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I
am currently awaiting new years eve in the house in which my father
underwent his exchange. Yesterday was Onsabrook, the day before that
Teklenberg, before that Munster and today Guterslough. The time is passing
so fast, and its really hard to except yet that the new year is a meager
12
hours away. The clock continues to wind down and seeing that its about my
fourth month in Germany im just starting to watch it. I know im a report
or
two short, but I figured I would my might as well wait until the end of
the
month to write it, u know, in order for me to fully grasp it. Since that
day
is in fact today, here we go.
The winter. I had forgotten about the whole cold
weather concept and
whats worse, that whole snow thing. There was a time in my life during my
Boarding
school days where i lived with these two little conspirators, but a few
delicious months back in my natural miami habitat melted those
bitter
thoughts back into into my subconscious. In fact i could of sworn I had
never even lived in the snow if it wasn’t for a pleasant little surprise
out
side my window one faithful evening. Actually, surprising as it was, it
was
neither little nor pleasant seeing as we couldn’t open the door and
there
was not a single light on for miles around. The power decided to take a
little siesta and the the Town of Borken and multiple other kliene
statts
in the area all closed shop for the next day or so. You couldn’t walk,
ride
a bus, or even look out your window without a mild depression seizing you.
I
was trapped! Thus aply symbolizing my freshly renewed rondevoe and continuous
experiences with ….oh yes, Snow. Snow….how a hate you sometimes. You
make
everything just that more annoying. Walking becomes a thought guided task,
planning a trip next door usually involves a strategy and fresh supplies,
And you never even have the decency to show up at the right time. (no
White
Christmas for Chip) But.....The winter isn’t always that bad. Sure some
days are pretty darn cold, yes the sky at 7:30 in the morning looks
curiously identical to the sky at 12:00 which I could of sworn was the
same
sky I saw at 7:30 the night before, but, after a fresh snow
when the sun
is shining and its not so cold out, it can be quite breath taking.
Then
again riding a bike to school everyday in 10 degree weather is also
quite
breathtaking in addition to life threatening.
That’s enough of the gripe, naturally winter means
loads of other
things.
More specifically good ol Christmas. Family, food, fun and all of
this
thousands of miles away from home this year. Id like to start my
establishing German Christmas facts and then ill get more into the
experience. To start, St. Knick is not Santa clause, he is someone
entirely
different. We Celebrate this jolly ol saint here about a week before the
25th on a day called Saint Nickolas- go figure. In this time
children
wielding festive lanterns of various sorts gather in the town to hear a
traditional Christmas poem and then listen to the saint (played by a
local)
speak. He talks of happiness, and the year to come, and of course the good
and bad little children. For bad children there is another character
looming
by. The name of this dark hooded man wielding a lovly bushel of thorns is
Kuest Rüprecht, and naturally he will seek out and beat all those naughty
children. Before you go to bed that night, you leave your shoes outside
and
when morning comes they're stuffed to the laces with chocolate or smell
ominously like cat urine. (i was lucky enough to get both!) Then comes
Christmas. Now, presents, contrary to popular belief, are not opened on
Christmas morning, but rather on Christmas eve. Heres the tricky
part.
Sometime during this day when ur not looking the Christ child sneaks in
and
lays the presents under the Tanumbaum. If its Santa clasue u seak, u can
indeed find him in Germnay, but hes called Christmas Man and he was
invented
by Coke Cola.
My German Christmas was one to remember. The morning
started with
Otto sending Felix and I into the nearby forest to collect moss for
the
nativity scene. By the time we got back the house already smelled like
Cookies and the others were busying themselves with the Tree (small in
comparison to some American monsters but just the same absolutely
beautiful.) Max, Benedict, and Johana were all home from school and the
house was good and full....-u know, that warm, noisy, lauphy, family kind
of
full that makes a house a home. As the hour approached and anticipations
rose
the living room filled with melodies from the piano. Otto played the songs
that i knew and loved; ones i used to hear my sister play when i was
younger. Sitting by the fire grinning at our perfect little christmas tree
it struck me for the first time how much i had come to love these people
and
this home and more so how horribly i would miss them. I knew where the
spoons were kept, what temperature to set the dryer on, the days Mechtild
played tennis, which lights to turn off, where the chocolate drawer is,
and
when the mail came. What i experienced with the Suewelacks was not a
visit,
but an integration. I was a part of this family. We had struggled, laughed,
cried, lossed, and overcame together all the the things that any family
deals with. I realzed in that moment how much they meant to me and much
they
have done for me. Over those four months i had learned just as much about
my
self as i had about germany and it was these wonderful people that made
this
possible. Mechtild began to read the stroy of christmas form a large
leather
bound bible. The family gathered and grew silent taking in the soft voice
of
my guest mother. The fire crackled and the candles strung throughout the
Christmas Tree gleemed. It was Christmas time in the Suevelack
household.
The Cheerful mood only became giddier as my guest
brother opened the
first gift. The gifts are taken in turns with the person last receiving
choosing
the next one. little by little the floor filled with wrapping paper, until
the last gift was opened. i wont go into detail about the specifics of the
gifts , but, it appeared to me that they were much fewer and much simpler
than the average American Christmas morning stock pile (and this was for 5
kids).
A
quick change of outfit and Otto, Mechtild, felix, and I set out for
the night Church service. I'm no Catholic, but the service was enchanting.
The choir vehemently sung some very familiar tradional christmas
hymnals as
the congregation poured in. Various moments of silents were accompanied by
warm sermouns and thoughout the service the entire town sang out together
in
the spirit of Christmas. Following the church........well we partied and
we
partied with purpose.....
Jump to Christmas morning when i woke up.....well
Christmas
afternoon. Our living room had been tranformed into quite an elegant
dining area and by 3
o'clock family and friends had arived for Vinarce essen.Otto, my guest
father, as i would soon find out, is quite a skilled cook. Set before us
was
the most delious liver patte i had ever tasted, fresh roles, onion soup,
Canoodle, mashed potatoes, and the fattest most delectably steaming goose
i
had ever layed eyes/ mouth on. Lets just say hunger was no issue that
evening. After dinner the whole group took a lovly walk through teh
countryside as the sun began to set. When we got back, hot coffe and a
tantalizing display of desserts lay in waiting. Oh....i slept good that
night.....real good. The next day i left to set out upon my new years
adventure where i would rendezvous with my
cousin..............................but.....thats another
story.............until then....Happy New Years.
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