Final dinner of this semester at Essighaus

I have noticed that restaurants in Heidelberg often provide a water bowl for dogs.  Manny would not go thirsty in Heidelberg restaurants.

The manager welcomed us with a Christmas tree joke.

A bag of milk chocolates for each person.

At our final dinner together, we had a choice of either pork or salmon.  Following dinner, Ashley showed a video recapping the highlights from this semester.  Then the R.A.'s and I performed the Evolution of Bui Dancing.  I took a few pictures with students and faculty before we all left Essighaus.

Brian and I

Lexi and I

The Daugherty family and I

Some of the Heidelberg faculty.

Rad R.A.'s and I rehearse Evolution of Bui Dancing

Back in April in Malibu, I made a deal with the students: If no one vomits in Moore Haus from excessive drinking, then I would perform the Evolution of Bui Dancing with the R.A.'s.  The students kept their side of the deal, so last night the R.A.'s and I met in my living room to rehearse.  We performed the Evolution of Bui Dancing at the final group dinner tonight.  Sorry folks, I have no pictures or videos of the dancing because . . . ah . . . well . . . I was dancing.

Snacks for finals

Wednesday night, Dec. 3, 10 p.m.: sweet snacks such as cookies and candies

Thursday night, Dec. 4, 10 p.m.: salty snacks such as chips, peanuts, and crackers

Sunday night, Dec. 7, 11:30 p.m.: Pizza Hut pizzas!

Christmas Market at the Heidelberg Castle

The castle is illuminated.

Grilled salmon.

Grilled salmon sandwich.

I meet Bobby Henline.  I recognize him from the Time magazine article on him.  I ask, "Are you the comedian featured in Time magazine?"  He asks, "Do you want a picture?" I guess you know my answer.

Bobby Henline is a retired army sergeant who survived a roadside bomb in Iraq but sustained severe burns to his head and face. He is now a stand-up comedian.  You can learn more about his journey from pain to humor at http://content.time.com/time/healing-bobby/.

Chorus Vocalissimo's Winterkonzert at Providenzkirche - December 6

The choir. 

The program.

Dreadlocks for "Santa likes to mambo"

Santa appears after the choir sings "Down, down the chimney."

Megan and Sarah Jane's peppermint chocolate bark - Dec. 4

Tonight Megan and Sarah Jane baked peppermint chocolate bark and shared some with me.  One word describes how it tastes: Wow!

Roasting the 8 Fall only students - Dec. 2

After our Christmas dinner, we walked back to the house, sang some carols, and then proceeded to roast the 8 Fall only students.

The house erupted in laughter when Zach jokingly said to Alex, "Thanks for letting me cheat off of you in statistics."

Michelle thanked Ben for helping her out when she encountered a difficulty in Croatia.

Joe praised Brian, his friend and roommate.

Kaitlyn expressed her admiration for Lexi.

Omar liked what he just heard.

An inter-Rachel celebration of the Rachel in the red chair.

Mac expressed heartfelt appreciation of Zach, his roommate.

My picture of Tawni in the red chair looks too blurry to post.  My apologies.

Following the roast, the students had a blast exchanging their Secret Santa gifts.

Christmas dinner at Burgfreiheit on Tuesday, December 2

Micah and Bryan read a letter of appreciation to their peers.

Our dinner: red cabbage, potato dumplings, and goose.

 Our dessert: baked apple with nuts and vanilla sauce.

The eight Fall only students

On Tuesday at convo, we honored the eight Fall only students.  We are going to miss them greatly next semester.

The ladies of Room 11 and Room 5 win the Superman Award for December 2!

The ladies of Room 11 (Hannah, Justine, Lexi, and Tawni) and Room 5 (Rachel and Alexa) win the Superman Award for the final week of this semester.  Congratulations, ladies!

Special dinner #10: China-Restaurant-Asia

This restaurant hosted our first Wednesday special dinner on September 10th.  Tonight it hosted our final Wednesday special dinner for this semester.  On September 10th, the food was so good I forgot to take a break from the eating to take pictures of the food.  Tonight, the same thing happened again!  Thus, I can show you a picture of my table post-eating only.

Special dinners #8 and #9: Schnitzelhaus & Alte Gundtei

Schnitzelhaus, which boasts 100 flavors of schnitzel, hosted our eighth special dinner.

The restaurant, however, can accommodate only 28 of us on any one evening.  On November 19, half of us went to Schnitzelhaus while the other half went to Alte Gundtei, the Turkish restaurant.  Then on November 26, the reversed occurred.  I, however, went to Alte Gundtei both times because it's my favorite restaurant in Heidelberg.  The two pictures you see above come from the Internet.

Moore Haus seen between the twin guard posts on the Old Bridge

Standing in the middle of the Old Bridge and facing the side with the Heidelberg Castle, I can see Moore Haus between the twin guard posts.

With a little zooming in, I can see the A-frame of the top of Moore Haus.

The leaves change colors: Oct. 1, Nov. 1, Dec. 1

In late September, Frau Wuttke informed me that I would see the hills change color from green to red.  I wanted to document this change.  I photographed the hills across the river from where we live on Oct. 1, Nov. 1, and Dec. 1

Oct. 1

Nov. 1

Dec. 1

When I return to Heidelberg in January, I will continue to document the change in colors.

Happy birthday, Tawni! December 1

We sang happy birthday to Tawni at dinner tonight. 

I then walked home and baked RitterSport chocolate brownies in honor of her birthday.  (Tawni prefers brownies to cookies.)  I made one pan with Alpenmilch chocolate and one pan with Edel-Bitter chocolate.  I thank Dr. Steve Rouse for sharing his RitterSport brownie recipe with me.  

Apple pie and ginger snaps for students on Saturday night - November 29

I made the crust using the recipe at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/perfect-pie-crust-recipe.html.

I made the apple pie using the recipe at http://allrecipes.com/recipe/apple-pie-by-grandma-ople/

I made these ginger snaps using black treacle instead of molasses because I couldn't find molasses in Heidelberg.  I found the black treacle at the English Shop on Plöck.  I thank Prof. Bursy for her guidance in helping me find the ingredients I need to bake the goodies above.