A Very German Bethel Thanksgiving

By Monday, I had yet to decide whether or not I would make my way up to Wuppertal for what I had dubbed "A Very Bethel Thanksgiving." Bethel College and Wuppertal University have a long history together of sharing students. Therefore it made sense to have such a gathering. It made it so much sweeter when I finally decided I would attend, that I found train tickets for half of what I thought I was going to pay. From Thursday to Sunday (today), we gathered in the apartment of Tobias, a Wuppertal student who exchanged with Bethel a year or two ago. Having just jumped into the melting pot of BC less than a year ago, there were people there who I didn't know. But that's why I like Thanksgiving: people who don't nessecarily know someone, but knows someone who knows someone who's having a Thanksgiving meal, feels welcome because of the general idea that everyone there has shared the same experience, in this case being a student at Bethel. Though reports differ, I counted 24 people around the tables.

Let the pictures ensue.

The young man on the left, Brad, won the award for coming from farthest away: Derry, Ireland. Kate came from northern Germany where she is an au pair near the city of Kiel.



This was the pie spread. Pumpkin, cherry, pecan, and carrot cake. Some were baked in cast iron skillets in the oven.



One of two turkeys finally arriving. Yes, two turkeys. Boy did we have leftovers...from sandwiches, to turkey/rice mixtures...



Gravy, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes.



One good lookin' bird.



24 people. I lugged a box of 12 bottles of wine as my contribution to the event.



The making of Turkey Soup on Saturday evening. It had about 20 different ingredients, some not so traditional for soup. It was good. That's Charles (L) and Bryce, both from Freeman, SD, and participating in Intermenno.



Finally, by Saturday night we had dismantled both birds.



Turkey soup and gluhwein. Yes, there are apple slices in both pots. Guess which one it went better in.




The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out, walking around Wuppertal, visiting Christmas Markets (I now have my gluhwein mug for the season), chatting, catching up, and finally, saying goodbye.

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My Knee

I believe I'll be diving into another new experience this week. Toward the end of playing soccer last Tuesday, my left knee began acting up and restricting my running. A sharp pain shoots through, just underneath my knee cap. I do not recall a specific event where I could have injured it. However, it got worse through the evening after I got home and into the next day. Normally if my knee hurts, I take some Motrin to ease the pain. This time Motrin did not work. The pain is worst when I must go down stairs and my left leg is at the point of supporting my full body weight. Walking around Wuppertal had started to become a cumbersome act. Before I left last week, I did talk to Heike about it and we decided that if it got worse or didn't get better by today, we'd get it checked out.

That brings me to the next few days. Tomorrow we will go see the doctor and see what he says. I am getting anxious to know what will happen, because I don't know 'how bad it will be'. On one end of the treatment scale is taking pills and on the other end would be surgery. I hope that it does not come down to the right side of that scale. I am delving into a territory that I am not familiar with, and like I said earlier, am anxious and actually a little scared as to what may happen.
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Let's Play A Numbers Game

Tomorrow is December 1. From the first of December:

-I will have not seen Jessica since August 5. (117 days)
-I will have been in Europe since August 6. (116 days)
-My parents come in 18 days for a Huber Christmas.
-I will be going to Switzerland for my next placement on February 9. (71 days)
-I will turn 22 on February 28. (90 days)
-I will have many more experiences, both planned and done on a whim, good and bad, fun and boring, cold and hot, and wet and dry. I will meet up with many more friends and make even more.
-I return to the States (possibly) on August 4. (247 days)

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Also, if you have any idea what my PIN number is, let me know.

Until next time,
Jon