Day 8: Boxing Day: Zweiter Weihnachtstag bei Omas
With a second full day of sleep in a row, I was fit sowie ein Turnschuh and enjoyed a quiet, relaxed morning with Peter and Marita. Marita lit the Christmas tree candles. Even dead sober, I was kind of afraid of going within a couple of feet of the lit tree.

Then Peter and I spent some time in the kitchen preparing for the big dinner at Oma's house.

I was in charge of making fresh egg nog, from scratch, as well as potato skins. Peter, meanwhile, was working on a mixed fish salad that had herring, salmon and pickles. Yum. After he finished his items, he helped some of my prep work for the potato skins.

We were the first at Oma's house at around 4:00 pm. Cousin Jessika and Aunt Birgitt arrived and they also had items that needed to be in Oma's oven. I wanted my potato skins to be crispy, so I waited last, until the stove was ready. I baked the skins for 10 minutes, then added the cheddar cheese (which I had imported the previous week) then cooked another 2 minutes, expecting that we would be eating momentarily. But Jessika told me it was time for the gifts.



So, the first tray of skins sat and eventually got cold.



After the gifts, I put the next tray in, but people were already eating. I don't know why it was so important to me that the skins be crispy. I just wanted them to experience the real thing (as they had never eaten them before.)

The food consisted of different types of salads, filled croissant things, bread, cheeses. My potato skins were a big hit.

The eggnog was good but was not as fluffy and nice as it had been in previous years.

Oma wanted to see some pictures from last year, from the Hütte as well as the short Santa movie (of Kristof) that I had taken the previous day.

"Machts du ein Striptease?" She asked me. Oh dear, while Oma may be 85, nothing gets past her. She saw some images of me on my laptop. She wasn't shocked, just mildly amused that I would have disrobed pictures of myself. Not that it had mattered; she had seen me, and the rest of the family, naked at the private guest house on the Danish coast, 12 years prior.

Oma also was intrigued by my iTunes collection of music.

The time came for people to say goodbye. Julia and I hugged tightly. I tried not to get emotional. She told me again that she was glad that I had come and that minimally, she hoped that I would come again next year.

Peter and Marita dropped me off at the Peine train station and waited to make sure I got into the train.

NIGHT TRAIN

At around midnight, I arrived in Hannover and had a beer and a cigarette while waiting for the night train to arrive.





It arrived, despite the fact that the track's sign didn't show it was to arrive.
I got on the correct numbered wagon and found the door, which would bring me to bed number 16. I tried to open it and it did not open. Someone turned the knob on the other side. It opened and behind the door was a man in his underwear and undershirt. I pulled my suitcase in and realized my bed was on top, just 2 feet from the ceiling. I climbed up. After the train left, I brushed my teeth and slept for about 6 hours.
- posted by Matt @ 8:13 AM