Christmas Dekor

With one week to go until Christmas, most of the boxes from our Playmobil Advent Calendar have been opened. We also got our first real snowfall today, the kids are already on vacation, we had hot chocolate, and and as a result, we're in full Christmas mode.

Here is the scene that is being revealed day by day.

Our arch in the dining room window as seen from the snowy street. These Christmas arches are very popular here. The arch goes back to a tradition of miners, who hung their burning lamps in an arch over the mine entry hole before they started their last shift before Christmas. These arches are sometimes lit with candles and express the longing of light by the miners who did not see very much daylight during their workdays.

David got me this last year because I whined so much about not having one.We'll need to get ours rewired once we move home.

Christmas decorating is much simpler here than in the U.S. -- an arch in the window and maybe a few lights in a window or two. I took this photo of our neighbor's house from our bedroom window. The building attached onto the right is a huge barn. We have horses and ponies getting walked from the barn, up our street to the fields across the way every morning and back again in the evening.

Lebkuchen

It's Christmastime and that means one thing: Lebkuchen! My friend Susan recently said to me, "I've been meaning to ask you -- what does the title of your blog mean? What is Lebkuchen?"

Lebkuchen is a traditional German product baked for Christmas, somewhat resembling soft gingerbread. Similar cookies have a history that extends back to the Egyptians, but the style of the traditional Lebkuchen was probably invented by medieval monks in Germany in the 13th century. The most famous Lebkuchen are those made in Nürnberg (Nuremberg). In fact, I tasted my first Lebkuchen in Nuremberg years and years ago, after David insisted I had to sample the town's specialty.

I bit into the Lubkuchen cookie and my brain could not wrap itself around what I was eating. I noticed immediately that there were nuts in it, a big no-no as far as I'm concerned. I'm known for saying, "Now, why would someone ruin a perfectly good chocolate chip cookie (brownie, candy bar, pastry,...etc.) by putting nuts in it?" And then there was this strange, flavorless, tough, papery bottom to the Lebkuchen that your teeth need to bite through. What was that all about? "Are you supposed to eat the bottom of it?" I asked David. "Of course," he answered, "That's Lebkuchen!" I forced myself to finish eating the cookie and then something strange happened. I reached for another one. The Lebkuchen had a mysterious appeal. It was irresistible.

Before we moved to Germany, getting Lebkuchen around Christmas was a big treat. David's colleagues would bring packages from Germany and make our day, but I never checked to see if I could find any Lebkuchen in the Atlanta area. That's what I'll be doing this time next year.

Historically, and due to differences in the ingredients, Lebkuchen is also known as honey cake (Honigkuchen) or pepper cake (Pfefferkuchen). Lebkuchen range in taste from spicy to sweet and come in a variety of shapes with round being the most common. The ingredients usually include honey, spices such as aniseed, coriander, cloves, ginger, cardamom, and allspice, nuts including almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts, or candied fruit. Lebkuchen dough is usually placed on a thin wafer base called Oblate. This was an idea of the monks, who used unleavened communion wafer ingredients to prevent the dough from sticking. So, that's what that strange papery bottom is - it's basically an unconsecrated communion wafer. I couldn't believe I never recognized it as such until I researched this blog post. And, typically, Lebkuchen are glazed or covered with very dark chocolate, but some are left uncoated. Glazed are the yummiest.

Lebkuchen is usually soft, but a harder type of Lebkuchen is used to produce LebkuchenHearts, usually inscribed with icing, which are available at many German fairs (this photos was at the Frankfurt Christmas market two years ago), and...

...the witch houses (Hexenhäuschen, made popular because of the fairy tales about Hansel and Gretel).

The closest German equivalent of the "Gingerbread man" is the Honigkuchenpferd" (honey cake horse).

And that, Susan, is what Lebkuchen is.

St. Nikolaus Day

Last night, everyone cleaned out a pair of shoes and left them by the door.

In Germany, children put a boot called Nikolaus-Stiefel (Nikolaus boot) outside the front door on the night of December 5. St. Nicholas fills the boot with gifts and sweets, and at the same time checks up on the children to see if they were good, polite and helpful the last year. If they were not, they will have a tree branch (Rute) in their boots instead.

We must have all been very good this last year. The kids got packages of Kinder Schokolade (a very creamy brand of chocolates for kids) and St. Nikolaus left David a Christmas salami in a St. Nikolaus tube. We also got a few DVDs. We can't wait to watch Elf and the Otto DVD. Otto is a very well known German comedian whom we got to know when one of his stage shows was broadcast on TV. It was hilarious. Copy and paste the link below if you have 5 minutes and want to see our favorite tidbit -- Otto as a conductor. He speaks some German in the clip, but most of the humor is non-verbal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8akkBNLMnE

During the afternoon and evening, Liederbach had its own little Christmas market. It's just a shame that it was raining.

We bought mugs of Glühwein, hot mulled wine, from this vendor.

People were chatting as they drank their Glühwein and munched on sausages and potato fritters.

Our Glühwein was served in a mug that said "Liederbach," so we did not return the mugs for a deposit back. Knowing this is our last year here, we're gathering up as many souvenirs as we can.

After Mass, our church had a St. Nikolaus Day gathering. There was pizza and cake, and a visit from St. Nikolaus himself.  Here, Becca is being questioned about her behavior over the last year.

All the kids there today were lucky. Nikolaus is often accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht (Servant Ruprecht), one of his helpers. The legend goes that children who had behaved badly over the year would be beaten soundly by Servant Ruprecht, and those who performed well were given a gift or some treats. Those who performed badly enough or had committed other misdeeds throughout the year were put into Ruprecht's sack and taken away, either to Ruprecht’s home in the Black Forest to be consumed later, or to be tossed into a river.

St. Nikolaus and Knecht Ruprecht show up at holiday gatherings, at schools or even at people's homes. St. Nikolaus reads aloud from his book specific examples of a certain child's good deeds, but focuses on the misdeeds, and the terrified (or as is often the case, the amused) child will promise to do better in the future so that Knecht Ruprecht would not take them away.

Becca with St. Nikolaus

Em and Bex must have been good as they each got a treat. Becca looks ready to bite his head off.

Enjoying the cake with the....

...green frosting. Then it was time for the raffle. The church was raffling off two items. One was a basket full of Christmas cooking products you can't find in a typical German store (baking soda, canned yams, cranberry sauce, etc) and the other was a case of A&W rootbeer (you don't find rootbeer in stores here). When the girl working the raffle table said, "Gee, no one is trying for the rootbeer," I put all three of our tickets in the rootbeer raffle bag. And guess what?

Emilie won! She had the winning ticket! One of the church ladies made a point of telling me that when a case of A&W rootbeer was auctioned off at another church activity, it went for 60 Euros! That's about $88.

Emilie with her windfall. Her mouth was still frosting-green the following day.

Christmas Decorations

After Micaela and I returned home from New Moon, it was time to decorate the house for Christmas.

James documenting the event on video

Emilie in her Mulan costume (because.....well....why not?) showing off her nutcracker

Becca in a summer dress (because....well.....because Emilie dressed her in it)

Micaela can almost reach the top of the tree. She's getting so tall.

James laughing at the decoration he made in preschool. The evening was not without controversy. It seemed like 1/2 the decorations had pictures of Micaela on them, and James, Emilie and Rebecca noticed. I told the kids that next year, we'll find Christmas decoration kits at a Michael's Craft Store and they can all make more with their pictures on them. Except for Micaela. Micaela is not allowed to make any more decorations for the time being.

Ahhh, this one makes us think about Konrad and Sebastian.

James doing a video tour of the tree decorations

One of the kids' favorite Christmas items. This frog croaks Jingle Bells.

Our Christmas arch in the dining room window. You see arches in windows all over town.

Pyramids are another traditional Christmas decoration.

I like Joseph's silly mustache.

Wolfgang (as I named him) is my favorite Christmas decoration. I got him last November in the eastern German town Seiffen, the Christmas craft capital of Germany. Isn't he the handsomest nutcracker you've ever seen?

New Moon and the problem with assigned seating

The Twilight Saga's second film installment, New Moon, is a big hit here in Germany, not just back home in the U.S. Micaela had seen the movie last weekend in Frankfurt at an international movie theater and this week, it's playing at our local cinema auf Englisch. Micaela and I went to today's showing at 5:00.

There are a few differences you need to be aware of when going to a movie in Germany. Firsly, know that parking can be an issue. The mall is closed on Sundays, so it's a zoo on most Saturdays, particularly during December. Parking is hard to come by and people end up parking on the highway and walking up the ramp to the mall. I asked David to drop us off and pick us up so we wouldn't need to worry about finding a spot.

And have cash handy. For whatever reason, the cinema does not take credit/debit cards. And you'll need to decide if you want sweet or salty popcorn at the concession stand. But the biggest decision you may need to make it where to sit. At the register, you'll be asked where you want to sit. In the center, near the back (the theaters tend to be a bit smaller than in the U.S.) are premium spots. My guy at the register automatically gave us the best available seats in the room. I wasn't worried. The English-language audiences for movies at this theater were usually small.

We entered the theater room and I hesitated. There were 6 or 8 other people already there and our seats were right next to one group. How would you feel if you were waiting for a movie to start, the room was basically empty, and then someone sat right next to you? Annoyed, right?

We have been to movies in Germany where there were only 12 people in attendance and they were all sitting on top of each other in the center of the back two rows. It strikes us as a bit odd.

Figuring that the room would probably be mostly empty anyway, Micaela and I sat not in our assigned seats, but in another set of seats in the center, a few rows down.

Big mistake.

More people entered the room, checked their tickets and fixed us with a look. A look that said, "What are you doing sitting in my seat?" We moved to another set of free seats. And then it happened again and again. The movie was attracting a bigger audience than I expected.

And there was another problem. A few people, seeing that we were in their seats, did what I thought was the logical thing. They sat in other free seats. But then new people showed up and informed them that they were in their seats. All because of us. Ooops.

We finally settled in two seats on the side. I just could not bring myself, after all this time, with every one noting how often we were moving, to sit in our assigned seats, with people on either side of us. I'm sure everyone was asking themselves, "Why don't they just sit where they're supposed to?"

A German would not understand, "In the U.S., you just don't sit right next to another person at the movies, unless the room is completely packed. And seats are not assigned!"

But I didn't have anyone sitting next to me, which relieved me greatly.

And for the record, I am not a "Twilight Mom." I thought that the books, while an interesting idea, were very poorly written and that the author was plain careless with many of her details. "Where's her editor?!" I kept asking as I read the books. But I did indeed read them all last year after hearing some buzz on them and anticipating that Micaela would be hooked on them (which she is) and I should have an idea of what she was reading. The movies I find tolerable, but I did laugh out loud at New Moon at an unintentionally funny line. "Bella, all you have to do is breathe." Cheesy.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was just another day of work and school for us. In fact, David had his office Christmas party that night. With him gone, I let the kids have a special treat, microwave hotdogs. Hotdogs wrapped in cheese, stuffed in a bun. You don't even open the plastic packaging. Just stick them in the microwave oven for a minute and Voilà! Dinner! I think they're yucky; the kids love them. I didn't get the irony of the situation until James exclaimed, "Microwave hotdogs for Thanksgiving! Gee, thanks, Mom!"

Never fear, sweet children. We would have a Thanksgiving meal on Saturday.

Here is our table full of the bounty of the harvest.

The menu:
* Turkey cutlets (a full-sized turkey would not have fit in our little oven)
* Creamy herb sauce (no gravy in German stores)
* Mashed potatoes
* Green bean casserole (thanks to Grandma for bringing a can of Cream of Mushroom Soup to London, no crunchy onion topping in Germany)
* Stuffing (no stuffing mix in Germany. I made my first from-scratch stuffing ever and thought it was outstanding. Everyone else said they preferred Stovetop Stuffing.)
* Cranberry sauce (thanks to my friend Kathy, who passed along a can to me. You can't find cranberry sauce in 99% of German grocery stores. She had hit the 1% recently)
* Apfelschorle (mix of applejuice and fizzy mineral water, no apple cider in German grocery stores)

In spite of it not being a huge, traditional Thanksgiving meal with many different dishes, everyone seemed to enjoy it just fine.

Micaela and James warming their backs on the wall of the heating oven in our dining room after David lit the first fire of the season.

The pièce de résistance! Pumpkin whoopie pies. Kathy also passed along to me some canned pumpkin (which you cannot find in 99% of German grocery stores). I didn't realize whoopie pies are not known throughout the U.S. until I posted something last year about them on Facebook. I got several "What is a whoopie pie?" responses.

For those of you unfamiliar with the delicacy, a whoopie pie is a baked good made of two round mound-shaped pieces of chocolate cake with a sweet, creamy frosting sandwiched between them. This time of year, you also see pumpkin ones with a cream cheese filling. Whoopie pies are considered a New England phenomenon and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition. If you've ever had a Devil Dog, you've had an elongated whoopie pie.

Emilie could be on the packaging for a set of pumpkin whoopie pies.

How could you resist one?

H1N1

The H1N1 virus has been as much in the news here as back in the U.S. There has been much debate on whether or not to get the vaccine and confirmed cases are being tracked throughout the country. We didn't get the vaccine until a month or so after it was available in the U.S. The kids had gotten the regular flu shot several weeks ago, but I was undecided on whether or not to get the H1N1 vaccine.

And now H1N1 has hit our school. We got an e-mail a few weeks ago that there was a confirmed case of H1N1 at the school, but that we shouldn't panic. The student was at home resting comfortably. And we keep getting e-mails. More and more confirmed cases at ISF are being reported. Many parents have been panicking, requesting that the school be closed, and everyone is sending their kids to school with their own bottle of hand sanitizer (nothing like Purell, sanitizers here seem to be pure watery alcohol). A few students have even shown up at school wearing face masks.

Our school is notorious in the area. No other school seems to have so many cases of H1N1. We are "that international school with all those cases of swine flu."

Last Saturday morning, Emilie began running a fever. Uh oh. Several kids in her class had had H1N1. This could be our turn, or it could be another virus. By the evening, Rebecca was running a fever. Uh oh. Em must have given it to Bex. For the next few days, the girls cuddled on the couch together watching DVDs and had slumber parties in the same bed. They seemed to be better on Monday, but then Monday night, their fevers rose again. Enough. We went to the pediatrician on Tuesday and they were both tested for H1N1.

I gulped and said, "Now, if they do have it, I have to report it to the school, right?" The doctor said, "Yes, you do." I proceeded to whine, "But, there have been no cases of H1N1 at Rebecca's Kindergarten. Everybody in the area already thinks that ISF is, oh, I don't know, dirty somehow since we have so many more cases of H1N1 than any German school. And now I'll be the first parent at the German Kindergarten who has to call and say 'My kid has swine flu.'"

The doctor looked at me sympathetically and said, "Let me explain something to you. It's true that some people think your school has more cases because you're at an international school, with parents and kids traveling all over the world and bringing back diseases to Germany. That is simply not the case. What is happening is that most families at ISF are expat families with private health insurance. When we see a patient with private health insurance, we test them. The private health insurance covers the cost of the test. 90% of Germans have public health insurance. In that case, someone has to pay for the H1N1 test, either the doctor or the patient, and no one wants to pay for it. The doctors feel pressured to pay themselves if the parents balk at the cost, but that is so expensive for us. As a result, most Germans who have suspected cases of swine flu are not being tested. There are as many cases of H1N1 in German schools, they are just not confirmed. So, don't worry about it."

We needed to wait 1-3 days for the test results, during which time Becca and Em had to stay home from school, even though they were fine by the following day.

This morning the doctor called with the results, with the unbelievable results. Emilie was negative, but Rebecca was positive. I needed to repeat the results back to him twice to be sure I had heard him correctly. How could that be possible? Emilie was the one who was at school with several infected classmates and even more strangely, how did Becca not pass it on to Emilie, considering that had been joined at the hip for the last week?

And yes, I needed to make that difficult call to the Kindergarten, that my dirty foreign daughter had had H1N1. It didn't matter that some of her classmates had probably had it as well. Becca was the only confirmed case. Curse this private insurance!