okay, so back to the white russians and a short update!!!

long story short with the white russians, we had a big lebowski night at alex's friend, helge's, house. well, we wanted to have a big lebowski night but ended up just drinking white russians while watching a korean film. it wasn't too bad.

the next day we went to a christmas market in the town of Oberhausen. it wasn't as charming as the one in Essen because it was set up in the terrace of a shopping mall. but it was still lots of fun! we met up with some of alex's friends from his university, and i got to drink glühwein for the first time. it literally translates to "glowing wine," and it's warm, spiced red wine mixed with rum and sugar. oooh it's soo good !! we went inside a little wooden cottage that was set upi in the middle of the christmas market, and chatted while middle aged men and women got drunk and sang german christmas folk songs.

i was also able to visit a christmas market in Dortmund! i was glad to visit there, even if it was just for a couple of hours. i met up with my friend, kirsten, and we drank coffee and chatted, and then walked around the christmas market. Dortmund hails the largest christmas tree in all of europe, apparently, but i wasn't too impressed :)

the christmas celebrations were a lot of fun, but i swear i gained at least a few pounds... on the 23rd, alex's sister and me made two different kinds of christmas cookies together. we made a coconut and vanilla cookies, and they were really good!! (but nothing will beat the classic chocolate chip cookie ^_^ ))

christmas is celebrated over three days in germany. first is christmas eve, and that is mostly just opening gifts with immediate family, and eating a delicious dinner. we ate roast chicken, salad, and potatos. after dinner, we opened gifts! i got alex a T-shirt, a little puzzle, and a bunch of beef jerky. alex got me a bunch of different kinds of cookies, some perfume, and best of all, tickets to go to a circus on new years day!

the 25th is considered the "first day of christmas," and that consisted of lunch with immediate family (with sauerbraten, knödeln, and yummy salad), followed by coffee time with other family members. the "second day of christmas"(the 26th) turned out to be one big dessert and leftover day with alex's cousins and aunts and uncles. oh boy, i ate so many cookies :D

although it has not been too snowy lately, the weather has definitely not been great. it has been rainy and drizzly pretty much every day. but after eating so much, it give you a good reason to just hang out at home and watch movies under a warm blanket.

a couple nights ago i went to a club called the Prisma with alex and a few of his friends. i really love german clubs, even the ones considered to be "lame" by the germans. mostly i love the fact that my horrible dancing goes completely unnoticed here because it is in good company. and you never see any bumping and grinding at german clubs. i feel like it is more a place to go and have fun with friends, not just a chance to find someone to hook-up with, like at most american clubs.

so mostly it has been nice to relax and spend time with alex. over the past week he has found a bunch of really interesting documentaries on the internet, and we've been OD'ing on them. i think my favorite so far has been the one about circus side shows :)

unfortunately our new years eve plans to go to berlin fell through :( his friend isabel ended up going to poland to visit her family for new years eve, so we wouldnt've had a place to stay. but we do plan on going somewhere after new years. on new years day we have the circus, and we also are going to have a day in Cologne and go to a science museum, and also a really crazy art exhibit called "Body World." The artist, Gunter von Hagens, preserves human bodies, removes the skin, and displays the body (which is just muscle and bones) in crazy ways. apparently one of alex's friends puked when he was there. so of course, i'm excited :)

okay, well bye everyone! miss you! and check out facebook for all my pictures. i will update soon with sushi night photos :D