Winterzeit

Well, I went to the Yacht Club tonight, membership form in hand, ready to sign up, transfer 155 Euro and become a member. Unfortunately, all the lights were out. And no one was there. Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated here, so it wasn’t that. Maybe it was the two inches of snow on the ground. Or the fact that it was still snowing.

Oh, haven’t I mentioned? Winter is here. With a cold, snowy vengeance. It started Tuesday, when large clumpy flakes of snow began to fall, melting immediately upon contact with the cement. Wednesday on my bike to school, I noticed that it was pretty cold, mostly because I’d forgotten my warmest hat and my gloves on the train last week. Shortly thereafter, on my Wednesday morning train ride to school, I noticed that the countryside was covered in snow. This morning, there was a bit more snow. Then, around 3, just before it started to get dark, it started to snow. It is still snowing now, at nearly 10 o’clock.

I cannot wait for tomorrow, when I don’t have to work, and I can just run around in the snow with my camera and take pictures. Or head over to Lübeck for the Weihnachtsmarkt there, which is one of the famous ones. Weihnachtsmarkten are pretty awesome. Ours here in Kiel is fairly small, from what I hear. I haven't actually been around Germany in the winter to know too well. Basically, it's little Christmas village with vendors selling food, chocolate (yes, that's separate from food), trinkets, hats, anything you could ever want to buy as a Christmas present, and Gluehwein. And, if you don't your 1,20 Euro back for the Pfand (deposit) you paid on the mug, you get a souvenir mug! It's a great time.

(This is Luebeck, by the way.  Not Kiel.)

Aside from the snow, this is the least Thanksgiving-y Thanksgiving yet. At least in St. Croix, we celebrated it. And sort of had part of the day off. I worked all day, came home, and watched a movie. Then I made myself a Jess Reale (the awesome Roseway cook) specialty: coconut rice with fish and mango. Ok, normally it’s with fresh mahi and mango salsa, but my supplies were limited. Tuna steak and sliced mango, with hints of lime. It was actually pretty good, but definitely not yet up to Jess standards. Some day, Reale. Some day.

Luckily, I think some people and I are going to make a Thanksgiving dinner this weekend. When, how, what, I don’t know. Hopefully, I’ll find out soon. On the topic of fuzzy Thanksgiving details, I tried to explain to my fifth graders the origins of Thanksgiving today. As long as they got something related to Indians, Pilgrims, food, turkey, or football, I feel my job is done. If only I’d thought of it ahead of time, we could have made hand turkeys. I love those things.