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Sonntag, 27. Dezember 2009

A Magical Christmas...

I spent Thanksgiving in Idaho with one of my amazing friends and former roommates Nikki. The drive was long, but worth it. We spent a few golden, snowy, fun-filled relaxing days in the middle of nowhere in a snug cabin with plenty of food and relatives. The trip back was even more exciting - Nikki's uncle happens to be a private pilot, and he brought his plane to make some of the transportation easier. The tiny but graceful metal bird made for an astounding ascent over Yellowstone park, that is, after we heated the engines with hairdryers for an hour to make it start. Our other adventure was completely unexpected - Nikki and I were peacefully watching a movie when we heard a faint crash. Seconds later the neighbor was calling to tell us the front fence had been obliterated by a car that had backed up and sped away right after the collision. After calling the police we rushed outside and gasped at the damage - the fence, the basketball hoop and all of their bikes were lying in a heap in the neighbor's yard. Minutes later an officer arrived to snap pictures and note the damage, and minutes after that we heard that the police had caught the culprit... it made for an exciting evening.

The last two weeks of school were just as grueling as the rest, with exams, papers, grading and the like. We had an awesome class party in German 202, and I had at least 4 or 5 students come up after class to thank me personally for my hard work. It felt AWESOME! I think it must have been a little bit like what a mother feels when she sees her kids accomplish something wonderful, or when they take the time to thank her for her constant, selfless service. Our skit for our theory of drama class went pretty well - it was a shortened rendition of the redentiner Osterspiele - a play from the middle ages about Christ's resurrection, focusing specifically on Satan's reaction to losing the souls he had so nicely locked in hell. I played both a devil and an angel, swapping characters as needed. My final triumph was writing a paper calling for a change of textbooks in the German 200 level classes. If all goes well, my Professor will take it to the department, and hopefully we'll see some changes in the near future.

Finals week wasn't as bad as I expected - all of my exams were nicely spread out, and quite managable. I finished my papers, grading and assignments all in the nick of time, and felt optimistic about the outcomes. I even got around to working a bit more on my ORCA project with Professor Brewer, which suprised me. I hope to make some more progress before my last week is up...

Despite our flight's delay of 24hrs, Laura and I did finally come home to our snow-covered Philadelphia, bringing Granny with us. It has been a relaxing week of Christmas preparation, celebration, and enjoyment. I loved experiencing the family traditions again - listening to the song and scripture for each day of advent, visiting Longwood Gardens, baking cookies, then cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning for 8 missionaries, my family and our neighbor, the shepherd's meal on Christmas Eve, constantly singing Christmas carrols... just wonderful. In church today I got to jump in as the primary pianist, and have found my dream calling for someday... :).

Lots of plans for the coming week, not enough time, but I know God will help me make the most of it.

Hope you all had the best of Christmases, and that your "slide" into the New Year goes smoothly, as the Germans say!

Love,

Margaret