Even though I never really went out at home, I’d like to be home. I miss the kind routines of everyday life. The stress of not getting breaks on time, of running around smiling like an idiot because you love your job. I miss my friends. I miss my family. Sitting at home all day leaves too much time on your hands. The dreariness of it all let’s you reminisce on the past, lets you float along to play with what-if’s and why-not’s. Here in Germany the weather reflects my mood. The clouds are a glowing gray, and can’t really decide if they want to do anything in particular today besides mope at the sky.
I’ve been particularly down about Christmas these past few days and can’t stop thinking about all the wonderful traditions of home. Christmas Eve with the Reyes family, sleeping over at my grandparents, spending the morning opening presents then eating breakfast. Christmas night and afternoons were spent with my in-laws. Such a wonderful joy came in the security of the same itinerary every year. Now we begin our own traditions.
Since I’m home (at the hotel), pretty much every day, I occasionally watch television. Half the channels are in German, and the other half are military commercials and a healthy slush of American daytime shows. This evening while Matt was playing video games, and I was perusing my phone, a commercial about soldiers overseas came on. You would think that I was desensitized to all the military stuff that shows up around here, but it caught me off-guard. The thought that some people are missing their soldiers during this holiday season is heartbreaking. It helped me get a grip on myself, and my time here, and really take the time to reevaluate why I am here, and how lucky I am to have Matt at my side. I guess I avoid thinking about deployment, and as a few friends have pointed out here have said, it’s going to happen. This year I have him though, and I will do everything I can now to make it memorable.
My new mission is set: getting a tree! Thankfully I don’t have to worry about stockings because my Aunt Carm & Uncle Buzz got us covered right before we got on the plane. My grandparents even sent us off with presents to open, which is really sweet of them to do, because as selfish as it is, I want to unwrap something this year. This weekend we will be in Mainz Kastel shopping for the perfect Charlie Brown tree and some stocking stuffers. We aren’t sure what’s really going to happen for Christmas, but I want to buy The Christmas Story so I can watch it on repeat all day (Matt doesn’t know about this plot yet). I also want to go back to the Christmas Markets that we visited last weekend.
For those of you who didn’t know, we did our first German outing not too long ago! We visited the Christmas markets, and I know most of you saw some snippets on facebook through instagram or through the snapshots we took. It was super awesome to be able to go a few blocks off base and immerse yourself in the culture. The markets here are similar to St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin. There are vendors that come out and have homemade items, some Christmas related decorations, or food, or clothing items and some random things like baskets or jewelry. Amongst the vendors were food/drink stations, which served some delicious pork sandwiches and classic Coke in the glass bottles, but what seemed to be the most popular were the alcoholic items. We divulged in hard apple cider but what I want to try next is the warm wine that’s served as well. The drinks come in mugs, and either because people aren’t thieves here, or no one likes the design that much, everyone who gets a mug returns it. They are super crazy about recycling here, which is refreshing.
Anyways, for my family who might want to know, I looked into school this week! I am going to go to school online through the University of Maryland, and once I’ve started and have both feet on the ground I will look for a job. Today as we were getting errands done for Matt, I came across some pamphlets on community services on base and they looked interesting. I’m not making any commitments here, but I think it would be nice to give back to the community if I’m not working. Now the absolute HIGHLIGHT of my week was looking into dog breeds with Matt. The talk has officially begun, and we are getting a dog. Not now because we aren’t even in our own home, but sometime in Spring next year looks like we will have a new addition to our family! <3 So excited.
Last but not least, we have a mailing address and since I can’t post it on here you are more than welcome to email me or call me to get it! Hope all is well back home & all over. If anyone wants to call or email me just for fun, please do! I love talking to people from home.
Here are some photos of the latest adventure!
Entering the Market under a giant unlit flower!
The street the market was on.
Beginning of the market!
Train just outside of the market.
Sweet German buildings!
Looking out into the square, with that castle thing directly behind me.
Kinda looks like San Francisco :]
