Good o' NoPo - North Pole that is...this is the 'ol Homestead', i.e. the house where we all grew up.















This was truly one of those beautiful moments, but don't let it fool you! During this time of winter we get maybe 2 hours of semi-sunlight in one day. This is the road where our house is...










And then the same road in the other direction. Truly a winter wonderland....as long as you can stand the -40 degree weather that goes along with it! ;)








And here we are, all ready for the Christmas eating. I still can't believe we ate dinner in the old garage? But hey, it worked! ;)

So, have you ever heard of when an airline messes up and then they put you in a hotel for free? Well, that happened to me! My Continental flight was late getting into Newark and so I went into 'the City'. I had always wanted to visit New York and it was great to see everything! I got to my hotel around 2am-ish or so....so here are some things I got to see.

There she be, the beautiful and world-famous Empire State Building! I'm such a maroon...beause the bottom color seemed to be more of an orange I didn't 'get' the color scheme and then suddenly the red-green entered me brain - I'm a smart one! ;)













There is the world-famous entrance to the world-famous Empire State Building. Very patriotic, yet of course when I see it I just think of 'Elf'!










The view was truly amazing! I walked out and there was the moon (this pic doesn't do it justice - it was huge and bright!) and then New York City and New Jersey below. Off on the bottom right is the UN building; center, is the Chrysler Building; I got to see what people say is the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, etc.

It was so freezing cold though! A really strong wind, cold....brr...but it all made for a wonderful view!


Afterward I just walked up Fifth Avenue, ate a panini, kept on walking and then there it was! ROCKEFELLER CENTER! Of course, what did I think about? 'Elf' ;)
















Right across the way was Saks Fifth Avenue with St. Patrick's Cathedral right next to it. The 'snowflakes' danced around to this really cool, deep bass 'Carol of the Bells'. Loverly fer sure!

















On my way down Fifth Avenue to Central Park I saw lots of windows that the shops have - made me think of 'Mannequin'.










I was warned not to go to Central Park, so I took this picture from the outside looking in. I went through the entrance and saw somebody sitting on a bench and decided just to stick my foot on the ground and leave quickly. ;)

This is a collection of 'Christmas fun time' photos in Berlin.

Here we are (Ashley, Nathalie, ich and Steffi - Stephan took the picture) at a Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz by the Memorial Church (left as a ruin after WWII). There are tons of Christmas markets all over Berlin with a variety of things to shop (not interested) and TONS to eat (VERY INTERESTED!!). Yummy for my tummy!




'Touche!' and yummy to boot! Chocolate-covered strawberries, t'were divine so they were....












'I don't wanna grow up, because if then if I did...then I couldn't be a Toy R' Us kid!'....oh Aaron, oh Aaron...forever stuck at 11...what to do...what to do....

In the meantime, I'll just continue having F-U-N!








These are pictures from our Institute Christmas party (which had a 'rude awakening' of a drunken 'investigator' who kept on yelling cuss words and saying how God wouldn't need another Bible, etc.)

We are definitely the international group: two Tongans, a German and Kenny from Ghana and many others from all over...




Elio (Mexico) shared with us a Christmas pinata and I got to use my 'strategery' senses and keep it away from the would-be attackers...












But evidently I didn't do a good enough job, hence the 'kiddies', i.e. sister missionaries, went crazy for the pinata candy! (I think we need to feed them more often... ;)

So my official reason for going to London the last week of November was for school stuff. I had to meet with my professor, go to a workshop and attend a presentation.

Here is my school, University College London. It's so funny...this has been there since 1828-ish, but I still felt a 'happy surprise' when I saw the dome.






This is me cutting Kevin Onabiyi's hair. I knew him from my Britannia ward days and he was very kind and let me stay with him - you can see my suitcase on the right.

I was worried because I had never done this before - 'White Handbook' rules say to never give your companion a haircut. I pointed this out to Kevin and he said to go ahead. I guess it was a success - he didn't cry ;) (Why do I always look so violent? Seriously, I look like I'm from 'Sweeney Todd' and Kevin is my next victim.)




It was good to see everybody. I met up with my old roommate, Arianna, and enjoyed getting caught up. Here is a picture of some of us reveling with Maria at her birthday party. It was really good to see everyone....







Just in case some of you were worried, the Thames (probably my fave) is still there. Here you can see the dome of St. Paul's off in the distance...

I was standing on London Bridge when I took this picture - don't worry, it's not falling anymore... ;)





And then to the right we find Tower Bridge. I love Tower Bridge at night! Truly beautiful!

So my friend Ashley and I went to the Jewish 'New' Synagogue in Berlin. It was very interesting to attend their services - we had a woman rabbi and you most definitely have to be a good singer to be Jewish. For almost 2.5 hours the people there sang Psalms, prayers, etc.! I was very impressed!

Afterwards I decided to show Ashley something that my German teacher showed us (my old German language school was just around the corner) - Dorothea cemetery. This cemetery is full of famous people! The building that is behind Ashley is where Bertolt Brecht (he wrote 'The Threepenny Opera' - one of the songs was 'Mack the Knife') lived towards the end of his life. The West and East Germans tried to get him to move to their part of Berlin - East Berlin offered him his own theater, Berliner Ensemble, and so there he went...




And here he is with his wife, but apparently he was quite the philanderer...













This is Heinrich Mann. He was a famous German novelist, but probably even more famous as 'Thomas Mann's big brother'. He fled Nazi Germany and died in California....















Here are the world-famous philosophers, Fichte and Hegel. I tried to read their ideas (Hegel THREE TIMES!!), but I don't understand such things, so...there they are! ;)












This is Karl Friedrich Schinkel. He designed just about any famous building in Berlin that you can name. He died in 1841.















I love this guy's last name: Schadow. He was Schinkel's 'mentor/predecessor' and designed the Quadriga, the 'Horse statue' on top of the Brandenburger Gate.










I don't know for sure of course, but these look like bullet holes. There is a 'mass grave' in the cemetery full of people who died April-May 1945. This was during the 'Battle of Berlin' in which tens of thousands of German civilians, German soldiers and Soviet troops died within a matter of a few weeks.....

So the dorm I live in is quite 'international' and there was an ad for an Armenian choral concert. I, loving all things 'new', went and enjoyed it immensely. The journey to the church where the choir performed was 'interrupted' with this heelarious Chinese restaurant - I tell ya, there's nothing like some good old-fashioned, Chinese, WHITE TRASH FOOD!! Heelarious!






The Armenian choir was fantastic! It sounded like Western European Middle Ages music until every now and then they would let out some 'new' sound that let you definitely know that this was something different and from the Middle East.















A better view of the choir. The girl kneeling taking the picture is the Armenian girl, Lillith, who let us all know about the concert...











I find this VERY interesting! I have never seen this anywhere else except here in Germany. There are two religious figures known as Ecclesia (Church) and Synagoga (Synagogue). Well, the representation of Ecclesia is always 'regal, powerful, beautiful', etc. Synagoga always has a blindfold on (she is blind- she doesn't see 'the true way', i.e. Jesus is the Messiah), she has lost her crown and and and I just find this interesting because I have never seen this elsewhere and I just thought it might be an visual symbol of prejudices amongst the Germans and other European peoples concerning the Jews.

There once were three little Mormon boys in Hamburg. They didn't like what Hitler was doing. One would listen to the BBC, write anti-Nazi pamphlets, and then all three would put them up in Hamburg. The ringleader, Helmuth Hubener, was eventually sent here to Plotzen(lake) (now Memorial) Prison where he was beheaded. This was a place for political-type prisoners - 3,000 died here.

The other day I watched as the last 'little Mormon boy' placed a wreath in the execution room of Plotzensee prison in memory of his friend.










This is him! Karl-Heinz Schibbne and he lives in Utah now. He also spent several years in Nazi prisons, was drafted into the army, captured by the Soviets and then got to stay in their prisons until 1949! He was truly moved when he placed the wreath in memory of his friend...








This is where his friend, Helmuth, died. Hitler himself rejected requests for clemency. The beam above (the original was destroyed in the war) is where the Nazis would hang people...












This is an original picture I found on Wikipedia. On the right is the guillotine they also used to kill people - Helmut was decapitated.

I just found it truly freaky...the past always seems so far away. Look at the above photo and then this one...it doesn't seem so 'far away' now, does it?







This is the original door that Helmut and 3,000 others (Czech resistance fighters, the coup people who tried to kill Hitler, etc.) walked through before they died. When the guillotine was taking too long they just turned to hanging as 'quicker' and, probably, cheaper....

Now look up at the above photo....the door is just out of sight to the right....how would you feel? I keep on thinking about that...walking through that door, looking to the right, seeing a big black drape, the drape being opened, seeing the guillotine...records say he had a slight smile on his face...so, I just hope that he felt peace in his last moment...

And then to add to the situation....I don't know if you can tell, but the cement by the door and where the guillotine used to be is markedly a 'reddish-pink' color as opposed to the other cement farther away....I don't know, but it was suggested to me that the guillotine and the blood is the reason for it...definitly possible....


Also at the memorial they have an urn with dirt from all the Nazi concentration camps...I find it kind of an odd 'gesture', but I also think when you're dazed and confused in the 50's and 60's about your country's history and what you or your relatives might have done during the war, you try to do your best to remember/atone for/relieve your guilt/etc.

And yet another place that I don't know what to do with, psychologically/mentally/emotionally speaking...so much suffering...and it still goes on...