The Holidays are over

Our last holiday season in Germany is now in the history books. We have spent most Christmas holidays in Germany since we moved here. I think we only went back to the USA for vacation during Christmas twice...And one of those trips resulted in a very sore back while sledding on Foisy Hill. At least Brian Kennedy (son-in-law #2) was there to witness my crash and then continue working on the sled path and jump while I lay at the bottom of the hill. 


We have had the good fortune of several friend and family visits during the holiday season. Munich is really nice in December and it is fun to visit the markets that are set up in the town squares and drink warm mulled wine in the streets. Of course, thousands of other people are doing the exact same thing so fighting through people to get your wine is part of the charm. I must take this opportunity to unequivocally state that Germans are the worst at standing in line. The worst. People will cheerfully cut the line in front of you from every direction. There is no use struggling against the tide, so dive in, knock that old lady out of the way and get your wine!  Frohe Weihnachten!

Christmas dinner 2008: Miche, Kimeko & Jenn

The New Years Eve tradition is to buy as many fireworks as you can afford, drink, and then go light them off from about 11pm until 1am. I must admit that it is really fun, but it is safer to swim with sharks than to be in the streets at midnight. Fireworks are flying around in all directions with no regard given to proximity to other people. Despite the noise, one is able to still make out the distinctive wail of emergency vehicles.Very exciting.

The New Years Day hangover

Update on getting rid of stuff: 
There are now less than six months until we are back and we are really looking forward to it. I started "Paul's Book Club" at work. I bring in some books every few days and people can come take them, leaving a donation if they desire. The only rule is that they cannot give the books back for any reason. It has been really successful so far, so I might try it with DVDs and then maybe silverware or bags of trash. We'll see...

Christmas 2004