Last weekend, I finished my daily journal for Christmas (I told you about this project here).  I really wanted to capture our first Christmas in Europe together as well as I could.  A daily journal seemed like just the ticket.

At first, I felt a little nervous.  It seems countless people have attempted these “December Daily” projects and failed – it’s just so much work in an already busy season to paste photos, details, and other scrapbooking elements into a page Every Single Day leading up to Christmas.

I didn’t have access to all those fun scrapbooking resources.  They’re not as popular in Germany, and they’re gosh darn expensive.  So I decided to just journal.  I only wrote about our days.

And as a result, I managed to keep up with my journal.  Horay!  (The key was making a bunch of journal pages beforehand so all I had to do was sit down and write a little each time I had a chance.)  The lack of photos and photo layouts turned out to be a huge time saver.

These journals traditionally end on Christmas Day.  But Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve in Germany, and I felt like our celebration was really going to last until January 1st… which was the day our guests all left.

So I kept going until January 1st.

Some days, all I wrote about was finding LED Christmas lights or remembering my favorite thing about dark, winter nights.  Once we even found a special cheese at our grocery store called Christmas cheese!  And other days were packed to the brim with going to see Avatar (in English) and scoping out Christmas markets or visiting family.

I finished the book with a list of goals I have for 2010.  This project is definitely something I want to do again next year.  And if you’d like, I’ll be sure to share the journaling process and ideas I have next season.  Would you be interested?

Psst, don’t forget – if you’re looking for a little help with creative journaling, be sure to swing by my shop.

Over the Christmas holiday, it suddenly occurred to me that I can keep playing the I-don’t-understand-German card… but it’s a big fat lie.  See, somewhere along the line, I started understanding.  When someone gave me directions to our seats at the show or told me that tickets to the museum was sold out, I got it.

I never planned on learning a second language.  In fact, I was grumbling through Spanish 101 when Martin and I met.  He can still tell you horror stories about Katie taking a language class.  It was a bad mix for a simple reason – I had no passion for learning to speak anything more than English.  I was honestly taking the classes because I had to and because Spanish seemed like the obvious choice.  I mean, it’s not like I was ever going to live outside of the United States or anything, right?

It didn’t help that I sounded so much like an American that I had to WRITE Spanish words down on a piece of paper just so that Spanish speakers could understand me.  Spanish class and I were enemies.  If I were the vegetarian, it was my medium rare, double decker bacon cheeseburger.

And now here I am, trying really hard not to type this post like a German speaker attempting English… which I seem to be struggling with every so often when I sit down to write to you.  I am nowhere near close to being finished, but I am at a point where I feel comfortable.  After my next exam, I figure I’ll be starting the 300 level (in American universities) or B level (by European standards).

People continually contact me about moving to Germany, and the biggest fear is the language barrier.

When we moved to Germany, my vocab consisted of words like “Croissant” and “Autobahn” and “Bratwurst”.  Oh, and “Bier.”  Who doesn’t know that one?

All of that was okay.  I was golden for the first few days.  Hold up two fingers.  ”Croissants, bitte.”  Wait for the clerk to hand me my purchase while I read the total on the cash register, juggle coins, and finally hand her the biggest one I have.  (Don’t want to appear to be a foreigner and take too long, you know.)  Point out the cooler in the bakery and tell Martin, “Bier.”

You learn as you go.  And you *need* to take German classes here.  Yeah, the law says so.  But I think it’s important to really understand and embrace your new home.  Would I sound too dorky to admit that it’s actually pretty cool to study here?

The things I most love about studying in Germany are:

1. The teacher is a native German speaker, so you learn to sound like a native
2. The teacher won’t speak your native language.  Okay, most of my teachers have been able to speak English, but they sure can’t say more than a word or two of Vietnemese, Polish, Turkish, or any of the other languages my peers speak.  So everything – from day one – is in German.  And that’s really cool.  It’s the reason I understand when German speakers talk to me today and why I sound a little less American than my Spanish ever was.
3. You have to communicate with classmates in German… and then you have to hope you understand each other.  Pregnancy – that seems to be a frequent topic when a married girl misses school because she’s ill.  Well that and me trying to remember that when a Vietnamese girl says, “Kevin?” she’s really talking to me.
4. The learning doesn’t end when school is over. Oh no.  When our doorbell rings, when I grocery shop, when someone asks for help moving a stroller – it’s all in German.
5. Your growth is really easy to measure. All of a sudden, you can order things at the bakery.  Then you understand how much you owe without looking at the cash register.  Then you start understanding the clerk.  Do you want a bag?  Do you like living in Germany?

As of about 2005, most people who move to Germany are now required to finish a specific level of German called “B1.2″, which is about 650 hours of German lessons and integration classes.  I think it makes sense.  We ought to have a very basic understanding of the local language and government.

I’m just so thankful that it’s actually fun this time.

Did you ever study another language?  Did you enjoy it?  And, umm, did you finish?

(Images by Katie of a Berlin sledding hill where, remarkably, no one seems to run over anyone)

The end of 2009 marked the end of an era in our neighborhood.  Suddenly all the little kids who used to run behind/in front of/beneath/behind their mothers again and again suddenly disappeared.  So did the strollers those kids were supposed to be riding in.  I actually really love seeing little kids in strollers when it’s cold out here.  They have these little sleeping bags that buckle into the strollers.  Mothers slip their children inside and let the rest of us smile and coo at their cute little bugs snug in their rugs.

But like I said, that’s all gone.

In its place are little snowsuit bundled children and the coolest wooden runner sleds you could ever imagine.

Now parents are taking their kids everywhere via sled.  Church, grocery store, school… you name it.  If you’re under six, you’ve got the hottest ride in town.  Cars stop at the intersection as parades of parents walk by, pulling wooden sleds behind them.  (You can see the sleeping bag “worm” in the stroller above – one of the last strollers I’ve seen because baby was sleeping.)

And if any of those parents has a lot of little kids, well he finds a way.

What do you say?  Want a ride?  Or maybe give a ride?

(Images by me on Sunday at noon.  It’s so dark here!)

To wherever you may be this holiday

from our little Berlin home,

have a happy, peaceful holiday.

I like words. I like lists.  And laughing – lots of laughing.  If you do too, maybe this is your kind of wintery Monday article.

1. I dreamed that I decided to write this blog in German.  Lucky for all of us, that will NOT be happening.  (I just told my Russian classmate this morning that we need to wear a lot of newspapers when it gets cold outside.)

2.  The scary thing, of course, is that mixing up “clothes” and “newspapers” was a mistake I noticed.  I can’t even imagine what else I have said to people.

3.  This crocodile stuffed animal might be fun to give a little kid for Christmas if you’re a wiz at sewing zippers.

4. You’ll love Maureen’s comment on last Tuesday’s post about reading A Christmas Carol:

Last month at my elementary school we had a book fair in the library.  One 4th grade girl came up to me and said, “Look (showing me a copy of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol), they already have a book made from that new Jim Carey movie!”

I had to laugh!

5.  As long as we’re laughing, I might as well tell you something.  I go by Katherine in my German class.  The German pronunciation is “Kat-rin”.  So everyone calls me Katrin.  Well almost everyone.  The Vietnemese students in my class always mix up letters like s, t, v, r, and d.  I really can’t figure out the pattern behind their mispronunciation.  All I can tell you is that they can’t say “Katrin”.  They pronounce my name as…. “Kevin”

6.  I now answer to the name Kevin.

7.  People have been writing to me for a suggestion on my all-time favorite favorite vegetarian cookbook to give as a gift.  (Here’s a post listing my top suggestions.)  But if I had to only pick one, I’d choose this one.  It’s good for beginner and advanced cooks, people who want to eat less (or no) meat, and it has recipes that vary in time commitment.

8.  If you have an expat friend in Europe that you’re wanting to send something to this holiday, I’d suggest something from this list.

Here’s hoping for a beautiful week for you all.  I’m hoping to find the chance to curl up and watch a Christmas movie (or two!) in the next weeks.  What are a few of your favorites?  Maybe we can brainstorm a little.  A Christmas movie collection – that’s one thing we should all have room for in our homes, don’t you think?

-Kevin

(Image of the TV Tower by Martin… at 4:00 p.m.  It gets dark much too soon.)

Martin and I recently went to Potsdam, Germany for a fabric market. (Potsdam is just Southwest of Berlin and linked to the Berlin subway system.) We browsed the market together for a little bit then split up. I sought out fabric for Christmas projects; Martin looked for lunch.

Perhaps you’d like to look back on my end of things with me?

The market was filled with so much to touch, and so many women with a common interest.  I think that many of the shoppers made a lot of their own clothes, too.

Customers stand on one side of a table and sort through fabric.  You scoop up what you want and hand it to the other person on the other side of the table (like this man).  The place was packed… on the shoppers’ side of the table.

I saw stacks of wool and linen, carefully sorted plastic tubes of buttons, and even some holiday fabric from the United States.

I liked looking at all the laces and ribbons.  Those booths were the most crowded – with young women and older women alike.  I saw only one man following his wife to another booth.  She was handing him bags; he was complaining about being there.

He should have been in charge of lunch, too.  No?

I’ve been struggling to find fabric in Germany.  When I do find some, it typically starts at 19 euros/meter… or $30 a yard.  THIRTY BUCKS?!

Needless to say, we do not have a problem with excess fabric stashes in our house.

The most affordable fabrics I’ve seen in Europe came from this market.  And if you don’t mind squeezing your way around, fabric markets are hands down, the most amazing atmosphere to shop in.

Now to start sewing stockings with my picks (which include that green pompom trim hanging in the upper right of this last photo – Isn’t that a fun detail?!).

Are the stockings at your house handmade?  (any tips?)  Or do you have any experiences or dreams of fabric markets?  Do tell!