My Christmas Letter, 2005

Hi, everyone!

I haven’t written in some months, so I thought I’d make this one something special to go with the season, as well as taking a look back upon what has happened since I last wrote.

In August, our summer season at work drew to a close and we all breathed a sigh of relief that the rush was over for this year.

In September, my brother came to visit me and we took a trip to Lindau, Zurich, and Vienna, as well as seeing some things around Munich. That was really wonderful! I’ll post some of the pictures within the week (I promise! ;-) on my Webshots page at http://community.webshots.com/user/aslan16.

From the middle to the end of October I had my last 2 weeks of vacation for myself, and I spent the time visiting museums and doing other things I don’t otherwise get to do here in Munich, besides taking care of some personal matters. One of the big highlights was the yearly Mineral Fair in Munich (see http://www.mineralientage.de/). I love paleontology, and I got several good fossils and lovely minerals there. The only small disappointment was that many of the sellers did not actually know what they were selling, so I still have to find out exactly which species of trilobite, ammonite and shark tooth fossils I bought. They are lovely, though! I will add some pictures later.

The thing I enjoy most about November is when the Christmas Markets begin. Those who aren’t familiar with the custom can find out more at The Christmas Archives (http://www.christmasarchives.com/christmas-markets.htm). The markets start the last week of November, just after the American Thanksgiving Day, though of course they don’t celebrate that here, and run through Christmas Eve. (While there are a few restaurants in Munich that offer Thanksgiving and/or Christmas Dinners, they are usually quite expensive. In case you’re interested anyway, here’s a list for Christmas Dinner: http://www.toytownmunich.com/archive/christmas_dinners.html) There’s a small Christmas Market not far from where I live, and I usually drop by in the evenings after work. There are little wooden stalls where people sell all sorts of food, decorations, gifts, and of course that great German specialty, Gluehwein (For recipes, see: http://www.altfrankfurt.com/Weihnachten/).

I believe this is the first December in several years that Munich has had snow just before Christmas! Usually it may snow in November, but then we get the infamous “Christmas Thaw” that lasts until New Year’s Day or longer. Then after Epiphany (January 6th), the really nasty weather arrives and lasts through the end of February or the beginning of March. Last year we had a snow storm on March 12th, but after the 13th spring suddenly arrived!

Anyway, that brings me up to now. I have a week’s vacation before Christmas, so I’m using the time to catch up on my blogging and other stuff. I also plan to see the Chronicles of Narnia this week, so I can review it on my website. I’m looking forward to enjoying Christmas Dinner and New Year’s Eve with some close friends, and of course our Christmas service at church.

I wish everyone very happy holidays and a wonderful New Year!

Ciao,

Renée