Nikolaustag!

Happy Nikolaustag everyone!

I am having a lovely day, since St. Nick found me at home and at school. So I have three boots full of chocolate, a little toy reindeer, and a music box full of lebkuchen. I must have been a very good girl this year. My reindeer is coming with me to my classes today (he or she is sort of beanie baby sized) and I feel very festive.

So this has been a pretty busy week. Last week we had two very long choir rehearsals since our first performance was Friday afternoon. At Thursday's rehearsal I got a real treat. I get to sing with music! I don't have to memorize the words! Life got a lot better after that. Friday's performance, however, was a little disappointing. But I sang my duet for the first time in front of an audience, and everyone said that it went well. Saturday was christmas baking day. First we made pumpkin pie, for the first time with Familie Florschütz. We rolled the pie crust very thin and it turned out lots better. Everyone was stunned that it actually tasted good, because it doesn't taste like pumpkin, and we all had two pieces. Then we also made christmas cookies, which no one here thinks is very american. alright. Nice sugar cookies cut out with cookie cutters and then baked with almonds on top and then with a chocolate rum glaze. Oh, yes. I still have a bowl waiting for me at home. Saturday night I went out to the dance club/disco in town, Capitol, which used to be a movie theater. I was there with friends I met through Rayk, who can't believe I'm only 22. Surely I am in my thirties like them. I just take it as a sign of how young at heart they are, and as a compliment that they want to include me in their social group. I couldn't stay out so very late though, because Sunday morning we had another concert in Frankfurt, which went a lot better. But I had been invited to lunch with the family of the woman I am singing a duet with, so we had to leave a lot earlier.

Frankfurt (Oder) is about an hour away and one of the main border crossings with Poland. The church we were singing technically still belongs to the Swedish crown, that's right, from the 30 years war. When Sweden took over this part of Europe. It had lovely stained glass windows that were stolen by the russian troops in world war II, and have only recently been recovered and are being slowly bought back by the oragnization that is restoring the church. It is only in the last few years that the church has gotten a roof back. It was hit by a bomb in WWII during a church service and 500 people were killed. It was left as a memorial for a long time, but now they are trying to rebuild it. They were able to recognize the stained glass windows because they are very famous. They have the only depiction of the anti-christ that was displayed inside a church (at least as it was explained to me). They have one window restored and placed in its frame, others are being restored now, and some still have yet to be bought back.

The christmas market was inside the church, since it is so big and empty, and was very nice. Lots of lovely things to see. I'm getting lots of christmas present ideas!

I need to run off to a lesson now, but I hope you all are well, and that if you have the chance you'll write to me.

Zu meine andere Chormitglieder(innen) die auch ab und zu mal hier lesen: ich bedanke mich für Eure besuch! Ich hoffe, dass es euch gefällt!