First Christmas Market

Today I did a lot of yard work. It hasn't been raining for the second day in a row, so I needed to take advantage of it. My German neighbor across the street saw me and came over to talk and even helped me for a little bit. She is so nice. Later, when I was almost done, my German next-door-neighbor also came outside to talk. I feel so lucky to be able to get to know my German neighbors. So many Americans will live here for years and not learn even pleasantries such as, "How are you," " Have a nice day," or "Excuse me." I think they are really missing out on the whole experience of Germany. I love living out in the community. I love our house and our neighborhood. I love living here!
We went to our first Christmas market tonight. It is the first one of the season for this area. We drove to Queidersbach--a tiny little town up the hill, behind Burg Nanstein, through a tunnel, and back down on a narrow, windy road. We found excellent parking and made our way through the little shops, stalls and crowd.
First stop was a sweets shop. We looked at some novelty Christmas hats and ignored the candy, goodies, chocolate and baked goods. Then, at a different shop, Jer got a traditional German food with french fries. We stood at an outdoor table and were soon joined by a man in his 50s and a college-aged student. It is very common here to have tall (yet small in circumference) standing-only tables near an eatery. It is also common to share a table with someone you don't know (even at sit-down tables). We all had great conversation, half in German and half in English. They were the best unknown company we've ever eaten with!
Afterward, we looked at hats. We each bought a new hat with ear muffs that were made in Germany. This was my favorite booth. Such variety and so cute!
We got some hot drinks and talked for a while until the man from the hat shop tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to come help him. He said I speak German very well and he needed help understanding a customer who only spoke English. I was a little taken aback because I know my German isn't perfectly fluent, but I was also willing to help them both. I spent about 10 minutes interpreting for both of them. I feel really humbled that he found me out of the crowd and asked me to help. Yet, it's SO very cool to be able to speak the language well enough that I can communicate.
There was a wonderful trumpet player soloing along to recorded accompaniment. He stood up near the church, above the throngs of people. His music filled the air with Christmas carols and lullabies. Christmas lights adorned the town square and the smells of food wafted out from the shops.
We stopped at the sweets shop again on our way out. This time we bought some goodies! Jer and I each got some gingerbread. It was so good! It was definitely made with real ginger--not artificial flavoring. It tasted like German baked goods--oh so yummy!
Our first Christmas market was fabulous! It was quite small, but very festive and very fun.