German folk songs and spiritual ceremonies

Being allowed a sleep-in on my first day at the new property, I felt a little more rested and ready to prove I was worth the effort it took me to get there! Also feeling a little like I have let them down going to Bratislava after just one week but I need the cash...

I learnt the ropes for how to feed the horses etc, met the lady I will be staying with next door (actually the landlady to the original couple I met) and moved my things over. After a pretty chilled out day catching up on my internet things, J suggested we could ride over to her daughter's kindergarten for a special ceremony they have around Christmas time. So we hopped onto an Icelandic pony each and rode bareback (she doesn't own saddles) to the school.

The ceremony was really sweet, some kind of ritual where they place a spiral shaped wreath-type object in the middle that eventually leads to a candle on a stand. Each little Arian child takes their own unlit candle stuck in an apple and walks through the spiral maze until they get to the candle, they light their own candle and proceed back through the spiral until they find their spot on the wreath to put their candle. When they do this, they get a big gold star from the wreath which was laying where they put the candle. J tells me this is symbolic for going into yourself, then coming out of yourself. All the while the parents and other kids sit on chairs around the outside of the wreath and sing German folk songs, which I tried to sing too but reading German isn´t something I´m too skilled at just yet.

When we rode back in the freezing cold darkness, I was a little nervous because I didn´t know the horse or the road but I survived. At home, I met G´s daughter who also lives where I am staying. They are all lovely and can speak English, but I feel so ignorant not knowing any other languages. These people can all speak several! Oh well, I´ll just keep plugging along...