Schneefrei

The other day, my first class was not in school, so I got to come in late.  More importantly, I got to sleep in.  When I woke up, the view out my window looked like this:

 I began to wonder if I would have a snow day.  I didn’t have the phone number for my school, and I’d had no phone calls on mine yet.  So I waited.  I decided that, because of the snow, it would be a good idea to try to take an earlier train so that I wasn’t set back too much by train delays. 

I brought my library books with me and some other things I needed to get done so that I could do it on my way home.  When I stepped outside, the snow was halfway up my shin and it was still snowing.  I trudged through snow and made it to the train station, barely able to see out the bus windows.  At the train station, the announcement scrolling over every train declared that all transportation in Kiel was stopped for at least half an hour.  Well.  This was going to work out well.  I texted Rainer, my mentor teacher, and waited.  Eventually, they said we could get in the trains, where at least it was warmer.  Just as it was finally about to leave, Rainer texted me back, saying that school was canceled.  I jumped out and did all of my errands.

That night, we had a Feuerzangenbowle at my dorm. We had the traditional drink and watched the movie.  I wore my Viking hat because I was cold.  It went well.

Monday, we had a snow day (called the night before) even though the snow was not bad at all.  So I went to Luebeck to check out the Weihnachtsmarkt.  It was definitely much bigger and better than Kiel's.  

On Friday, I went to Hamburg to have eggnog and cookies at the Consulate, which was an experience.  The weather was pretty terrible, but I got to meet up with some other American assistants and we found our way to the consulate, and then out for some drinks afterward.  The consulate security was interesting.  We identified the building first by the American flag, second by the gigantic Christmas tree, and third by the fence and security guards.  We had to turn off our cell phones, empty our pockets and walk through a metal detector.  I think every one of us set off the metal detector, but the German security guards just waved us through.  

The General Consul was a woman whose first language is definitely not German and may not even be English, we weren't entirely sure.  But she was very nice.  Plus, there was eggnog.  And presumably all sorts of fancy people that we could have networked with, had we been up to the challenge.  As it was, we mostly talked amongst ourselves and enjoyed the decorations, though I chatted with some Ambassador's kids.  Kids are the most fun, anyway.

We were each given large bags with an American flag on one side and an Advents calendar on the inside as we left, forcing us to accept our nationality as we wandered Hamburg.  It was sort of raining and kind of gross out, but we wandered past the Weihnachtsmarkt.  The Hamburg Weihnachtsmarkt looked like any other Weihnachtsmarkt. Until we noticed the Santa and LadyInAFluffyWhiteDress in a crane next to a sled suspended in the air. The Lady got into a cloud suspended below the sled by tinsel and Santa into the sled. Then! Santa started talking in this really deep scary voice (kind of like the second voice in this) that was projected by gigantic speakers all over the Rathausplatz.  Then, "Sleigh Ride" started blasting and the sled with the cloud beneath it took off across the Markt, riding on cables, totally lit up with reindeer and everything. This was possibly the best thing I have seen ever.  It was enough to stop seven Fulbright Scholars in their tracks, gawking at the flying Santa Claus, so I think it was pretty good.

Attempting to find a cocktail bar that Johanna was convinced was near the Rathaus, we ended up in a little Italian bistro, where we told the hostess that we only wanted drinks, no food.  Of course, she pretty much only spoke Italian.  After we had all ordered and were hanging out, the manager noticed us and said to our waiter in Italian, "They don't want food, they have to go."  Luckily, Johanna speaks Italian.  We managed to smooth everything over, and the waiter brought us free sambuca as we left.  We found another place that let us sit and stay for awhile, until we were all really tired.  That is, until about 9:30, when we decided to get home.

On the train, Barbara, Carlos and I met a bunch of high schoolers who were in the middle of a year abroad.  One of them mentioned she was applying to Grinnell and I told her to go for it.  It was one of the more random encounters I've had recently.  

Hanging out with a bunch of Fulbrighters was a lot of fun, and really reassuring.  Everyone has their own horror stories and their own problems making friends with Germans.  It was nice to hear that it wasn't just me.  And now that I've actually hung out with these kids, I have some more people to hang out with and visit in Schleswig-Holstein.  For example, on Tuesday, I can either go down to Neumuenster for a Fulbright party or stay in Kiel for a German friend's birthday party.  

Today, though almost all the snow had melted over the weekend, Kiel got another several inches of snow.  Luckily, I got my ski pants and jacket in the mail.  If there's anything I love as much as my foulie pants, it's my ski pants.  I can now go frolic harmlessly in the snow and not worry about getting cold or wet!  It's great.  Though ignoring all the presents and candy in the box until Christmas in Switzerland is going to be hard.