**Disclaimer: this is simply how I've experienced Christmas in Germany. Traditions may vary from family to family. Also, not everything was fully explained to me, I simply observed and went along with what everyone else was doing, so I apologize for any gaps in my explanations or understanding.**
Christmas on the 24th?
German Christmas, or Weihnachten, is a bit different that American Christmas. The most importance difference would be the fact that in Germany, Christmas is celebrated over the course of three days, with the most important being December 24th. That's right, German Christmas isn't even on the same day as American Christmas.
December 24th is a day called Heiligabend (Heilig= holy, abend= evening). Basically, Germans celebrate Christmas Eve, the night of Christ's birth, rather than the following morning. Since Germans just celebrate in the evening on the 24th, some people still have to go to work that day. My host parents were quite busy in the butchery that day filling everyone's orders for Christmas.
So how do Germans celebrate on this day exactly? Some go to church services the way that some Americans go to a service on Christmas Eve, some just stay at home with family, there's usually a big meal involved, and this is the time for exchanging presents.
December 24th started for me by returning back to my host family's house after celebrating a friend's 18th birthday the night before. I wished by host parents a merry Christmas as I went up to the apartment above the butchery. I spent some time just relaxing, knowing that not much would be happening until that evening. I also took this time to finish wrapping Christmas presents for my host family. After my host parents closed the butchery, they rested for the afternoon (it was very well deserved, I might add, as things had been quite hectic in the butchery in the days/weeks leading up to Christmas).
In the evening I joined my host family in the living room. Some extended family came to celebrate with us. First we had our Christmas meal, which consisted of duck, red cabbage, knödeln (potato or bread dumplings), gravy, basically just some all-around good German food. I understand that this is a very typically meal to have on German Christmas.
After dinner we opened gifts. The adults joked that the children would have to sing before opening presents (or at least that was my interpretation. I'm still not to strong with the German), this didn't actually happen. In Germany, the children take turns passing out the presents (or maybe that's just how my host family does it?), that night all of the "children" were over eighteen or older. Nina, Sarah, their two cousins, and I took turns handing out the present. We went in order of age and we were required to announce whom the present is for, and who gave the present. After all the presents were opened we spent sometime talking, eating desert, and enjoying each other's company.
O Tannenbaum!
Like Americans, Germans typically have a Christmas tree in their home, hence the famous carol "O Tannenbaum" However, unlike Americans, Germans wait until just a few days before Christmas to get a tree. My host family didn't set up their tree until the day of. Mistaking this custom for having no tree at all, I told one of my friends how sad I was that my host family didn't have tree for Christmas. So this friend gave me a small plastic tree as a Christmas present and I keep it on my desk.
 |
| My little tree. Yes, it's sitting in a coffee mug. |
My host family did have a Christmas tree. It was small, plastic, and silver. It was cute, but not quite what I'm used to. It was a pretty stark contrast to the year my brother insisted we cut down a giant tree which took up half of our living room.
 |
| My host family's tree. |
On the Second day of Christmas…
When I woke up on the morning of the 25th, I took a few minutes to open some of the presents sent to me by my lovely family; this was my own little way of honoring American Christmas. I'd opened a few of the other presents the night before. Then I had breakfast with my host family. When we'd finished eating my host mom told me that AFS had found a new host family for me and that they wanted to meet with me sometime after Christmas
**Sorry, if this is the first time you're hearing that I'm switching host families. I think that most people that read my blog know. Everything's okay. I'll write more about it later**
Anyway, that was kind of a nice Christmas present from AFS!
After breakfast I went for a run with my host dad, host sister (Sarah), and Fee. It was a perfect day for a run. The weather was 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). This was my first Christmas without snow.
That afternoon I skyped with my mom. I think we talked for almost two hours. I saved one of the presents she sent me so that I could open it in front of her.
That evening we went to my host grandparent's house for more present opening and more Christmas dinner. Some other family was there too, including two adorable little boy cousins that remind me of my cousins. Before opening presents the boys performed a little magic show for us (I'm guessing this was their alternative to singing for their presents), then the two of them handed out everyone's presents like we'd done the night before.
And then we had dinner, which, like the night before, was delicious. Also, I just wanted to include a small anecdote from that night: We were having desert and everyone was just sort of chit chatting when the younger of the two boys (who is seven, I believe) takes a sip from his mother's glass because he thinks it's apfelschorle (apple juice mixed with sparkling water, Germans LOVE it). Then all of a sudden he gets this horrible look on his face and shouts, "Ugggghhhh! Was war das?!" It was not apfelshorle that he drank. It was, in fact, his mother's beer. We all had a good laugh. (Clarification: was war das?= what was that?)
After dinner I played some games with the boys, including German Battleship. It's always fun to practice my German with kids because they don't really care how bad it is.
On the Second Day of Christmas…
The 26th was pretty low key. We had breakfast together, went to the gym, had a nice meal in the evening, and so on. And that night I got to skype my dad.
Random Christmas Facts:
Frohe Weinachten= Merry Christmas
Weihnachtsmann= Santa Claus
I'm not really sure what role Santa plays in German Christmas since no one in my host family is young enough to believe in him. There is a holiday earlier in December called Nikolaus. On the morning of this day children find small gifts in their shoes from Nikolaus. These gifts typically consist of sweets, clementines, and nuts.
 |
| My Advent calendar |
No comments:
Post a Comment