Snapshots of Christmas in Germany:
Snapshot 1: We are sitting quietly in our living room one night recently when BOOM! Boom! we hear several loud noises outside. We look at each other questioningly. "What was that?" we ask. As Ben goes over to the side door to let Kitty out, he turns to me and says excitedly, "Open the front window- a band is playing down in town!" Sure enough, I open our front window and look out into the dark, snowy village below us and hear the exuberant strains of an Oompah band! Even though it is about 28 dgrees C outside, we both lean out the window and listen delightedly. Later on we hear "Frohe Geburtstag" or "Happy birthday" being sung and played. So cool! We figured that the booms were probably fireworks, which we could not see due to fog.
Snapshot 2: Driving up our steep Strasse, we pass St. Nikolaus and the Christkind, waiting by a motorcyle parked in a driveway. We wave and they wave back.
Snapshot 3: Velburg Weihnachtmarkt (Christmas Market) on Dec. 12. It gets dark here around 4:45, so when we decide to walk down to the Christmas Market around 7 pm, it is very dark and very cold. As we arrive on the main square, a soft snow begins to fall, big fluffy flakes drifting down and landing on my nose and hair. We make our way through the small crowd drinking Gluhwein (literally 'glowwine', it is a hot mulled wine) and eating Bratsemmel ( bratwurst on a roll) and Gulaschbrottopf (Gulash in a bread bowl-Ben is eating one below). As we stroll, we see the stalls selling food and drink, toys and ornaments, socks and hats, and much more. A small musical group is playing carols on a stage while an appreciative audience stomps their feet and holds their hot Gluhwein to stay warm. Beyond the stage is a makeshift corral holding 2 sheep and a precious little lamb, next to a manger scene with straw figures. More stalls, more food, more holiday spirit, all kinds! A perfect evening, perfect snow, great food. A memory forever.

This Christmas may be the first white Christmas we have experienced in a long time! And to make it more exciting, Cait and Jeremy fly in on Thursday to visit us for a few weeks. Cait just graduated yesterday (Dec. 13) from Montreat College. She gave the graduation speech and was, I am sure, wonderful! We hate that we could not be there for her, but her brother Drew was there to represent her family. So proud! And Jeremy has been a great support. Thanks, Jer.
We plan on hitting several more Christmas markets around here once they arrive, some big and some small. Last year, Drew was here for Christmas, but this year we will not be able to see Stephen as he is still in Kirkuk, Iraq. Please pray for him as he is really missing home. We hope to be able to see Megh though.
What a blessed time of year! Even though we might think that Germany is in need of the Gospel (and it is), still the true spirit of Christmas seems to be more accessible here. The origin of Christmas is not politically incorrect, at least not here in Catholic Bavaria. We hope and pray that your Christmas is grounded in the firm foundation that is Jesus Christ, the Good News of his coming and his sacrifice for us.
Frohe Weihnachten and ein gutes neu Jahr!
Nan & Ben

WWII Journey

Happy Fall! The colors here are not as beautiful as NC, but it is quite lovely in its own right. Two weekends ago, Ben and I traveled to the western side of Germany, where it butts up against Belgium, to the small village of Monschau. Ben is reading a WWII book called A Time for Trumpets, and this village is talked about in the book, so he decided he wanted to take a road trip. I am of course always willing, so the first 3 day weekend we had, we took off. The first night we spent at Ramstein AB near Kaiserslautern. That was neat, because they have a real Chili's restaurant on post there and we got to eat a great American meal! We also did a little shopping, since Ramstein has a great BX there. Then on Saturday we drove for about 3 more hours NW, just south of Aachen, to Monschau. It is a quaint little dorf (village) with cobblestone streets and medieval buildings. We stayed in a 400-year old inn with a great stone cellar restaurant. We wandered around the streets, just drinking in the beauty until it got dark. On Sunday, we got up, ate our free German breakfast, and took off on an exploration to find the Belgium town of Malmedy, where a WWII slaughter of American soldiers took place and is memorialized at a place called Baugnez 44 Historical Center. That was a neat place, with a walk-through museum which explained what had happened there in 1944. Of course, the narrative (on an audio player you hold like a phone) was in several languages, so there were some older folks going through it too who could have been either Belgium or German and were probably alive when it occurred. That made it more real and moving somehow. After we finished in Malmedy, visiting the memorial in the field where the 83 American soldiers were killed, we drove back to Monschau and walked around some more. We enjoyed the gorgeous fall weather and views and Pommes Frites with Mayonnaise! These photos are from that trip.
We haven't heard much from Stephen lately, as he has had to deal with a major brigade move to Kirkuk and a new job as the Headquarters Company Commander of the 18th Engineering Brigade. He has been in Iraq since April and will be there until next fall. Please pray for his safety.
The weather here is getting colder- we had our first snow flurries just briefly one morning last week. The highs are generally in the 40s during the day and the 30s at night. It is foggy a lot too, but it usually burns off by noon. We are still trying to figure out the radiators in our house- sometimes we burn up and then later we are freezing. All part of the adventure, you know! The Weihnachten Season (Christmas) is coming and we are both looking forward to the Christmas markets and Gluhwein (a hot mulled wine).
I hope to see many of you next week when I fly to Nashville for a conference, then drive to Knoxville to see my dad and Asheville to see everyone else. I hope to be in Asheville by the 10th and in Hickory on the 13th and 14th. Ben can't come this time, but hopefully next year!
Come see us! Airline tickets are pretty cheap right now, so it might be a good time to plan a trip to Europe.

Auf wiedersehn!

Nan & Ben

Early Autumn Greetings

Our first full summer in Bavaria has been quite eventful. We have moved into a new place in a village called Velburg, but it does not change our mailing address, which is still:

CMR 414 Box 1565, APO, AE, 09173

This new house is more like a 3 story condo, with no yard to worry about. We do have a nice terrace on the side of the house with a gorgeous view of our village and the surrounding countryside. It is so beautiful! Just across the street from our house is a large enclosed field with a resident herd of deer- which Ben especially enjoys. (See top photo.) We often hear them coughing and barking at each other. Ben even got to watch a small fawn being born and taking its first wobbling steps! This photo is of the front of our house (our door has the yellow flower on it) and the tower at the end of the street is from the 1400s! Our neighbors are really friendly and helpful, and our landlord lives next door too. I need to get beyond my worry about making mistakes and just get out there and do that German language thang!
Sept. 29, 2008
Ben and I went on the train to Nuremburg yesterday, to the Altdstadt Fest there. The food was good (as usual) but it was very crowded. I like Nuremburg, but I prefer Regensberg, I must say. We did walk up to the fortress and that was quite nice. We saw the Albrecht Durer house and several museums which feature his work. On the train back, we saw a deaf German couple signing, but I was too chicken to try to talk to them. Drat! Please pray that I can get past that.
The fall colors are just starting here, and while they are not quite up to NC standards, it is still beautiful. The palette of the trees and the bright colors of the lingering flowers in the window sills and gardens make this fall very lovely....
We are still hoping for some visitors.... we have a great guest room, so come on over! FYI, I am flying to Nashville for a conference in early November, so I will hopefully get to see some of you during my quick visit the week of Nov. 10th. Bunko, here I come (I hope)!

We are so blessed to have discovered some wonderful Christian friends here. Of course, they cannot take the place of our Christian friends back home, but it is so comforting to know that 'Change comes bearing gifts' (not sure of the origin). We've had lots of changes in the past year, but our God is still the same... loving, providing, forgiving, blessing. Our home group is studying Ephesians- so rich in admonition and wisdom.
Just got off the phone with Jake- good to chat with him. He caught me up with all he is doing and planning to do. Guess it is rough in the SE this fall, with gas at a premium. But Jake sounds upbeat, so that is good. Please pray for him.
Stephen is taking over the Headquarters Company Command of his Engineering brigade on Oct. 1, but since that is taking place in Iraq, we will not be able to attend. Darn. But I can imagine him standing straight and tall in his uniform, looking handsome. Please pray for him too. Drew is doing well in his new job as a Dramaturg in Greensboro (just finished up Night of the Iguana); I am so proud of all of my sons...and daughter too! Cait and Jeremy are also doing well- Cait is finishing up her last semester at Montreat and will graduate with honors in December. So cool.... but we can't be there for her graduation. Still, a huge milestone for her! Hopefully, Jake and Drew will be able to attend her graduation in our place.

Enjoy your opulent, Southern autumn....

Take care,

Nan

Weekend Jaunts & more...

Much as we are enjoying ourselves over here, I have to say that we missed being in the US on July 4!   Especially we missed the July 4th parade in Montreat, seeing all of our friends and family, and, of course, swimming in our pool.   But we had a good weekend too, albeit with a few missteps along the way.  

On July 4, we got up early and headed down to Munich to fly out to Budapest, Hungary.  We have friends from Montana who are living there now as missionaries, so we wanted to visit them as well as see the city.  We had a long layover in Zurich, Switzerland, which ended up with us missing our flight to Budapest!  That was a bummer, as there were no more flights out that day and we had to pay extra to 'change' our flight to one the next morning. Then, we had to pay for a hotel room in Zurich and train tickets to get to and from the hotel and the airport. But we decided, after some lamenting, that we would just make the best of it, and we wandered around Zurich a bit, saw some cool buildings, ate some great food (raclette!), and watched the people walk by.  There are some really interesting people out there!  On Saturday, we went to the airport and flew on into Budapest and took a taxi to our hotel in Pest.  You may or may not know that Budapest is actually two cities separated by the Danube River.  It is a beautiful city, interspersed with some communist-looking buildings too.  Lots of contrasts.  As we walked around, we saw lots of policemen gathering (SWAT team- looking police) and closing off some of the side streets down a main street.  I am talking hundreds of policemen, with riot gear and everything.  We found out later that there was to be a Gay Pride parade that afternoon- just our luck.  After eyeing the restless crowds and small stockpiles of eggs and tomatoes, we thought it best to go back to our room and rest a bit.  The Chain Bridge is a beautiful bridge across the Danube, which on Saturday had a great festival going on, with great food and music and craft booths.  On Sunday, we took a Hop-on Hop off Bus Tour of the city, which was great.  That night we attended a Hungarian Folk Dance show and then went on a nighttime cruise on the river.  It was beautiful!  The music was great and the dancing was colorful and energetic.  Many famous composers were Hungarian, notably Liszt and Dvorak.  All in all, we had a great time, except that we never were able to connect with our friends from Montana. They had had to go to a wedding in Prague and did not make it back until late on Monday, when we were on our way to the airport to come home.   At least that was the plan..... as we waited in the small airport terminal for our direct flight to Munich,  a thunder storm rolled in and our flight was delayed, then...you guessed it.... cancelled.  But not before we got to sit in the small plane on the tarmac for 2 hours, hoping they were going to fuel us up and let us go. No such luck. At about 2 am we were on our way to a hotel, but we had to get up early to catch a flight out at 9 am.  It was no fun, but it all turned out all right.   Certainly, the whole weekend made us some memories!  Last weekend, we went to a really neat raptor show at a castle in the village of Riedenburg, the castle Rosenburg.  The place is called Falkonhof and they have a fun and interesting (at least I think it was interesting- it was all in German!) show with falcons and eagles and such, wheeling and diving over the audience's heads, coming perilously close to the tops of heads and sun umbrellas!  The setting was fantastic too- on the top of a hill, in the castle yard, with years of history and tradition behind it.  

This weekend is the BurgerFest in our village; it means 'Citizen Fest'.  We are looking forward to some great German food and maybe buying some cool handcrafts.   We are also getting our new German bed on Friday- we have been sleeping in a double bed, which is quite small compared to our King Waterbed in Hickory!  It has been hot here, which combined with no AC makes for uncomfortable days.  

Miss you all. Please come visit!

Nan & Ben

Yes! We're still here!

Yep, it's been way too long- sorry to all of you who have regularly checked on the blog, only to find that I have been lax in keeping up with it. But, now I have been shamed by my husband into finally catching y'all up with what has been happening to the Barkers in Germany.

I last left you in March, when Cait and Jeremy were visiting us.  Jake came and visited in April also- mainly to see Stephen before he left for Iraq.  Stephen is now in Iraq at Camp Speicher, north of Takrit.  Here are some interesting photos of him there. He is currently the Public Affairs Officer for the 18th Engineer Brigade there, but that job will soon be changing to Headquarters Company Commander for the 18th ENG BGD at Camp Speicher.  He will be there until Fall of 09, so please keep him and Meghan in your prayers.  Megh stayed in Heidelberg but is keeping busy with German classes and finishing up her Masters in Library Science. 

In April, Ben and I moved to another small village near post called Velburg. It is a quaint and pretty village, and we have a very nice duplex there. It is up on a hill, so the view is wonderful. Our neighbors are mostly German and are very friendly.  Kitty is adjusting well and not fighting too much with the 3 cats which already live on this street. 

Ben now has a job on post too!  After 6 months of leisure, which he enjoyed, he is now working full time as the Executive Assistant to the Deputy Commander of Operations for the Joint Multinational Readiness Center.  Hohenfels is a training center for American and international troops, so the JMRC is in charge of all that.  Ben is learning lots of new skills, so it is a bit overwhelming just now.  Please pray for him too.  

My job is going well. I finally feel like I have more of a handle on what to do. I've made lots of changes at the library, of which our patrons have approved (so they say).  Just had to do my budget for next year, which was new for me.  Interesting....

Cait and Jeremy are coming up on their first year anniversary! Can you believe it?  Cait graduates from Montreat College in December, and then they will be more free to do some new things with their lives. We'll see what happens. Drew has a new job with the Triad Theater in Greensboro. He quit his teaching job, and they were sure sorry to see him go. He is looking forward to his new position - Artistic Associate, dealing with Dramaturgy and educational outreach, among other duties. Jake is still in Asheville, working as a bartender at a restaurant. He is planning on starting at UNC-A either this summer or in the fall.  Yea, Jake!

This is a beautiful place in the spring and summer!  Flowers and flower boxes are everywhere, as the hausfraus compete for the most lovely garten on the block!  We even have some window boxes with geraniums, and I haven't killed them yet!  There are fests most weekends, so lots to do and see.  The EuroKup is going on right now, and since Germany is now in the finals with Spain (they play tomorrow for the cup), everyone here is quite excited.  Lots of German flags waving from balconies and car windows.  They are sure soccer-crazy here!  

This is a photo of the front of our house- you can see the tower (Turm) down the street, which was part of the original wall surrounding the village and was built in the 1400s.  We live in the part of the duplex on the right.  

Next weekend, for the 4th of July, Ben and I are flying to Budapest. Our pastor in Montana and his wife, David and Susan Ballantyne, are now living there as missionaries, so our hope is to connect with them too. Can't wait!

We have a great castle ruin up behind us- I think we will walk up there right now on this beautiful Saturday am in Germany.   Hey, you know, you too can experience all of this.  We have lots of room for visitors, so come on over!

God bless you all!

March 3, 2008

As you can tell, my blogs are getting further and further apart- that is probably a result of getting really busy.  Sorry.  I have had to go TDY (out of town for business) 2 times in February and once more at the end of March, so that slows me down a bit.  I will try to catch you up now, so hold on.

We are doing fine. 

OK, there is more. Ben is still waiting to hear from several jobs he applied for.  He is keeping busy, though, and I am so thankful to have him here and have his support.  We also decided to try to find a larger place to rent, so we put in our 3 months notice and are now looking actively for another place, preferably a house.  That is stressful, as the timing is crucial. So please pray for that process for us.

We have visitors!  Cait and Jeremy are here, arrived here on Sunday the 2nd in the am.  We were able to have a nice dinner here with them and with Stephen, who was in Hohenfels for training for the past few weeks.  It was nice to be with him on his birthday- can't believe he and Drew are 27 years old!  Of course, I was only 10 when I had them....NOT!  It sure makes me feel old, along with other things too. Cait and Jer are headed to Ireland on Wednesday for a few days but we get them back next week.  It is great to spend time with them!

Then at the end of the month, Jake is coming over too.  Cool.  Drew was here for Christmas, so we have been able to see all of our kids recently, what a blessing!  Stephen is going down range (to Iraq) sometime in the next couple of months, so it is great that his siblings have been able to spend time with him.   The picture above is of Cait and Stephen, playing on our new iMac Photo Booth.  

We are heading off to Regensburg to shop and do the tourist thing.  Regensburg has a great little shop called the Wurstkuchen or Sausage Kitchen, where you can get excellent sausages and sauerkraut.  It has been there for hundreds of years!  Then I think we will go to Ikea.  Love that store. 

Check out the Hohenfels Big Read blog address below.  Our community is reading the book The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and this blog allows us to have an online conversation about it.  Check it out. 

I'll try to update again soon.  We miss you all!

Nan & Ben

Weeks 17-21- Yikes!

Wow, as you can tell by how long it has been since my last blog entry, this has been a busy time. I can't believe Christmas and New Year's are over and gone, and 2008 is chugging right along.

IT'S SO GOOD TO HAVE MY HUSBAND HERE!! Ben is settling in, applying for jobs, driving me around, and generally making himself useful. What did I do without him?? He is my spider-killer, my anchor, my love, and my handyman (no longer my pool boy!). And, man, does he ever love this hearty German cuisine! The look of bliss on his face when eating potato pancakes with sauerkraut and potato salad, or Jagerschnitzel with red cabbage and spatzle- and of course, the great German beer!

Christmas was wonderful, as we were able to not only be together, but also to see our son Stephen, his wife Megh, our son Drew, and of course, 'the girls', Lola and Bella ( Steve's dogs!). But we thought often of Jake, and Cait and Jeremy. Fortunately, there are plans in the works to see all of them in the next couple of months. as they prepare to come visit us.

We were able to go to several Christmas markets over the holidays and enjoyed lots of hot Gluwein as well. Then over New Years, our Dutch daughter Fabienne and her boyfriend, now our Dutch son, Thomas, came to visit us. On New Year's Eve we went to Regensberg with our friends Eva and Terry and Monet and heard a great Bach concert in an old church in downtown Regensberg. Then we went to an excellent brauhaus, or brewery, and had a delicious meal and beer, too. Afterward, it was time for fireworks to bring in the new year, but that turned out to be quite traumatic! It seems that the Germans, who can be so inhibited and careful normally, go crazy during certain times of the year. They were setting off dangerous fireworks all around us, throwing them in the street right at our feet! It was nuts. But other than that, we had a good time.

On Jan. 6, the Three Kings (Drei Konenig) visited our house and marked a new year's blessing on our front door. They were willing to pose for a picture too. See picture above. (Yeah, I don't know why there are five of them!)

There are many interesting traditions here, and Fasching is one of them. It is celebrated just before Lent, so it is similar to Mardi Gras or Carnival. In fact, this past weekend ( Feb. 1-3), was Carnivale in Venice, Italy. Here in Lupburg, Germany, the partying began on Saturday and continued on Sunday with a cool parade down the main street. There were several 'bands' dressed in different costumes- pirates, doctors, knights, the Addams family, Civil War soldiers (!), clowns, and yachtsmen. They were throwing out candy, of course, as we would see in the States, but an additional German touch was throwing out small bottles of booze and regular bottles of beer (these were not thrown but handed out from the floats.). It was lots of fun, but I think the celebrating in town will be ongoing most of the night tonight!

Ben and I took two trips in January- one to Salzburg, Austria, and one to Garmisch, Germany. The trip to Salzburg was a train trip with another couple, the Cohens. We got up reallllly early one Saturday, caught the train at 0615, rode and changed trains and talked and rode and talked some more, and we arrived in Salzburg around 1 pm. We walked around town, had a great lunch and dinner, saw Mozart's birth place and home in his teens, and visited the Dom, a large cathedral in Salzburg. It was a long day but a wonderful trip. We got home that night at about midnight, after getting a bit lost in the fog and icy streets. So glad Ben was with me!

Then, last weekend, we went to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a picturesque little German town in the Alps. It is the home of the Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany. We had more prima German food, visited the small Army post there, and took the train up to the top of the mountain and the tram/gondola back down. We stayed in a cute little Gasthaus called the Hohe Tannen, which means high pines. What a beautiful visit and great views! We definitely want to go back.

I am leaving tomorrow to drive to Schwetzingen, a town near Heidelberg where I have to attend a librarian's update workshop until Friday. Ironically, Stephen, who lives in Heidelberg, will be over here at Hohenfels for training most of February, so I won't get to see him, but he did visit with us on this past Friday night. It was good to catch up with him and his plans for the immediate and long term future.

We are still enjoying ourselves but missing our friends too. Next week my Bunko group is hosting the husbands for a Valentine Bunko. Should be interesting!

Ben sends his love and greetings to everyone back in NC!

The invitation is still open.... come on over!

Love, in Christ,

Nan and Ben