A little late but...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM STEVE IRWIN AND HIS CROCODILE!!

A new direction!

First off, some completely random Hamburg Happenings:

The boys won tonight in a shootout. I thought we had it in the bag until Nürnberg tied up the game with 3 seconds left. THREE Seconds. They just had to give us a thriller tonight! Thankfully, it ended in our favor. 

For the first time ever, Kev and I hosted a dinner party. We (or should I say, I, can't say Kev slaved in the kitchen the entire day ;-)) made a mexican themed feast for 10 people! That's a lot for our little apartment to hold. Not to mention that I can never host a dinner and not go all out. We tried our best to make sure we stayed with in our theme. Even down to the San Miguel beers. Alright, that means we already left the theme, San Miguel's are Spanish not Mexican. At least we were within one language!

our table setting for 10 (4 couples, and 2 of the single guys)

I am really looking forward to the team's "post-Halloween" party on November 4th. Halloween was a highlight of my days at BGSU and I like to think I had some pretty great costumes. After not having a party at all last year, I am really looking forward to going all out this year. We have decided what we are going to be, and have most of our supplies for our costumes. You all will have to wait until after the party for the big reveal!

The first league break is coming up soon after our Halloween party. So far, we are thinking of Prague, Czech Republic, although nothing has been booked yet.

The next city we may be crossing off the list!

I have been thinking for a while now what direction I want to go with this blog. As much as I enjoy being able to update everyone back home on our lives here in Hamburg, writing solely "life updates" gets repetitive for me. I need a change!

As most everyone that reads this blog knows, I run for fun. Well, most of the time I don't think it is all that fun, so we'll just stick with running is a big part of my life. Therefore, I have decided to start a new "feature" tomorrow, called "Sweaty Saturday." It will be a chance for me to bring another part of my life into the blog. It comes at the perfect time as I just registered for my first marathon today, the Hamburg Marathon in April, 2013. Check back in tomorrow! Tschüss!

...Laterne, Sonne, Mond und Sterne...



Hans and his friend Hanna



Tuesday night Kevin and I joined Hans and his dad to parade the streets for their "Lantern tradition." Kids trick-or-treating for Halloween in Germany has just taken off within the past 5 to 10 years and is still not very popular here. Instead, around Halloween, people celebrate the life of a 4th century bishop on St. Martin's day. The tradition is usually held on the eve of St. Martin's day (Nov. 11th), however, the Scherenberg's church held they're "festival of lanterns" on Tuesday. The tradition is that kids go through the street with lit up lanterns or candles singing songs about St. Martin. In some areas of Germany, the kids go door to door to carol and receive candy for their songs.



As for us, the night started out with a short church service and after the children and their parents along with the church band took to the streets parading with their lit up lanterns. Some lanterns are homemade and some store bought. The Scherenberg's bought me a lantern to carry and Hans had helped make 2 at home, one for his dad and one for him. He had been looking forward to this for about a month, constantly singing the lantern song leading up to Tuesday night. Below is the song Hans sang all the time, and the only song I was actually able to learn!



Kev and I with our lanterns



Laterne, Laterne
Laterne, Laterne
Sonne, Mond und Sterne
Brenne auf, mein Licht,
Brenne auf, mein Licht
Aber nur meine liebe Laterne nicht.

Here’s the English translation...

Lantern, Lantern

Lantern, Lantern,
Sun, moon and stars,
Burn, my light,
Burn, my light,
But not only the light of my dear lantern

After the children finished walking, they came back to the church where they were selling hot dogs and drinks. It's quite a sight to have 100-150 kids walking through the streets with their lanterns. It's nice to be apart of these different traditions.

Hans and I have been getting along now more than ever. Last night, he even asked me to stay by him in bed while his parents were out to the theater. Some days he wants nothing to do with me and others he is asking me not to go home at all and stay with them all day/night. I am done with work for the weekend, and tonight Kev and I are going to go downtown for a real North American night... burgers and an english movie! We are taking full advantage of Kevin having a Friday night off with no games! Have a great day! Tschüss!