So I have been contemplating how exactly to structure this post for all 24 days of advent and now I'm out of time so I guess I'll just start at the beginning. Ill try to provide a breif overview of what my christmas abroad has been like
Advent- The christmas season around here really kicks into gear December first with the first of advent. At home we all know the daily chocolate treat of an advent calendar that, if you were like me, you probably ate all the chocolate before you were supposed to. Here advent is a little bit more of an important time, though calanders still exist, with much better chocolate or in other forms. Some are filled by mom and dad, some have books or toys and a particularly neat one at our house has lego! (see the awesome lego santa!) Advent is recognized as the four sundays leading up to christmas, we have a small wreath with 4 candles and each sunday one more candle is lit. In a small community such as ours there is also a community advent calendar, each night at a different house or community place i.e kindergarten or firestation, people can get together, sing carols, eat cookies and have a hot drink. Though advent is a religous based tradition it is widely recognized and I really enjoyed the warm and love filed feeling it brought it the holiday season.
Nikolaustag- I have had the tune to the carol about this day stuck in my head for the past month! December 6th is Nikolaustag or Saint Nikolaus Day here which is another very old tradition with a confusing origin but let me explain what happens at our house. The evening of dDcember 5th the children put a plate (and/or a freshly washed boot, dont ask me why) on the front step and while they sleep it is filled with a gift from Saint Nikolaus (or in our case from oma and opa). Saint Nikolaus is a santa like character who if I understand correctly was once a bishop who delivered gifts to kids, BUT he does not bring the gifts on Christmas Eve like our Saint Nick. This day acts like a preliminary round to christmas and it was so exciting to see the kids joy and excitement in the morning and so sweet that I received my own Nikolaustag gift from oma and opa as well. Nikolaustag gifts typically consist of nuts, fruit, chocolate and small toys or clothes
Weihnachtsmarkt - This might by my favourite part of the holiday season, and having visited a couple different ones and the one here in Braunschweig on several occasions I consider myself somewhat of an expert ;) Weihnnactsmarkt translates to christmas market and is exactly that. In the city centre, usually in the market or cathedral square a plethora of booths are set up with variety of christmas goodies. Each booth looks like a little wooden house and is usually festively decorated with lights and garland. The offerings of the Weihnachtsmarkt include any variety of hand made art, jewlery and textiles, plenty of sweets and some traditional German food and drinks. The first thing one will notice about the Weihnachtsmarkt is the air smells of Glühwein a hot mulled wine drank specifically for Christmas. I can attest that while tasty this beverage is very adept at drying out ones throat and making talking over the noise of the crowded market a serious challenge. Other Weihnachtsmarkt favourites include a variety of warm drinks, both alcoholic and throat and child friendly, bratwurst, currywurst, you-name-it-they-got-it wurst, crepes and sugar coated almonds, gingerbread (though be warned this is nothing like North American gingerbread!) and roasted chestnuts. Other stands sell elegantly crafted wares such as candles, ceramics, woodwork and ornaments. There is also a couple of carousels and ferriswheels to entertain the little ones. The thing I came to notice after going through several Weihnachtsmarkts and not buying anything was that while the things in them are amazing, they are really things that no one actually needs. I think it is safe to say that most people go to window shop, socialize, eat and drink more than in search of things to buy. Regardless of how busy or how much the air smells of wine I still love the feeling of the Weihnactsmarkt, so much christmas anticipation!
The preperations
The Christmas tree is an important part of the German Christmas tradition. It's been a long time since I've had a real christmas tree and I certainly never had one with real candles on it! But here that's the normal here and it's beautiful and traditional. Strangely though, tree skirts don't seem to exist, I think I'll be sending one to my host family from home next year!
We have being baking for Christmas since the last week of November and it seems that every time we visit someone we are gifted cookies! I'm certainly not complaining about the variety of baked goods, it's interesting see how different each families recipes are. Missing our families recipes I made snowball cookies and Nanaimo bars with the kids, which both went over very well!
Now that I think about it there is a general lack of lights and yard decorations around here as well. It seems that while the holiday season is long and full of excitment the holiday itself is much less commercial than in North America, it really does seem like a time to spend with family and friends.
December 24th, 25th ,26th
So everyone at home is used to Christmas Eve, Christmas and Boxing Day but here things run a little differently.
December 24th is the day Christmas is celebrated thought it is not technically a public holiday. The day is typically normal with the celebration beginning in the evening. At our house we have Bratwurst and potato salad for dinner as a tradition symbolic of what people in the past had at this time of year. That's certainly different from the North American turkey filled feast! After dinner the children are sent upstairs to play while the Weihnachtsmann delivers presents. The Weihnachtsmann is essentially German Santa, though he is a lot less magical than our North American Santa and comes in the front door instead of down the chimney. When the doorbell rings it means he's come and gone and the children run to the tree to see what he has left. He might not have elves or reindeer but the children's faces still light up with the magic of Christmas when they see the presents under the tree. After that it's your typical flurry of wrapping paper and toy building long past bedtime!
December 25th and 26th are both public holidays here, apparently Boxing Day isn't a thing and everything from offices to bakeries are closed. The days are spent eating yummy food and cookies and visiting family and friends. For us I see a lot of Lego building and book reading in today's schedule.
Being 7659 kilometres from home today is certainly a strange feeling, but I'm so thankful to have a fantastic host family that has welcomed me so warm and lovingly into their home and family. I'm also thankful for Skype that lets me join my family for their Christmas morning <3
I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas however it's celebrated at your house! Thank you all for your love and support on my exciting adventure!
Love
Cedar
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