Christmas eve is the big event here, celebrated on the 24th of December. With cookies baked and presents wrapped beneath the tree, it looked almost like an American Christmas. This might have had something to do with the fact that I was the one who took over the tree decoration. I have a "The More the Merrier" mindset when it comes to Christmas trees, and I never want an ornament to feel left out, so its not unusual for every branch to hold multiple ornaments. When Helmut saw what I had created, his eyebrows jumped up to meet his hairline, and he called Petra in to have a look at what the crazy Ami had done this time. I had hung every single ornament, strung lights around the whole thing, and added a liberal layer of tinsel on top of it all. Apparently, they would normally pick one of those three decorations. They had a chuckle over it all, and declared that it looked better than ever. A few days later, Helmut came home from work with a giant, light-up snowflake to hang in my window. He said it was an old store decoration that everyone else at work thought was kitschy but he figured I'd like it. I laughed and hung it in my window, and every night I'd turn it on and feel a little glow of home.
So with everything properly decorated, Christmas was ready to begin. New traditions were the name of the game, starting out with putting make-up on my host dad.
Wait, what?
That's right folks. We whitened his beard, rosied his cheeks, and even gave him a nice little belly before helping him get dressed. Then it was my turn to be sparkled, wigged, and winged. Petra bayed us farewell, and we climbed into the big green van, the Weihnachtsman and his Engel.
I'll back it up a little for you now. German children receive their gifts both from parents and a Santa Claus like man, called the Christmas man (Weihnachtsman), in the evening on the 24th. Many parents will have a friend come and deliver the presents to their kids, dressed as the Weihnachtsman, and that's where Helmut came in. We drove around to the homes of some of his friends and work colleagues, and when the parents saw his van go by, they'd make an excuse to run outside and hand off a bag full of toys they had bought to Helmut, and maybe give him some insider information on the children, like that Julian had been fighting with Markus, or that Joana didn't keep her room clean. Then we would enter and Helmut would give a little speech about Christmas, and introduce his friend, the American angel, as we handed out the toys to the kids. He would then make the children promise to be good, otherwise he wouldn't be able to come back the next year. I was mostly just there for show, but it was a really sweet tradition to be a part of.
After visiting our 5 homes, we picked up Helmut's mom, Oma Wilma, and went home to find Petra and Oma Bertie already in the kitchen. We had a very tasty fondue dinner then, and cake afterwards. Then came all the presents. I had by far the most, seeing as my parents had sent me a package from the US as well. For the Omas, I had bought chocolates, and Helmut got a giant chocolate Weihnachtsman. Petra's gift had taken the most time, for it was a small recipe book. I had taken all the recipes my mom had sent me, translated them, and written them out in a little book for her. I also made little cards for everyone. Oma Wilma had knit me a pair of socks and a scarf, and from Oma Bertie, I got a really nice book full of pictures of Germany with German and English captions. From Petra and Helmut, I received a pair of ice skates, which came in handy in the next months. My parents sent me some earrings, plenty of candy, and a scarf from my grandma. After all that, the Omas were ready to go home, so Helmut drove Wilma home and Bertie walked back next door. Normally that would be the end of Christmas for the Wohlers, but this year they offered to come to midnight mass with me. We drove down to the church and waited in the atrium for awhile for the 11pm mass to get out, until we realized that mass must have started at 11:30, not 12, so we slipped in and stood in the back. There weren't any hymnals left for us, so I hummed along to familiar tunes and enjoyed the atmosphere. The last song, however, was Silent Night, or Stille Nacht. Preparing to sing after the first notes from the organ, I realized that without the German words, I wasn't going to be able to sing along. That just didn't seem like an option however, and so I took a big breathe, and began to belt out the English words. This garnered more than one confused stare as my foreign words clashed against the German ones, but in that moment, it really felt like Christmas, and I was happy.
Sampler of what I was singing, versus the rest of the church:
Silent night, Holy night Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht!
All is calm, all is bright Alles schläft, einsam wachtRound yon virgin, mother and child Nur das traute heilige Paar
Sleep in heavenly peace, Holder Knab' im lockigten Haar,
Sleep in heavenly peace. Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh
Holy infant, tender and mild Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh
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