Burn's dinner and Sunday at the beach

January 12th

I met Ryan in the afternoon and we went shopping. He had planned a goodbye dinner for all of our friends (other assistants in Schleswig-Holstein), since he is doing a semester in Sweden. The meal was a traditional Burn's dinner (he's Scottish), served with, you guessed it, Haggis (sheep stomach filled with meat aka heart, liver, and lungs and with onions and flour mixed in), neeps (turnips), tatties (potatoes), and oat cakes. The name of the Burn's dinner originates from the poet Robert Burns and is a yearly festival that takes place in Scotland. It actually is supposed to be held on his birthday, the 25th of January. We had to move it up a few weeks since Ryan was leaving on the coming Thursday. The two of us walked around the huge market at Exerzierplatz, which is there every Wednesday and Saturday. They sell fresh and home grown veggies, fruits, flowers, and almost anything else that you can imagine. Afterwards, we had lunch at a nice bakery and then we split up. I went to an internet cafe and he went to meet some of our friends at the station. Later, I made brownies for the Burn's dinner for Ryan and helped him with the preparations and cooking. When the meal was ready, he even gave the "Address to the Haggis," while he brought it in to be served.

January 13th

Sundays are really quiet in Germany and mostly spent outdoors. The weather was really warm and the sky was blue so we decided to go for a day at the beach with. The sea is so relaxing and the air there is wonderful. Siobhan and Dee were juggling and I was doing flips in the sand. We were quite the act and I kept saying, that we should have set out a hat and made some money : ) Dee and Ryan decided it would be a great idea to put their feet in the water to test how cold it was. They stayed in for 60 seconds, which was a long time for the temperature of the water. After the sun disappeared we sat in a nice cafe with a view of the sea and had coffee and cake. Following that, we made our way back home.