Dear friends,

Grace and peace be unto you. In my last blog, I wrote about how challenging it was adapting to the autumn season. When I thought I had been able to build some fortitude towards it, there came winter which required greater resilience. I experienced my first ever snow at Hamburg, while on a 3 day seminar trip. It appeared very beautiful, on the contrary the weather become colder and unfriendly. Upon our return from Hamburg, I was told there was a tradition called snow man/woman and I would have to build my first snow man/woman at the office in Bremen. We went to the garden and with the assistance of some staff members, we made a very wonderful snow man/woman. It was just astonishing how the snow could be made into larger balls and stayed fit together. Daylight continually decreased and night length was on the rise, this affected my productivity and made me sleep a little more so I became worried. Saskia, a member of ESG in Bremen, made me aware that whatever I was feeling is actually the norm during Winter so I should not be so much perturbed but keep moving with the flow. She spoke to me about winter depression and how everything else is affected due to the darkness and little light. She encouraged me and gave me some remedies for the winter season. For example taking Spekulatius with tea always. Speculatius are moderate spicy biscuits you find on the market during Christmas. Funny though, I got the Spekulatius and it worked a little bit. She also said I could decorate my room with lights which would kind of salvage the darkness situation.

Gradually, the Christmas season crept in with decorations such us folks lighting up the frontage of their homes and the mounting of Christmas trees at vantage points. These sights were worth beholding. I also visited the Christmas market at the city center of Bremen. There were lots of Christmas souvenirs, drinks, food and fun activities that one could participate in. I was amazed about the large numbers that patronized the Christmas market amidst the extremely cold temperatures at night. The city center looked so beautiful with all the colorful scenes, lighting, decorations and commercial activities that were organized.

I spent my Christmas Eve with my mentor, Pastor Andreas Quade and his family. On the 24th December we attended a family church service together. The service was conducted by the wife of my mentor Pastorin Annette Quade, apparently she’s the resident pastor of the congregation we worshipped with. She gave me the opportunity to take a portion of the scripture reading during the church service and also assist in some protocol tasks. It was a very remarkable experience for me. After service we drove to the apartment together and had a typical German Christmas Eve feast. Dinner was served and the famous kartoffel salat couldn’t have been absent from the table, it been a typical German cuisine. I also tried some new dishes. After dinner, Herrn Quade asked us to move to the living room for the second part of the feast, to my surprise it was a moment of gifts exchange which was totally a new experience to me. I was presented some gifts by my mentor, of which I am very much grateful for. However, I felt selfish because I didn’t come along with any gift for anyone not knowing how it was done. I really enjoyed the night with the Christmas carols and music that were also played. On the 26th of December, I was again invited for lunch. After lunch we had a walk along the River Weser in Bremen, such an experience it was, with the cold breeze along the river. 

At New Year’s Eve, my self and other colleagues volunteers met at the Residence of a former volunteer, Daniel Dabi in Oldenburg. We spent time together, prepared some African dishes, ate together and there was the beautiful fireworks which ushered us into the new year.

I began my year in a foreign country, looking forward to all the adventures this year would come with. Until my next Bremen Epistle let me say bye for now, dear friends.