EuroLife: Day 66

This is becoming something of a theme. Sunday rolls around and it's Michael's turn to write the blog, but I have such a lovely Sunday that I convince him to let me write it! So here we are again. The picture above was taken a few evenings ago in the center of the city. December is the time of Christmas Markets here in Germany, and Jena is no exception. The whole city has been extravagantly decorated, and there are dozens of new shops, stands, and cafes set up throughout the city center. Soon we will take pictures in daylight and write a post on our Christmas Market, but not today.

I am continually impressed by the people we meet in our church. This morning we slept-in a bit and went to the second service. As soon as the service ended, the man in front of us turned around and introduced himself. He, Reinhold, is a recently retired business-management professor, and was familiar with the project on which Michael is working. Within minutes he had invited us to lunch. He and his wife Ulricha drove us to their beautiful home up in a part of town that had somehow not yet seen. Reinhold, Michael and I sat in the sitting room while Ulricha went to prepare a lunch. In what seemed to be an impossibly short time, she returned to seat us in the dining room. There we all sat and had Roast Beef (fresh out of the oven) with a mustard cream sauce and a horseradish dressing, in addition to rice and salad. It was absolutely delicious. I tell you, ever since complaining about the food, I have been inundated with treat after treat. After lunch, we all had vanilla ice cream served with chocolate shavings and homemade cherry jam. (I'm pretty sure the meal in its entirety must at least come close to my mother's ideal meal; I thought of her with each course!) Then they practically forced us to have seconds. (By which I mean, they offered us seconds.)

Enough about the food. These were some of the nicest people I have ever met. The conversation was constant and incredibly interesting, and I felt so at home with them. The first half of the afternoon we spoke German, which I was able to understand almost completely but in which, of course, I cannot say very much. We switched to English during the meal, occasionally reverting for a few phrases but mostly remaining in English. It's difficult to capture exactly why the afternoon was so wonderful, but I believe that if you met these people you would want to spend the day with them. The only reason we eventually left was because we were due at Jeff and Deanna's house for coffee and cake! (It's a difficult life I lead here in Germany.)

So off we went to Jeff and Deanna's. Their youngest daughter was dedicated in the first service this morning, and they had a gathering in celebration. There, too, we had a wonderful time. (I had a little too much sugar, or perhaps a lot too much sugar, and I'm paying for it now. It's very hard to turn down homemade treats!) There were quite a few students at Jeff and Deanna's, most of whom we know, and all of whom speak English. It was just a great way to spend the afternoon. Jeff and Deanna have a blog as well, I meant to include the link yesterday but forgot. You can see them, and many of the students, at: http://jndministry.blogspot.com

And now we are spent. I've been laying low since being "released", so this was quite a lot of activity for me! Our plan for this evening is to watch "So I Married an Axe Murderer", a (very likely dated) American comedy that was included in the stack of DVD's I got from Jeff and Deanna. We have to return those one of these days, and neither of us have seen this movie. Here's hoping it's funny!