Water Aerobics, Knitting, & International Cuisine

A full week as I finally am healthy enough to join my water aerobics class and my knitting class also started. My social schedule is really picking up. I found the water aerobics class to be the perfect pace as it was more senior splash hour than true aerobics. The class included 18 plus people who were at least 30-50 years older than me. I was doing great until we moved on to working our arms and one of the old ladies lifted her arms to reveal longer armpit hair than most men. I have not figured out the European standard on shaving, but find that long leg hair is not frowned upon. A perfect society for someone who is not fond of shaving, such as myself.

My knitting workshop was supposed to be in November/December, but got moved up to this week. I apparently read the course description wrong as I thought it was a class to learn how to make socks. However, I found myself sitting amongst 6 knitting pros last night. It turns out a knitting workshop is to come together and bring projects that you have questions on and need a little guidance. I have a lot of practicing to do this week to try and complete something by the end. At the moment I think it is going to be a scarf, but it is too early to tell. I might have to settle for a pot holder if I don't speed up my skills. It was not the relaxing Friday evening that I was looking for to meet new people.

Ben and I had a very international week of eating. Thursday night we officially planned as "French Night." It included Flammkuchen and Federweisser. Flammkuchen, pictured below, is a French type of pizza that is covered with cream, onions, and ham/bacon bits. Absolutely delicious! It comes from the region of Elsass in the southeast corner of France. Federweisser is young wine that is still in the fermenting process and therefore is milky in color and very strong. It can not be kept very long and has to be drank within a few days of opening as it can not be corked due to the yeast. It is very traditional this time of year to enjoy these two together.




Today was unofficially "American Day" as we enjoyed Pizza Hut pizza and later a caramel macchiato from Starbucks. It had been so long since we had enjoyed either treat. A lovely day of shopping in the downtown distract of Osnabrueck.

We have completed 6 months in Germany now and I can't honestly say if things are good or bad. Life is moving past and I am counting down the days until I can visit my family and friends in the U.S. Once I alleviate my home sickness, then I am hoping to find more joy and be able to honestly say that I am happy, instead of putting on my happy face for everyone. I am a bad liar so this phase in my life needs to end soon. Thankfully 1 month from today I am flying to South Dakota! My suitcase is half packed and I am ready to truly enjoy the U.S. for 1.5 weeks.

German Botanical Cemetery

Now that I am feeling healthy again I decided to walk downtown tonight. It was a slow walk, but I made it there and back in under an hour. On the way home I decided to walk through the cemetery near the very large Catholic church. I have not walked through many German cemeteries, but I have always noticed a lot of people going to them for a visit. Once inside I felt like I was honestly in a botanical garden. Each little grave site is cared for by the family. They all have traditional American looking new age head stones with family name and dates. Then instead of grass like in the US the 3 x 6 foot area is decked out to the max with flowers, manicured bushes, burning candles, fresh flowers in vases, rocks, and so on. There were lots of people working in their little cemetery grave area/community gardens. It was absolutely amazing! There were so many people around that I couldn't possibly pull out my camera for a picture, but just picture the most decked out flower/bush patch that you can imagine. The competition to keep up with your neighbor would be too overpowering for me. Maybe gardening is a way to overcome grief, I'm not sure? The cultural experiences never stop!

Our New Bundle of Joy!

Ben has informed me it is a girl, because it is in the kitchen. We broke down last week and finally bought a microwave. 5 1/2 months microwave free and concluded that we were truly missing the convenience of reheating leftovers in 2 minutes. Our new bundle of joy takes up our working counter space, but we can't have it all! I am so excited to make microwave popcorn!