Weihnachten is commencing

Since Germans do not have the holiday of Thanksgiving (actually, they do have Thanksgiving of sorts but at another time of year) to address before the Christmas season can officially commence, this holiday season is already ramping up and is in full swing in Deutschland. So far, that mainly includes Christmas decorations hitting the stores and streets, and Christmas retail advertising. Because I love anything to do with the Christmas season, I’ll take it as a start.

Now, living in a host country, it is always fun and a bit interesting to see how the locals celebrate a given holiday. We had a bit of Christmas celebration in Korea, since about 50% of that country are Christian, and a wee bit, but not much, in Taiwan. In Germany, however, I am eager to experience the traditions of the Christmas season as the Germans do.

With that said, I have begun reading about many of the German holiday customs. I am embarrassed to admit that many of the US Christmas traditions we enjoy today originated in Germany. Was I the only one that did not realize that? Still, there are variations on the theme. So, between now and Christmas, I hope the Travels of a Texas Gal readers will indulge me in the numerous Christmas tales and anecdotes that I will post on the blog. Some of these will include: the history of Christmas tree, traditional Christmas markets, Advent - Christmas calendar, Christ Child ( the one who puts Christmas gifts under German Christmas trees), and numerous Christmas season days of celebration.

Generally speaking, Christmas, or as the Germans call it, "Weihnachten", is a quiet time in Germany. I’ve been told people are generally in thoughtful and reflective moods (although I did read a story just yesterday in a German paper that criticized the commercialization of Christmas – some things are universal, I suppose).

Here's what I am reading:

(1) Town streets and business offices are decorated with Christmas lights and branches of pine-needle and fir-needle trees.

(2) Everything appears in red and dark green - the colors of "Weihnachten" in Germany. Again, I’ll do my own verification of this fact in Düsseldorf as well as at these Christmas markets.

(3) Houses are usually scarcely decorated. You might see some lights in a window, or figures painted on windows with snow spray, but usually nothing too fancy. (Sadly, most of the Hachie Gals’ decorations are at home in the attic but what would the Germans think if they saw Waxahachie at Christmas?).

(4) The main night is Christmas Eve which takes place on December 24th. Families get together for a rich holiday dinner and to wait for Santa ("Weihnachtsmann") who brings the presents that night. Usually, this is when families put up their Christmas trees (more on that later) and families exchange their gifts on the night of the 24th. Two more Christmas holidays follow, the 25th and the 2nd Christmas Day, the 26th of December.

So, continue to check back….