Christmas in Germany

The people of Germany get very "Christmas happy." Stores are filled with Xmas items and decorations in early October, the Christmas festivals (mentioned previously) are highly attended and (just like the US) people take the time off between Xmas and New Year's to recharge. However, the one thing that is sorely missed by my family are the Christmas lights and decorations. While driving at night, you might see a house with a few white or blue lights or a decorative Santa out front. But nothing like the US. Rebecca has always loved driving around and pointing out the lights to the kids and the kids have always been fascinated. So when we heard about a house in our town (that has been on the news and in the newspaper) that was highly decorated, we had to venture out to see it, though had quite low expectations as what the Germans call highly decorated we figured would be normal in the US. Quite wrong. We went to the house last night and were very surprised. The foot and car traffic was amazing - cars parked on all sides of the street for a few blocks and difficult to navigate and at least 50 people in front of the house looking at it. You could see the glow a few blocks away! Apparently, the male (60-70ish) owner of the house is a doctor and he and his wife have decorated the house (with much assistance, I imagine!) for a long time. He serves punch and hot drinks, she gives the kids little balls like those in ball pits at adventure parks. And they ask that you make a small donation that goes to the local children's hospital. Pretty neat and glad we made the effort for the trip!

Christmas Markets

One of the really historic and cool things about Germany is the Christmas markets. Most small towns (and some large) erect hundreds of stands in the central market area and every Saturday and Sunday in December these stands are filled with crafts, merchants, and things to eat. The markets are absolutely packed with people, but very cool. People standing around eating bratwurst, drinking gluhwein and beer and having a good time. There are some very famous ones in some of the medieval towns like Rottenburg ob der Tauber that have been going on for hundreds of years.

We decided to walk down to the one in our town today, about a 15 minute walk. It was about 40, but quite chilly. We got there and it was quite a small version with only about 50 stands, half of which were dedicated to eating and drinking. Germans love their sweets, so some cool stands selling chocolates, nuts, etc. Walking through with 2 strollers was quite tough as it was wall to wall people. Rebecca got her love - cotton candy.

In the center of all this was a carousel upon which kids could ride. There were about 15 places on the carousel, some on individual horses or motorcycles and some in cars that held four kids sitting. Tickets were required and had to be purchased at the ticket booth. There was quite a crowd around the carousel, which should have been my first sign to ensure the kids didn't see it. Too late. So I went up to get tickets and you could purchase 1 ticket, 5, 10, 20 or 50. Which seemed odd to me because this was the only ride there (should have been my second sign). I bought two for the girls and go back to Rebecca who appears wide eyed with fear. She quickly describes to me what happened when the carousel stopped - only about 2 of the 15 seats became vacated. And when you have 20 or so parents and kids waiting (not in a line, mind you, but just everywhere around the carousel) for those seats, mass chaos and anarchy prevailed. People and kids pushed and shoved to get their kids into those seats. And 18 of the 20 kids who tried to get the seats would come off the merry-go-round crying.

This happened several times and I stood there with Kate's hand in mine trying not to feel like a helpless, cowardly, meek father who didn't have the balls to push through the hordes of future carouselers to get his kid a spot. Finally we were able to get the girls on, both on the same ride even. And as we watched the goings-on for a bit longer, what apparently happens is that parents buy large amounts of these tickets, stand aside or in the drinking tents and drink beer and gluhwein. And each time the carousel starts, they run out and give their kid another ticket so they don't have to dismount.

Absolute insanity. I have grown accustomed to the European way of getting bumped into, people not saying excuse me and being a little more pushy. But I was astounded that any true civilized person would set the carousel up this way. Though, when I think about it, the ride was full every time and they were getting paid. So what did they care? And parents don't have much of a choice once their kids see the carousel. Oh, and there was this little 7 year old gypsy kid with earrings collecting the tickets each time. Quite a sight...Pictures to be attached soon.

And the kids got to meet St Nikolaus, who comes on the night of the 4th of December and fills up boots or slippers that kids place by their doors with candy.

Fun Christmas Ideas

When my mom came over a few weeks ago, she brought with her a box containing the "Elf on a Shelf." In the box was a stuffed toy Christmas elf and a book. The book is to be read to children to explain who the elf is and why he is there. Essentially, the book is a cute story that tells the kids that the elf watches over them in the Christmas season and reports back to Santa each night whether the kids have been bad or good. The next morning, the kids would discover the elf had returned from the North Pole and was hiding on a different shelf or place in the house to watch them. While not only serving as perhaps extra incentive to be on their best behavior, it provides fun as they race out of their beds to try and find the elf each morning. They are not allowed to touch him (just talk to him) and he (obviously) does not reply. And it is up to your family to give him a name. A very cute, entertaining idea for the little ones and a fun tradition. The link and story of his origin - http://www.elfontheshelf.com/#/home.

Car buying and weather related observations

I was over here in Germany a few weeks before the family, back and forth for a project. We were selling our cars in the US and needed to buy two new ones here. I wanted to fit in as well as to drive a nice car so planned on getting a small Mercedes, Audi or BMW sedan like my Camry. I did a little research, knew about what I wanted, went to Mercedes and found a used one with 40,000 miles on it and bought it. Didn't shop around, didn't try BMW or Audi. It was about what I wanted to saw so need to go out and try to find something that might be a small improvement (in contrast to Rebecca, see comment below).

So...the trip to work this morning took an hour, much longer than the usual 20-25 minutes, due to a large quantity of snow that had fallen and continued to fall. We had been told there would be no snow here and have been quite surprised. How does this tie into the car conversation? Mercedes and BMWs have rear wheel drive and are absolutely shit in the snow. And it is even worse as I live up some pretty steep hills that are difficult to traverse in rear wheel drive. As I was rather indifferent between the 3 car manufacturers, had I known that this would be a problem, I would have gone straight to Audi and not looked back. Oh well...live and learn. Next time I move to a foreign country I will be more prepared.

Rebecca on the other hand had to essentially go look at, sit in and drive (where possible) every possible car that might be in contention for her driving pleasure. A painful two day process but ended up with a VW Passat wagon and we both love it. It actually won out over Audi, BMW and Mercedes.

And, by the way, I never saw one salt truck or snow plow on the way to work this morning.