Happy St. Nicolas Day!!

Today isn't actually St. Nicolas Day (it's tomorrow night/Sunday), but it was celebrated tonight by Gustav's Kindergarten. We met in the forest nearby (the same forest where we walk Amelie, but on the other side) for the celebration at 5 o'clock this evening. It was already dark by then, so the kids brought the lanterns they had made for St. Martin's Day and the adults were given torches. To start the celebration we walked through the forest with our torches in a long procession, like for St. Martin. We walked in a big loop, and as we were walking back toward the starting point, the kids started calling out "Nikolaus!" trying to get St. Nick to come and join them. When we got back to where we started, there was a small bonfire and a man dressed as St. Nicolas, with the beard and the bishops' hat and the notorious golden list and everything. Everyone gathered around and sang traditional songs about St. Nicolas while eating cookies and drinking Gluehwein (or warm fruit tea for the kids). Then St. Nicolas had a small gift for all of the children. It was a little terry cloth washcloth/hand puppet that looked like St. Nicolas and was filled with candy and nuts. For me, the best part about the whole thing was that it was raining. I wish more than anything that my mom could've been there, because there are no words to describe how happy the atmosphere would have made her. Just imagine walking through the woods in the rain with only torches to light your way. You could hear the rain in the trees and the crunch of the leaves as youy were walking, and it was so soothing. I don't know about other parts of the country, but this kind of thing just doesn't exist in Southern California, and I'm so excited to be able to learn about these holidays and rituals and celebrations while I'm here.

As for the rest of the day, it was pretty standard for a Friday. I had Pauline with me all day, and Jette came over to join us from 10:30 to about 12:45. She didn't even fuss at all about being left by her mom this time; she had a big smile on her face when I said hello and she was happy to come sit with me and Pauline while Britta left. I changed her diaper within the first hour, too, so that it didn't end up like last time. She still had made quite a mess of herself and I had to change her pants and onesie, but it didn't compare to last time. I figured out why we didn't know she had so much poop sitting around in her pants last time, though. She has scented diapers, and they do a surprisingly good job of hiding the smell. It was nice and peaceful with the two little girls playing together all day, and it certainly made my job easy.

I also met a woman who speaks perfect English today at Gustav's Kindergarten when I dropped him off this morning. Her name is Wiebka, and she was an au pair in Pittsburgh when she was 20. She later studied in West Chester, and now she's an English teacher here. She heard me speaking English to Gustav and Pauline, and she got really excited because she doesn't have any native English speakers around to talk to, so came right up and introduced herself. She also lives in this neighborhood, so I'll probably be seeing her around, now that I know who she is.

Pauline and Gustav were so funny tonight after dinner. Pauline went to the front door and put on Esther's boots, which come just above the ankle for Esther but go up to Pauline's knees, and started wearing them around the living room. Then Gustav went and put on my boots, which go all the way up to my knees, so they were all the way at his croch. Esther said he looked like Pretty Woman. My camera was upstairs so I didn't get any pictures, but Olaf did, so I'll get those from him later.