Ein sehr Deutcshe Weihnachten und Neues Jahr!

I took the train from Köln to Frankfurt and, as Nora had predicted, the journey was very pretty. We followed the Rein river for most of the trip. I arrived at Frankfurt on time where, in the terminal, Jenny and I stared at each other for a few minutes before we recognized each other because years apart introduces different hair cuts and different styles. We spent the night catching up in her apartment in Bad Vilbel, just outside of the main city of Frankfurt.

For those that are curious, Jenny was my German partner in the student exchange I participated in when I was at Mattituck High School about 8 and a half years ago. We see each other about once every two years, and this was my first return to Germany (and Frankfurt, for that matter) since I was 16.

Jenny's English far out performs my German. To be fair, she uses English at her job while I normally have no real means of practicing my German. But the stereotype of 'everyone in Europe speaks English' isn't that far off the marker. I'd say about half of the people I interacted with either offered to talk in English, or could fill in the blanks of my broken German. But, I was in their country, I tried to speak their language. 'Tried' being the key word. Sometimes I did very well, sometimes I failed miserably. It all depended on whether or not I knew the vocabulary list for the topic of conversation.

Most people really appreciated the effort. I get the impression that most people *cough Americans* that visit Germany don't speak the language at all. And I'm not getting all high and mighty. If I went to Italy, I don't know lick of Italian. I'd be fucked.

It was Jenny's family that really tested me. Jenny's father, whom I love dearly, refused to speak English except to help me when I was struggling. Both of Jenny's grandmothers, who I was with on Christmas, didn't speak English at all. Neither did Nora's grandparents when I met them. Jenny's Oma spoke directly to me, and verrrrrrry slowly. I managed to have several conversations with her, albeit understanding more then I spoke. It's an interesting feeling to be comforted by a sign in a restaurant window that reads 'We Speak English!' because your grasp of the native language is not up to fully fluent levels. It puts things in perspective. It's different in Wales, everything is in Welsh AND English, so there's not as much pressure.

In Germany they celebrate Christmas on the 24th instead of the 25th. We went to an early evening mass and watched the town children re-enacted the story of Baby Jesus. We sung ''Silent Night'. We went back to the Gehrke's house and open presents. They lit the candles on the tree (real candles, not a string of lights) We ate a Fondue dinner. The next day Jenny and I rested, and then we had a larger dinner on the 26th with Jenny's extended family. The 26th is also a national holiday. Jenny's family was warm, kind and open to me.

Jenny unfortunately had to work for a lot of the time I was there, but that was good because I had a lot of reading for school anywho. However, I did escape to visit the Natural History Museum, the Film Museum and the Städel Museum. Walking around the streets in Frankfurt made me remember things I love about New York and city life. I walked along the river and took in the sites.

We spent New Years at a friends house, and at midnight in Germans all over set off fireworks. The party headed to a park at 10 before 12, and when 12:00 hit the air was filled with fireworks, explosions, yelling and laughter. We all ran around and hugged each other. In retrospect alcohol+fireworks+night=not a good idea. However, given the circumstances, it was a fantastic evening. The next day I ate sauerkraut, a German tradition that is said to bring luck in the upcoming year. Let's hope it works.

At the end of my three weeks I left in a similar place that I had left Germany the first time, on the cusp of figuring out how to accurately speak German (really, I'm almost there, and now I leave), happy with all the new friends I have made on my short journey, and looking forward to return to my comfort zone. Wales has become a familiar, safe and happy place for me where I have a life and have good friends. So I return to a second semester (where did the first one go?), having at least figured out where I fit in the scheme of things.

New Years Resolution:
To finish the things I start. We'll see how it pans out. Sauerkraut and all.

Emily
Virgin Trains - en route from London to Bangor

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