Dienstag, 23. November 2010

Let's talk about the weather. It sucks.

It's cold, like the German kind of cold. It's windy too, which makes the cold even colder. (And it's not yet the coldest! eep!) The darkness feels eternal as the sun now graces the sky from about 8:00-4:00. During the day thick, gray clouds selfishly block off much of what little sunshine there is. Bah humbug.

Well it could be worse. It could be Sweden! Ha! Anyway, don't feel sorry for me. I will adjust. If the millions people living in these northerly latitudes can do it, so can I! (or do they drink themselves into oblivion?) In any case I feel optimistic that booze-free activities such as knitting, baking, reading, and general Gemütlichkeit (coziness) will make the winter quite enjoyable.

Let's not forget the Christmas tide! Until December 25th, there's an obvious, ready solution for the winter blues. This shit is taken seriously around here. Right now Dresden, along with the rest of Germany, is busily getting ready for Christmas. The famous Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas markets) open on Thursday.

Today I was downtown on the Prager Straße (think of a Dallas mall, but on a European pedestrian shopping street) and all around me green holly rustled and bright Christmas lights shined. It would be cute if it wasn't for the nauseating mass-consumerism behind it all. (Dresden was communist a mere 20 years ago? Wtf?)

What brought me to the Prager Straße? Well it started with me bitchin' and moanin' about having a tough day. (Today's lesson plan was a bomb + the aforementioned weather + scary observation tomorrow). Micha, my good friend/fellow teacher/partner in crime, had a creative remedy. We went to a big, impressive department store named Karstadt, found the kitchen timers on display, set a handful of them to go off in 2 minutes, and left. Oh fun!

When I came home I indulged in my favorite food: the sweet potato. I haven't found any yet in Germany, but Helena brought me a few from Spain. Party in my tummy!

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