Colorful Detail and Random Facts

Hello again! I apologize now if this entry gets long, but I hope you will enjoy an update on my life in Germany just the same. My mom came to Straelen on Saturday and left this afternoon. I am very glad that she got to visit me, and we had a lot of fun together. One night, we ate dinner at Gasthof Zum Siegburger, a small restaurant around the corner from my dorm that serves traditional German food. The entire place was decorated for Karneval, a German celebration like Mardi Gras that starts next week. Multi-colored, florescent streamers hung from the ceiling, equally colorful flowers lined the windows, and the faces of clowns stared down at us from random places throughout the room. Karneval is a huge celebration in big cities like Düsseldorf and Köln, and my boss has told me that I must not miss the parades and festivities, so I plan to travel to Köln with friends to experience it all! Apparently, Karneval comes to Straelen only every two years, and the residents get really involved. As we were eating, townspeople began to enter wearing festive costumes. They gathered in the room next to ours, which was complete with a DJ booth and more decorations. People were dressed as convicts in black and white stripes, clowns with rainbow colored jackets, and some just threw something random together to create a funny outfit. The guests began to sing to traditional German music, and some got up to dance. All of a sudden, a group of men entered the restaurant through the front door. They were covered head to toe in red and white, wearing long coats with tails and feathered hats, looking just like British soldiers! They marched in, the first soldier carrying a big sign that announced the coming of the "Karneval Prince." They marched loudly into the party room and lined up in a perfectly straight row. One man announced every soldier's name, and then they performed a song and dance as everyone else clapped and cheered with delight! Later, we learned that this group was invited to perform at the party, and the prince acts as such for two years, making many appearances around town. Sadly, I had forgotten my camera, but the mental picture of that night will remain engrained in my mind forever! Tuesday morning, before work, my dormmate Karsten drove us to Kevelaer, another nearby town. He showed us a beautiful Catholic church that was built in the 1600's and stands in the middle of the city. People travel from everywhere to enter a small, round building by the church to light candles in prayer and to receive healing. I cannot possibly describe in words the beauty of this place. We bought two postcards, an information packet and took some video, so you will just have to see those when I return. I stood in the church, mouth agape, in total awe of this man-made structure. It was unbelievable. Afterwards, we drank coffee and hot chocolate in a little cafe. I am so thankful that Karsten told us about the church and offered to take us to see it; otherwise, I might have never known about it. He is so thoughtful. He even gave me his tulips because he was going home on the weekend and knew they would die while he was gone. The ironic part is that I had just been thinking about how dreary my room looked with plain, white walls. The vibrant red, yellow and orange flowers certainly brightened the room. On Tuesday night, I had my German class in Geldern at 7:00, and it turned out to be quite a stressful endeavor. Stefi had to work, so my mom drove the stick-shift and followed my boss to Geldern. The teacher spoke fluent German the entire class period, which by the way was a very long 2 1/2 hours, and we worked on grammar, which is the one thing in which I am efficient. Hungry, tired, and frustrated, I barely survived the lesson. Although I need to hear such fluent German in order to improve, I do not want to sit through such a long lesson and be frustrated at how much I do not understand. So I might step down a level and see if I am more comfortable in that class, but I still do not want to learn how to drive a stick-shift and drive myself to Geldern twice each week for 2 1/2 hours! My mom came to work with me for two days, and she took video of me helping with the baby and children swim lessons. I had so much fun with those classes, and the babies were just as cute as can be, wide-eyed and giggly as we played with balloons in the water. They reached out for everything in front of them, including the example doll named Emma, and bit and licked the balloons as much as possible. When helping with such classes, I am reminded of how simple life once was! Last night, Christian went to dinner with us, and we stayed at the restaurant for four hours, talking, laughing, and getting to know each other better. This morning, I woke up, pulled back my curtains, and my heart jumped as I noticed that it was snowing! Straelen is currently blanketed with white, powdery, fluffy snow! It has stopped and will probably melt by tomorrow, but I am so content that I got to see snow in Germany! Tomorrow, I am going to school with my friends, and I am excited to see first-hand what they really do. So that is all for now. I love you, and I miss you. And now I will leave you with some random facts that I have learned.
German desserts look much better than they actually taste; Paprika is a pepper and not a spice; Pepperoni means hot peppers unless you say pepperoni fleisch (meat); Germans "Prost" (not Roast) the first drink you drink together and any other celebratory drink; You do not receive ice in your drinks or free refills; Ketchup is not free; Talking on your cell phone is expensive, and nobody really does it in pulic.