It's really quite strange to think that in less than two weeks I shall be touching down on British soil again. I really can't wait to see my parents and my Gran, as well as catching up with friends. My brother is coming to visit me from 18th and we'll fly back to the UK together on 23rd. A friend from university is also staying over during this time from 19th-21st before she goes back to Japan so it'll hopefully be a fun-filled time. Seriously, any who may house even the slightest idea that my brother is coming to visit me have so got the wrong idea. He's only coming because he wants to savour the delights of a half meter long bratwurst at the christmas market and spend all of his sister's money in the process... :P Well, who could blame him eh?

I have to say I'm praying quite a bit about the flight back home as knowing my own country and it's often utter incompetence in dealing with 'difficult' weather, I certainly would not like to spend christmas in Bremen airport -sorry, but living in Germany has made me so much more unsympathetic towards the british transport system, which seems to find any excuse to stop running!

On Saturday I went to listen to the Weihnachtsoratorium (christmas oratory?) by J.S. Bach at one of the lutheran churches in Göttingen with my housemate. It was only parts 1 to 3 but it was nevertheless very long. Good mostly, but long! For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about (and probably rightly so), click here.
It's a mixture of sung Bible verses on the birth of Jesus and words Bach wrote himself as praise to God. It really did my heart good to be able to read the words as they were being sung too as there was just so much wonderful truth in them!

Sunday, I was at church in the morning and then at my house groups' christmas party in the evening. I haven't laughed so much in a long time! After food and general chit-chat we ended up playing some silly games -Globe cafe worthy I must say- before we reinacted the christmas account FeG style... So, we each were called to go out of the room one by one and were told which person we'd be playing (at first we had no idea we'd be doing the nativity) and acquired an object to help describe our character. I played Mary -yes, jumper up t-shirt to mimick pregnancy included- a role I haven't played since I was about 5! Anyway, so the narrator told the story and each time we heard our names we had to say something or make a noise...you can imagine the hysterics at the end when we were all gathered around an oversized, spectacled, baby Jesus who was sprawled on the floor more like a fly on his back, legs flailing in the air, than a child sleeping serenely in a manger!

All things school-wise are pretty good. I'm finishing off a christmas quiz on what the Brits do at christmas and about our quirky traditions. At some point this week I desperately need to finish off my christmas shopping!! It's not the mooching and window-gazing I dislike, it's just that shopping is far more difficult when 1. You don't know what to get someone. 2. All the shops are crammed full of people and 3. There's just too much choice! I am not the best woman for making decisions. Ah well, I'm not a Scrooge really, I just hate disappointing people.

I've been listening to a bit of Rufus Wainwright too recently and never quite realised what a good poet he is. Listen to this.