a first time for everything

In the last week, I have had several "firsts".  Last Thursday was my first time driving in Germany.  Yes, it was on a little-used back road, and yes, I never went higher than 3rd gear, but I drove!  Reacquainting myself with a manual transmission will take a while, as I drove a car with an automatic transmission since getting my driver's license, and it has been a long time since my brother first taught me how to drive a stick-shift.  Thankfully, the road laws are not too different here - soon I hope to be out on the road and holding my own with the German drivers.  :-)

On Friday, I went to "Turnen" with the girls and their mom.  This is an exercise class for kids - they get to run around a gym, walk on balance beams, do somersaults, climb over obstacles, and jump on a trampoline.  When the weather is cold and wet, Turnen class is a fantastic outlet for all that pent up energy.  With the kids, parents, (and au pairs!), it's always a big hit.

Saturday was my first entire day with the kids, from waking up to going to sleep.  Occasionally there are weekends when both parents have to work or be in class.  Usually this happens once a month or once every two months...however, a schedule change meant that I had two of these weekends in a row to start out November.  During the first, I was taking care of the kids only while the mom caught up on sleep from a night shift, and then there were two of us around.  This weekend, however, I was on my own for the whole day.  It was good to see how the routines from the weekdays carried over to the weekend, making the day go by a little more smoothly.

On Sunday, I was here once again with the children, but that evening, our church here had an evening for the families to have fun and spend time all together.  The evening was celebrating St. Martin's Day (which just so happens to be today!), which celebrates a Roman soldier who became a monk and offered help to the poor.  It is celebrated with paper lanterns which the children make in kindergarten, then light up with candles for the Latenernlauf.  The origins of the lanterns is unclear, though some say it symbolizes the hope that St. Martin brought to the people he served.  When I went with my church, there were a ton of kids there, and as we walked through the dark, deep woods, with only lanterns and torches to light our way, it definitely had a festive, magical feel.  That night was even more special to me, because of the way everyone took care of the girls and me.  We always had an extra hand to hold, when my hands were full, an extra pair of eyes to look out for us, and new friends to talk with along the way.

Finally, here is one small thing that made my day.  With the kids, I only speak English, so that they have another input of that language (their dad also speaks English with them).  They mostly speak in German, especially the younger one, with a few English words thrown in.  Last night, when we were brushing teeth, the little one looked out the window into the night and spontaneously said "It's dark outside."  It was a phrase she has heard a lot, but its rare that she uses the English words, not to mention an entire sentence!  That made my night.  I'm learning so much from these kids.  I'm glad that they are learning a little bit from me as well.  :-)