Dreaming of Pineapples, Tasting Nothing.

I'm feeling very old tonight. I was going to go out but the band starts around nine. I thought to myself, "Nine is so late!" I just can't physically get the courage to go. If they would have said, "Let's meet at eight." I could of, probably done it. But once the clock strikes nine, I'm down for the count... ok... probably couldn't have.

So I am tucked into bed after spaghetti and mozzarella sticks watching my new TV show to follow, VEEP. I'm giving it a try. I love Julia Louis-Dreyfus from Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine. Let's just say I'm not totally sold just yet. 

All around Berlin, the city is turning magical. For weeks now, Christmas markets are popping up and lights are everywhere. The grocery stores even have lights on them! We have started singing Christmas songs in our morning circle and even reading a Christmas story. In Germany, the Advent is very important. I find that the Advent calendar and anything else around Advent is magnified ten times more here than in the States. Anyway, its all very nice! The parents have prepared something small for the kids. I guess Santa Claus comes this Sunday. (I'm not sure on the traditions but...) So there is a small treat for them when they get to school. And even a few on my desk. :)

So I have been sick for the last two weeks. I've been in school and out and in and out. It's quite a nightmare. I'm still battling a stuffy nose. That's the worst part of it now! Some things taste a bit off because of it and I don't sleep very well. I've been dreaming of pineapples and other fresh fruits. Probably because I can't taste how good they truly are right now. Me- always thinking of food. 

I've picked up two new books. I mean I never feel guilty about buying a book. Anyway, I picked up The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories by Marina Keegan and All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Both of these books were prize winners. All the Light takes places in the 1940s. There are two children, both with different past during the time of Hitler, and the story goes on to tell how their paths converge. 

The other book The Opposite of Loneliness, I'm totally and utterly drawn to it. I knew that it was written by a young author by seeing it on a website. Website? -You think. Well, you caught me. I browse from time to time --- OK I get emails! --- from websites that share ideas of the best books to be reading. I'm a total nerd. But I do this because I want to be reading and reading good things. Sometimes I'm too overwhelmed at a book store because I want to read all that I leave with nothing. If I go in and have about 10 books, I know are good. Out of those ten, when they are in my hands I know what to buy and read for me at that moment. I keep those other eight books on a list in an app on my phone so at a different time in my life they may be the books that are bought. This whole app thing is new but so far it's working. Usually I make a list in my calendar, then the years is finished -the list is gone. You can see how this doesn't work. 

Now back on point. I found The Opposite of Loneliness online and knew it was written by a young author. It wasn't until I was in the store with the only copy I could find in the store that I realized that the author was twenty-two with a bright future ahead of her. Sadly, the author Marina Keegan, a Yale graduate, was killed in a car accident five days after graduation. Her parents, friends, and professors put together this book of essays and stories. In the introduction written by her professor, Anne Fadiman writes, "Marina was twenty-one and sounded twenty-one: a brainy twenty-one, a twenty-one who knew her way around the English language, a twenty-one who understood that there are few better subjects than being young and uncertain and starry-eyed and frustrated and hopeful." I believe this is why I'm drawn to her writing. She speaks to where I am life or where I just left. But the issues of a twenty-something happen for the next ten years and maybe after. Nonetheless, it sounds like Marina wasn't trying to be anything but herself in her writings. I love that. She was a very talented lady. I am only 12 pages in and I'm in love.

I must be going. Now that I talked up this book I want to read. Plus, VEEP isn't loading. :) 

Wishing you a very happy Advent. 

I miss you.
xx

Here are some photos of the passing weeks.

Team Meetings at School. 

Thanksgiving dinner at Mike and Jess's. 

I've slowly been filling this in. I find it difficult to fill in 100 things. I don't want to just list 100 places or any direct places for that matter. And yes that says Taylor Swift. She is my guilty pleasure. And that is read the whole Bible. I would love to read it from beginning to end. I always get stuck in the family tree verses. 

I have joined a field hockey team. I have only made it to one practice but I have started to run a bit more. It's hard having a cold. But the competitive side in me wants to be physically up to par if my skills are not. My whole other side of don't care what they think takes over sometimes and I don't run but I'm working on that! 

My first Christmas market in Zehlendorf. It was very tiny but still cute for the small town. 

Finding yummy French Onion soup! So happy! 

New winter coat that goes to my knees. Yes that's right- the longer the better in Berlin. Waiting for the bus, sitting on the cold, wet benches, and having recess duty makes me want the warmest coat possible. I bought a new one because the last one, I loved, the seams are coming out at the pockets and the pockets have huge holes. :(