Word of the Week: Gottesdienst

[[I just realized that I hadn't hit 'Publish' on this post, even though I wrote it 3 months ago when we were still in Germany! There will be a few more like this to follow, too.]]

I've been going to church at Luthurkirche in Nippes since the early summer. It's only a 5 minute walk from our house, it's not catholic (a bit of a rarity in Cologne), and the services are good, so it's been really nice to go whenever we're in town. The building is brick gothic in style, much like the churches we saw in northern German (post and pictures coming soon!) with the ceilings stuccoed and painted.

it's hard to see in the picture, but the apse is painted with beautiful light blue stars

The services--Gottesdienst--are in German, so sometimes I'll catch 70% of the sermon and sometimes only about 10%, depending on the speaker and topic. My favorite part, though, is the singing--hearing the organ echo off the walls, and singing some of my favorite hymns in German is a lovely way to start my Sunday. And it's yet another thing that makes me feel like I'm in Germany, even if I spend most of a week working in the apartment! I borrowed a hymnal the other week, and I've been making copies of my favorite hymns so I don't forget them.

Morning has Broken, auf Deutsch  - one of my favorites

I also like the church because they regularly host concerts and events, called Kulturkirche. Most of the events are secular, but they never bring in death metal bands or anything, so it turns into a really neat venue. We recently went to a Radical Face concert there, and it was so fun! The acoustics are great and, because we're in Germany, there was a bar with beer. Drinking beer in church felt a bit funny, but I guess they wouldn't get a very good turn out if it was a dry concert :)

clockwise from left: the lighting effects, the sound guy and bar, and drinking beer in a pew

I haven't posted as much recently since we're busy working, getting ready to move, and soaking up as much as we can before we leave. The Christmas markets kicked off today, so I'm sure I'll be sharing about them soon!

Thanksgiving in Deutschland + A Recipe

For Thanksgiving, we got gigantic Schntizel at Bei Oma Kleinmann's and ended our feast with a sour cherry galette. Galettes are basically the lazy person's pie, which was perfect since (a) I have no pie pan and (2) one pie is way too much for two people! Sour cherries (Sauerkirschen) are found in a lot of German desserts, including Schwartz Wald Kirsch Torte (aka, Black Forest Cake) and on top of waffles with a side of whipped cream.

Sauerkirsch Galette
1 pie crust
4 cups sour cherries (in juice if canned)
3/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or sugar
pinch salt
squirt of lemon juice
1 egg white, lightly beaten

1. Make the crust according to the directions, making it at least 2 hours before you want to bake the pie. 
2. After rolling out the pie crust to fit your pan, lay the crust in the pan, but don't crimp or cut the edges as you'll be folding them over later. Put the pan in the fridge while you make the filling.
3. If the cherries are canned, drain and reserve the juice. In a medium bowl, mix the cherries, 1/4 cup of the reserved juice, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, salt, and lemon juice and let it sit for about 5 minutes to thicken.
4. Scoop the cherry filling into the prepared pan, spreading them evenly. Dump some of the remaining juice over the top, about enough to come halfway up the cherries (there may be some leftover juice).
5. Fold the crust edges over the filling. Brush the crust with the egg white, and sprinkle a bit of sugar over the top.
6. Bake at 375F for about 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Let it cool a bit, then served with whipped cream!

Germany is already in the full-on Christmas spirit, so we ate our Thanksgiving feast with red-and-green all around and this fine fellow to keep us company. I'll be posting about the Christmas markets and a few other things soon, but in the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving aus Deutschland!

T-Minus One Month

our first 1. FC Köln game

We have only a little under a month left before we fly back to the US--time has flown! Here's what we're looking forward to when we get back to the good ol' USA, in no particular order:

• Inexpensive, high-quality steak.
• Tacos, sharp cheddar, and good salsa.
• Maple syrup and brown sugar available at the grocery store.
• French toast, pancakes, scrambled eggs...eating at Parker's Maple Barn and Soundbites.
• Our stinky hound!
• Getting reacquainted with my kitchen gear and all my other clothes.
• Having a cell phone with a camera and being able to text family on the go.
• Seeing family and friends who we have only seen online for too long!
• Being able to effortlessly speak with shop owners, administrators, and pretty much everyone without having to compose each sentence in my head beforehand. (Though I will miss this, too!)
• Having a car! Oh, how I have missed the freedom of having a car! (And, yet, oh how I will miss the fabulous trains and public transport in Germany!).

And here are some plans for the rest of our time here, also in no particular order and not including work and research:

• Go shopping for gifts at all of Cologne's Christmas markets.
• Visit a Christmas market in a small, charming village (Bad Munstereifel? Monschau? Münster? We shall see...).
• Eat schnitzel at Oma Kleinmann's.
• Eat saurbraten (J's favorite) at a Kölsch pub.
• See Radical Face at the Kulturkirche in mid-November.
• Cheer on FC Koeln at another soccer match.
• Attend mass at the Dom.
• A quick, 3-day trip to London, staying at a super posh hotel using our free Hyatt nights.
• Experiment with more interesting ingredients from the market.

I still can't believe we've been here for 11 months, but we have had lots of interesting adventures. Now to pack in as many more as possible before Decmber 14!

Ausflug: 4 Countries in 14 Hours

A few weekends ago, we spontaneously rented a car at the Cologne airport and visited a few places that have been on our 'to see' list, but are annoying to access by public transport. Our plans were loose, but we knew that we had the car from 9am to 11pm that day...and the sky was the limit!

First stop: the quaint Monschau, accessible only by bus (and webcam).

This little town is right on the border with Belgium and it at one point was part of France, so we saw a lot of Dutch and French in town. The best part of this cultural mixture -- poffertjes and waffles!

The winding, narrow streets, the castles on the hills surrounding the valley town, and the pretty stream flowing through town make Monschau the epitome of a small, German village.

We spent about 3 hours wandering around, then hopped in the rental car for the next leg of our trip.

Word of the Week: Martinszug

This evening as I was getting ready for a class, I heard children singing outside. It's a bit early for caroling, so I looked out the balcony, thinking that it was probably coming from the music school behind our apartment. Instead, I saw hundreds of bobbing lights in the next street over, and heard trumpets, tubas, and drums accompanying kids singing. So I naturally had to check it out!

source

Turns out that it was a neighborhood parade (Zug) to celebrate the catholic holiday of the feast of St. Martin (Martinstag), which I mentioned last month when the Weckmann appeared in bakeries. Groups of kids had special, and often very creative, homemade lanterns, each lit with clever wands with hanging LED lights. It was so fun! I could tell the kids were having a blast, too, despite the cold evening and mist. There have been parades all over the city, including a big one from the Dom to Groß St. Martin--skip to the end of the video to hear some of the songs :)

there were about 500 kids in the parade, with 4 bands spaced throughout to lead the songs -- so fun!