Holidays

The big day in Germany is Christmas Eve, December 25th is just a day. We had a real tree, which smelled divine and we spent an afternoon decorating it with glass balls, wooden figures and candles. It looked so pretty with the candles all lit up, but this didn't translate well into photos. It started like a regular day, I was playing with Sandy in the morning then in the afternoon some family came over for chocolatey snacks. We opened presents just before dinner and everyone was assisted by Sandy! Sandy has known all his life that Santa isn't real, which I thought was a little sad. On Dec 25th we had a traditional German Christmas dinner of duck with mashed potatoes. It was delicious.

NYE was also a relaxed affair. Again, an ordinary day until the evening when family came over. We had to watch 'Dinner for One' which is a sketch about a rich old lady's birthday dinner which she has every year even though her four friends have been dead for over 25 years. Her butler drinks for all of them. It is played non-stop every NYE and reached cult status so every German watchs it at least once on Dec 31st. For a reason my family doesn't know, it's in English, which was very welcoming to me. We had a late dinner and loungued until midnight when we had a toast then headed outside for fireworks.The sky was absolutely full of fireworks, it was spectacular. There were a number of teenage boys throwing firecrackers into each others yards and I couldn't help but jump every time they went off. I lit one and accidentally threw it under a neighbour's trailer. Whoops. It was the first year Sandy has gone outside at midnight, but it was too loud for his little ears. We spent a good half hour outside, lighting and admiring fireworks before the snow drove us inside for doughnuts. I plan on buying more berliners this year. Sandy made it til 2am before crying with exhaustion. He didn't want to go to bed because he thought we'd be doing exciting things without him. Shortly after he went to bed, I followed suit. Best night's sleep I've had all year. We had a very quiet New Year's day.

I didn't bother with New Year's resolutions, I have a Germany to do list. I've already crossed off make a snowman and eat a berliner, so I think I'm well on my way!