German Punk Rock Xmas

It was a humid and therefore cold day. We had another great breakfast of breads, jams, cheeses and meats and afterwards we promptly played Risk - or as it is written in German on the box here - Risiko. Normally I don't like these kind of games because there is too little skill required and I feel that too much is left up to chance. This is probably why I don't like many card games as well. But it was quite fun this time. I didn't win. In fact, I think I came in last place. I was mainly glad that I didn't get booted from the game early hahah. Andy won with a sweeping victory and was quite happy - apparently it was the first time he had won in like 5 years. If I were to win, I think it would be the first time in 8 years haha. Of course, that was the last time that I played. Amendment: we played one more game during the night and I won. I love this game :-P.

After the afternoon game, Gabi, Thomas, Chris and I went sightseeing to the Monastery of Schöntal (literally translated "Beauty Valley"). Since it is Christmas, the only thing open was the church, but it was one of the nicest churches I've seen. When you are outside and look at the front facade, there are 3 or 4 stories and on each side of each story, there is a statue holding a golden object. The inside was really nice to me. It was a dark day and the air was chilly and I think all of this added to the feeling of being so small in such a big building. When you look up, there is an overhang about 20 feet up with a hole that focuses your view to the painting on the ceiling. Then, when you walk near the center of the church and you look up, there is a circular painting with a window in the middle, surrounded by a blue railing and it is equally compelling. Also, I went up some stairs that were somewhat hidden behind a wall and got a view of the church from above. That was fun because I didn't know exactly where the stair led to. I was almost expecting to meet someone from the church that would speak harshly to me in German, to which I would reply, "Sorry."

Next we went to Gotzenburg Castle but we couldn't go into any of the buildings because it has been converted to a hotel. When we were going the car, Chris and I had had enough of the cold and wanted to go back. It was pretty funny because Gabi was quite happy that I'm here because she loves doing touristy things. And she knows a lot of the area's history and can't get enough of the history or the arts. I laughed so hard when she reacted to me saying that I wouldn't mind going back because it was cold. She gave the look of an annoyed mother that knew the words were coming: a predictable early end to an afternoon because the impatient, lazy children didn't want to put forth the effort. She shook her head with this aura about her and smiled.

When we came back, we were all hungry and the Weiks were in the kitchen running around like ants - each person knew his/her purpose. Andy put on his favorite Christmas music - a German punk band singing the traditional song with sometimes added/ammended lyrics. While they were preparing the meal, I warmed my feet by the fireplace so I could feel my big toe again. Andy and Chris finished with their tasks before Thomas and Gabi and so they started to wrestle. At one point, Andy had a cardboard tube and was hitting Chris with it. I got a video of it and I have watched it so many times and it makes me laugh everytime. For dinner we had Schwäbisch noodles (Spätzle - "spetz-lay") with meat sauce and a really thick type of lettuce that I don't know the name of. After the fantastic meal, we had dessert of course. It was a type of whipped cream with chocolate shavings on top, covered in either bananas or pear. Quite good!

The Weik family is quite interested in being grammatically correct when speaking English and so they ask a lot of questions. At brunch, we discussed when to use "many" and when to use "much." Yeah...I had to look that up. The day before, we had discussed at dinner the difference between "desert" and "dessert." Apparently in German, when there are two "s's", you pronounce it faster, so it can be quite confusing as how to differentiate between the words. I knew something funny was going to happen when the meal was over and Gabi announced, "Okay, now it is time for the desert!"

Andy quickly corrected her, "Dessert mama!"
Gabi: "Scheiße (Shizah!). No, you are wrong."
Andy and Chris: "No, it is 'dessert'."

Everyone looked at me.

Me: "Umm, yeah it is 'dessert'."

Gabi paused for a second and thought. You can tell that when she learns something, she hates making a mistake. In the quickest millisecond, she closed her eyes hard, grit her teeth, shook her head quickly and said with a definite tone, "You are right. Shit."

I gave Chris all the pictures and videos that I had collected from the corridor during the semester and we rewatched a lot of them with Thomas and Gabi. It brought back a lot of fond memories. Tomorrow, I have to wake up at 6 so I can go to the airport. It's going to be a loooooooong day, but I get to see my sister when I get back! Ahhhhh yeah! I'm going to miss my German family! Happy German Punk Rock Christmas!