Oktoberfest. Geburtstag. Herbst.

Well it has been awhile since I blogged, but I have been quite busy. I have really enjoyed number form when blogging so today that is what I will do.

1. It is officially fall and it is getting cold. I am starting to wear scarves and lots of layers, which I definitely like. Fall makes me miss Minnesota though, I think partly because it just reminds me of all the "fally" things that are there. Like college football season, pumpkins, leaves, etc. Christmas stuff has already started coming out here since obviously Thanksgiving isn't celebrated. I couldn't believe it, I was like already Christmas. That is two months away.

2. Last Friday, my team and I loaded up on a coach bus and went to Oktoberfest at Diedersdorf Schloss (castle). I didn't really know what to expect, but it was interesting showing up to the bus and seeing everyone in normal clothes when usually all we wear is soccer gear around each other. We got there at about 18:00 and planned on leaving around 23:30. When we should up there was this HUGE tent. Like I didn't even know that tents were made that were this big. And we walked in and there were tons of table and already quite a few people there. There was a large stage with a German band playing obviously German music. We had tables reserved for our team. At first I was a little hesitant, and was like oh man this could be a long night of just sitting staring at each other while drinking beer, but boy was I wrong. We ended up dancing to German music all night and seriously it was so much fun. It was fun hanging out with the girls outside of soccer. It was crazy they knew all the songs and I just pretended to kind of know some, but whenever an English one came on I was like, booyah! Regardless to say it was a blast and it was fun to experience the German culture in a new way. I mean not many Americans can say they got to go to Oktoberfest in Germany.

Team at Oktoberfest

3. Saturday night, I met up with my friend Elaine and we went to this bar/cafe to listen to different acoustic artists. I didn't think it would be that cool at first, but it ended up being sweet. This one girl was "looping" and it was so neat to see it live. I mean tons of artists do that for their music, but to watch her perform it live was really cool. I realize that I don't have much knowledge of music and I have learned a lot because Elaine is really into music and her friends are big time DJ's. I guess one opened for Radiohead in New York and so she was trying to explain how the whole industry works, I still think I have a lot to learn though. Like they say, you usually are gifted with athletics or music, and not usually both. God didn't give a musical bone to anyone in our family. If we sang a chorus together, we would sound like dying cows, not to mention my dad doesn't sing because he claims "Germans don't sing". Which has been proven inaccurate since living here. Good cover up Dad.    Regardless to say it was really cool to listen to her and I have a video of it below.

4. On Sunday, we had a game and we lost in the last three minutes to Herforder, which was a bummer. So not much to say about that except it was heartbreaking. Then family dinner in the afternoon. We try to eat as a family at least once every weekend, but it can be tough with all our different schedules and since we travel for soccer a lot. My brother just got back today from London and my sister has been gone this week at a church retreat, so it's been me and the rents, who actually left yesterday for holiday. I have been the constant holding down the fort.

5. So lately I have had this huge craving for anything pumpkin flavored. But you can't buy pumpkin puree here, so it makes it hard to bake anything with pumpkin in it. I was telling one of the Crusade staff women this and she said she loved pumpkin too so we decided to have a baking day. We made this recipe that I found a while ago called Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies. Seriously they were amazing. I had so much baking because she reminded me of my mom and was so hospitable and said they will have a big thanksgiving that I can come to, etc. It felt like home though and she was telling me all the tricks of how to cook in a foreign country. With the leftover homemade pumpkin puree she made soup which was awesome. I was a little hesitant at first, but it was sooo good. Anyways, for the Whoopie Pies you just make pumpkin cookies and then cinnamon cream cheese frosting and put it in between two cookies. Sounds easy, but when you have to make homemade puree, and homemade pumpkin spice, it takes a little more time. Regardless, it makes me wish I could have baked with my mom more when I lived at home. It is pretty fun. I was telling the woman that I usually guestimate when I bake and that lately my things just don't look right and she goes, "Usually when you are a beginner cook you should measure." It just takes so much time though. Plus everything is in grams here, so you have to convert the American cups to grams, etc. ANNOYING! America needs to jump on the band wagon and not have everything in their own conversions.

6. Well as many of you know, it was my birthday on Tuesday. I turned a whopping 24 years old. Birthdays are kind of a big deal in Germany, and everyone has asked me what I am doing, but I always just said I didn't know and it's just another year. Jayna, you would love having your birthday over here. Anyways, my parents had a birthday breakfast for me. So at 9:30 we all sat down and my host mom had made a cake and they lit a candle. Cake for breakfast isn't that abnormal here. It was cute how they set it up. So for an hour and a half we just talked and hung out. Then I opened my present from them, which was AWESOME! Seriously it was one of my favorite presents ever. I got a Bible that is German and English. So on each page there is a column in German and one in English. I have actually been looking for one for a little while now. Then I met up with my friend Jessica for lunch and hung out/walked around. It was fun. At night, I had training from 20-21:30, but we had a meeting before training. One of the women that works with our team had text me and told me she was bringing a cake for me. So she showed up and 8 and was getting the cake ready, but she had thought we had already practiced and our coach was like, "No we can't eat cake right now. We have training." It was an awkward exchange. My team got me a German Cd with all the top German hits and a German book that is like "dumb" German. And a shirt. It was cute. After training we had cake, and she bought us boulette and tea. She also got me a book, but it was in English. I guess everyone knows I like to read. Overall, the birthday was good and I felt pretty special considering I was in a foreign country without my family and closest friends. 

7. I am starting to realize that my biking days may have to come to an end eventually in the winter. Which will be a sad day. I don't like walking alone in the dark so I think I might be the girl that is running with her backpack on. Also I never had thought about the whole bike lock scenario when it gets cold. Elaine informed me that it sometimes freezes when it is really cold. Could be a problem. I might need to get some of that unfreezing stuff. 

8. This weekend we go to Gütersloh for a game on Sunday. So we will have ten hours in the bus. Which means lots of solid reading time. I have started reading fiction books and they rock. Ted Dekker is a really good author. 

9. My German is coming along. I still sometimes definitely say the wrong words. Like the other day I was SMSing the girl I meet with every week and I was telling her I was excited to hang out on Friday in German, but I guess I told her that I have a great idea because she responded saying what is your great idea. Just little things like that. I think my biggest problem is that I know a lot of German words and so I put them into my English sentences, but you can't do that because the order of sentences in German and in English are completely different so it doesn't work so well.