Petit preview

Bwa ha ha ha ha! Lookin' tough.

Ja ja

Breakfast: bread, butter, hard-boiled egg in cute egg cup  
 (peel away the top half of the shell and eat egg with spoon), 
a variety of meats, cheeses, and jams.  And coffee, tea, 
and water.

Milk from a little bear.  I almost fell for this when 
Norman tried to trick me.

After breakfast

Trying on some traditional German gear

Cool lederhosen.

The last week has been a thrill.  Lots and lots of food was consumed (including pickled herring, American stuffing, sauerkraut, spaghetti with cream sauce and shrimp and ham, red cabbage, almond-flavored Christmas tree-shaped ice cream treats, red pepper flavored potato chips, strawberry-vanilla jelly [I will be buying some of this to bring back to France...], creamy brussels sprouts, currywurst [eaten on the street with little plastic forks], Russian hot chocolate [made with vodka], strawberry yogurt cake, lots of coffee with cream and sugar, fruit tea, salted caramels, schnitzel, cordon bleu with homemade French fries, Glühwein [mulled wine], many sliced meats, tequila [complete with salt and lemon], carrot soup, sugar-coated almonds, shortbread cookies, goulash made with venison a.k.a. Bambi's father, lots of mineral water, homemade chocolate and caramel liqueurs, curry ketchup, and many a sausage).

Whew.  I may be getting larger.  Wider.

I learned how to shoot a gun today.  To be continued.

Oh, and I just heard "Born in the USA" on the radio and I felt strangely homesick and patriotic.  Weird.

Hallo!

Hallo from Germany!  I'm staying in Gladbeck with Norman's family.  Their house is like a Christmas cabin, cozy and filled with candles.  And good smells coming from the kitchen.  

Glowing baum

Blizzard from bedroom window

I came here with zero knowledge of the German language but I have picked up a few important words.   Here are a couple.

Ausfahrt (mua ha ha ha. This means "exit" but the fahrt part gets me every time. I kept seeing signs for Ausfahrt on the road and thinking the town of Ausfahrt was coming up).

Prost (Cheers!)

Gutte Nacht.

Genau. (Exactly.)

Schnee (SNOW!)

Nudel (you know this one)

Strudel (and this one)

Apfelbaum (Apple tree)

On our drive from Chauny to Gladbeck, we passed through many towns (and countries).  I used the bathroom in Belgium.  I think we completely missed the Netherlands because we got a little lost.  My favorite town names (I know you will enjoy this, too): Spy and Titz.  

We visited a pretty Christmas market (and had hot wine....) and a couple big shiny malls.  

Christmas market in Essen

I'm fond of the following stores: Wormland and Schmuck. And many more that I failed to make note of. 

Oh yeah, and this:

Crunchy spelt, a.k.a. Dinkel Crunch

I am a lucky duck over here.  Norman's family is extremely nice.  And Germany is sweeter than I imagined!

MERRY CHRISTMAS.

xo

Beaucoup de neige

It's snowing like crazy in Chauny!  And all over Europe. FREAKY SNOWSTORMS

Video #1: the view from my front door. On the right is the bank, and on the left is the post office.  Lots of snow everywhere.

Video #2: the view from my bedroom window.  Church bells a-ringin'!

I'm thankful not to be flying anywhere for Christmas.  Norman and I will be leaving for Germany very soon.  EUROPEAN ROAD TRIP!!!!! Yeah, I may be driving through two new countries later today.  No big deal.

XO

Sugar rushhh

To start off, I FEEL SO LUCKY. I've been feeling that way very often lately.

Saturday walk:

I like this canal

 A little video of the canal and the street next to it.  Please ignore the wacky angle at the end!

Rock on, old glove!!!

Pretty garbage

Delish

Florence Claude

Feelin' small

Free entry

Yah!

I was into this building.

Jolly step

All the stores here seem to advertise with little rodents

BUY STUFF!

A good thing about today: the English teachers gathered 'round 
me in the lounge and gave me a bag (I was surprised and confused!)  
Inside was this... a box of tea (yum yum), a card signed by the 
teachers (!), and a mysterious HEAVY package.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3 layers!

........

YES yes yes. YES! so lucky. I love these teachers!

Bon jour mes amis

Some Saturday charm.

First off, what our tree really looks like

The Christmas market of Chauny! Small, cute, and weird.  
For sale:  honey, sculptures made of beeswax, soap, and 
Superman tees.

I couldn't pass these up.  They were a steal.  Name ideas?  
Here we've got a beaver (I think) and a reindeer, 
I've been told.  (What is the green patch?)

A very sweet little old lady sold me this hat for an incredibly 
low price.  Handknit, wool, and with a pom-pom!  
I could not say no!  Plus I think I supported her church.  
And this is a weird picture of me in a church!

A little time on your hands + magazines

Festive map!

Chaunois band (I like the elf hat)

HEY LADIES

La cuisine.  Tree and more snowflakesss (I learned how to 
make fancy and complex flakes)

Norman brought these home for Ruth and I.  Good 
roommate, huh?  Little doughy sugar-encrusted guys.

Norman and I went to a church concert this evening (my request).  It was an a capella Christmas show.  Super cute.  Here is a snippet.  Many songs were sung in English (my Bonnie lies over zee ocean, my Bonnie lies over zee seeeee) and it was beautiful.  The townspeople did an encore, but they sang two songs which had been sung previously during the snow.  I was expecting a hidden gem of a track, but no.  Whatever though. I like Amazing Grace enough to hear it twice!

My Christmas packages are mailed and school is winding down.  Just a few more weeks until I spend Christmas in GERMANY!

Maybe just a 1/2 drink more

Aunt Mary sent a super cool paper Christmas tree kit which included origami paper and a little book.  The patterns were incredibly complicated, so Norman and I went a different route.  This is a perfect reproduction, right?

............................... or, this.

Picture perfect.

Same same, and in 1/18th of the time!

Simplicity is underrated.

The finished tree!  Ignore the brown snowflake. 

Skull santa flake guy

Winter is here.  This is the view from my bedroom window (straight ahead is the school).

Frozen bouquet.

Abandoned building.  I live near this park but never knew it until now.

Ruth atop the lookout point (where to declare your love with a White Out pen)

Yo Yohann. JTM. I love ya.

Adeline, Megane, Aurelie. <3. Ostriches.

A little beet!

Too many lovers

R and her FIRST snowman

Warming a pile of snowballs

He broke his nose playing ice hockey

I was thrilled to see this!

Then saddened.

Disheveled pride

A bird selling hair products

I wonder if caroling is acceptable in Chauny?

Oh, and Norman read the 12 days of Christmas but jazzed it up a little.  Will explain that later.  Just know that it includes some pipers pimping and a pregnant woman in a pear tree.