Happy New Year!!

Yesterday was a long and pretty busy day. I got up early to walk Amelie because we were going to Ikea for breakfast. She still had a bit of a tummy ache from the night before, so the walk took a little longer than expected, but it was ok. We took the Autobahn to get to Ikea, so that was awesome. It's the first time I've been on the Autobahn since I got here (except probably the day I arrived, but Olaf didn't drive very fast) but we were only going 140 kph because it was raining.
When we got to Ikea we had breakfast first because the store wasn't open yet. All 5 of us ate a full breakfast for less than it would cost to buy 2 Venti lattes at Starbucks. For 1,95 Euro you get a slice of lachs, some cheese, salami, strawberry jam, 2 rolls and a coffee. Beat that, Denny's. There was this one little punk kid in the play area where we were eating that I wanted to smack. At first he was throwing stuffed soccer balls at Gustav's head, then he started throwing them out of the little enclosure area at people and tables and stuff. Little turd!! Eventually his mother dragged him out and made him sit down. After breakfast we went through the store, and I bought bright green rug for my bedroom while Esther picked up a few little extras she needs for her new office. The rug perfectly matches the curtains I bought a while ago that I tried to take back but couldn't because it had been more than 2 weeks, so I guess I should go ahead and use them now. The size of the rug is perfect for my room, and Amelie absolutely loves it. Esther says she doesn't think Amelie will ever leave my room now.

We didn't really do anything that special last night for New Year's, but we still had a lot of fun. I didn't have any parties or anything to go to (both because I don't really know anybody to party with and because I've never really been concerned with NYE parties anyway) so I spent the evening here with the family. We had raclette for dinner with a bunch of new recipes that Esther tried, and they were really good. One was chicken with garlic, green onions, tomatoes, and vanilla butter, and there was one with seasoned mushrooms and sour cream, and I think my favorite was the prosciutto with melon and mint. They sound kind of weird, but it was amazing. Olaf and I both ate so much it was ridiculous.

After dinner Olaf, Gustav and I went outside to light fireworks. A bunch of the neighbors had already been setting some off for a while. Apparently it's illegal to own fireworks in Germany except on Silvester, so from the 29th to the 31st they can be purchased, and they can only be lit between 9pm on the 31st and 1am on the 1st. At midnight people were lighting fireworks everywhere. It was like we had our own little Times Square fireworks show, but we were making it ourselves. It was a lot of fun. Anyway, when we first went out with Gustav to light fireworks Pauline stayed inside with Esther because she was scared. Gustav was a little on edge a couple of times, and for some reason at one point he was afraid that Olaf might throw a lit firecracker at him (don't ask why, he was just afraid of it). Every time Olaf would go to light a firework Gustav would come over to me and sit on my lap while I squatted down to his level and I would wrap my arms around him so he felt safe. Then when it exploded he would start laughing. It was really funny, though, because it wasn't a typical little kid's giggly laugh, it was more devious, like a teenager who learned you can make a coke explode by throwing it off of the balcony of your high rise hotel room. Olaf was getting a big kick out of Gustav's reactions.

As much as they tried, the kids were not able to stay up until midnight. They probably would've made it if they had taken a nap when they were supposed to, but they didn't. Pauline was still a little scared so Esther went to lay in the bed with her at around 11 and Gustav decided that it was time for him to go to bed, too. I took Amelie for a quick walk while Esther and Olaf were putting the kids in bed. The poor little thing got so scared as she was running toward the field because she saw fireworks go off in Brauweiler right ahead of her. She stopped, looked at the fireworks, and then turned around and came running back to me. She was very quick to do her business and then started heading back home before I had even put her back on the leash yet. Just before midnight Olaf put her in the cellar because you can't hear the fireworks very well down there, so she didn't have to be scared.

At 2 minutes to midnight Esther woke me up (I was half asleep on the sofa) and told me to hurry outside. All up and down the streets and everywhere you looked you could see people lighting fireworks. Some of them were pretty hardcore, too. Esther and I had some gold and silver sparklers (which I discovered this morning had burnt small little holes in the left sleeve of my down jacket) and everyone was drinking sparkling wine and toasting one another and watching/lighting fireworks. Once it was done I was prepared to go home, but they wouldn't let me. The neighbors across the street had set up an enclosed canopy in their courtyard and inside they had a barbeque, a heater, tons of bread, cheese, drinks and food of all sorts, and two girls (8 and 14) tending bar. The neighbors wanted me to participate in the after party with them (since they had been pre-partying all evening) so I went with them and ended up staying there for about 2 more hours. They had this really amazing soup in there that, although I had already eaten too much raclette, I had to have. You start by putting cinnamon apples in the bottom of your soup bowl, then you add cream (like whipped cream but not really sweet) and a little bit of oil (I don't know what kind of oil it was, but it was dark) and top it off with the pumpkin soup. It sounds really weird and maybe even gross, but it's freaking delicious. So I ate some soup and talked to the neighbors (sometimes in German, sometimes in English) until we were all way too tired and everyone went home to sleep.

I'm really glad that I didn't go to bed when I wanted to because it was great hanging out with the neighbors. I learned that one of them has two daughters that are 21 and 24, and she said she's going to call them so they can come and meet me. One of the husbands that lives across the street speaks nearly perfect English, as well. I think they all speak at least some English, so if I get stuck they can still figure out what I'm saying or repeat what they're trying to say to me.

When I got home I laid down on my new rug with Amelie and fell asleep cuddling with her. I woke up a couple hours later and got in bed, but I wanted to cuddle a little bit since she had been so upset all evening. And it was snowing!! It started snowing just a little after midnight and I could see the tiny little flakes falling outside my window. Snow on New Year's was definitely a new experience, and I love it.