I met up with Amy (she's the American I met a while ago... she's been over here for 2 years now.) for lunch at Pizzeria La Perla, which is Brian and my favorite restaurant here. They have the best homemade pizzas... yum! After lunch, Amy and I ran some errands around Friedrichshafen. She was really helpful and she gave great advice about where to find things that are similar to what we would find in the U.S.... She realizes how difficult it can be to move over here, and to be surrounded by so many unfamiliar things... So, she told me that she'd like to share what she's learned with me... Which I think is great! :) She told me that she's learned alot through trial and error (which Brian and I have too... Does everyone remember the Apples and Oatmeal incident?! :)), so if we have any questions, we can definitely ask her. :)
Spending the afternoon with her, I realized how nice it is to hang out with people from the same culture as me... Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy spending time with people from other cultures, and I've met alot of great people here. But, sometimes it's nice to spend time with people who speak the same language, who understand your "slang", who you can relate to (she understands the difficulty of living in another country, and not having the same things here that you would have in the U.S.). Amy and I basically spent the afternoon talking about different aspects of living in Germany and the U.S., as well as all of the things we miss about home... It was great! It wasn't a depressing conversation by any means... Instead, it was a way to get a little taste of home while living in another country... And that's always a good thing. :) I think the best part of the afternoon, was when we were driving in her car, with the radio cranked up, and singing "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey at the top of our lungs! It's definitely not something you see everyday in Friedrichshafen... And I guarantee, anyone that saw us driving by was probably thinking... "Those crazy Americans!!" :)
After I spent the afternoon with Amy, I then took the train to Ravensburg to meet up with Maike... We spent the evening shopping and walking through the Christmas Market. I actually tried my very first chestnut this evening... and I have to admit, it was quite tasty. Maike was quite shocked when I told her that I had never actually eaten a chestnut. (I've always sang the song, "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire", but I've never actually eaten one. :)). Apparently, eating chestnuts is a very popular tradition around here. I also learned that another popular food tradition around here is waffles. Around here, they eat waffles for dessert, with powdered sugar on top. Interesting... I always thought they were a breakfast food. :) Oh, and this time I actually brought a camera with me so that I could take some pictures of the Christmas Market...
This is the nativity scene that is hand-carved from wood... Each piece costs about 1200 Euro...
This is one section of the Christmas Market... Sorry that it turned out so dark, but I couldn't use the flash, otherwise it would get too blurry. :(Well, I'd better get to bed... It looks like it's going to be another busy day tomorrow... yay! (I'm doing all I can to stay busy while Brian is away, as it just gets too quiet and lonely in the apartment when he's not around). Have a great day! Miss you much!
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