Table Talk

We spent the past few days in Hemmoor at M's parent's place.  The original plan was that we would leave Kiel on the 23rd, so as to be there in time for Christmas, and then stay for M's dad's birthday (on the 27th).  That meant packing up pretty much everything we had just unpacked and leaving our new (temporary) home for nights.  Thankfully, M's parents agreed to instead come to Kiel or Christmas, and we went to to Hemmoor 26th-28th.

One of the things I find most difficult about staying there is the amount of time spent in front of tables full of food. I wrote about our Christmas Eve Fondue Marathon, but I did not mention that the very next morning, we met at the same table once again for Christmas Breakfast.  This consists of broetchen (little breads, otherwise known to Americans as 'rolls' - In Americun, they are named for what they produce on one's abdomen.); meat such as liverwurst, 'wurst' (German word meaning unidentified meat wrapped in intestines of some other poor animal); salami (Italian wurst), various cheeses of dubious origin, unspeakable age and unholy smell; 'salats' (mixtures of unidentified meat, cheese and vegetable mixed in mayonnaise); jams of any berry you can name; and the main course of the meal, which is Butter (No matter what you put on the bread afterwards, the first thing that goes on it is the Butter.  This especially applies if you are only eating Butter, because you find the other 'foods' are simply too frightening.  You must then apply the Butter in two layers).

That is the adult meal, of course.  The children are each given a jar of Nutella and a spoon, and are subject to disciplinary measures if they take a piece of 'wurst' or cheese and eat it without any bread (and the requisite Butter).

As I am accustomed to American North East Breakfast of coffee and then more coffee, I have a hard time sitting still for the hours it takes to pass all this food around amongst 11 or so people, all of whom are eating their 'rolls' one half at a time, sometimes even cutting the halves into quarters so as to accommodate as many of the aforementioned 'foods' as toppings.  Additionally, I am trying to avoid having to buy an extra seat to accommodate my fat butt on the plane home this July, so I have to make one 'roll' last a couple of hours.

Now, I introduced this as Christmas Breakfast, but it is really Holiday Breakfast and Birthday Breakfast and Saturday Breakfast and Sunday Breakfast and ... Pretty Much Any Day That I Do Not Have to Go to Work Breakfast (for Germans, this is an awful lot of days).

In any case, we are back home now, so tomorrow, I will have some coffee (and maybe a little yogurt).