Ich freue mich auf das Treffen!

I had a wonderful time yesterday meeting with my friend from the pool, Christine! It works so good because she wants to learn English and I want to learn German. We went to a shopping center and looked at different items and learned their words in the others language. As Christmas (Weihnachten in German) time is coming, I got to learn about some of their Christmas traditions and the things they celebrate. In Austria, the big day for them is Christmas Eve- that's when they get all of their presents and have family dinners and such. They also have several other folklore tradions throughout December that originate from the ancient culture in Europe.

One of them is celebrated on December 5th, called Krampus. This is a German word meaning, "claw" and is represented by a demon who accompanies Saint Nicholas. Instead of giving gifts to good children, the Krampus gives warnings and punishments to the bad children. Kind of scary! But hey, so is Halloween (which actually has only been celebrated in Austria for the past 6 years).


On that happy note, after learning about Christmas traditions from the decorations we saw in the stores, Christine took me to her house for lunch. We had a great time, talking in English and German about all sorts of things. She said next time we'll exchange family recipes and she'll teach me to cook an Austrian cake. :) She told me that she was so happy when she met me at the pool, and thought that my eyes were so shiny and bright and full of light. Pray that she discovers that this comes from Jesus and that she finds a living knowledge of Him!

I think we will meet together every Thursday, and she's excited to teach me to knit and sew and things like that too. Praise God! Such an answer to prayer for an Austrian friend. :)