We have a few events taking place this month and not just our usual last-Friday-of-the-month night out. The first is the Saturday Coffee Club which will be inside Eiscafe Schreier, Lindau harbour, on Saturday, 5th December, from 11am until 1pm. Our lovely Natalie will be your “hostess-with-the-mostest” and her equally lovely son, Josh, is providing a child-minding service for all those parents among you who would like to have a peaceful few minutes to enjoy their coffee. If possible, bring a few toys and he will do his utmost to keep them happy and occupied. Thanks Josh!

Our second event will be a quick ‘after-work cheeky glühwein session’, at the Corner Cafe stand (at the entrance to the Hafenweihnacht by the station, on the left after you go through the red curtain), on Friday, 11th December, from 6pm. I will be there for at least an hour, after that I may move on elsewhere…….

On Sunday, 13th December, we have the carol-singing afternoon at Franz and Sandra’s house in Bregenz, as mentioned in the last newsletter. You need to check with them before you can come along, as space is limited in their house. If you’re interested, please contact Sandra by email: sharon@englishalive.org as soon as possible!

Our main event, the regular monthly get-together, is brought forward from the last Friday (which would be Christmas Day) to Sunday, 20th December, from 2pm onwards, at Cafe Großstadt, Paradiesplatz, http://www.grossstadt-lindau.de/. It’s another afternoon meeting, as I know that lots of you find it easier, particularly at this time of year, but if anyone wants to go elsewhere afterwards, to the last night of the Hafenweihnacht for example, then that doesn’t close until 9pm.

Other News

For all those looking for Christmas gifts, or even a little something for themselves, our member Debbie Smith has a stand in the LindauPark shortly, selling her completely natural skin-care products, especially formulated for very dry or sensitive skin.
“I just wanted to let you know that we’ve got a stall at LindauPark’s Christmas market for 2 weekends in December. We’re there on Friday and Saturday, 4 + 5 December and 11 + 12 December. We’re also giving 20% off the entire natilia range of products (well, when I say range I mean all 7 products!). There’ll be a tester of each product, so that everyone can try before they buy.” See the website: https://natilia-skincare.com/home.html or Facebook page: ‘natilia skincare’ for more info.

For all the South Africans in our group, the Vorarlberg “South Africans & Friends” group is having their next meeting next Monday, 7th December, at Braugaststätte Rössle Park, Feldkirch, http://www.roesslepark.at/ from 6.30pm onwards. If you’d like to go along, please email Greg: gregness2006@vol.at to let him know, and for those of you who live in Austria, the next day is a bank holiday so you can stay up late!

Amidst the gamut of social events and parties that are taking place in the run-up to the festive season, it’s important to sometimes take a breath, sit down and savour a few moments of spiritual peace and quiet. With this in mind, I thought I’d mention something that our member, Diana White, just reminded me of: the Night Fever event in the Catholic cathedral (Münster), Marktplatz, on Saturday, 12th December, from 6pm. This is something organised by the younger members of the church: an open-evening for anyone and everyone (you don’t have to be Catholic or even particularly religious) and you can come and go during the evening, as you please. There will be time for prayer, song, conversation and quiet contemplation, all by candlelight.

If anyone is looking for an English church in the area, where you can worship regularly, visit for the important festivals, or perhaps have an English christening or wedding, there are the following churches (unfortunately, none of which are right on our doorstep but may be worth travelling for):
St Andrew’s Anglican Church in Zurich: http://www.standrewszurich.org/Site/Homepage.html
The Church of the Ascension in Munich: http://www.ascension-munich.com/
Munich International Community Church: http://www.munichurch.de/index.php
St John Berchmans in Munich: http://www.stjohnberchmans.de/
St Catherine’s Anglican Church in Stuttgart: http://stcatherines-stuttgart.de/
The International Baptist Church in Stuttgart: http://www.ibcstuttgart.de/

Entertainment News

For the classical-fans among you, the London Symphony Orchestra are playing at the Graf-Zeppelin-Haus in Friedrichshafen, on Saturday, 12th December, at 8pm. The programme features works from Beethoven and Bruckner, the pianist Emanuel Ax, and the conductor is Daniel Harding. Tickets are available via the website: www.kultur-friedrichshafen.de

The TNT Theatre Britain are also in Friedrichshafen this month, at ‘Kiesel im k42’ on Monday, 28th December, 8pm, with a production entitled “Dinner for One & Breakfast for Three”, in English. The play is based on the Dinner for One sketch from 1963 (an institution in Germany, which pretty much everyone watches on TV on New Year’s Eve), and expands into a new ‘morning after’ sketch with a bit more on the history between Miss Sophie and her various guests…… Tickets are available from 12€, and from the same website as above or from Reservix: http://www.reservix.de/tickets-dinner-for-one-breakfast-for-three-american-drama-group-in-english-in-friedrichshafen-kiesel-im-k42-am-28-12-2015/e702749

For the dancers in the group, the annual Winternachtsball in Wangen will take place on Saturday, 20th February, at 7pm. See http://wangener-winternachtsball.de for more details. Book early as the tickets tend to go quickly.

Films

The following cinemas have films in Original Version (OV – English) or in English with German subtitles (OmU) over the next few weeks:

The Cineplex cinema in Friedrichshafen:
“In the Heart of the Sea” 3D (German title “Im Herzen der See”) – Weds, 9th Dec at 8.40pm – an American action film, based on a true story from 1820, when a fishing vessel was attacked by a huge whale. Directed by Ron Howard and starring Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker and Cillian Murphy.
“Burnt” (German title “Im Rausch der Sterne”) – Weds, 9th Dec at 8.50pm – an American comedy-drama about a chef who falls from grace then gets a second-chance at gaining a third Michelin star. Starring Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller.
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” 3D (German title “Star Wars: Das Erwachen der Macht”) – Thurs, 17th Dec at 00.01am! – the seventh in the Star Wars saga, created by George Lucas and starring many of the original cast: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher.
For more information, phone 01805 546636 or go to the website: http://www.cineplex.de/friedrichshafen/programm/ Films change each week (on Thursdays).

The Metrokino in Bregenz:
“Tale of Tales” – Weds, 23rd Dec, 8pm, Fri, 25th and Sat, 26th Dec both at 10pm – an Italo-French-British fantasy horror film, starring Salma Hayek.
“Frank” – Weds, 30th Dec, 8pm, Fri, 1st Jan and Sat, 2nd Jan both at 10pm – an offbeat comedy drama about an eccentric pop band, starring Michael Fassbender.
For more details, of these and their many other foreign language films, go to: www.filmforum.at

The Linse in Weingarten:
“Hip Hop-eration” – tomorrow, Thurs, 3rd Dec at 7pm, Sun 6th at 4.30pm and 8.15pm, Mon 7th, Tues 8th and Weds 9th Dec all at 6pm – an award-winning, warm and energetic New Zealand documentary about a group of senior citizens who take part in the World Hip Hop Dance Championships in Las Vegas.
“Irrational Man” – Sat, 5th Dec and Sun, 6th Dec both at 9.15pm – an American mystery-drama film, directed by Woody Allen and starring Joaquin Phoenix.
Phone 0751 5010 for more information.

Finally, please mail me on: lindauexpats@gmail.com if you’d like to find out more about our group and if you’d like to be added to our mailing list!

Best wishes, and happy Christmas!

Amanda