Snowman's Nose: It's What's for Dinner

I knew going into this trip to Germany that it was going to be interesting and unique in many ways. For one, there's a bit of a language barrier despite my dad being from the land of bratwurst. I never really picked it up, but I have this ability to get by in the majority of situations. My go-to response unfortunately is nodding my head in agreement and saying okay, which has caused some conspiracy theorists in the family to assume I'm fluent and just refusing to respond in German. Clearly I didn't think through my use of this unconscious reaction, but then again, that's the point behind it being unconscious. Unconscious = no thought involved.
I've been here for a week and a half and have seen numerous Christmas markets spreading from Heidelberg to Wiesbaden to Frankfurt and Bad Homburg. The majority of my travel has involved taking the S-bahn, but I did opt to walk the three miles to Bad Homburg yesterday. I was just excited by the fact that the walking trail went through fields and over the autobahn, with little signs along the way telling me to only cross when it's green to set a good example for the children. I pity any New Yorker who ever comes to Germany.
As I neared Bad Homburg, I reached into my back pocket for my written directions to the Landgraves Castle, but they weren't there. I had to laugh at this because that would be something that would happen. Thankfully with my memory I knew the first two streets I was looking for and as I crossed Urseler Strasse, I realized that I didn't really need directions. For one, there were signs with arrows pointing in the direction of the castle. On top of that, with Bad Homburg being an older town made up of mostly houses, it's quite easy to spot a castle on the horizon. I felt like it was shouting, "I'm over here stupid." Needless to say, I made it to the Landgraves Castle and wandered the small Christmas Market being held in the courtyard before making my way to the Marktplatz and then on to the bahnhof for a ride back to Oberursel.
Upon arrival at Oma's, I realized that my aunt's car was parked outside so I prepared myself for listening to conversations that I would understand maybe one out of every twenty words, which definitely makes it hard to follow. Luckily my brother helped me out with translating when he could, and facial expressions help me realize that my relatives think I was crazy for walking over to Bad Homburg. But my favorite realization was the fact that Youtube videos are a universal language. My aunt happily showed me Crazy Cow and a trailer for Frozen (yes, even the Germans can't seem to let it go). Little did I know that Olaf would provide me with such a humorous talking point over dinner this evening. You see, with my minimal German, there are a handful of awkward silences when my brother and Oma aren't in the room. So when it was just my aunt and I tonight, I was determined to make conversation. My Oma had left a bowl of carrots on the table, so I pointed at them at said, "Olaf Nase." Apparently my aunt thought that was wonderful because soon after my comment, she was on the phone with her sister telling her that we were having Schneemann Nase (snowman's nose) with our bratwurst, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes. This continued on even into dishing up our plates with food because she asked if I wanted some Schneemann Nase. In a land where you barely understand the language, it's important to be thankful for any positive contribution that you make in someone's day and I truly believe I succeeded tonight. It's the little things in life that keep you going and tonight I'm thankful for the laughter I was able to create thanks to me learning the word for nose and watching Youtube.