Christmas Eve

Another very special evening.  I should probably stop saying that as pretty much every day we spent in Germany with Chuck's family was special.  It is worth mentioning that Chuck and I did not "sight see".  Sight seeing was definitely an option, but those types of outings don't particularly interest me.  What I desired to do was spend time with Chuck's family, doing their usual life things.  Sitting around the dinner table was my most treasured time.  We went to Germany because that's where Chuck's family happens to be from, the fact that it was a different country was just icing on the cake. 

Christmas Eve was my first visit with the church Chuck grew up with.  People that have know him since he was very young, and people that have watched him grow up.  It was really sweet to meet them.  This is the church where Chuck's dad (Dan) is a Pastor, the reason why the family is in Germany.  Chuck and I established a routine.  He would speak in German to them and I would listen for when he said "meine Frau".  On que I would say "Ich heisse Abby".  They almost always laughed in surprise that I was attempting to speak in German.  I also knew how to say "Merry Christmas" and "Thank you" which I said about a thousand times because that's pretty much the only German I was capable of.  I think they appreciated it.

So the Christmas Eve service was a "short" service- only 3 hours!  Yes, I jest.  Just wait til you hear about the following "regular" services.  =)  Anyway, this particular evening was interesting as it was my first time sitting through a German only service.  I found myself smiling and nodding like I actually knew what was going on.  HaHa!  I pretty much wandered around with a big grin on my face a lot because I wanted people to think I was friendly, even if I couldn't talk with them without an interpreter. 

What I really loved were the people that practiced their English on me.  One man in particular was absolutely adorable.  German through and through with the typical Lederhosen pants and all.  He came up to me, with his face just inches from mine and said, "Hello...How...are...you...?  Merry....Christmas."  So cute.  I loved that.

After the service, the fam trooped back home and Chuck's Mom (Tricia) made a fantastic, traditional German dinner.  Oh how I love the food over there.  You may be able to tell in the picture, but we had German potato salad (MMM!!), Bockwurst- German version of a hot dog (totally opposite of an American hot dog!) with Broetchen (those fabulous crispy rolls) and this yummy mustard stuff.  Another wonderful thing is that Germans do not use ice.  They put out the cups, and then put the drinks on the table, making it much easier.  Every body just grabs what they want.  No one has to put ice in the glasses, or take drink orders.  And, almost every drink has fizz.  Apfelschorle was one of my favorite drinks- basically sparkling apple juice.  Even the water has fizz (that I was not as big a fan of).  Then, the Dubbe tradition is to have a birthday cake for Jesus, and sing to Him.  I really loved doing that. 

We had lots of laughs, good conversation, and just plain bonding time sitting around the Christmas Eve table.  I loved it.  Dan took this picture and I'm so glad he did. 

(Left:  Chuck, moi, Adam, Timmy, Jamie (the dog), Renate, and Mom)