DAY 4: CHRISTMAS EVE (Ilsede)
Christmas Eve, as I've told many people, is very hectic. You do everything that day! Usually, on that day:
you do last minute shopping
you wrap presents
you put up the tree
you prepare for the evening feast
you do all of the baking

Peter was relieved at breakfast when we agreed to "divide and conquer" in a matter of words. Peter had to pick up the fish and do other things. And we needed some ingredients for the food items that we were preparing over the next couple of days.
SHOPPING

We went shopping in Ilsede at the local "Rewe." In Germany, you have to put a coin into the cart in order to get a cart. There were three rows of carts, I grabbed one at the left side. I always like going to supermarkets in other countries. Not sure why.

We had problems finding the baking soda, but found a small packet that stated, on the back that it was sodium hydrogen carbonate, NaHCO3, or also known as "baking soda." Score.

We left the store and I returned the cart to the left side and attached the thingy from the cart in front. The coin would not come out. A guy smiled at me and said "red to red" or something like that. WTF.

I thought the guy meant pressing the sides of the red cart. I pressed the sides. I felt like a freaking idiot. The coin did not budge. I got a bit frustrated

A woman approached me from behind and pointed to the row of RED shopping carts. She told me to "try there," in friendly German.

I nodded. As I pulled the cart out of the green row, she finished, in German: "Well, you'd probably know how to do this if you went shopping more often." She walked off.

When we got back, after noon, Peter was not around. Hmm.

ARRIVAL AT HOME

We had plenty to do. Calling Julia, she confirmed that Peter hadn't dropped by to get the kids. Not sure where he was at. Julia was not pleased as she had a long list of things to do.

Peter arrived and things got more hectic as he brought with him the kids.

Everyone was behind schedule, so I tended to Mats (4 years old) and Bent (1 years old) while the men handled the above tasks. Those young at heart (I'm including myself) played with small toys, colored, made a pirate hat out of origami (guess who did that one) and talked about what pirates like to do, all in German.

Babies (or "starter kits," as I like to call them) make me a bit nervous as they seem more breakable. I managed for an hour or two before we ended up in the living room, helping Peter with the tree.

Jason was a trooper in the "foreign" kitchen, making mice cookies and a really nice carrot cake with ingredients that we had imported from the United States of America.

Jason and I had brought wrapping paper with us from the states but we had not had any time to wrap presents, so I found a way to double task: Mats, the older boy, helped me wrap presents. We made it into kind of a game. The wrapped presents looked dismal.

Around 3:00, we realized that we needed to be at church by 4:00 for the children's service. Peter dropped us off at the church just a couple of minutes before the beginning of the children's service.

Peter was not able to attend as he needed to make the sauces for that night's feast of meat fondue.

Julia wanted us to get to their house by 4:30ish because she felt it was mean to have kids wait all day to open their Christmas presents.

THE CHRISTMASMAN COMETH

As we arrived at her place, the Weihnachtsmann came and Julia opened the doors and allowed the kids to open their gifts. Mats was extremely excited about getting his PlayMobil Dragon set. Bent, although a baby understood it was ok to rip off paper for presents.

After the kids presents, we had coffee and sweet stuff. I was very proud of Jason's confections. His mouse cookies and cake were perfect for the occasion. Everyone was impressed. (I'm not sure when it was during the holidays when people asked if he was a pastry chef. He did very well!)

My sugar level was pretty high after the cake, then it plunged and I got very tired. Jason and I relaxed in Julia's living room whilst the others put the final touches on the dinner.

Around 8:00, we were starving and we were finally invited to the table. Mats refused to sleep so he joined us in his first ever fondue. We all explained the dangers of hot grease and he actually did very well. (Julia used Jason's horror story of a friend burning her mouth to convey the idea of danger.)

The fondue was delicious! Julia served it with Turkish stuff, from all places--Aldi.

After a very extended and animated dinner, with wine and beer, we sat around and talked and gabbed about various things.

Sören noted that it was after midnight, so we opened presents. It just worked out that Julia got 3x more presents than everyone else. Per my design.

Peter is a big music fan of the 60's and 70's. Last year, I had asked if he knew Jimmy Buffet. He did not, so I decided to give him a CD this year. Julia put the CD in. I had forgotten it was a bit twangy. I don't think they really liked it. I translated some of the lyrics, which, in German, seemed a bit white trashy.

"Why don't we get drunk and screw," I said,in colloquial German, in Julia's direction.

She looked at me puzzled, thinking for a half moment that I was propositioning her. She starred back and I explained that I was translating the lyrics. We laughed.

Soon, it was time to leave. Having drank a bit, it was not a good idea for us to drive even though it was only a mile away. (It was a fresh beautiful starry night and the fresh air did us some good.) I was so excited about going over "Vergewaltigungsgasse" (what I like to call "rape alley,") which I have mentioned before.

It was such a pretty night, walking by the light "in dem Licht der Säufersonne" (by the light of the drunkards' sun.)

Back in bed, Jason and I reminised about the day, and about how wonderful the Balke family was. It was truly a classy day. We slept like rocks.
- posted by Matt @ 9:07 PM