Letters home: December 2002

Dear loved ones,
I have just passed the three month mark! As usual with adventure-type experiences, I feel like my time here has passed by more quickly than possible, and at the same time I feel like I've lived a lifetime since September 1.

I am suddenly feeling a need for ritual. (One of my professors in seminary always said that we are ritualizing people: it isn't about *whether* we have ritual, but *how*.) I missed Halloween almost entirely and wasn't about to let Thanksgiving pass by uncelebrated (Germans don't celebrate our pilgrims and related activities :-). So on Sunday I prepared a Thanksgiving feast for eighteen (!) people. It went really, really well, but not without some challenges. For example, canned pumpkin is simply not to be found in Munich, nor fresh pumpkin, nor prepared pie crusts, so I made sweet potato pie from scratch instead (YUM!!). Cranberries are also a thoroughly American phenomenon, but I managed to find some at Wal-Mart (go figure!). I had to be a bit creative with the turkey too, since Germany turkeys come in two sizes: small and 'you must be kidding'.

So I cooked TWO turkeys (size 'small'), mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, beans, carrots, cranberry sauce, sweet potato pie and apple pie. Grandma Jo, I simply can't figure out how you keep everything WARM until the people eat it!! It probably didn't help that only two burners on our stove worked, and we have a very small oven... but somehow it all turned out yummy. It was quite the international feast: two Americans, a bunch of Germans, and folks from Japan, Korea, Russia, Brazil, Poland... Then someone brought out the guitar and we sang a very odd mixture of 70's protest songs, 80's rock ballads and German folk and pop. Somehow quite fitting to the occasion.

Classes continue to go well, and the ones at the Uni continue to be a bit above my head, but maybe I am starting to see the light. It's frustrating to know I will never speak perfect German, but it's also a bit freeing. Sometimes you just have to go for mutual comprehension and toss grammar out the window (not forever, of course...).

I am learning to dance. Dance class is always one of the highlights of my week--so far we've learned Disco Fox, Cha-cha-cha, Slow Waltz, Wiener Waltz (which has to do with Vienna and not hot dogs), and Rumba. I am way better at it than I thought I would be, having in general no coordination or sense of rhythm, but when you are the lady, you just have to follow directions, and THAT I can do! We have ample opportunity to practice, since everyone in the class lives in my dorm.

I have a job (maybe)! One of the folks here at the dorm works for an investment firm, and they need things translated into English every now and then. If I can get my visa switched so that I can work legally, then I have my dream job-- work from home, in my pajamas if I feel like it, just a few hours a week, projects as opposed to the daily grind, doing something I am good at. Hooray! The thought of going back to the visa place is not thrilling, but I have good motivation.

One of my friends invited me to her house for Christmas! I am so excited. We already have plans to decorate the Christmas tree, explore the surrounding towns (Strasbourg, France, is one of the surrounding towns!), and lots of other fun Christmas-y things. I am also planning to join in on a ski weekend in January. I hope I haven't forgotten my middle-school ski lessons... I'm afraid skiing in the Alps might be a little different than "Afton Alps" in Southern Minnesota... Do they have bunny hills in the Alps??

So I would say now that I am "settled in." My irrational phobias (like talking on the phone, talking in general... :-) have been replaced with the ability to laugh at my constant speaking mistakes and then ignore them (at least somewhat). I am back to the normal ups and downs of daily life, which is comforting. Still miss you guys sometimes, of course, but I have so much to do here that the homesickness stays at a bare minimum.

Still trying to figure out what to do next year... staying here is a possibility, but it depends on how many other Americans want to come. I have also applied with the international branch of my church, for volunteer positions all over the world. And of course coming "home" to the US is always another possibility. Where, and what for, I don't know yet. :-)

Advent greetings to everyone!
With love,
Jess