Last week started with a home-cooked spinach garlic noodle omlette with Russian soup. Russian soup can also be served with whip cream, and somehow I am strange for suggesting banana bread? In any case, I have yet to eat something that doesn't utterly delight me. Gabi has a wonderful sense of just how much seasoning to put into a dish. Sometimes I help in the kitchen and we work side by side dicing potatoes which I am proud to say is a skill I am acquiring. Most days afterschool I go for a walk through a nearby forest. I call it my place of sleepy trees that are tired of holding their leaves. As each day passes by it has gotten colder and the sky is more barren with its loss of autumn color. Everyday is a 'warm tea, fuzzy socks, cute shaped chocolates, and Bible reading' day for me.
Naturally, cuddly days need really busy days so they seem more cuddly. I took a couple pictures of one of the 'busy' days in our resteraunt. It started with an early breakfast and peeling potatoes. As I was dicing, there was a quick buzz at the door. 'Cake is here!' hollered Gabi from outside. As I helped her pack six or seven hand crafted cakes from the car into the kitchen freezer she explained that all of the grandma's in the village made a dessert for the party. I'm not sure if Gabi could see my face (eyebrows up, eyes wide, and open mouth) but she reassured me I would get a taste later. It was a thirty guest birthday party from noon to six p.m., we cooked unbelievable amounts of potatoes, sauerkraut, red cabbage, carrot salad, sticky potato balls with bacon on the inside, ham, beef, schnitzel, green beans, brussel sprouts, wedding soup, and fresh steamed vegetables. I enjoyed hearing the warm laughter from the kitchen as Gabi and I chit chatted over the differences between the US and Germany. (She was in the US for a month to visit Marcus (her son) who did an exchange program two years ago). Somedays it seems that I'm living in another state in America because it seems so familiar, and some days it feels like I flew to another planet instead of Germany. 
Speaking of planets, this is a picture taken from the Hamburg train station which is beginning to decorate for Christmas! I went with my friend Nadine to help her find a birthday dress for this upcoming weekend. Unfortunately we didn't find one, but I did get to see Hamburg before Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market), which is 'shoulder to shoulder packed' Nadine said. Below is a picture of the train station in the afternoon, it seems people from all over the world ride into Hamburg. I have never seen such a variety of cultures, styles, and hairstyles in my life. I visited a nearby Starbucks, but was disappointed at the lack of merchandise and the more than usual expensive coffee prices. Between savoring every sip of my high priced coffee and a saxophone player lullabying the market with the song Amazing Grace it was an incredibly relaxed atmosphere. There was a balance between bustling shoppers, communing friends, and leasurely couples both young and old. I couldn't help but hum to myself Louis Armstrongs's Wonderful World song. Normally, it's hard for me to travel into the city because it is too much for my mind to comprehend all at one time. But I prayed in the morning, and ended up having one of the most sentimental days here yet. Praise God for turning my fear into joy everytime I call on His name. Without Him renewing my strength, and changing my perspective daily I would not see this world and His glory so wonderfully. Not to mention, He has blessed me with incredible company for friends. I will be visiting Hamburg again in the following weeks with Nadine to buy Christmas gifts and keepsakes for when I travel back home. If I had to compare Hamburg to anything, it would have to be Time Square. But of course, time square doesn't have hand made chocolates from Europe :) 
Until next week...Genevieve!
