Nutcracker

Here we are trying to observe a bit of culture. In the Stolfi family, it was tradition to attend the Nutcracker each year to see some ballet and listen to fantastic holiday music.

We purchased tickets to the Munich performing arts theatre to expose our kids to the fun.

It didn't work out.

The music was recorded - not live. The performance was truncated and contained a narrator to help young children along (children who speak German naturally). And the quality of the dance was - let's be charitable in this holiday season - not what was expected.

There were some periods of excitement; several times I thought someone would get dropped during a lift. I would say I am amazed it didn't happen.

It was also different to see almost of all the male roles performed by females. Maybe German men recognize that ballet is a challenging career depending upon your long term goals.

We also were not aware that so many female ballerinas could have real, female chests - just our NYC bind spot I guess.

Anyway - it was fun to force the kids to dress up, drop the electronics, and tell them that boredom was important to their overall development.

David's Tree

Last year we didn't get a Christmas tree because we were going to go back to the USA for our first big trip back and it wasn't a priority. The kids wanted a tree this year and since this feels more like home, we agreed.
I took Dave and Brian to buy one on a cold Saturday morning. Here in the city, they take the outdoor beer garden for our local German restaurant and convert it into a temporary tree selling area. We waited and strategized on the best tree. Brian wanted something "medium sized" with a traditional shape "for Mom". I wanted something that fit into the stand we bought at the department store. (Our US stand is in storage).
David had bigger plans. Not content to be held back by his small minded co-conspirators, he immediately scoped out the most bulky tree in the lot. All the trees were constrained by the gill nets of plastic used to transport the trees.
I expressed serious doubts and tried to discuss Brian's picks but David quickly went to work on his brother.
Reason 1 - bigger tree, more potential places for gifts
Reason 2 - bigger tree, more places for ornaments
Reason 3 - go back to reason 1.
I was losing ground. After conceding defeat, the "helpers" at the store tried to cut the stump and jam the tree back through the chute to re-apply the gill net.
It wouldn't go through. A clear sign from above to redouble my efforts. I ignored the signs thinking, "...they really want it, you can afford it, and why do you really care..."
I then had to carry it through the city streets - without the gill net. It was also heavy.
At first, I tried to be nice on the sidewalks, but nobody gave any room or tried to move aside so I quickly lost patience.
I know it sounds bad, but the lady with the stroller got what was coming to her for not making room.

Once up - it started to spread - - - in all directions.
I also had to secure it with fishing line because the plastic tree stand would struggle to keep a toothpick vertical.
I really wonder if everyone has a collection of these stories or if I am just cosmically blessed.

St. Leonhard Festival - Part II

We celebrated St. Leonhard's Festival again this year on a warm November day. The festival is for St. Leonhard who was nobility in one of the oldest royalties of Franconia. (Around 550 AD).

St. Leonhard is the patron saint of cattle and horses. Now you may snicker but let's remember back to 500AD. You couldn't be the saint of fine German automobiles or the saint of tasty schnitzels. Beer was probably already taken. Thinking about what was valuable - you're left with cattle an horses.
We went to one of the largest festivals this year (versus last year where we went to a small village) in Bad Tolz. The people of the town/city dress in traditional clothes (not costumes) and parade through the city and up to the church for a blessing. The new catholic cardinal was in the second cart.


While the the procession is quite beautiful and interesting, the boys seemed to get less out it this year than last. They asked when it would be over as we walked to the parade route (not a good sign) and only seemed amused when they were permitted to take some pictures.
After the memory card was full on the camera (650 pictures), real boredom seemed to take hold of the 8 year old.
I don't know what his problem was - there were only 96 horse drawn carts in the procession.
And he won't get this again when he moves to some city like Orlando.

Thanksgiving

I know I haven't posted in a while. No excuses.
The biggest event since our last post has to be Thanksgiving. We agreed last year that our neighborhood place that served "a real American Thanksgiving" was not authentic enough for our tastes. Daphne thought she was acclimated enough to be able to pull a Thanksgiving together.
Through a series of strange events, the size of the event kept growing. We don't have a huge apartment and the kitchen is small by the standards set in Chatham. Here is the size of the oven.

So when the guest list surged past 20, Daphne began to hyperventilate. We invited two Bavarian couples and their two children, my sister Paula's friend who recently moved to Munich, American friends who have 2 young daughters we know from the International school, and Daphne's brother and his girlfriend were able to join us from Ohio.
I was able to put the cherry on top when I had a candidate from Harvard, in Munich for interviews, join us since I asked him to stay over the holiday to interview on Friday morning. (He was great for actually showing up.)
I kept telling Daphne that we could always supplement dinner with a couple of pizzas ordered from the restaurant next store but she insisted that everyone should get a traditional turkey dinner.
Daph made two large turkey breasts (since the whole bird wouldn't fit in the oven) and time shifted all the other elements to make the meal come together.

The picture doesn't capture her relief that the evening came together wonderfully.
The final proof - our last guest left the apartment around 3am.