Christmas in Wannweil, continued.

Well today is Christmas here in Wannweil. Not much snow, but enough to accent the waning winter sun. Last night I was indoctrinated into the German Christmas tradition through a sort of baptism of fire, if you would. The whole family assembled a bit after sundown and marched out of town into a wooded hilly area. There Matthias, beneath an almost full winter moon, produced a three foot long wax torch, which was subsequently ignited. Around this soft and flickering light we proceeded to sing traditional German Christmas carols. Some of the older, wiser persons present shared a few lines of learned wisdom with us younger pilgrims, and slowly the fellowship proceeded homeward, following that noble light which our fearless torchbearer (Oskar) so valiantly carried. Once we had returned indoors the divine flame was employed to light candles in every room throughout the house. We had acquired the holy light, you see, atop that mystic knoll and - having succesfully carried home - could now use it to both warm our souls and cast a pleasing hue across all of the delicious Christmas fare. Janko and Jessica made four gimongously huge meat-streudels which were sliced up and served piping hot: savoury juices bubbling, enticing odours drifting.

Of course there was desert, which included three or four types of pie, several types of ice cream, and yet more varieties of sauces, chocolate and berry in nature. There were games, some of which were simply too hilarious to be recounted. As well as, of course, the presents. Slowly the night drew to a close. The younger children were slowly, painstakingly herded into their bedchambers and the adults soon followed suit. Leaving the older children, myself included, to discuss important matters of politics and philosophy. Which is to say we played some more hilarious German card games over a bottle of Sekt (sparkling german wine), before retiring ourselves.

Christmas in Wannweil, however, was far from over. On the morrow we were scheduled to spend the day at the house of Matthias's father, the benevolent and renowned Teo Buck. Such tales, however, must wait for a later time. Stay tuned, I hope everyone had a grand holiday stateside.


Love to all,


EZ

Christmas in Wannweil, the beginning.

Well I made it to Stuttgart yesterday without any trouble. I did, however, forget my gift package that I spent so much time on. Left it sitting in my room, smart as I am. Oh well. So far hanging out here has been fun. A little bit insane, (Mathias's house is FULL.) right now we've got: Matthias, his wife, his daughter Theresia, his son Oskar, his son Merlin (yes, that kid has the coolest name ever), Janco, and Jessica is coming today I believe. Add me into the equation and the three story traditional German house is starting to seem substantially smaller. I'm going to take plenty of pictures of everyone, so stay tuned.

Last night I went out with Oskar to a local sort of youth co-op club thing he sometimes works at and played Foosball (kicker, as it is called in Germany). First I must point out that I have been playing a LOT of Kicker since I came to Germany, a LOT. That being established, I can proceed to recount how Oskar and his friends Kickered my American ass. Still lots of fun though, they were surprised I had any game, being an Ami (American). From there I followed Theresa and some of her friends to a Reggae Party. There was good music, to be sure, but hanging out with a predominantly 16-18 year old crowd was very strange. The fact that it was a 16-18 year old crowd of Germans made it all the more strange. Reminded me of high school, a place I don't generally revisit during my meditations. I saw a woman in a wheel-chair rocking out in the middle of the dance floor during a brief parting of the crowd, and the image has been lingering ever since. I wonder what my adventures would have been like had I grown up in a place where one could essentially pick a music/culture scene at will to subscribe to.

Well, Matthias, Merlin, and I are going to go for a stroll around Wannweil (the suburb of Reutlingen - which is itself a suburb of Stuttgart - in which this upstanding German family lives), and I need to put some fresh batteris in my camera.

Bis bald, ('till soon)



EZ

"I like those cold, gray winter days. Days like these let you savor a bad mood."

So sayeth Bill Watterson. Winter has fallen on Munich, or so I have been told. Previously I was under the impression that the increasing frequency of cold, bleak, and bloody cold days were simply the vengeful wrath of an angry God, directed - as it were - at our moral listlessness. I had been hard at work reforming my sinful ways, that the true, wondrous, snow painted Bavarian Winter might be restored, when I was informed that both bone-chilling wind and soul-numbing cold are but mundane occurrences in a mild Bavarian winter. With the terrifying concept of still "wintery-er" months ahead comes the hollow promise that more snow generally corresponds to less wind. I only hope more snow can help magnify what minimal sunshine we've been receiving. Perhaps raising it to a level beyond that which is produced by bioluminescent fish, residing somewhere in the Mariana Trench.

I've been neglecting my blog. I'm not sure what that says about my character, but hopefully things will change. I've created a rather unruly collection of writings and ramblings, many of which I intend to edit and procure for thy reading pleasure. Until then, I hope this small update is not found wanting.

The students on my program organized a Thanksgiving dinner, which turned out quite delicious. With some help from our program director we rented out and decorated a cool room above a library, wherein we fest-ed and feasted well into the night. My Ukelele-Playing comrade and I even provided fare of a musical nature - assuaging the gradual end to sip and sup.

Things have become somewhat routine of late, something not entirely unwelcome after a few months of travel and exploration. My time has been primarily spent studying, reading, writing, and most importantly: playing music. I've been playing guitar more than ever, and though I am happy with my progress, I have decided to finally seek out some lessons, a task which has been hanging ominously o'er my "to do list" since arriving in frozen land. I played my friend's steel string the other day and have also resolved myself to find one for myself. Though I have enjoyed checking out a classical guitar, I simply cannot play the kind of music I want to play on it.

I am heading to Stuttgart for Christmas to visit some family friends. I've been told that one can find both snow and sunlight there, and look forward to playing music with the lord of the manor.


Now is the time for sleep, but I intend to both report on the holidays and throw up some of my more recent pieces when I return. I hope all is well with all ya'all Stateside, and my very best holiday wishes go out to everyone bothering to read this blog. Those who aren't reading it...well, I suppose they could enjoy themselves as well, for now.


Frigidly,



EZ