Contrast

So we were over at my friend D’s house for a little Adventskaffeeklatsch. D has only been in Canada for 3 years and is married to a German guy, consequently their Christmas is way more German than ours:

• They have an Adventskalendar for their young daughter.
• Nikolaus came to their house.
• If they Christmas play music, it’s German.
• They visited the local European Christmas market – and are more disappointed by it than me.
• She baked the nicest German Christmas cookies I have ever had, though this is the first year she also made gingerbread people. They turned out very nice as well, but she still didn’t appreciate them.
• They have many traditional German Christmas decorations sprinkled throughout the house, including Weihnachtspyramide, Räuchermännchen und Lichterbogen in addition to an Adventskranz [Advent wreath].
• Their Christmas tree goes up on the 24th and has real candles.
• Gifts arrive on Christmas Eve.
• Their Christmas Eve meal is very traditional in that they will be having goose.

There is no evidence of the official Canadian Christmas colour scheme of red and green (and white) in their house and until I told her, she had never heard of leaving out cookies for Santa and Rudolph.

I saw things at their house that hadn’t been part of my Christmas for so long that I didn’t know I missed them, but I am now pretty much homesick for a German Christmas. In spite of looking forward to our own Christmas, if that makes sense.