Christmas markets again!

We hadn't yet been to a Christmas market this year so went this weekend. The Christmas markets are fantastic - several stands (some markets have 20 or so, some stretch for several blocks) selling Christmas gifts, local specialties, candies, hot chocolate and mulled wine, food and often carousels and things for kids - puppet shows, people dressed up, etc. We walked to the local small market with some German friends and their children. It was the coldest day of the year so far (about a high of 32F) and the kids were cold quickly. But the walk was refreshing, the kids enjoyed the carousel and the crepes and mulled wine were great! Some pictures to follow later today...We hope to drive the two hours to one of the best markets in Germany in Nürnberg this weekend as we procrastinate wrapping presents for the kids and packing for the trip to the US in 11 days. We sat down and listed all the Xmas gifts for the girls last night and found that we may have enough for the next few years! But luckily Lauren's birthday is in January and we can stretch the gifts out. Rebecca does such a wonderful job of finding gifts throughout the year at good prices...its often hard to stop buying for them!

Quick pondering - Kate started counting how long it would take us to get home the other day and said "One Mississippi, two Mississippi, etc." which caused me to wonder where she heard it. I asked if she learned it from her teacher (an American) and she said that she learned it from a classmate named Freya who is British and whose parents are both British. Which caused me to wonder further....wouldn't kids from different countries have a local adaptation of One Mississippi to approximate a second? I would have expected her to say "One Notting Hill, two Notting Hill" or "One Warwickshire, two Warwickshire..." I will have to ask her parents next time I see them.

I was just asked by a German colleague whether he should use the word "it's" or "its" in a sentence in his report and I led him astray, realizing it after looking it up on the internet. I have always fancied myself a very good grammarian and getting that wrong is embarassing! The result of living in another country for a couple of years...that is what I will blame it on. It is amazing how many words I forget or can't use properly when I speak English as I hear so much German all day long.