Laura Beth in Germany

October in the States definitely has a Halloweeny vibe. But in Germany, Halloween didn't gain popularity until about the last decade. In 2006 when I was here for Halloween, only the other American in my class had a costume, and we only spotted about five families with kids under the age of 5 who even went door to door Trick-or-Treating. In fact, some of the Evangelical kids of the neigbhorhood will all go to church on All Hallow's Eve, to pray and have godly fun as an alternative to Halloween, which they describe as a "pagan festival that celebrates only evil and death."   Regardless, Halloween is gaining momentum as a secular festival in Germany. Now in 2012, you can find many of the same types of decor that you see in the stores at home - giant coffins, plastic jack-o-lanterns, trick-or-treat bags, etc. However, not many people have mastered the art of pumpkin carving! Margit used to carve them when Fabi and Clemens were little, but never liked the mess invo

It's harvest time in the Bottwartal! Today we had an usually warm day in this "Golden October" - one of the best months to be in Germany. I took the opportunity for a walk around the vineyards on the other side of town. It took me about 10 minutes to walk to the other edge of town, and then I mosied upwards for another 45, snagging the extra grapes that were left behind by the harvesters this week - not good enough for wine, but still tasty!     Above is a photo of the vines before harvesting - a process that usually involves large buckets, tractors, a portable picnic table, and comeraderie with the 10 or so friends and relatives who volunteer to help out that year. Last week you could find little groups set up at tables scattered all throughout the hills, laughing and eating buttered pretzels with their coffee (they bring along their ceramic mugs, glass plates and silverware from home). Then they got back to work, dumping buckets of "ready" grapes

Today I became the proud keeper of a 1970's sewing box from Fabian's late grandmother. Margit and I were chatting at lunch about my mother's job as a seamstress, and how I have an un-used sewing machine at home that was too heavy for me to bring on the plane when I moved. I told her about repairing my friends' clothes at Webster, and that I would love to continue my crafty hobbies here. She told me to wait a moment, went to the laundry room, and came back with this awesome box! We drank our coffee together and then I carried the box back to my apartment - to find that it matches every single pillow, tapestry & couch in the living room and brings all my mis-matched decor together nicely.  I spent the next two hours cleaning out cobwebs, dusting the thread, and sorting between useful things and items I had to throw away. The end result is an upper level that looks like this...  ... and a lower level underneath the tray that contains yarn, scissors, safet

The last four days of my trip were spent with my friend Paige, who is currently an au pair in the outskirts of Paris. They live in a 3-story (plus tower) house about 30 minutes from the city center by Metro, in a lovely and quiet neighborhood. The family graciously let me stay with Paige up in her tower, and I helped play with the kids here and there in between exploring the city. I was able to see all the major attractions because we were always on the go! In four days, we managed to see: Versailles palace & gardens Arc de Triomphe The Louvre - grandest museum I've ever seen     kudos to Lisa for the suggestion! Eiffel Tower Champs-Élysées - high dollar shopping street The Grand Palace The Petite Palace Moulin Rouge Montmartre - artsy district, filming location of the movie Amelie Sacré-Cœur cathedral Notre Dame - I sang Disney songs the entire time We attempted the Catacombs and the Opera House too, but had bad luck with the tour times. To offically confirm t

As stated in the previous post, I met Katja on Friday and we carpooled down to Karlsruhe to stay with Annika for the weekend. In Germany they have a carpooling website where you can search for or offer carpooling opportunities to most major and medium-sized cities, for a fraction of the cost of a train ticket. Our passage to Karlsruhe was only 10 Euro per person. Annika welcomed us with dinner at the Thai restaurant and then we went back to her dorm to drink new wine and talk about life. We sat on the outdoor patio at the very top of the building, watched the stars, and laughed about German grammar and funny translation mistakes. The entire next day (after brunch on the town) was spent on a bike! We rode about 7km outside the city and then rode a cog lift up the side of the only hill in Karlsruhe. On top there was a lookout tower - the ruins of a castle built in the 1100s. It was very windy, but beautiful. We could see the first changing leaves of fall in the forest behind us, and

I left the house on a Tuesday for my big 10-day adventure, armed with a tiny suitcase and the cheapest train tickets I could find. The trip would be all about my girlfriends - the first four days visiting Michalina, my Polish friend from the IFC who now lives in Frankfurt, then a weekend with Annika and Katja in Karlsruhe, and ending with four days to explore Paris with Paige Wendle. The first leg of my journey took me from Kleinbottwar to Stuttgart, where I found out my train had been cancelled due to an derailing on one of the high-traffic tracks. So I was upgraded to an ICE (high-speed intercity train) for free and arrived in Frankfurt 2 hours later than planned. Michalina and her German boyfriend Dennis picked me up from the train station and took me back to their little town on the outskirts of the city, Oberursel. We walked the streets and ate dinner at a delicious Spanish restaurant - lots of garlic and tapas! Then I settled into my guest room there and we watched movies and