February Update

Well, it sure looks like everyone but Vancouver got their share of snow - even you Texas friends for a change.  The girls were bummed they missed seeing a big pile of snow in our backyard but the novelty of snow has kind of worn off!!  Our latest snow venture has been borrowed skis for both the girls.  A friend lent them skis for the season and the girls have been practicing their moves on the hills in the neighborhood.  Just one problem - no lift!!  The first few times I played "lift', then I got smart and said if you want to ski you have to take the skis off and carry them back up.  It's a chore.  This has got to be the most powdery snow Jay or I have ever seen and it's pretty deep.  Walking in it is a workout!  Dayna is ready for a lift - "it's too much work"!  Karissa keeps going and looks pretty good actually.  I hope to take them to a little slope (with a lift, thank you!) in the next day or two.  We'll see if I have the patience for it.  If you have ever skied you know that the mastering the lift can be just as difficult as skiing!!

We're being told this is the snowiest winter they have had since '78 or '79.  I guess it's better than ice!! Needless to say here are more pictures of us enjoying it (trust me though, we are not nearly as delighted with it as the kids!).   The pictures are taken right around our apartment and the kids in the apartments have had a ball.  We have literally spent hours in the snow with many of our neighbors which has made it more fun.  Jay has even gotten into the action but has had his share of tumbles which we all enjoy immensely.  The sleds are a little small!  It is so interesting because even old people go out and go sledding (without even having kids in tow).  Yesterday Dayna lost a boot and a man at least 70 helped her at the bottom of the hill.  He and his little wife were just out for a Sunday afternoon jaunt down the hill!!  The Germans are very active - much more active than Americans and very few people go to the gym.  Their exercise is just a part of their daily life and culture.

We haven't ventured too far from the neighborhood all winter since they really don't use snow plows very much.  We see quite a few spinning tires and even the Autobahns just get shut down altogether!  My friend picked her parents up from the Frankfurt airport the other day and the trip took over 7 hours instead of 2 1/2.  Now we know why Germans all buy snow tires!!  The poor mail carriers just gut it out on their bikes - no mail cars or trucks.  Talk about getting your exercise while you work and we have incredible hills on top of it!!  People ride their bikes year round.  "No such thing as bad weather in Germany - just bad clothes" as the Germans say!



You'll especially enjoy our bakery and note the yummy pretzel Dayna is devouring - they are a mainstay around here.  Everyone pops into the bakery and munches on something as they walk.  Jay has said he's never seen so many people eating while they walk!!  These bakeries are fabulous and we really have so few like them in the U.S.   Our supermarket bakeries pale in comparison.  Everything is so fresh.

Before the girls' week long holiday, they had a Fasnet/Fasching party at school on Friday.  All the kids got to dress up.  The Germans use a ton of face paint and they get really creative with it.  Part of the tradition is to cut off neckties from men's necks so that's why the auditorium is decorated with neckties.  Dayna opted for the most unpretentious costume - she was an Amerikaner.  Karissa got into the vampire scene.  Lots of Indians which cracks us up.  Even the teachers dressed up - the principal looked just like a Klu Klux Klan member - not something typical for the U.S. administration!!  The cultural differences are so interesting.



We head out to Rome on Thursday and hopefully some warmer weather.  Until then...

Fasnet

One of the things that we have come to understand about the difference between Europeans and Americans is their deep sense of tradition.  We forget how "new" the U.S. is compared to Europe.  This past Sunday we rode the bus downtown to attend the Fasnet (or fasching as they call it in the north of Germany) parade in the old city or Alstadt.  Fasnet is celebrated in the weeks prior to Ash Wednesday and it has Catholic roots.  Think New Orleans Carnival (Carnival, "carnem levare” (to remove meat)).  Since Baden Wurttemberg(the state we live in) has historically been a Protestant state our Fasnet citywide celebrations are in their infancy but other cities like Cologne have been celebrating for many years with wild parades and such before the 40 days of Lent start.

Since there seems to be some animosity between the Protestants and Catholics here we got major mixed reactions about Fasnet - the Catholics were "you've got to go to this parade" and the Protestants replied with "what parade?" or "Oh, we don't celebrate fasnet".  We decided it was a rare opportunity to witness an unusual cultural event.  As you browse through the pictures I think you'll understand why I chose the word "unusual".  This is not your typical American parade with marching bands in uniform, beautiful floats, or clowns.  It's all about letting loose and having fun before the Lenten fasting, however, the roots of the celebration go back to pagan times, when there were seasonal
celebrations designed to drive out the evil spirits of winter and
encourage the coming of spring and good crops. Ugly wooden masks are worn to
scare away these evil spirits.  Since these heathen traditions could not be suppressed by the Church,
they were gradually supplied with new symbolism and adapted to the
Church calendar.  There are clubs that work on these elaborate costumes and travel to various Fasnet parades to participate.  Lots of witches and smoky, sulphur smelling brew!  (I'm thinking the chicken get ups have something to do with encouraging spring??) I haven't been able to come up with any answers on the significance of some of the things - they all wore basket woven shoes, many wore bells (to scare away the spirits?) and most carried a tin cup.  But again, some cities have been having this celebration for over a thousand years - who even remembers why?  It obviously isn't that important or I would think it would be widely publicized!!

One of the most interesting things is that the parade participants play tricks on the crowd.  Stuffing confetti down people's back, picking people up and throwing them over their shoulder, stealing hats, stealing shoes off people's feet, and the worst was smearing bystanders with black face paint.  Karissa and Dayna both got smeared but they actually grabbed Karissa and carried her down the route - she was smeared from her hair down to her neck.  Although she looks happy in the photo taken from home she was mortified when it happened.  I felt so bad for her.

It was quite festive and many people in the crowd dress up too.   Since we were newbies, we didn't dress up (imagine that?!).  If you dress up, you get more candy, but we got plenty.... a highlight for the girls.