Sunday seems to be my blogging day.... So why not!?

This week has been a fairly normal week. Almost got ran over by a bus, biked 5 miles to go shoe shopping, biked another 5 miles in 13 degree(F) weather, and found a street with my name on it. Ya know, normal :)

Apparently people here are not really sure how to treat a person on a longboard. They understand how not to hit someone walking, or ridding a bike, but it seems to be rather difficult for them to grasp the concept of not trying to kill me. I was skating along, and mind you there is plenty of room on the road, and this bus pulls in from behind me, cutting me off. If I had not stopped, me and my board would be a lot closer than I would like to think about. I also get some funny looks after church when I am walking home in heels carrying my board. Who knows.

Friday was the first day of my two week vacation, so I decided I needed to go and buy some boots. The little town I live in is rather expensive and the cheapest boots I found were 100 euros. Not happening. I talked to Nikki before she left and she wrote down a store name that would have better priced boots, and so like the way to find answers to everything in this world, I googled it. The nearest one was only 8 km away (no I had no idea what that really meant) and according to the walking directions it would take an hour and a half to walk it. Sun was shining, my hopes were high, so I decided to bike it. It was a rather enjoyable ride. Most of it was flat so it wasn't too bad. Only got lost a few times but I was some how miraculously able to find my way back(I thank The Big Man for that one!!!). I made it there in only about a half hour! I was rather proud of that fact, just so you know.

Locking my bike up, I start to walk around and look at where I am. I can't find the shoe store I want, but there is just so much to see I eventually stop looking. Most cities here apparently have these areas where it is just a pedestrian zone and there are shopping places and bakeries there. I just kept going in and out of stores just looking. Finally I find shoes! There were some AMAZING ones, I just couldn't bring myself to buy them... I needed to stay focused and find that store. When I finally left the store I realized I was in the one I wanted. Ooops. Oh well, no boots that caught my eye. What did catch my eye though, was the euro store. It is the dollar store equivalent, but with things that are actually useful! Well.. mostly. I ended up getting a few things I ACTUALLY needed, and a few I may not have needed as much. Like the random scent thingy that is called 'Weihnachts zauber', which translates to Christmas magic. How could I not?!

After a quick stop by the bakery to get me a buttered croissant and a donut thing (Which I quickly discovered had an apple type filling. What is with Germans and apples?!) I unlocked my bike and prepared to head home. I would like to add a little note here. When I left my house it was starting to snow slightly, and stopped right after I was out of town. Well, this storm had caught up with me by this time. Realizing that I was a panzie and that I had no desire to bike home in a snow storm... I took the train home. They are warmer.

Still boot-less I decided to try again on Saturday. I pulled out my bike, got on the train to the Hauptwache in down town Frankfurt. The Hauptwache is a HUGE pedestrian shopping area with street vendors, street performers, and random guys under umbrellas selling bratwursts. I am trying to add pictures, but I seem to be having issues. Oh well. After a little shopping I not only had new boots, but also a new skirt. It is warm... So it works, right? :)

Moving on I started to bike towards the Christmas market. I was worried I would take a wrong turn and be lost in the middle of a city where I couldn't tell you which direction was North or even which direction I lived. The great thing about the Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt is that it is HUGE!!! There is no way to miss it. I don't know how to explain it really. It is kinda like when you are at a county fair and there are all the little booths and they are all selling their own little things. Some of these booths had Christmas ornaments, jewelry, gloves and hats, there were even a few that had brushes. Not really sure why these brushes were so amazing but the people selling them sure made them look like you needed them and your hair would all fall out without them. I may never know, seeing how my German sucks and I have no idea what they were saying. I will just have to buy a wig when my hair is gone from the lack of using those brushes.

That is about all that the Weihnachtsmarkt is. A county fair with a Christmas theme. They even had little kid rides, ok they only had a merry go round, but you get the idea. One thing that was NOT like a county fair was the drinks. Here they really like to drink their Glühwein, which is hot wine. They get the wine, put in a thing to warm it up, and they serve it. Usually they serve it in glass mugs too. You pay them like 5 Euros and when you give them back their glass they give you back 2 Euros. They are pretty eco friendly here. After a lot of searching I was finally able to find a place with hot chocolate and after much discussion got the woman to understand that I wanted it without the rum in it. I think she put the bendy straw in my drink to mock me. All the big kids with their Glühwein didn't have the straws. :)

Feeling a little warmer and a bit more refreshed, I started on my way to the church for the ward Christmas party. I got a little distracted on the way by Saint Bartholomeus's Cathedral. It was completely stunning. It is 311 feet tall and I want to go back when I have time to go inside of it.

Once I was no longer distracted by the beautiful cathedral I realized something. I was completely and totally freezing! I saw a sign with the temperature on it, -10 degrees Celsius. Not knowing exactly what that was in Fahrenheit, I caught on quickly that it was REALLY cold. When I got home I converted it. 13 degrees. No wonder. Realizing the faster I bike the warmer I get, I quickly start going. Even quicker I realize something else. That 5 mile bike ride the day before, apparently left me a little sore. Needless to say it took me a little longer than 30 minutes and there was some walking mixed in with it this time.

Being sore may have sucked and made me walk more, but because of that fact I realized something at a random street corner. Checking to see where I was and make sure I was still in fact on the correct road I saw an amazing sign. It read 'Ludwig Strasse' which for all of you who don't speak German and don't realize what that simple sign would mean, it says 'Ludwig Street'. Quickly whipping out my camera, and getting a few strange looks from the locals, I take a picture of my street with pride. I love randomly finding my name here. It seems to happen a lot. It is like my last name is German or something... Weird.

Finally I made it to the church, with my make-up running down my face as my eyes were watering from the cold. But I made it. I cleaned myself up and sat down, ready to have fun. Honestly the Christmas program was amazing. It was two wards combined, the international ward and the German one. So it started out with a prayer in English, then my bishop got up and spoke in English. It was then followed by a series of songs, some just instruments, others singing. There are some AMAZING voices in my ward. Completely phenomenal. Mixed in with those there were narrations telling the Christmas story. One lady would get up and say it in English, then another would stand and say it in German. Then when it all was coming to a close, the bishop in the other ward said some stuff in German, and then we had the prayer in German. It was a lot of fun.

Then there was food. Oh amazing food! Normally I loath ginger bread, but I have discovered something. In Germany it actually tastes good! After a lot of good food and fun chats, I hopped on my bike, went a few blocks, and gratefully took the train the whole way home.

So now I am back to Sunday. It was an amazing day. I loved the spirit at church today. It was so peaceful, loving, and the epitome of the Christmas spirit. Something did happen today that was out of the ordinary for me. I got my tithing all ready, put it in the envelope, sealed it, then realized something. In my wallet I had about 5 Euros... I needed 7 to get home... crap. I quickly say a little prayer and tell him I am going to trust him on this one. Maybe someone in the ward would give me a ride? That would work. Nope. I walked to the train station trying to figure out what was going to happen. I put my hands into my pockets to keep warm. There are some coins there. Slowly I start to pull them out, hoping they are 2 Euro coins... Nope. I now have about 50 more cents. Playing with them in my pocket I still don't see how I am going to get home. I go to the machine to buy my ticket. I decided to check my pockets again and see if by some Christmas miracle there was enough there. Slowly I pull out the coins. Nope. Still just 50 cents. Then I get this feeling that I should look in my little wallet that holds my credit cards and such. Sure enough, there was a 10 euro bill. THANK YOU!!! But my Christmas miracle doesn't stop there. I go to buy my ticket, and what do you know, all 4 machines are broken. I tried them all, and a few other people tried them, no avail. So I hopped on my train and headed home, with a huge smile on my face I might add.

Normally that is where I stop telling stories, because nothing happens from the train station till I get home. Not today. The train was packed, every seat taken, and most the standing room filled as well. Across from me is a cute little old man that reminds me of my Grandpa Beazer. At one of the stops, right after the train stops moving, there is a loud crashing sound. Not a good thing to hear while sitting on the train. Then the lights go out. Not good. People are talking back and forth, and I still have no idea what is going on because for some reason everyone decided to speak German. Strange. Well the cute little old man starts talking to me in German. I had no idea what he was saying, so I just smiled and nodded like I do with my Grandpa (Granted I understand him) and tried to make him feel like I was listening because I really did want to understand him. The only word I caught was 'kaput' which is broken. Great word to catch. After about 5 minutes the lights come on and we start moving again without any other problems.

After that I just walked home in 2 1/2 inches of snow and curled up in my nice warm bed after my long adventure. Then I had to use my translator on my computer to translate the directions to cook the lasagna. I tried to do it without it but the only word I could read was 'please' and that confused me more. Why was my food saying please?! After some translating I discovered that it was saying if I please I can cook it till the top is the crispy level I would like. Huh. That works. Well I survived another week in Germany and I am really looking forward to Christmas here.

Frohe Weihnachten und guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr