Christmas

Christmas is probably the most beautiful time of the year. I spent three days with my friends the von Freymann family in Karlsruhe. And they do Christmas well. I arrived there on Christmas Eve morning. Preparations were in full swing and the kids were high and wild with excitement. I tried to help keep them distracted and occupied but attention spans were particularly short. The trip to the bakery with all three of them was fun. We sang Christmas carols on the way. Unfortunately Charlotte wasn’t feeling well and by the end of that excursion she was dragging herself home looking pretty withered. Benedikt ended up getting dressed in his festive clothes right after lunch because he could just not wait any longer. The three of them are just so very cute. It was great spending a large amount of time with them, getting to know them better and them me. By the end of the three days they were crawling all over me all at the same time.

Finally Christmas Eve had arrived and Kirsten, Benedikt and I went to the Christmas Eve service at their church. Christmas bells were special, the little pageant story was well done by the children, we sang many carols including my favourites. I was a little nervous about all the candles and people. There were way too many people with small children to have candles around on the floor and people walking around with them. But it all worked out…maybe it was that North American overly safety conscious teacher thing. Georg stayed home with poor sick Charlotte and the baby. And on our way home we’d noticed that the Christkindl had already been in some homes but not in others. So when we got to the apartment I took Benedikt and Charlotte out into the backyard, with the candles from church, to see if we could see glimpses of the Christkindl since it must surely have been in the area. That was very beautiful and holy. We were ever so quiet and the candles gave off a holy glow and Benedikt thought he’d seen something…and as we waited, low and behold, the Christkindl had magically been to their home. We heard the little bell ring just as it left. I felt like Tante Emmy. She was the single family friend who was always at our house for Christmas, who hung out with us after church looking out for the Weihnachtsmann from our dry cleaning store window. You could get a better view from there because the window was so much bigger. I really like that in some tradtions it’s the Christchild that comes and not Santa Claus. It makes it a little less secular somehow.


The candles were lit on the tree. The whole room was filled with light and holiness. We didn’t do any singing. We did on Christmas day instead. The kids were beside themselves with joy. Their presents were laid out each on their own little table. Benedikt in particular couldn’t get enough. Dinner was an interesting goose dish that Kirsten’s mother had provided, a tradition for them. It sounds and looks unappealing in its jar of jelly but actually tastes very good. We ate it with Bratkartoffeln (fried potatoes).

The hardest thing for me about Christmas this year was that I didn’t get my pyjama and couch time in. :-)The last few years I’ve enjoyed hanging out at my parent’s house in my pyjamas on Christmas Day on the couch reading a good book and listening to good music. This year I got up at a reasonably early hour, dressed into, what for living out of a backpack can be considered my Sunday best and spent the day playing with lego and a variety of other new Christmas toys and games. It was a lovely change.
On the second day of Christmas, we received a light dusting of snow. Benedikt, Antonia, Kristen and I went for a little walk along the little river in Karlsruhe and went sliding on the little frozen lakes. We managed to convince Benedikt too that it was perfectly safe. Others were skating on it. Very lovely and picturesque. Also cute was the anticipation each morning of more presents. First thing in the morning the kids traipsed into the living room, where I was sleeping, to see what new things may have transpired there through the night.

Later in the afternoon I packed my bags and headed off to Rheinstetten where the Hoser Clan was having their Christmas celebration all together at my cousin Anke’s. It was nice for everyone to get together and all be in the same room. Only Onkel Joe was missing. He wasn’t feeling well from his chemo and so decided he’d rather stay home. We sat around the table, eating and drinking of course and having a great time. People were particularly amused by my story of the man with the snow blower I saw earlier in the day who was dealing with the light dusting of snow.

On the 27th I borrowed Anke’s car to go to Weinheim. I thought I’d squeeze in another visit with Tante Helga and Onkel Werner in conjunction with returning Arnulf’s jacket that he’d lent me. And coincidentally too I got to see Renate and her family who were stranded there at her parent’s place because their car had broken down. It was nice to see everyone again but it was also a difficult visit. My aunt was disappointed that I hadn’t come earlier and then later in the evening I became the scapegoat for all teachers in Germany, all Americans (since there is no distinction between Americans and Canadians) and all English speakers of the world.

I picked up Larry at the airport early the next morning. We had an afternoon at the von Freymann’s for Charlotte’s baptism anniversary and then we headed off to Dresden to spend New Year’s there.