So This is Christmas....

Considering most of the people reading this live in the US and for the last month-plus certain radio stations have been playing nothing but non-stop Christmas music, I think it'd be safe to assume that you all are familiar with the song by John Lennon that goes "So, this is Christmas, and what have you done?"  If it's not sounding familiar, it also has children in it and is called "War is Over."  Still not sure?  Here's a link to the YouTube video.   In the last month the words of this song echoed many times in my head, not because Germany was overplaying it (unfortunately--I wish they would have), but rather because I kept thinking, perhaps a little bitterly, to myself, "So.  This is Christmas."

Christmas is a time for most people that is ripe with tradition and it is for me as well.  Of course, through the years the traditions have changed and evolved.  When my siblings and I were little, we had a cloth Advent's Calendar that hung from the coat closet with little pockets for the days.  Every day we would move the little stuffed animal mouse to the next day, taking turns between the four siblings of who got to move the mouse.  Christmas time also always meant a huge 1990s-style Tupperware container filled with my mom's delectable and irresistible Chex Mix.  It's funny to think on the years when that container of Chex Mix seemed to last for days...Now a batch of Chex Mix is lucky to the see the sunset.  Sure, that might say something about healthy eating in the Britain House during Christmas, but hey, it's Christmas!  

When I went to college the traditions around Christmas of course changed again because I wasn't home for the majority of Advent.  The first year at Elon a girl on my dorm floor downloaded a bunch of extremely random Christmas music and burned a CD to share with the other 35 girls on our floor.  A little later, my friends and I took one of our far-too-frequent trips to Target and bought Christmas decorations...in the form of purple, metallic, mini Christmas trees.  I still have mine.  Throughout the next three years that completely gaudy Christmas tree fused itself into my Christmas Traditions Memory Bank.  Setting up that tree and our other Christmas decorations became a valid Christmas tradition between my friends and me.  

This year, though, was destined to be different.  The reasons are so obvious that I do not need to waste space or time sharing them.  People were repeatedly surprised to hear that I would not be traveling home for Christmas.  Whenever I was asked I either gave the simple answer of "It's too expensive and I'm not supposed to," or I'd give the longer explanation of, "I'm really not supposed, but that's OK.  I want the culture experience of Christmas in Germany."  Which was true.  But I'd be lying if I said I did not once think about wanting to go home for the holidays.  All of my normal holiday build up was missing this year, with the exception of those songs downloaded four years ago by my dorm-mate.  Christmas Time in Germany really is something special, though, namely because of the Christmas Markets, which I have already extensively written about.  I visited the Bremen Christmas Market several times and each time I treated myself to some different Christmas treat.  The last time, on Friday the 23rd, I ate a "Quark Ball."  I'm really not sure what this is, but quark is a type of spread made from milk (therefore a distance relative of cream cheese) and the sphere of dough was fried and then rolled in sugar.  

This whole month I did what I could to try to convince myself that it was Christmas--between finding a 24-hour Christmas station online, buying festive wrapping paper and making cookies--but it still wasn't there.  I wasn't home and I realized that a replacement for the sounds and smells, the hugs from family and the family get-togethers is perhaps impossible to find.

It hit me very hard on the 23rd that I wasn't going home and I was officially the only Britain not at home for Christmas.  This is the first time I haven't been home for Christmas and only the second time in Britain-History that anyone has been missing for Christmas:  The other time was when Lara was in Germany eleven years ago.  The 23rd was actually a very pleasant day in terms of what I did--I went to the Christmas Market, I wrapped presents, I decorated the Christmas tree with my host parents and I had a small Christmas party with the other PPPlers in Bremen.  But the day was tainted by my reality.  By the time I got to the PPPler Christmas Party, however, had a little to eat and exchanged Secret Santa gifts with the others, my spirits were back up.  At some point in the day the words of "So.  This is Christmas." broke through my mind and I found myself thinking, this Christmas doesn't count--I'm writing it off.  This clearly wasn't really a Christmas-minded thing to say, but it was oddly freeing and comforting.

Given my submission to missing Christmas and having to settle on the substitute, I only weakly braced myself for the next three days of Christmas celebrations and was just going to accept what was coming and take it for what it was.  In retrospect, despite the negativeness of these thoughts, this may have actually been a fairly good idea because it finally pushed away the sadness and let me be more open to what was ahead.  On Christmas Eve morning I woke up and again thought, "So.  This is Christmas."  Christmas Eve in Germany is the big celebration day and the actual day and also the 26th are used for more eating and getting together with relatives.  This Christmas Eve I was invited by the Oertel Family (a host family from the language school phase who I've become close to) to brunch at a lovely restaurant.  For three-and-a-half hours in the morning into afternoon I ate and chatted with Oertels and another family.  For the Oertels brunch on Christmas Eve morning is a tradition and this year I got to share in it.  Perhaps if I ever spend another Christmas in Germany I can add that to a new list of German Christmas Traditions.  It was a completely wonderful way to start the day and I am extremely grateful to the Oertels for their generosity and compassion.  

The rest of the day was spent much like it would be at home--wrapping presents, cleaning up, preparing food and finally, going to church.  Even though I'm Protestant, this year I went to the Catholic Church because the majority of my host family is Catholic.  The service was certainly different, but nice.  I must admit, I am not a fan of the incense burned and mercilessly wafted through the air, but it was very funny to watch a woman of the church try to light the candles on the wall and continually (at least five times) lose the flame while walking between the candle holders.  That was probably the highlight of the service and certainly will stay with me!

After church we traveled back to the house and soon after ate a dinner of carp, salmon, one other fish (which I don't the name of), potato dumplings (which I helped make!) and sauerkraut.  Yep, I said it.  I'm in Germany and I ate sauerkraut.  It does happen, folks, but please don't take that as permission to tell everyone that "Meaghan eats lots of sauerkraut now because she's in Germany!"  To be honest, though, sauerkraut really is quite delicious, especially eaten with something sweet, such as the Polish Jewish Sauce of simmered dried-fruits and nuts that we ate with our meal.  

After long anticipation, the Christmas Man finally "came," lit the real candles on the tree and we were finally able to exchange gifts.  My mom had sent really nice gifts for the boys, Jörg and Ulla and we had a nice time of opening gifts and then taking pictures of said gifts.  When the candles on the tree finally burned themselves out a couple hours later, the Christmas festivities were over and I gratefully went upstairs to sleep and prepare myself for what would certainly be the much harder of the Christmas days.

My host family does not have a celebration on the actual day of Christmas, so my goal was to stay as busy as possible, which I successfully did.  Between going to church (this time Protestant!), time spent outside, and a little afternoon eating with another PPPler who is visiting Bremen for a few days, the day flew by.  Oh, and it also helped that I Skyped with my family three times.  Through Skype I opened my stocking "with" my family, opened my tree gifts, which were previously sent to me, and talked after Christmas dinner with our Christmas guests.  When looking into my computer into the den of my house I could truly almost believe I was there with my family.  Of course, looking into my periphery changed that, but something else very important happened in between Skype dates--After running, I stretched to Trans Siberian Orchestra videos on YouTube and chose to listen to Deck the Halls.  As the familiar chords of "Fa la la la la" played through my computer something finally fell into place inside me, and the glimmer of Christmas excitement and cheer finally took a breath and came to life.  Maybe it's because I haven't heard that carol this year or maybe because I've been able to sing that carol for as long as my family has been eating Chex Mix at Christmas, but it finally made me happy that it was Christmas.  

Christmas Day passed surprisingly easily and happily.  There was pangs here and there of wishing I was with my family--While we Skyped I could pretend I was there, but when I hung up I knew they were continuing to be together and I was still thousands of miles away celebrating a very new type of Christmas.  But the day passed and I truly had a great day, despite the changes.  

Today was the 2nd Day of Christmas and it went much like the 1st Day of Christmas for me, except I helped Ulla in the kitchen prepare our bigger meal of goose, duck, potato dumplings (once again and just as yummy), "Blau Kraut" (cut and cooked purple cabbage; also delicious) and caramelized carrots.  For this meal some relatives came over and it was nice to meet some of the Engelmann extended family because, up to this point, I had not met any relatives.  

It is now late in the evening and the Christmas festivities are officially over--Many people are going back to work tomorrow, the public transportation is running on normal hours again and the Christmas Market is long gone.  Healthy eating commences tomorrow and cookies will again be in short supply.  Germany stretches out the Christmas celebrations, but it is still over.  And now that it is over, I'm really happy I spent it in Germany.  Of course, my heart still wants to be with my family, watching our new movies at night and popping popcorn on the stove, but I feel like this Christmas successfully played the roll it always is supposed too:  Bringing family together.  Sure, this year I might have been with a different family, but after these three host family-packed days, I feel tangibly closer to my host family, which is something I have been longing for.  And thanks to Skype and the postal services, I was also able to be close to my irreplaceably chaotic, crazy and loving family back home.  So, the Christmas Spirit may have been a bit thin this year and a little late in arrival, but it came nonetheless and, when all is said and done, I had a great Christmas.  Most importantly, I also now have one more line for my Christmas mantra: "So.  This is Christmas.  Nicht schlecht.  :)

(So.  This is Christmas.  Not bad.)

'Tis the season for Lebkuchen and Glühwein

A week ago I got back from a long weekend in Nuremberg, Bavaria.  Even though it was already the Second Sunday of Advent, the trip down south for the Christkindlesmarkt (the Christmas Market in Nuremberg) marked the beginning of my Christmas season.

Christmas is a big deal in Germany.  They make up for the lack of "Black Friday," cheesy Christmas lights as far as the eye can see and 24/7 Christmas music radio stations by the extreme excess of full-fat, full-sugar and full-flavor foods everywhere.  Christmas, of course, is so wonderful because it provides everyone the excuse (which I don't actually need) to eat whatever sweet we want whenever.  Germany provides this vice in the form of the famous and lovely Christmas Markets, or Weihnachstmärkte.

The Christmas Markets in Germany started in the Middle Ages as a way for the village people to stock up on winter supplies.  Just like the Freimarkt in Bremen, over the next 400 years a lot can change:  Now we have stall upon stall selling everything imaginable--from candied almonds (remember, the same from Freimarkt?), bratwursts (who's surprised there?), leather goods, handmade wooden cutting boards to stuffed animals.  And please don't forget the main attraction at the Christmas Markets:  Glühwein.  Glühwein is mulled wein that often has extra fruit juice added.  It is served warm and, as a part of the Christmas Market tradition, in sweetly decorated mugs that for only 2.50 Euros, you can keep.  Every year the pattern of the mug changes and it has grown into some what of a collector's item.

Almost every single city of considerable size (which is many) has a Christmas Market, Bremen included, naturally (with 600,000 people, Bremen is the 10th largest city in Germany).  My first Christmas Market, though, was in Nuremberg, one of the oldest in Germany and one of the most famous in the world.  On Thursday, the First of December, I traveled the six hours south to Nuremberg where most of my friends from the language school phase met me, Ginny, Morgan and Alex.  You might remember that these are the same people I went to Amsterdam with and also Oktoberfest...That alone guaranteed that I'd have a wonderful weekend.

One of the most famous Nuremberg Christkindelsmarkt specialities is the lebkuchen, which is essentially the more popular, more likable older sister of gingerbread....i.e. absolutely incredible.  Nuremberg's lebkuchen is called "Elisen" lebkuchen and is famous because of it's low flour content and high nut content.  Bitting into a large, round, chocolate-covered piece of lebkuchen is a little like biting into a nice, dense piece of carrot cake, but with more nuts and far more Christmas-y flavors.  The ingredients include, in addition to the beloved sugar, are such things as almonds, hazelnuts, orange, lemon and other citrus peels, something with apricots,  honey and other spices.  I actually encourage everyone to read a little more about lebkuchen because it really is a very special German dessert and something I suggest to anyone who travels to Germany in the winter months.  Here is where I bought some handmade lebkuchen (the website can also be in English) http://fraunholz-lebkuchen.de/.  

Our days at the Christkindelsmarkt were spent going around trying various fruit/cake inventions, drinking a mug of Glühwein here and there and looking at all the sweet little trinkets to buy.  The Markt is in the Innenstadt, within the old walls of Nuremberg.  Nuremberg has an impressively large area within the walls, containing many beautiful, old, brown-stone buildings and even older timber houses, such as the Albrecht Dürer house.  Albrecht Dürer is perhaps Germany's most famous painters and he resided in Nuremberg for 20 years in the early 1500s.  His house is one of the oldest and longest-standing examples of half-timber houses in Germany and was miraculously unscathed throughout the war, despite the high percentage of destruction in Nuremberg.  Shadowed by the towering walls of the city and Middle Ages castle, the small square near the Albrect Durer house is completely enchanting and lends a small glance into what Nuremberg may have looked all those centuries ago.

Speaking of World War II destruction, though...Nuremberg was a very important city for Nazi rallies and the Nazi Party.  About ten minutes outside of the city walls lies the Documentation Center, which is a museum built into the side of the forever-unfinished arena originally constructed for Nazi rallies.  On Saturday afternoon we visited the Documentation Center in order to learn about the rise of the Nazi power, to which Nuremberg played an important role.  Along with the unfinished-arena, several other Nazi buildings once stood and were used for now infamous rallies and propaganda from that nefarious era.  It came to me as no surprised that this museum was completely fascinating and one could spend several hours within listening to all the different audio clips, watching the propaganda films and reading the plaques following the rise of the Nazi Party.  The highlight of Nazi architecture through the location of the museum was also very interesting--Everything about Nazi buildings were massive:  Towering, narrow arches, deep and wide staircases, oversized statues and stark, strong stone.  You may know some pictures from this era of the rallies, and another feature was always the enormous red, white and black flags as well as huge, baskets of fire on top of the pillars.  Everything produced by the Nazi Party sent a overwhelming message of domination and this powerful technique is highlighted effectively at the Documentation Center.  I highly recommend this museum for anyone thinking of visiting Nuremberg.  Nuremberg was also, of course, the site of the Nazi Tribunals after the War.  I did not visit the court house because it is still in use, but there is a museum there documenting that part of Nuremberg's long and dynamic history.

German cities with their architecture, people and history fascinate me--Only 70 years ago Nuremberg was a central point for the Nazi's rise to power, but now it is better known for its history stretching back in the 1200s as an important merchant town and its 400 year old Christmas Market.  Traveling around Germany, though, is often like that.  Bremen's own Christmas Market takes place directly under the watch of the almost 800-year-old Town Hall (Rathaus).  I find the history mixed with modernity in Germany (and much of Europe) endlessly interesting and exciting.  Even though the Christmas Markets are now powered by electricity and have every possible modern convenience, it is still easy to picture what it may have been like a few hundred years ago when these markets were used for winter preparation instead of consuming as much fat and chocolate as possible.

My weekend in Nuremberg with good friends who completely empathize with all the emotions that happen while abroad was completely refreshing.  Seeing those people, mixed with the infectious cheerfulness of Christmas sights and smells, was more than enough to make up for no Thanksgiving AND to pull me into the Advent time with a happy, full and relaxed heart.