Season's Greetings

  

For several years have we been looking forward to being in Germany during the Advent season. After all, Germany is the home of Christmas markets, with all the atmosphere, treats and warm drinks that get you into the right holiday spirit. When living in Edmonton Pierre always felt homesick during Advent and Christmas time. So naturally we made every effort to make the month of December extra special. Munich has quite a number and variety of Christmas markets to offer. We really liked and often enjoyed the traditional Christmas market in the courtyard of the Residenz, the former royal palace of the Bavarian monarchs near our apartment in the center of the city. Competing for our attention was the nearby medieval Christmas market at the Siemens headquarters, and of course the Christkindl Markt am Marienplatz in the Altstadt (to name a few). But even the alternative Tollwood Festival on the Oktoberfest fields excited us with all its lights, young crowds and ethnic cousine. But we didn't limit ourselves to our Munich backyard, so to say. We traveled to Innsbruck in Austria and to Verona, Italy, where we experienced a magical time visiting the display of numerous nativity scenes from around the world in the ancient Roman amphitheatre.

And then there was our trip to the small town of Ried in Austria. We had heard about the 'Nikolaus' procession and subsequent 'Krampus', which is a tradition in Austria and particularly in the area of Tirol. We had no idea of what to expect from this event.

Well, the Nikolaus procession was nice, with Nikolaus and two angels coming to the tiny town square, where children and families had gathered to traditional Christmas brass music. All the kids swarmed Nikolaus and his helpers, and even Sam and Jenna got gift bags with sweet treats.

Then, families with little kids retired for the evening, and members of the local fire station moved their firefighting equipment into place, barricades were positioned and the crowd of older kids and adults gathered behind them in anticipation. After some time something truly bewildering started: Groups of devilish creatures entered the square accompanied by techno and hard-rock music. The creatures blew on horns producing bone-chilling siren sounds and carried all kinds of fireworks and torches (hence the fire crew). Kids who got too close or were taunting the devils were beaten with rutes made from sticks. Jenna was scared and Karla took her to the warmth and safety of a nearby restaurant, while Sam stayed on Papa's shoulders to watch the mayhem. Who knew that Austria could be this 'tribal'. Our video gives an account of this crazy event. 

****WARNING****GRAPHIC CONTENT****

Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi

I have been lingering over the keyboard for some time, not quite sure where to begin. We have been having such an amazing journey, and have been blessed to encounter many wonderful and amazing people along the way. As we have learned, all too often, people come and then they go. We've had this disheartening realization many times before, back home.

Meeting people is easy enough, it just takes a quick "hello" or "how are you doing?"...but if you're careful, and if you're paying attention at the right time, there is always an opportunity for so much more. Before we had children, we made friends through mutual friends, or the University, or through clubs or organizations that we had joined. Now we happen to meet them in the park or at the playground, or even the entrance at school (children are, after all, the universal magnet for drawing people together). Inevitably, something just clicks, and if you're like me, you eventually invite them over for dinner and the rest is history.

Luckily at IBZ (our host organization), we have a trampoline and a giant sandbox with a slide, and that is where all the kids congregate and where we first encountered our German friends from Australia (or are they Australians now, from Germany?), Finn - 5yrs old, Felix 19mo, Folker and Stephi. At first, it was nice to sit outside while the children played and just have another adult to speak with, but the children quickly developed a strong bond and it didn't take much longer before we were all intertwined in the daily routines and functions of each others lives, and happily so! We thought moving into the smaller apartment would be so terrible, but it put us next door to SFFF, and suddenly it was like having two apartments instead of one! The kids beat a path back and forth to each others apartments day and night, and eventually so did we.

We never intended to spend very much time in our apartment, because Bavaria was waiting for us, but SFFF gave us a reason to call this place home, and we looked forward to sharing it with them :) Sadly, though, their time in Germany has come to an end, and they have returned to Australia. And where the hallways were once alive with the sound of children coming and going, now the doors are closed and only an empty echo remains. And the silence is deafening.

Stephi, you once called us beautiful souls, and the feeling is truly mutual. I will always appreciate your unique perspective, and be grateful for your invaluable insight. It is so appropriate that the skies are finally grey and misty over Munich.
Safe travels, SFFF. May the sun shine even brighter over Brisbane, now that you're back home.
Thank you for the love, our hearts will always be with you.

KPSJ