Frohe Weihnachten!

Shortly after I returned to Leipzig from Marienberg, I scooped my American friend Tracy up and we headed to Magdeburg to spend Christmas with my sister-from-a-German-mister Annika and her mom (Mutti or Mutsch.) We split a Sachsen (Saxony) train ticket with our friend Gregor and two other travelers, which allows up to 5 riders to use the same ticket when traveling in Saxony or some parts of Saxon-Anhalt. Can't beat six euros for a trip that normally costs around twenty.

Some mistakes in communication caused us to arrive at Annika's apartment while she was out. In fact, she'd come to the train station to pick us up but we didn't anticipate that so we took the tram straight to her house. Tracy and I, being as awesome as we are, made the best of the situation and had a hobo party in the hallway, complete with xmas tunes from my computer, warm beer, pretzels, a tetra-pak of Glühwein and a random wandering kitty cat.

Hobo party! *note wandering cat.

When finally got ahold of Annika, we lured her home with promises of hobo snacks in the hallway (well not really but it would've been cooler if we did.) Anyway, Annika came home and we went back out into the cold to explore the Magdeburger Weihnachtsmarkt.

Weihnachtsmarkt

Doing the robot?

The next day was Christmas Eve. Annika, Tracy and I really wanted to go to a service in the Magdeburger Dom, (Cathedral) so we trekked downtown in the slush and snow. The building of the Dom began in the eleventh century; it is massive and built mainly of concrete. Naturally, it's not heated. So there the three of us sat, bundled in winter gear watching little ones do a modern retelling of the story of Christmas with mic's that worked about a quarter of the time and attempting to sing the completely unfamiliar carols while no one else in the building made any effort to do so, making this possibly the only Christmas service I have ever not enjoyed. However, chalk it up to experience.

Later in the day we took a train to Wanzleben where Annika's mom lives. Christmas Eve is traditionally when German people exchange and open gifts. Lucky me! From Tracy I got a homemade lebkuchen (gingerbread) heart with my favorite German saying piped on in icing! Also she made me an amazing comic on her computer of the two of us. Echt geil. From Annika I got a journal inscribed with quotes from F.Scott Fitzgerald, a tiny airplane Christmas tree ornament, and the movie FRIENDSHIP!, which I am currently kind of obsessed with. 

Total Hammer Geil.

Yule Log!

COol dOg

24.  As in, December 24th. Christmas Eve, duh.

Christmas Day proved lovely as well. Annika and Mutsch prepared a yummy lunch for us of duck (no comment.) wobbly jellyish potato thingies and red cabbage. Yum to all and especially the red cabbage! We mostly just lounged around on Christmas Day, watching weird random things on TV or listening to 'Nsync sing Christmas songs.

Lecker.

Lara dog snuggles.

We headed back to Magdeburg from Wanzleben that afternoon, thoroughly disappointing Annika because we couldn't go to the Christmas night party she'd been planning to take us to. Sorry Anni! But alas, I had a plane to catch the next day and needed to pack and get ready in Leipzig first.

Christmas on the train.

Getting home from the 'Burg proved no small feat. Tracy and I boarded the train we were meant to get home to Leipzig on, sat for ten or fifteen minutes, and were finally informed that that particular train wasn't going anywhere. Good thing someone decided to let us know. So we got on the one we were told was going to Leipzig, and were promptly ushered off. About two minutes later we were told we could get back on. Trains. Le sigh. But eventually, after what felt like the longest train ride in the universe, we were back in Leipzig and heading home. Or so we thought. Merry Christmas to us, the streetcars weren't running! Which means, the ersatz busses were. Which means, in a nutshell, there was no transportation. I ended up walking home in ankle deep snow with a thirty pound bag slung over my shoulder. Lovely. However, I was granted one small concession- my phone/mp3 thingie, though nearly fresh out of battery, lasted the entire walk and I got to listen to The Tallest Man On Earth the whole time. Score! 

Early the next morning I was up and ready to head to London to meet my friend Chris. Problem- the Leipzig streetcars still weren't. More on that to come.

Es Weihnachtet Sehr.

Winter hibernation has begun. Lately the pattern has been; wake up (at the last possible second,) go to school, come home, make tea, snuggle under the covers and immerse myself in internet. I've taken a break with the whole "I'm in Europe, I'll sleep when I'm dead" business and started wanting to constantly be in jammies, wrapped in blankets and drinking hot beverages. 

Which isn't to say I haven't been doing anything at all. In fact, the past week was pretty eventful and the upcoming weekend looks to be more of the same. 

Elli coerced me out of the house last week with the promise of hot glühwein and Weihnachten treats. We nommed on pommes mit majo and had a nice little spaziergang. The Christmas Market is in full swing, and it spreads all through the city center. Unfortunately I didn't get too many shots, due to the premature death of my camera's battery.

As evidenced from the photos below, Christmas (Wiehnacht) is NOT TAKEN LIGHTLY in Germany. IT'S A BIG FREAKING DEAL.

Reisenrad

The tops of the Finnish Weihnachts Markt Tee Pee's are peeking up at the bottom of this shot

Just this past Monday Elli took me to see a Berlin-based electro-pop duo called I'm not a Band. The group consists of a boy and a girl and their electric violins. That's right, they BOTH play electric violin. Echt super. Here's a link to a clip of Monday's show at Werk II.

It's getting late and I actually need to get some sleep, I'm getting up early tomorrow. My friend Miri is going with me to the Auslandsamt in the morning to help me try to get an extension on my visa application, which needs to be done because otherwise I'm going to be illegal in two days! Ooops. 

Insomni-ish

Being that it's 1:25AM and I have yet to settle into sleep, I decided to peek beyond my most-likely-Ikea curtains and out the window. What I saw, to my complete lack of astonishment, was... SNOW. Still more snow. I don't think it's stopped since it started the day after Thanksgiving.  Naturally, I grabbed my camera.

Brezlauer Straße, 1:00,  zweite Dezember 2010 

I'm thankful for the quiet beauty the snow projects onto everything it touches. As of right now, deep in the still of night, it's untouched, sparkling in the orange gleam of street lamps. I know when I wake up in the morning (ok, who am I trying to kid?) When I wake up in the afternoon, the magic will have all but gone, snow shoveled up to reveal black tar sidewalks, car tracks brown in the street. But for now I have this diamond glow, and the hush the insulation of snow casts on the street, dampening all the sounds I would expect to hear.

My Jack'o'Lantern's rotted remains.