You Can Call Me El

Greetings friends! This will be my last post before Christmas probably, unless it isn't. It is my eighteenth post, which means I have written slightly more than one a week in the sixteen weeks I've been in Germany. I'm too excited to do a proper post, so I'll just note down a few important things. On Thursday I went to Leipzig and we went to the Christmas markets with Jack's two housemates called Micha and got surprisingly rapidly tipsy on mead, Gluehwein and a Feuerzangenbowle. What larks. Friday was spent recovering and doing nothing, and was therefore blissful. On Saturday I had my final concert of the year with the university choir. Despite some reservations about how much fun it would be, as the stress of finding new places and talking to almost-strangers potentially outweighs the joy of singing, it was actually great and I'm glad I went. At the end of the concert the conductor was presented with a bunch of flowers, which he gracefully received before...

For all you worried readers out there, I'd just like to clarify, firstly, that there is not that much potential for bankruptcy at the moment, despite my wild spending in the last few weeks. Choosing to be an ELA this year was the best decision I've ever made, not only because it has allowed me to afford the unbridled amount of food and drink I have consumed at the Christmas markets. However, as a generally careful person when it comes to money, this new sense of freedom to buy as much tacky Christmas merchandise and as many waffles as my heart desires is not only liberating, but also somewhat terrifying, hence my blog title. But enough of my unfounded fears. To the blog post! So this last week has been eventful in the extreme: Zoe came to stay, I finally saw Mockingjay, a teacher invited me to his house, it became really ferociously cold, I skipped two more classes at the Volkshochschule, there was a Chemnitz Christmas party, and we acquired a kettle. Zoe came to stay ...

I wanted to write this joyful post last night at about 10.00 last night when I was in an incredibly buoyant mood, but unfortunately I remembered that I had to prepare a lesson for first thing today, so sadly I allowed my responsibilities to come before recreation, hopefully for the last time ever. Anyway, let me tell you ALL ABOUT why everything is so great at the moment, with the help of what I like to call 'bullet points' because that's their name. Dresdner Striezelmarkt Dresden cathedral looking majestic Last Friday a group of ELAs from Chemnitz and Zwickau went to Dresden to visit the Christmas market which had just opened. Dresden is beautiful usually, but with the markets as well it is incredible; there was a wonderful Christmassy atmosphere and all the Glühwein you could ever wish for. I took several blurry pictures, but it's impossible to capture the true feel of it with a mere phone camera. However that will not stop me trying repeatedly every time I...