Sylvester, aka New Year's Eve

Germans call tonight Sylvester. I have no idea why. So I guess Stallone is "New year's eve Stallone?" weird!

Tonight I'm feeling so grateful for all the wonderful people in my life, even if they can't be next to me right now. All the people who feel my presence, who ask about me and send their loving thoughts and support.

I realized that sometimes it doesn't take much to make an impact in people's lives. And sometimes you don't even know what it is. You are simply being yourself, and somehow that lights up another person in the room and brings a little more joy in their heart. I miss the wonderful people who surrounded me in Calgary, in the dance community, in the spiritual gatherings... but I know that one day we will reconnect again and again we will ignite each other, make someone smile, lighten up someone's day...by simpy being ourselves. But for now I am here and here is where I am anchoring my light for now, while sending love to all those who I think of often.

Also I can see clearly how human beings are suckers for tradition and rituals. That's what tonight is all about. Humans invented it to have a free reset, a free start over button. And hey, its works for some people!

the in-between time

I am starting to miss the beauty of Christmas markets already. Suddenly, there seems to be fewer reasons to go outside and just wander. Do you mean I have to wait a whole  other year for this? Well, I am sure the Germans will think up more reasons to cook up wonderful yummies and sell their wool sweaters in the tiny log stalls again. And whatever the reason is, I'll be there.

Fresh Canvas

I painted my first, real, big painting in so so long! The first one since I'd moved here.What a wonderfully freeing experience! What a burst of  excitement and joy. What an interesting feeling to just cut a piece of canvas from a roll, as big as you want. And suddenly, i want to go big!!! No longer afraid of the size of the canvas, I find the size of the table is not big enough anymore; I want a painting the size of the wall!

Sure, I just painted some colourful lines. And here my ego kicked in: "You call this a painting? A child can do that! What are smiling at? What's here to be proud of? At least draw a palm tree in the foreground or something!" But it makes me happy. Simple as that. Looking at my overly simplified painting, I fill up with warm memories of distant sandy beaches and warm breeze. And in the end, it's not even about what you paint, it's about how you feel when you paint, it's about the emotional release. I realzied that during painting I simply don't think. Because I know that if I start thinking, the paitning will get much worse! So I just follow some instinct, some guidance, without careful sketching or planning. If I like it in the end-great, if not-I had a fun couple hours of pure unrestricted joy! Art is not about a pretty picture or an accurate depiction anymore,-it is a tool to express your wildest fantasies, your dreams and desires, to remind yourself of who you really are. I paint to re-affirm, to feel and to visualize what I know is true.

Sadly, this is NOT Boxing Day!

In zee Germany, boxing day or even week simply does not exist. Or so I was told. I will be making a trip into town tomorrow to check the accuracy of that statement, but today, everything is closed. The Germans like 2 days to digest the food, not just the actual Christmas Day. 

On another note, today i simply miss video rental stores. How lovely would it be to walk in, peruse the new selections, read the descriptions on the back, maybe even strike up a conversation with the sales associate. Or maybe find a hidden gem in the international section. Well, not here. I am still trying to understand the mystery of where and when the English movies are playing (well, the only one for that month!) and beyond that, i might as well go to 1950's silent movies!

Christmas Wonderland

Today found me in winter wonderland: sun was shining all day, reflecting off the beautiful fresh powdery snow. Germany is perfect in the holiday times! So many families were out toboganning on what looked like last century -made wooden sleds, not a piece of plastic to be found! Others were simply walking off their Christmas meals and enjoying the fresh air, anyone from young couples strolling around to elderly ladies, with their power-walks on,-the park was quite a busy area!

After a quick break for early dinner, I remembered about the free Christmas concert at the Jacob's church. As expected, the church was full well before the service began and we only got seats upstairs on the little balcony. The view was quite limited, but I was happy to let my senses dive into the forgotten joy of live classical music. Lovely playful baroque minuets by Handel and amazing strings piece by Williams were played. It was neat not only to experience the music in a 17^th century church but also to people-watch. I couldn't have imagined myself anywhere else that moment. This was a truly European/German experience.

In days like these I feel like I am where I'm supposed to be. Europe feels pretty great. And with New Year's  only few days away, it's time to start taking stock of things that transpired and get ready to welcome the new.

The long-awaited Winter Break

How is it winter break already? Where did most of my semester go? And HOW did it go? I am having a bit of trouble answering those questions right now...maybe I will be able to in retrospective.

Once again, what makes me feel Christmas spirit the most is being out, in the market squares, in outdoor christmas markets, watching people, young and old , out for hours, enjoying the old school fun. Before shopping malls and restaurants were ever build, this is what people used to do, and you can feel this tradition so well when standing still in the midst of it. Handmade wooden tiny ferris wheel, skating rink, smell of roasting sausages, waffles, gluhwine; walking from stand to stand with every kind of sweet imaginable, filling your nosrtils with scents of cinnamon and vanilla! This is Christmas for me, a pleasure for all the senses and by now I have experienced at least 5 markets already. Feels like the whole December was one big Christmas celebration. No pressure of buying gifts, no overcrowded malls, no frustration in the parking lots-just leisurely strolling from one timber stand to the next. Germans know how to do it!

And now-the final touch! My own Christmas tree! We bought a tiny tree (1 m height) by the coolest-looking church in Stuttgart, while looking for something else completely. It smells amazing! Like having a tiny piece of forest in your living room. After puzzling over a self-improvised tree stand (I wasn't about to spend another 10 euros on a stand, that's just going overboard!)s, the tree is now up and decorated. First christmas in Germany! Wow, a year ago I wouldn't even have imagined any of this at all...

Esslingen Medieval Christmas market

A church in Reutlingen square

I wish I had more photos of the pure awesomeness that surrounds you at one of these markets, but usually I am too enthralled and completely abandon my photographer's duties!

First signs of winter

Its starting to get real cold in here! The Germans really enjoy saving on energy bills. Hence why our Geoscience building has an overall temperature of 17 degrees. I find that even if I wear 3 sweaters, winter boots, scarfs in class, it's still not enough. It's still somewhat above the freezing point. I don't have a clue how I am going to survive a whole winter here.

Thus I made some trips to nearby towns of Esslingen and Reutlingen, mostly looking to stock up on sweaters and thermal underwear. If i can't buy any christmas gifts for people this season, at least I will buy things for myself to keep me warm!

The closeness of Christmas is starting to be seen everywhere, as more markets pop up, people talk about their travel plans for the winter break...I miss family and home and it is sad I won't be going home for the holidays. 

Esslingen church on the neckar river

Fresh baked buns in Esslingen

small town life

Today I looked at how my choices and beliefs led me here today, remembering what it was that made me go to university in the first place. It's very interesting. Being here gives you such a perspective! Later, watching a travel documentary, they showed a bit of Calgary. I must say, whenever I see it, the images of the city do not make me miss it at all. I have come to appreciate the rugged Canadian wilderness, the impressive mountains and how much of it is still to be explored, but as far as everything else, I am happy to be somewhere else. Even if Tubingen feels very small sometimes (example: Today, in 3 hrs we walked in 2 different areas of the city, had dessert at a cafe and went grocery shopping!) Still, it's the human interactions with the people who I have come to know and love that I miss most...And not really miss, but just appreciate that it took a while to find people in Calgary and it is good to know that no matter what, these people will be in your life. I know people like that exist here too, I am yet to find them though. 

Well, I must go to bed, Monday always comes too soon. Wish you all pleasant dreamy journeys in your sleep tonight. 

Guten tag!

Today was my 3rd German class. I am making quite the progress. Actually, I sat in the front row and had too much fun yelling out all the answers before the teacher could finish a question. Sorry for all the other students, but I had a great time. So I guess it's official, I will register for the class even though it makes my Tuesdays and Thursday to be 12 hrs long! Ah, the sacrifices I make for learning!

Also the teacher told us that Tuebingen is known for science and philosophy but not so much for visual arts. Literally, she says, there are no painting studios on campus! You have to go to the towns nearby. No wonder I couldn't even find drawing paper. 

The Berlin trip

 It is a long weekend and I have been pondering the idea of going outside the Baden-Wuttermberg region. Berlin or Munich were both high on my list, as I was beginning to ache for some art and culture. Being so close to the date, neither German Wings, nor the Air Berlin had any good deals for flights. The only option left was the Deutsche Bahn, or the Damn Bahn, as I prefer to call it. I mentioned earlier my complete disillusionment with the "speed and comfort" I seemed to remember from some travel show I watched about Europe back in Canada. The trains are expensive, slow and often not air-conditioned.

Not having any other option, I looked into the cheapest way of getting to Berlin from Tuebingen. The funny thing is, if you are a "youth" (under 26) it is often cheaper to get a 2-3-4 day pass than paying the last-minute fare one way (which, in my case, was 148 euros for 2nd class. No, thanks, DB!)

 And so with the German Rail youth pass I went...8 hrs on the train! Amazingly enough, it wasn't too tiring. It was actually a good time to relax and reflect. I listened to Deva Premal the whole way there and I arrived in a very peaceful, accepting state. And I am sure this was a big part  of why everything went fantastic. The hotel was great (booked on hotels.ca) and Berlin itself was very interesting to see. The metro system was surprisingly easy to figure out, while the trams-not so much. At one point I started walking in what I thought was the hotels' direction, based on the posted house numbers (they are usually at every intersection), which turned out to be exactly the opposite. However, I wasn't about to take my chance with the trams, that seemed to go every way but straight. Well, that's just me.

I took a bus tour for most of one day and walked around on the other two. Parts of the city reminded me of Moscow, parts were just like in the tourist book and others were just surreal pieces of history that could be felt very strongly....I am talking about the Berlin wall, of course. What an experience to walk where it all happened, to read the timeline posters that were put up with great care in order to fill the tourists in on the timeline (let me summarize: the Russians are to blame. Germany wanted nothing but peace, of course. Ha ha ha)

It is one of those cities where you just like to wander, eat food from the street vendors, take lots of bad pictures and blend in with the crowd. It was equally as exciting to explore the sights during the day and at night, when the shop windows became lit in all colours of the rainbow. 

First impression of Hauptbanhoff was the surreal, 5-story design with trains going on the top floor (!) and the shops on the lower ones. Then, stumbling upon a swanky but unexpectedly cheap wine bar in the same central train station, I knew I wasn't in Tuebingen anymore. A pleasant change from donairs to curry wursts was also quite welcome. The Zoo square, in particular, caught my attention. It had food booths from every international food group imaginable. You could have fish and chips with a noodle box and shashlik without walking as much as 50 steps. Oh, Berlin, a food lover's paradise! I am quite happy to say with selection like this, I never once made it to a restaurant in 3 days. Unfortunately, I also did not make it to a contemporary art museum, as most art destinations were outside of the city centre and frankly, I was too lazy to figure out how to get there on transit. Partly, my laziness was due to knowing that soon enough, I will be back for more.

Curry wurst mit pommes und ketchup. It's Bio (meaning organic)-eat up!

Charlottenburg palace. I never made it inside, the only time I had to see it was at night. It 's prettier this way anyways.

The Braedenburg gate.

The awesome contemporary architecture (art gallery, I think?) right across from the Reichstag.