Christmas, new and old

I am sitting at my office desk with the sun glaring painfully in my eyes and heating up my clothes and desk. But I'm not going to lower the window blinds. This is the first time I have seen direct sunlight in about 4 to 5 weeks. I'll admit the constantly leaden skies did nothing for my mood -- I'm a person who really needs regular sunshine. Maybe I do photosynthesis, like a plant. Anyway, I was thrilled when the fog burned off this morning to a cobalt bowl of a sky and piercing white sunlight stabbed through my window.

We've been enjoying the Christmas season a bit more in our normal tradition this year than in the first two years we were here. We hadn't had room for any Christmas decorations or Christmas music in our four suitcases when we arrived February 2010. So that year and last year, we had no seasonal decorations in our apartment, nor any Christmas music to listen to.

This year, my mom sent us a few inexpensive and small decorations that really livened up our apartment. My dad visited us for two weeks to tour Germany and Switzerland's Christmas markets, and he brought Christmas music with him. And then it began snowing and has been snowing off and on for about two weeks. It's so cold that it is still blanketing the ground and rooftops, and I love that. I baked cookies and listened to Christmas music, like I would normally do about now. It has been so lovely.

We were also exposed to a German Christmas tradition for the first time this year. I'd heard that different cultures celebrated Christmas or facets of the Christmas season on different dates than Dec. 25. Well, here they have something called St. Nicholas Day on Dec. 5-6. On the night of Dec. 5, children put out their shoes by the window; good children receive oranges or citrus fruits, nuts and chocolate in their shoes the next morning, courtesy of St. Nicholas (Santa Claus). Bad children receive a whip from St. Nicholas's sidekick, a devilish-looking beast called the Krampus. (People also receive gifts on Dec. 25, but these come from Christkindl, or "Christ child.")

We didn't put out shoes, or receive a whip. But we did get to visit the home of our Swiss friends on Dec. 7, and they spread out on their table candles as well as the traditional goodies of clementines, chocolates, nuts, dried figs and dates, as well as a homemade loaf of bread made in the shape of Knecht Ruprecht, another character associated with this holiday. Translated as "servant Rupert," this helper aids St. Nicholas on St. Nicholas Day.

We enjoyed spending time with our friends Thomas and Cornelia, eating homemade soup and bread, then snacking on the fruits and nuts, while slicing pieces off of poor Rupert and eating them with butter and jam or honey.

On the actual St. Nicholas Day, our English class ended with a table spread with the loaves of bread shaped like Rupert and the nuts and goodies, as well. Until then, I had no idea about this tradition. I really like it: Christmas goodies that are actually health foods. Ha ha!

While we miss home and the traditions we grew up with to celebrate Christmas there, it sure is fun to encounter and enjoy new Christmas traditions with our new friends here!