A Love Story for Christmas

I must confess that I love me a good cheesy Christmas movie. I miss the Hallmark channel second only to my family. BUT luckily my favorite awful Hallmark Christmas movie happened to be on the other day (dubbed in German, but beggars can't be choosers) and I finally got my wish of watching Harry Potter 7 today (also dubbed in German). Between that, skype, and good friends to look out for me (and feed me delicious things which I ate way too much of) I have more than I need. Maybe the people I associate are just maturing, but it seems like there's a return to the true meaning of Christmas going on. Well the true spirit of Christmas is a simple message of love, forgiveness, and hope brought by a baby and given to mankind. It can be shared anywhere in the world and any time of year. Jew, Muslim, Christian, Atheist alike-we can exercise those.

But I just wanted to share this little love story for Christmas. You have time for this. Sit back and relax. Have a box of tissues.

Sorry Hallmark channel. He wins.

I'm not sayin'; I'm just sayin'.

And to All a Good Night

We're doing this movie-soundtrack style again. You know the drill (push play and keep reading).

I've been asking around about Santa Clause. It seems like the US took other countries' Christmas man and melded them together. Then the others got back this commercialized version which is starting to get re-mixed in with their own traditions. Thank you modern media.

Germany: Some Germans I spoke to struggled to tell me whether Saint Nikolaus and der Weihnachtsman are the same person. The final conclusion is that they aren't. In the beginning of December children are expected to clean out their shoes so that Nikolaus can come in the night and leave candies or other little treats inside them. If the shoes aren't clean, the children receive coal. Der Weihnachtsman knocks on their door Christmas Eve night. He has their presents for them. He also has a list of good and bad things they did that year. If they sing and dance and say that they'll be better next year then he has their presents for them. If they haven't been good then they are whipped with a bunch of tree boughs. I have some conflicting evidence as to whether he says hohoho.

The Netherlands: There is a man who sails in on a ship from Spain and brings little things for the children who clean out their shoes in the beginning of January. This happens more than one night. And I think they also receive coal for uncleaned shoes. On Christmas Eve comes a man who apparently now fits the description of the Coca-cola Santa.

Switzerland: Nikolaus/Santa Clause/der Weihnachtsman visits the Children in the beginning of January. He rides a donkey. He's not fat. He wears a long red coat. He brings oranges and peanuts. He lives in the Black Forest. He only cares about Switzerland. He has a little henchman named Schmutzli (which I think comes from meaning dirty) who comes with him. He brings a broom thing and... takes care of children who have been naughty. If they've been really bad the might be taken back to the black forest in Nickolaus' bag. On Christmas day the children receive their presents from der Christkind (Christ child). I think I think Switzerland wins in my book


Whew. Ok so I might have mixed some of that up. But there's your Christmas mythology tutorial. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

I'm not sayin'; I'm just sayin'.

Apparently people are following me

You Guessed It

Happy 12.12.12.12.12! Well actually it's not 12:12 in Germany, but it is somewhere in the world. I do have to admit, though, it's not as cool as 11.11.11. Why? Because it's not all the same number. You know what I mean? I don't know that I can bring myself to properly make a wish at 12:12. It's just not the same. But I still love it.

Today I ate smoked eel for the first time in my life.

I'm not sayin'; I'm just sayin'.

Swiss Sizes

**Record number of "anyway"s

Mary Poppins must have been Swiss

Today was quite the adventure through/around Switzerland. But since I don't want to completely overwhelm you let me just say something concerning trains. I rode many of them today.

I'm quite certain that more than half of the Swiss Armed Forces was waiting on my platform in the morning. Do you know what that means...? You probably think I'm going to say something like: Men in uniform!!

But no. It means a full train. Anyway, I asked a woman if the seat across from her was free and sat myself down. I didn't observe her that closely, but she was at least old enough to be my mother. And she was knitting. That's really all I know. NBD. A couple trains later a girl asked if the seat across from me was free. I said it was and she sat herself down and took off her coat. She produced a brand new pair of thermal shoe sole inserts (which I greatly envied) and placed them in her boots. She then suddenly had a tissue in hand. Next thing I knew she had pulled out an ipod. After that, a yogurt with a spoon. Just when I thought she can't get anymore prepared she started to knit. She was probably not much older than me. Maybe mid to late twenties. Just before the next stop, the ticket-checker came around and completely skipped over her as she went for her ticket. She exchanged a puzzled look with me and then shortly thereafter exited the train. I thought to myself, I have GOT to get me one of those bags--it holds everything AND makes you invisible (not that I would go ticketless, but I got checked twice on two of my trains). A couple trains later another girl asked if the seat across from me was free. Again I said ja and she sat down. She was probably pretty close to my age too. Maybe a little younger. She, like the other girl, took off her coat and settled in. She then reached into her bag and pulled out an ipod. Then her smart phone. Then a rather large book. After a little while she replaced the book and pulled out... HER KNITTING! It was followed by a water bottle and some sort of chips or other food. These Swiss girls, I'm telling you. I don't know how they do it. And it's as if whatever they need just magically appears on top. No digging or rummaging. Maybe if I took up knitting, I too would have magic powers...

I'm not sayin'; I'm just sayin'.

Abs like mine

I never get sick. Except the entire month of November this year. What's that about? Well I actually still sound like I've been chain-smoking for years. But let me tell you I feel great, AND in that time I discovered the long-coveted solution to getting fit quick. Come close--it's a secret... BRONCHITIS! My abs have never been this good in my life and all because I laid in bed for two days straight.

I'm not sayin'; I'm just sayin'.

Advent-ures

So, Germany celebrates more Christian holidays than we do so I've been learning about this advent business. All I knew about it was that we eat a piece of candy every day of December up until Christmas. I love candy, and I love Christmas, and I love countdowns so this is right up my alley. But apparently you're supposed to light a candle on a wreath each of the four weekends before Christmas. Anyway, this was the first advent weekend, and boy was it a good 'un. I know I don't normally do travelog style, but I'm kind of going to now. Prepare yourself.

So Saturday I went to the city and was greeted by... well a late and rather full train. But when I got out of the station I was greeted by... WEINACHTSMARKT! Hallo? Yes please. It was a relatively small one, but I was stoked. There was an itty bitty baby Ferris Wheel and tons of vendors, and I spoke German (gasp), and I totally bought a 100g cone thing of roasted almonds (I'll get to the chestnuts later), and I devoured them at once. Ask me if I got a stomach ache. The answer is yes. Ask me if I regret it. The answer is a resounding no. There were some wicked sweet musicians playing the Hallelujah Chorus. It was kind of magical.

Then today I woke up and did my thing. When I went down the stairs, something out the window caught my eye. It was white flakey stuff coming down from the clouds. It DOES snow here. I was beginning to envy my friends in other parts of Germany who were claiming to have it. Throughout the morning the flakes got to be quarter-sized. Magical. So thank you, Germany, for starting off my Christmas month in style!

I'm not sayin'; I'm just sayin'.