Laura Beth in Germany

Today was the last day with one of my groups at Dürr Systems in Bietigheim. Because of the wedding, the next level of this course will be given to a different teacher, so my group got together and made up a farewell gift for me: a bottle of champagne (to wish congratulations for our wedding), two free meal coupons in the company cafeteria (to continue enjoying the culinary delights of handmade maultaschen and shish kabobs), and the shell of a Samsung tablet with a photo of their faces plastered on the display (so I can remember them... and as a hint to replace my old phone with a Smartphone in the near future). The only female student in my class had asked her 8-year-old daughter for help with the wrapping, so the gifts came packed in princess paper peppered with flower bouquet stickers. They were thoughtful enough to paste in the faces of the two group members who weren't present the day of the photo shoot. The flags of St. Louis, Missouri and the region of Württemberg are also...

Just a few photos from my dance party birthday celebration! We had  small group over, including all the Kleinbottwar classics, plus new friends and significant others! I made "little pizza breads" with salami and artichoke, and the others brought all the salad and deserts. We partied "into" my birthday, as the Germans would say - started in Saturday night and, at midnight, everyone gave me a big hug and a gift, then said their personal birthday wishes to me. And then we kept dancing. It felt like old times - I celebrated my 17th birthday and my 24th birthday with virtually the same people! Plus, I'm starting to realize that my memories from my year in Germany are just as much a part of my "good old days" as the memories from Borgia or from Webster. And that makes me feel like I'm home, even if I'm thousands of miles away from it. Katja and me But of course, no birthday is complete with out quality sister time! M...

Here's a shot of our "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree. It was a very last-minute decision. My friend Jessi called me and said they had extra trees down on their piece of land near the creek, and if Fabi and I would like one. So I surprised him on Dec. 23rd by setting this little guy up in the living room! Unfortunately, Fabi had been working in the garage on a nativity scene for his mother, so he noticed when the tree stand went missing. But he at least acted surprised for me. Haha! Beneath are all the gifts that we got from the U.S. and from German family, as well as the gifts that we gave to others. The big gray one with circles was Hansi's power washer.

On December 24th, Hansi, Clemens, Fabian and I hopped in the car and drove to Unterbrunn, Bavaria. It's a town with just 1,000 inhabitants, situated on the southwestern outskirts of Munich. The trip took just over 2 hours; we arrived at Fabi's cousin Julia's brand new house just as the sun had set. Her street is so new that it's not included in most GPS systems yet. There's a rocky moat around the two-story construction where the landscaping will eventually be, and the view out back is of green pastures and skinny, densely-growing spruce trees. Julia and David welcomed us most graciously, but little Laura, their 20-month-old daughter, needed a few hours to warm up to us. I think the fact that we share a name made it even harder for her to understand who I was. Uncle Rudi and Aunt Regine were already there, Regine busy in the kitchen. Julia poured champagne and we all toasted to Christmas, to a safe arrival, and to our hosts' new abode. Little Laura scarfed...

Christmas!  Our Advent wreath We only have one and a half weeks until all of Germany basically shuts down and goes on holiday. All major, decent companies in the area give their employees a winter break starting December 21st and stretching until January 6th. Germans love their Advent season, which is funny, considering their vehemently secular culture. An example: last week I drove past a life-size nativity scene with a glowing baby Jesus while listening to a radio interview about why women shouldn't rely on their husbands, but rather plan ahead for supporting yourself and your children if and when you divorce. Lovely, right? But at least the decorations match the Christmas season! If not the choice of radio interview topics.   Our "Christmas tree", full of peacocks Our gifts and cards to the States are already in the mail. Now we have to focus on our gifts for the German side of the family. I think many of them will get Kärcher-related presents, seein...

  Here's an initial shot of our Thanksgiving dinner last Saturday! Turkey #2 for me - I think the oven bags are a little different here... oh well. He tasted great, even though he looks a little wrinkly. Thanks to Jessi Hegendorf for the photo. It was a wonderful weekend with friends. I think some people wished we had got more exercise, but for me, sitting around the house watching "football" (soccer), drinking beer and having a tryptophan hangover certainly fit the Thanksgiving bill. Women in the kitchen, men on the couch. Everybody just enjoying life. We also walked around the Christmas market in Gottingen for a while, and ran into a band playing Johnny Cash songs. So I guess we had a German-meets-American style weekend in more ways than one.

I'm not singing this year, but was proud to help with the flyer design. Anyone in Germany is welcome - if you're in need of some Christmas-feeling. I'll save you a seat!