Weihnachts Markts & Christmas

So . . . I finally sat down a while and wrote a post about my Christmas time spent at the Damiani family. Christmas is truly wonderful, there are lights in every city and people are just generally in a very good mood. It was fun to share my happiness about Christmas, with other people who were also excited about it. I find Christmas is often sort of a task, another thing to do in the American culture, but not in Germany. Its about enjoying your break. We had about 2.5 weeks vacation off of school, and having time to just sit around read, go skiing, and get to know my host family better was really great. I have more pictures from the break, but haven't gotten a chance to post them yet. I of course missed everyone back home over the break, but was lucky to have the chance to hang out with friends a bit, and do a lot of fun stuff with my host family. Unfortunately, Germany is slightly more warm than Minnesota (did I really just say unfortunetly . . .wow), so it hasn't gotten any snow. I do admit that I could see grass poking through, still green, on Christmas day. It currently looks a little bit like end of October, beginning November weather at home right now. Yee. We did have a few beautiful days though, so we were at least blessed with sun and perfectly blue skies. A change in pace of course was probably a good thing, and everything was still frosted over, so I guess technically I did have a white christmas. I have a few pictures below of me hanging out with my friends at the Weihnachtsmarkt in Kempten, and then of my host family at Christmastime.

With some friends im my class upon arriving at the Weihnachtsmarkt in Kempten. There are food stands everywhere, and multiple places to buy little knick-knacks, ornaments, or scarves. Many people will end up gathering around a table and conversing as their toes freeze, forcing them to get some sort of (lecker, or yummy) food. One of the ones I found most hilarious, was something called Geschöpfte Nudeln. These noodles are sort of maggot looking, warmed up and with warm saurkraut sort of fried. It actually does taste pretty good. Antoher Bayerisch specialty, given that Weihnachtsmarkts aren't a very common occurence in Northern Germany.

Hanging out with another girl from my class, who actually hates Christmas but came to the Weihnachtsmarkt with us anway to show me the ropes.

Eating chocolate fruit (they love the banana, but you just can't go wrong w/choc. strawberries). They are actually a quite popular dessert here.

My friends from school and I at the Weihnachtsmarkt in Kempten.

Walking to the table with a "Feurzangebolle", a strong and warm red wine that has suger placed to the very side which is then lit on fire, and the whole glass is on hot blue fire. Of course you wait until the fire dies to try it (I didnt of course), and then let it warm your soul. Often drinken at Weihnachtsmarkts in Germany.

Daminani's Christmas tree. It was quite cool, they had (well still have) real candles on it, although I only saw them light them once. Germans have a slightly different tradition with Christmas trees however. They put their tree directly before Christmas up, so they put theirs on the 23rd up. Manfred also did all the decorating, the family didn't do that together. Lisa and I did put a few ornaments on, but it's sort of more complicated somehow here, so we kind of let it rest. Each tree, or each family, also has a theme - a color for their tree. Barbara used red and sort of straw or wood ornaments, but I also saw purple and differetn manners of decoration. Its sort of funny, back home as kids we'll get ornaments often for Christmas, 'baby's first Christmas' or something . . . they don't do that at all, but only put ornaments on that fit their theme. Luckily the canoe (ornament) mom sent me to give as a present, was painted red and forest green. It worked, color-wise at least. Most people take their trees back down on the day of the Three Kings, the 6th of December (Bayerisch holiday) (we started school the 7th), but we still have ours up. It does still look nice. I must note that another tradition I could very much get used to, is the fact that Damiani Oma (Grandma), baked like 17 different types of cookies for Christmas. Wow. Yum.

Bonnie Em (Lisa and Teresa's pony) ready to roll for a small walk Christmas Eve morning.

Playing music on Christmas Eve, Germans hold a tradition (or at least my experience with it), of singing Carols before the Christmas tree together as a family on 'Heiligen Abend'. Here, Moni (Barbara, my host moms sister) and her kids are playing as we sing. Teresa also played piano with us.

The table that Teresa and I set for Christmas Eve.

Lisa and I on our way to church in the car. As an excuse to put it on, and because it is just pretty beautiful and I didn't know what else to wear, I wore my Dirndl on Christmas Eve. It did look sweet, but I must tell you that they aren't that extremely comfortable. And sitting for an extended period of time, plus eating lots of yummy good food because it's Christmas, makes life a little difficult.

The church service (picture of course not taken During the service . .. ) on Christmas Eve day.

Eating Christmas 'Ganz', or goose, with 'Knodel' (dumplings), and Blaukraut (red cabbage) on the 25th, midday. This is a very traditional German meal, in the entire country (unlike most typical Bayerish dishes I eat here). To be entirely honest, it wasn't my favorite thing in the world, and I think I may stick to the Damianis love of Italian food than some of the more northern Germany dishes. I also tried something the other day which I believe is called Reffe, or white Rutebega peeled and chopped in this very special way, so it opens almost like an accordion, with vinegar and salt on top. I guess that's another one of those very typical Bayerisch dishes however . . . mostly eaten with Pretzels as big as your head at Oktoberfest, and probably uncommon in the north . . .

My drawer after Christmas, I recieved Abercrombie wear from Mom so I could look a little more American (unsurprisingly, the country I like the more Im here - but surprisingly, the fashion of the Americans I also like more and more), as well as an Allgäu t-shirt that says the dialect word for 'Gutentag', or hello on it.

Barbara and I after dinner (um, I liked the picture - don't look too closely at my smile).

Playing with the new Fußball table the little girls (Nici and Angie) got for Christmas.


The entire Damiani family on Christmas Eve (actually Barbara's side of the family, her sister Moni and two girls Nici and Angelina (in red), her brother's widow Marles and here son Markus (somewhere hidden back there), Opa and Oma, Barbaras son Max, then Lisa, Teresa, Manfred, Barbara and I). We had Fondue for Christmas eve. Presents and celebration for Christmas in Germany is all down on Christmas Eve, like home. Unfortunately, Santa didn't have enough time to visit Germany as well on Christmas Eve, so visits the country on the 6th of December, or St. Nikolaus (which I explained in an earlier blog post). So I got lucky, Santa visited me early this year.
I came up with a slight conclusion about the celebration of Christmas in Germany. They have the best preparation of all, with the Weihnachtsmarkts, Glühwein, Lebkuchen, St. Nikolaus, and other celebrations. The States, or at least my family, celebrate the actual days of Christmas better though. I have a sneaking suspicion this may because Christmas back home is most always better than away from your family, but I quite enjoy the Christmas traditions we have back home. Plus, during Christmas you just stay by your family - you dont 'go out'. Example: My host sister wanted to go clubbing on Christmas Eve, and the following holidays as well. Germany recieves two days off for Christmas, and Christmas Eve. Both the 25th and 26th are holidays. A small meal is celebrated on Christmas Eve, and a large meal on the 25th. Presents are opened on the 24th. After opening the package my parents sent me for Christmas (on Christmas Eve) I cried a little bit, but I suppose that is to be suspected. One, I always cry, and two, you are sort of supposed to miss your family on Christmas. To my surprise however, the holidays went by with only a slight bit of homesick. I really didn't miss home that much. It was after the holidays, when I went back to school and got sick for a little while, that I ended up getting a little homesick. During the Holiday you are always up to something, but January hits and its all gray and dreary and with not too much to look forward to.
Athough seeming to be a long ways away at this moment, I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Christmas back in the United States (or other country if you're reading this from somewhere else . . . ), and that it was at least white.
I must share with you a last thought, my Christmas song of the holidays, that ended up renewing my love in Judy Garland (born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota thank you very much). As a side note, Prince and Bob Dylan are also from this beloved state. Even people here in Germany know those singers. Sort of surprisingly, Judy Garland is less know than Dylan.

My song of the holidays: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - Judy Garland.

Listen to it on youtube, it'll melt your heart :)

Abschluss Ball

I was lucky enough to experience my first 'real', well - more modern day, Ball just before Christmas. My first host sister, Theresa, is a fairly avid dancer and I ended up taking a dance course at the same school she does this past fall. I wouldn't say the majority, but many young people in Germany learn standard forms of dancing. Everyone can at least the basic step of Walz. This probably stems from the fact that the majority of the parents can still dance, and that I'm currently from Bavaria. Bavaria, or Bayern always has to have their very specifics traditions, holidays, food, accent . . . and they're very proud of it. I do feel lucky to be able to still experience some of the old Germany traditions, that aren't often practiced in the northern parts of the Country. In any case, we learned a few basic steps to begin us in the dancing world - Walz, Rumba, Tango, ChaChaCha, Jive, Disco, Samba . . . and I believe that's it. We also learned the MüchnerFranzaise, which is one of those really old dances where you greet your partner and dance in groups of fours, swinging around together in a circle. It was very cool. I decided not to take part further though, given that I have a lot of traveling ahead of me (!), and won't often be there on Friday evenings when the course takes place. Here are a few pictures of the ball, which both my second and first host family came to, and for which I wore a dress I had on at homecoming a few years ago that Mom sent to me. They don't normally have anything remotely similar to Homecoming, Winter Formal (or Sno Frolic in Silver Bay lingo), or Prom. Children, and teens and adults as well, do most things in a very private - pure interest sort of way. If you want to play Volleyball, it is always organized by a club of some sort in your town, and if you want to participate in orchester (or, learn an instrument), it must be privately funded and organized. In some ways I believe it forces kids to really do things they are interested in and be ambitious about it, but in other ways the school spirit present in growing up in the States, is a completely unfathonable thing here, which is quite sad. Plus, if the opportunities aren't there (which they normally are here), you just don't get the chance to do something. Students here, or at least in the Gymnasium (highest version of highschool) are very disciplined, and I often feel a very competivive feeling between the students. Plus, every student spends time studying and worrying about their grades. I find it actually quite funny, because back home every final grade we recieve goes onto our transcript, but here they don't start counting until the 12th grade (except for the fact that if you had better grades earlier, you probably also understood more). I find the difference in competitiveness between students much stronger here, and back home students are often very differing in their approach to school. Some really care and work really hard, some practically never do homework. It's just a very different approach in education, or at least the perspective of education.

My first host family Büchters (right), me in the middle, and current (2nd) host parents Manfred and Barbara on the left.

A friend of mine who also did the dance course, and who ironically also is named Sonja.

Some friends and I from my class in school who were helping with the course.

I even got to dance with our slightly hilarious dance teacher :) This is afterward, we were 'Salsa-ing' in a circle around the room.

Theresa and I dancing together.

Münchner Franzaise (? spelling)

Rotary Christmas Weekend - Hindeland

Zum Glück, or Luckily, my roatary district's Rotex club (previous exchange students still active in Rotary), are one of the most active in the world. They organize many different events for us throughout the year, and in December we traveled to Hindeland for a Chrismtas weekend. Kempten is officially THE (as everyone makes sure to emphasize to me) oldest city in Germany, from back in Roman times. To be honest, I have yet to take a city tour. Because the city is so old however, most things have ended up having to be rebuilt so it doesnt look like it at all. Hindeland, Germany, however, is also a very old city, that still looks old. I believe it started up in the Middle Ages, and is one of the very few cities in Europe still with a wall surrounding it. Quite quaint, and it was a nice setting for the building of the first Snowman for many from South America, drinking of Glühweihn, eating pizza, and getting a visit from St. Nikolaus. We each got chocolate, an orange, and peanuts. It was quite cute. I just thought I would quickly share some pictures I took there, because its always frun to spend time and see so many different people from different countries. The snow was also so beautiful, the first snow in Germany. We had a fairly intense snowball fight.

Experimenting with my camera (very tired at the end of our weekend)

Carousel at the Weihnachtsmarkt.

Looking out a vined window while we walk around the city on top of the wall.

The houses are so old they were tilting in on themselves, and quite warped.

Finland & Mexico walking around a Middle Ages wall in Germany.

The middle of a snow ball fight. The little kid in red just started throwing snow balls at us right and left, even while we took pictures. We asked him very nicely to stop a few times, which annoyed him, and he proceeded to come kick me in the behind. I then threw a snow ball at him, which made him really mad because I hit him in the face, and he went after Cassio from Brasil kicking and hitting. We tried calming him down, but all ended up running away. Not only from this circumstance, but also from others, I find a surprisingly mean attitude in many kids in Germany, especially in boys. They have more right I think, with still traditional sexism ideas existing, and therefore are a little more cocky. They dont have much respect for others, or adults. This kid was a little over the top, but its a slight difference I recognize in the most subtle of ways over here.

A Rotary snowman built with hands from almost every continent (besides Africa and Antartica).

Tasting the snow in Germany (pretty much the same, just so you know, maybe a little chocolatier taste, but that might have been since Id eaten chocolate a few minutes earlier).

Looking down from the tower of Hindelands church, still in the original brick from when it was built, which means it lasted through both World Wars.

At the top of the tower, looking over Hindeland.

Another warping house, with traditional German trimming.

Christmas decorations and German detailing on the houses.

Riding the train home (Jenny from Arkansas).



Be grateful however for your snow back home people on the North Shore, I ended up having a green Christmas because it rained and everything went away.
:)