Getting to Germany
I know, I know, it’s February and I’m writing about my trip in December 
I’ve been just too freaking busy – that’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it. Anyways, after our night in Paris we took a quick flight with AirBerlin to Duesseldorf. Let me say at this point that we got so lucky with all our flights. While Europe was in a complete snow chaos, we were able to catch every single flight (some were late, but so what?!). Thank you to the weather gods!
We arrived in Germany and Marco says all he remembers after that is having to drink for three nights straight… While I think that’s somewhat true, it also leaves out a lot of the sober catching up with family and friends that was going on
Christmas Traditions in Germany
Since we spent the first week of our vacation in France this year, we missed out on the Christmas markets. Pretty sad since they are one of my favorite German traditions. But, oh well, can’t have everything! Anyways, we arrived on the 23rd of December in Germany and my sister and her boyfriend picked us up. We drove home and stopped for delicious Doener on the way. Yeah for Turkish fast food in Germany! Later that night we went to the annual “Warten auf’s Christkind”. Literally that translates to “waiting for the christ child”… not Santa Claus? No, in Germany the Christkind is the one who brings the presents. Nowadays there’s more and more Santa Clauses in the shopping centers, but traditionally it’s the Christkind that brings the presents. And guess when that happens. On December 24th in the evening! Correct, while the whole world waits until December 25th for their presents, we Germans get them a night early. Some people (e.g., my Italian boyfriend) say we just can’t wait like the rest of the world. Others (e.g., my grandpa) say that we just work harder all year than the rest of the world and get that extra day to celebrate. I have no idea what’s true, but the fact is that we open presents on December 24th and have a nice dinner with parents and siblings. The 25th and 26th are also Christmas days and reserved for family gatherings with the extended family. In my family, the 25th is meeting with Dad’s family and the 26th is meeting with Mom’s family. But I digress…
The ”Warten auf’s Christkind” is a tradition in my home town. Everybody is home for the holidays and on December 23rd everybody is out in the bars (we only have three in town, so it’s easy to meet everybody who is out ) to catch up with friends who have long since moved away. It’s a big party and a lot of fun! I hadn’t been there in a while for the “Warten auf’s Christkind” and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I found out that some people had goten married, others had kids, and many of them were still the same as always. Loved it and had a great night! And I am so, so happy that many of them make a big effort to speak English with Marco. I truly appreciate it and I know it makes his life easier and makes him feel more welcome. Yeah for my fellow Germans!!
Next post: Christmas in Germany (including a mean “Secret Santa” and much drinking)
Winter Wonderland Pictures
In the meantime, check out some of the pics we took. There was so much snow!! It’s not like there’s snow in Germany for Christmas every year, but I got lucky two years in a row now
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