We are officially in our new home. We officially are figuring out what living in this home for 3 years will be like. The advantages, adventures, and opportunities as well as "lifestyle" changes.
I am really hoping to do a post solely on "lifestyle" changes; at the least it will be interesting to look back on. But for now, things are going well. Our oven is different. The coils are on the top and the temperature settings are in Celcius. ( I need to print out a chart so i don't have to google conversions every time i cook). We recycle EVERYTHING here. Literally everything. The only things we do NOT recycle are soiled items and old houseware items or old clothing kind of things. (Our dumpster is ONLY big enough to fit ONE full trash bag. You are NOT expected to create trash here) We have different colored bags for recycling. There is a bag for glass, a bag for paper, and a bag for EVERYTHING else. We call it the "when in doubt" bag. If it isn't glass or paper... eh? throw it in the yellow bag.
Funny story, when our landlord gave us the bags for recycling, he said "Don't worry. It says on the bags what they are for"... YEAH IN GERMAN! LOL I sat with each bag and my good friend "google translate" for some decent time figuring it all out.
ANYWAY, more on that later...
For now we have been enjoying the holidays. The Germans love Christmas. The Christmas markets are amazing, and definitely something we hope all our visiting family can experience.
We got a tree last weekend. The boys had a lot of fun picking it out. The Boy Scouts on base go out in the country, cut down a zillion trees, and then bring them back for us all to pick out and buy from them.
We then picked out some ornaments from a local German shop. Every year we have a tradition where we let each boy pick out a new ornament. I write the year on the bottom and when they move out of the house one day I will put together all their ornaments they collected through out their lives. I always try to steer them in the direction of an ornament that symbolizes something about their life that year. These ornaments were perfect for their first Christmas in Germany.
The top right picture, Gluhwein, is a wine we have heard and seen a lot about around this holiday season. We bought some, having no idea what it actually was, but it seemed to be something we "needed" to have to fully experience a German Christmas time (?). We really enjoyed it. It was very sweet cinnamon, berry wine and is traditionally served warmed. mmmm...
We have also learned that although the basic concept of Christmas, is similar between Germany and the US., specific details and traditions can vary a bit. One of these differences is that Germans celebrate St. Nick's Day on December 6th. I never realized this, but St. Nicholas and Santa Clause are not the same (I had always thought they were). On the Eve of St. Nick's Day, Children clean their shoes and place them outside their doors. That night St. Nick comes with his black book and his gold book. If you were good, your name will be found in the gold book and St. Nick will place candy, maybe small toys, inside your shoes. If you were bad, you will receive coal in your shoes.
Landon had heard about this at school. However, he was also explained that St. Nick only lives in Germany, so that is why you probably hadn't done this while living in the US.
The boys put their shoes out and were very excited to see them filled will candy the next morning. However, lucky for us, St. Nick included a nice letter to each of them. Her praised them for how they have been good little boys, but ALSO added a little blurb about (cough cough) you know, things they could work on. He is a smart man:)
As always, our love to everyone!!
