Christmas

I spent Christmas with my good friend Patrizia, who I’ve known since I lived in Germany. It’s been four years since I’ve seen her and her family. I’ve really missed them, and I feel so lucky that they would share Christmas with me. I even got to decorate the tree with Patrizia!:)



Christmas in Germany is a three day affaire. Everything closes on noon of the 24th and reopens on the 27th. The 24th is called Holy Night and it is generally reserved for the immediate family. The 25th and 26th are the called the First and Second Christmas Day. Many families divide this time between the mom’s side of the family and the dad’s side of the family.

On Holy Night Patrizia’s big brother came over for diner. We started with a soup, and then those who weren’t cooking socialized. Then we had a fantastic diner where everyone ate slowly and chatted. After a longer break and gifts were exchanged, we ate desert and played a game. It was such a lovely night where everyone took time to genuinely be together. I really loved that the gift exchange was small and secondary to connecting with each other over good food.

On the First Christmas Day Patrizia’s little brothers girlfriend had a nice lunch with us and we played a game. On Second Christmas day Patrizia, her parents and I ate lunch together. In Germany I heard a little bit of Christmas music before Holy Night but not very much. I would walk into stores and think, why are we listening to the top 40? There was all kinds of Christmas music from the 24th-26th though. The attitude toward Christmas music was an interesting contrast to the States where it starts the day after Thanksgiving and grows in intensity right up until Christmas.