Saint Martin's Day

Yesterday I learned about a new German holiday called St Martin's Day. Basically, it honors St Martin who was a missionary in France (last I knew I was in Germany though) in the 300s. He was a friend of children and the poor.

According to legend, on a cold day a beggar approached Martin and asked for help. Martin didn't have food or money so he cut his robe in half and gave part to the beggar. The next night, Jesus appeared to him in a dream revealed that he had been the beggar. After this, Martin dedicated his life to others.

In towns around Germany, children reenact the story of St Martin's life on November 11th. In Ramstein Village, the celebration started with a meeting at the Catholic Church,

then we followed a man on horseback (who was dressed like Saint Martin) around the town,

The children carried lanterns they had made in school.

When we arrived back at the church, a bonfire was lit and we all ate pretzels!

To be honest, I don't quite get the significance of the pretzels, but I like any tradition that includes food (well, if it's chocolate, Starbucks or pretzels!)

Christmas Pyramid

So this is going to be a short post. I just thought I'd share one of the interesting Christmas traditions I've seen.







This is a Christmas pyramid. The windmill-like things on the top revolve in the wind, or even in a light breeze, and turn the levels below. The levels traditionally have figures of Jesus, Mary and Joseph as well as the Three Kings, shepards and animals. You can also put small candles on the sides and the smoke helps the top revovle.

Anyway, it's a very interesting tradition!

Furniture Hunting

So, I have to say, one of my new hobbies is hunting for good deals on furniture. For years I have had a little tv stand and decided to upgrade. Since I arrived in Germany about 2 months ago, I have been searching for a new tv stand (and even went to Belgium looking for one!) Well, I finally found one at the Ramstein fleamarket.

It's made out of oak and was carved inParis (at least that's what I was told).

I also received bottle of wine as a gift for buying the furniture. I feel so grown up!

A Bird's Eye View

Today I went with a group from work to a ropes course.



For anyone who likes obstacle courses or enjoys climbing, this is the place for you!

You strap yourself into a harness, climb up to various platforms and then swing/climb/slide from platform to platform. Then you take a zip line to the bottom land gracefully (or perhaps, not so gracefully!)

All in all, it was a great adventure. Although I'm definitely taking some motrin before bed tonight!

Typical German weather

When I first arrived here, I was told that if I didn't like the weather "just wait 10 minutes and it will change". That is definitely true! One minute it's raining, the next it's sunny, the next it's raining thru the sunshine.

One constant here is the fog. Almost every morning, there is thick fog from about 8-11am. Below is a picture of a typical morning.



I'm getting very good at driving in fog!

Die Tiere! (The animals!)

Sorry for the delay in posting anything. It's been a crazy couple of weeks; suffice it to say, having 3 of the clinic providers gone, being on call, being in an exercise (supposedly) and having the admin/exercise time taken out of my schedule (so we could improve our access b/c 3 providers were gone) did not make for a very relaxing time! Thankfully, things should be back to normal this week.

On a happier note, we've had some beautiful weather this week which afforded me the chance to do some more exploring on the trails around here. It's amazing what you'll find in your own backyard. While hiking this morning, I happened upon a fenced in area w/ various large animals. I honestly am not sure if they were fenced in or if I was b/c at one point I had fences on both sides of me! The animals were nice enough to pause and let me take their pictures before hopping away.

I still don't know exactly what type of animals they are, so if anyone knows, please tell me!

I also got satellite tv installed yesterday. So now when my parents ask me if I've seen the debates, I can respond w/ something other than, "you know I don't have tv".

Hope everyone is doing well. I miss you all and hope to hear from you!

Journey to Belgium

So just a very short post:

I went to Belgium this weekend. Not, the entire weekend, mind you. Just for about two hours. To look for furniture. Yep, I went to Belgium for two hours to look for furniture.

I love living in Germany!