A Post About Christmas
I was driving home after work today, somewhat late in the evening because I was helping with a really big wholesale order we had for tomorrow. It was about 8:45pm, so it was dark and all the Christmas lights were lit on the houses that were decorated. I had Christmas music on the radio (guilty pleasure... does that make me a bad Jew? Then again, I'm only Jew-ish...) which put me in a good mood.
So there I was, cruising, and thinking about Christmas. "I'll Be Home For Christmas" came on, and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas", and it was all very introspective and contemplative and other sorts of thoughtful adjectives. Now, I don't want to generalize too much and get on the "America Sucks, Germany Is So Much Better" kick simply because each country has its positives and negatives and I love each country for different reasons. But I really have to say that I think Christmas in Germany is so much nicer of an atmosphere than Christmas in the US. I realize that commercialism is growing in Germany as well, but the general feeling I got while I was there, and also now from friends posting on Livejournal, is that Germans as a whole love the Christmas season for the reasons we're supposed to love it: getting together with friends and/or family, baking Christmas cookies, celebrating Advent, and all the things one does in preparation for Christmas. Oh! and DON'T FORGET THE CHRISTKINDLMARKT! Of course there are American individuals who do those things too (though Advent isn't really celebrated much here), but the country as a whole, our marketing experts, the commercial industry, the media, all seem to have a sort of cheapening effect on Christmas and the Christmas season. Too much of it is about money and when I'm in the US, it seems like I hear people talking about how much they are looking forward to seeing their family less than in Germany. I'm not saying all Germans love spending time with their family, but I just got the impression that people tend more often to look past their differences at least for Christmas. Then again, I'm sure there are plenty of families that don't really get along and don't look forward to seeing each other for the holidays. My family, however, despite some of our differences, looks past those and spends (at least last year) a really nice time together. My family here in America does the same, and my dad's side (the Jewish side) does that for Thanksgiving. So I don't know. Is Thanksgiving like our version of the European Christmas, where the families get together and have lots of fun doing so, ideally avoiding silly arguments? Maybe in Germany there are plenty of families whom I haven't met yet, who either avoid getting together if they can help it, or do get together just because it's expected, or whatever. Either way, between the many Christmas traditions that a very large number of Germans in my circle of acquaintances and friends and family follow, and the strong positive feeling towards Christmas I get from my German family, which I don't get in the same way from my dad's side of the family about any of the Jewish holidays, I do prefer spending Christmas -- the whole season -- in Germany than in the US.
So now I'm curious. What are your Christmas traditions, if any, and where are you from? Do you have a certain dinner menu? Family you always see? Sing any songs? Dress up the dog? :P I'd like to see who does what for Christmas (or Chanukkah!) and what you think of the whole Christmas season. Positive? Negative? Indifferent?
So there I was, cruising, and thinking about Christmas. "I'll Be Home For Christmas" came on, and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas", and it was all very introspective and contemplative and other sorts of thoughtful adjectives. Now, I don't want to generalize too much and get on the "America Sucks, Germany Is So Much Better" kick simply because each country has its positives and negatives and I love each country for different reasons. But I really have to say that I think Christmas in Germany is so much nicer of an atmosphere than Christmas in the US. I realize that commercialism is growing in Germany as well, but the general feeling I got while I was there, and also now from friends posting on Livejournal, is that Germans as a whole love the Christmas season for the reasons we're supposed to love it: getting together with friends and/or family, baking Christmas cookies, celebrating Advent, and all the things one does in preparation for Christmas. Oh! and DON'T FORGET THE CHRISTKINDLMARKT! Of course there are American individuals who do those things too (though Advent isn't really celebrated much here), but the country as a whole, our marketing experts, the commercial industry, the media, all seem to have a sort of cheapening effect on Christmas and the Christmas season. Too much of it is about money and when I'm in the US, it seems like I hear people talking about how much they are looking forward to seeing their family less than in Germany. I'm not saying all Germans love spending time with their family, but I just got the impression that people tend more often to look past their differences at least for Christmas. Then again, I'm sure there are plenty of families that don't really get along and don't look forward to seeing each other for the holidays. My family, however, despite some of our differences, looks past those and spends (at least last year) a really nice time together. My family here in America does the same, and my dad's side (the Jewish side) does that for Thanksgiving. So I don't know. Is Thanksgiving like our version of the European Christmas, where the families get together and have lots of fun doing so, ideally avoiding silly arguments? Maybe in Germany there are plenty of families whom I haven't met yet, who either avoid getting together if they can help it, or do get together just because it's expected, or whatever. Either way, between the many Christmas traditions that a very large number of Germans in my circle of acquaintances and friends and family follow, and the strong positive feeling towards Christmas I get from my German family, which I don't get in the same way from my dad's side of the family about any of the Jewish holidays, I do prefer spending Christmas -- the whole season -- in Germany than in the US.
So now I'm curious. What are your Christmas traditions, if any, and where are you from? Do you have a certain dinner menu? Family you always see? Sing any songs? Dress up the dog? :P I'd like to see who does what for Christmas (or Chanukkah!) and what you think of the whole Christmas season. Positive? Negative? Indifferent?