As I'm writing this, Christmas Eve (which is the main day of celebration here in Germany) is only
three nights away. This year, I'm actually through with most of the things I absolutely had to
do until Christmas. Only yesterday, I finished a long overdue short story. If things work out,
you'll be able to read it soon. The Christmas card are all written, and there are no homemade
presents to finish at the last second. Therefore, I even have the time to write yet another Christmas
rant.
Every family has its own Christmas traditions. If you've visited the
Image Gallery of Christmas Past you've already had a few glimpses
of how Christmas is celebrated in our family. Here's some more:
Like it's common here in Germany, our main tree goes up very shortly before Christmas Eve. For the
last fifteen years or so, we've never had to buy a Christmas tree. There always was a tree just
waiting to be cut down in the garden. This year, it's no different. The tree is probably going
down tomorrow and will be decorated on the evening of December 23rd. Decorating the tree has been
my job since I was about fourteen, mainly because I'm better at it than the rest of the family.
Plus, it's something I really enjoy. Our tree is decorated with a wild mixture of different
ornaments, the oldest of which date back to the 60s, when my parents got married. I'm pretty sure
when I open the boxes with the ornaments two days from now, I will find plenty of small treasures
I have all but forgotten about. Fragile gold foil stars on the verge of falling apart, wooden toys
dating back to my early childhood, bells and balls of glass and porcelain, etc... Our tree always
has dual lightning, traditional beeswax candles (yes, I know those are dangerous, but nothing beats
them for atmosphere) as well as electric miniature lights.
We light the candles sometime between five and six p.m. on Christmas Eve. Afterwards, there is a
reading of the Nativity story from the Bible. That has been my part ever since I won a reading
competition at school back when I was eleven years old. In earlier years, we used to sing at
least one of the traditional carols. But since none of us can sing very well, we've scrapped that
part in recent years. Afterwards, we unwrap the presents. In Germany, Santa brings the presents
on Christmas Eve, probably to give him time enough to fill up all the American stockings the
following night. While my grandma was alive, she would visit us on Christmas Eve. Nowadays, it's
just my parents and me. My Uncle Reinhard and Aunt Gisela will be visiting us on Boxing Day, that's
it with the relatives for this year. There used to be many more visitors back when I was little,
up to the point that we hardly had any free time on the three days of Christmas
As for food, the Christmas menu has been pretty much unchanged for years. For lunch on Christmas Eve
we have filet of hare with apple-cranberry sauce. Dinner on Christmas Eve is herring salad, made
according to a recipe dating back to Grandma Buhlert. The salad has literally dozens of ingredients
(herring is only a small part of it) and is a lot tastier than the name implies. Because the
recipe generally produces a huge bowl of salad, we will probably be eating it till New Year's
Night. Not that I mind. I get it only at Christmas time anyway. Eating herring salad at any other
time of the year would simply feel wrong. Lunch on Christmas Day has been Pork Curry for as long
as I can remember. Lunch on Boxing Day is variable, this year it will be something called Chicken
Martinique.
This is how we celebrate Christmas. Whatever you do to celebrate, I hope you have a good one.