Holiday Season is Here!

Hey everyone,

The holiday season is wrapping its self back up for one more year, and to give you a little taste as to what the holiday season is like in Germany vs. the US, I will share my story of this year’s celebration with my host family. 

To kick things off every year, there are these advent candles. You will see them in every house, and in businesses and school classrooms. There are four candles, which are to be lit on the four Sundays before Christmas. Then comes a real tree, which is decorated with plenty of ornaments and lights and or real candles that are lit on Christmas. People in the house also start to begin making a bunch of different cookies for everyone to eat.

Next comes the opening of Christmas markets, if you don't know what they are, do not feel alone, I too did not know what they were until I saw them. Each Christmas market is different from the next, but most all of them have a few things in common. First: There are these wooden shacks that are placed up in the market square of the town or city. The shacks are decorated with different Christmas decorations such as wreaths. In most, if not every, Christmas market are certain types of shacks selling Glühwein (warm wine), crepes, beer, worsts/meat, cookies, chocolate, and then one shop (if not more) of different Christmas decorations such as ornaments, Jesus Christ in his manager, and other small gift items. Around the market square is more fistic decorations with a Christmas tree covered with lights. (The non-colorful lights.) 

Then on the 6th of December comes Saint Nicholas. For that, ever boy and every girl puts a boot outside of their door, and Saint Nicholas fills their boot with goodies. (It is kind of like Santa Clause, but on the 6th vs. the 24th, but Saint Nicholas doesn't bring presents for under the tree, but just for the boot.) 

In the school, the students plan the final day of school. This year, during the first period, they held a religious ceremony for any student that wanted to attend. Then during the 2nd-4th periods, we had ordinary classes, but were a little bit shorter. Finally, during the 5-6th period they held a little Christmas fire where they sold creeps and Glühsaft (This time was just warm punch), and crepes and just had a good time. 

After everything that has gone on for the entire month of December basically, it is finally time for the big day. On the 24th, everyone wakes up like normal, but at around 2 o’clock (I am not sure exactly when though), everyone in the family goes to church. At church, they sing and have a normal ceremony that is equivalent of a Christian church; however, they do not have candles that they all light. When everyone gets back home, People in the family race around to their friends’ houses giving them gifts. When someone is home, it is customary to have a shot of schnapps with them. Schnapps is a hard alcohol about 40-50%. Finally, when everyone is back home, we all sit around listening to music and helping to prep dinner. After it gets dark out, everyone starts to open presents. Usually one person picks out the first, then someone distributes the other one presents. After presents, we all gather around the table for dinner. This year was a very good dish called raclette. Raclette is when you have a bunch of different foods that you can choose from then you stick in in a small dish and put it under a warm stove thing in the center of the table, on top of the stove is where you can cook different types of meat from chicken to bacon or other worsts. Then for the adults is Champaign and the kids is Champaign with no alcohol. After dinner comes a desert that can be anything fancy to ice cream, which is what we had this year. 

After a couple of days of chillaxing, the New Year is about to begin. Everyone races to the stores to pick up their daily bottle rockets and other fireworks for midnight of the New Year. On New Year’s Eve, there is normally a good dinner with desert and Champaign, music, and sometimes dancing, but when it comes about that time for fireworks, keep your eyes open. About a couple hours before midnight, people are already lighting off fireworks in their back yard. There is not very many restrictions as to lighting off fireworks, so by the time of midnight, the sky is light up like day, the air has turned to smoke, and your ears are being pounded with blasts. Overall, it is a great time and an amazing sight to see.  

Now it is time to clean up everything, pack it away for the next year, and get back to life. Sorry for making this one a little later then I might have said, just kind of got distracted having a good time here. I hope you guys are enjoying what I have to say and learned something new about Germany. If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, please feel free to leave them in the comments below. 

Thanks everyone,

~Michael Steiner~