the name of "Whitney."

We took Whitney home and she soon became part of the family. She lived in her nook in the garage and enjoyed being inside the house often during the winter and outside in a big yard during the summer.

Often as I would come home from school she would be sitting in the vacant field next door hunting mice. She would always run up the drive way ahead of the car or the van as we arrived home in the evening, daring us to run her over before racing to her nook in the garage.

She scooted around on the concrete lawn-borders that surrounded sections of the yard as if they were her own personal highway system. She was always nonchalantly hanging around Dad or the kids whenever any of us were out doing yardwork. She clawed the screen door.

We let her roam through our cities of pocket-cars, Legos, or Star Wars guys, and she was always careful to sniff, but not touch.

She was a keen hunter and frequently left prizes on our doorsteps in the summer months. Although I never saw one first hand, I believe she had many a fight with the neighboring cats and won them everytime.

We let her have one litter of kittens before spaying her. She gave birth to four kittens: two white and two black. She was an excellent kitty mother, nurturing them with impeccable care, even hiding them in the woodpile when us little kids got a little too bothersome.

It was fun to watch her march around on her little concrete highway with the four kittens following close behind.

She had a little bit of trouble moving with us to West Valley. She had to live in the unfinished house with us for the first few months so she wouldn't run away. For a short time we had to keep her in a long storage closet at night to keep her out of trouble. The closet is now known as the "Whitney Closet," (which, for guests who don't know that Whitney was a cat, is a little bit creepy.)

She soon adapted to the new house and enjoyed winters indoors and summers outdoors. Her territory was a little bit smaller this time, but she still had her concrete highways.

She didn't meow like other cats. Whereas most cats only manage to learn one consonant and two vowels namely, "M," "E,"O," "W," (ok the W is more of a dipthong,) Whitney somehow managed to learn the letter G. Thus her meows sounded more like "MeGOW"

No matter what the circumstances or time of year, if Whitney was coming into the house (whether uninvited or not) she always ran in. Accompanying this run was always a half-purr, half-meow that always sounded like a mischevious "thank you."


Oh, and she was always nice to have strangers over for dinner...

She was a remarkably healthy cat, though in these later years she spent a great deal of time sleeping. In the evenings, she primarly slept on this plaid recliner (an uncomfortable chair for humans, but a nice bed/scratching post for a cat.) The pink blanket was hers, with cat hair matted and weaved into the fibers inseperable from the original pink.

When I left for Munich, I said my farewells to the cat and knew that I would probably not see her again. It made it no less sad when I was informed that her health had quite suddenly and drastically deteriorated in the last few days and she was clearly at the end of the line.

Today she was put peacefully to rest, her body wrapped in that pink blanket and buried in the back yard across from her summer home in the shed. I'm sure she entered heaven running with her ascending purr-meow; and I think we might find her again someday trotting around on the little concrete highways of heaven.

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