Frohe Weihnachten!

Hey All! Frohe Weihnachten, Buon Natale, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noel, and Merry Christmas! I hope the heavy snowfall in recent days and weeks hasn't thrown a wrench into any of your holiday plans. It is certainly beginning to look a lot like Christmas around these parts. One of the major, and regrettable, signs of the coming holiday are the ever-dwindling closed doors in our Advent Calendar.

The other sign of the season is the snow. Oh yes, we got snow and it was beautiful. It's not very obvious in the picture I posted below but the snow was actually coming down pretty hard. That's the view from our balcony, by the way.

Since the temperatures today rose into the mid 40s, a lot of the snow has already melted. Brenda and I are both hoping for a little cooler weather on Thursday and Friday so we can have a real white Christmas.

Last Friday, my language school threw a holiday party. Brenda was kind enough to make a batch of chocolate shorts, which I took in to share with all of the other Deutsch learners. I enjoyed sampling the diverse home-made foods that the students and teachers made, as well as visiting with students from different German classes. Brenda made an appearance late in the party and got to show off her German chops. My classmates were impressed.

On Saturday, Brenda sang Musetta in La Bohème. She went into the performance with very little rehearsal and without ever having a full run-through of the opera. Not really an ideal way to make a role debut. As you might imagine, however, she was outstanding. I know I say that about all of her performances but it's true. Every time I've seen her perform here she's been truly exceptional. I promise I'll tell you if she ever stinks it up. My German teacher and her boyfriend came to La Bohème with me. My teacher had never seen an opera before and she seemed pretty impressed. She laughed, she cried and she clapped. What more can you ask for from an opera?

Last night, instead of writing a blog entry like I should have been, Brenda and I ate dinner with our friends, Marlar and Florian. Florian is one of Brenda's colleagues at Oper Frankfurt and also happened to sing in La Bohème on Saturday. After we enjoyed some delicious potato soup that Marlar made, Brenda helped Marlar decorate their Christmas tree while Florian and I cheered them on.

Proof that Brenda and I have friends in Germany.

Brenda and I made our last visit of the year to the Weihnachtsmarkt today. I have to admit, I'm sorry to see it go. My waistline, however, is breathing a sigh of relief. I now have 11 months to lose weight in preparation for next year's Christmas market.

Brenda and I have made plans with some friends for both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. While nothing can compare to spending the holidays with our families, we are very excited to be celebrating with great friends. We hope that your holidays will also be filled with loved ones and happiness. Until next time, have a very Merry Christmas!