Nikolaus December 6

Every year on the night of December 5th German children polish their shoes/boots and leave them outside (to get rained on) and in the morning they find their shoes/boots filled with little gifts - often chocolate, after all with Christmas in 18/9 days (dependant on whether you're German and so opening presents on 24th or British and opening them on actual Christmas day) do children really need more gifts?

But why?

It's actually to remember the death of Nicholas of Myra (now the Anatolia region of modern Turkey), who died on that day in 346. He was a Greek Christian bishop known for miracles and giving gifts secretly, and is now the patron saint of little children, sailors, merchants and students.

In theory only good children are rewarded with gifts and those who've been naughty aren't or are threatened with a spanking (we're so not pc here).

My friend Rebecca went to a Nikolaus 'party' this year and had to provide details of both good and naughty deeds by her children for Nikolaus to then read out to the assembled children (our bookgroup on Friday night had fun thinking up what she could put forward), apparently the children were rendered speechless as Nikolaus told them what he knew of their misdemeanours...although the jury's still out on whether the behaviour patterns change!

The very first year we lived in Germany my then 10 year old son (who clearly thought himself very wise) told me that Nikolaus Tag was Friday when in fact it was the Thursday...his plan to prove that Nikolaus didn't exist. Imagine his surprise when we left the house to go to school (foreigners - walking their children to school) and found a small bag of goodies for each child outside the front door (my clever German neighbour, who has two smaller children herself had played at being Nikolaus for us) boy did I laugh!

This year he's 12 and believes in nothing, tooth fairy - no, santa - no, nikolaus - no, easter bunny - no (but only after I had a long discussion with him about the improbability of any rabbit being able to purchase and then deliver chocolate eggs) and he abandoned god a long time ago - possibly before santa and the tooth fairy, after all, as he told me, there was physical evidence of both santa and the tooth fairy, in that they left things behind...

Meanwhile the 8 year old is still a believer (bless her) although I do think her teacher was pushing it a little as he requested that all the year 3's (mixed year group class of 3 & 4) receive a fountain pen from Nikolaus and then he could start them writing with their new pens this week...so she came home from school telling me how all the year 3's (but not the 4's) in her class had fountain pens from Nikolaus...what a coincidence!

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat

As I type my Chirstmas cake is baking in the oven and so the house is filled with the heavenly scent of mixed spice, cinnamon and brandy. The cake has almost another 2 hours to go before I have to take it out, feed it some more brandy and then wrap it snugly till it's cooled down.

Before coming to Germany I'd never made a Christmas cake and only rarely made mince pies - not because I can't cook but because the shops in the UK are always full of such delights at this time of year & I'm a bit lazy...
However, living here means that while we can enjoy the many German culinary offerings that are around for this season (and trust me there are far more delights here than in the UK) if we also want our traditional English food then we either have to make it ourselves or beg people to bring it over with them when they come (remember my Wensleydale cheese someone please!!)

This is the 3rd year I've made this cake, following Nigella's recipe carefully...the mixture of fruit was soaked in brandy for a week and then this morning I prepared the cake tin - brown paper around the outside (of course I didn't have any brown paper (having been an efficient little elf yesterday and posted off the presents to the UK & Ireland) or anything that could be a useful substitute so a trip to the post office was required first) & baking paper on the inside. Weighed out all the other ingredients, grated a lemon and an orange (and my thumb) then mixed and mixed and voila - instant Christmas cake.
I shall leave icing it until maybe Christmas Eve...and then we can start eating it!! So I shall need the Wensleydale cheese then - you just can't beat the taste and texture combination of rich, moist Christmas cake with a piece of dry and crumbly Wensleydale - heaven!

Jas has also been busy, putting together a gingerbread house, it's
from a kit so all that was involved was making the icing and then trying to stick the pieces together...I had a minor hissy fit when I couldn't get the walls to stay up but Simon manfully stepped into the breach - his cement laying skills are better than mine! And then Jas took over the decoration - a work of art I think you'll agree, although whether there will be any of it left when the grandparents get here for Christmas and New Years is open to debate!

negativity

Are you a glass half full person or a half empty person?

Personally I believe myself to be a person with PMA - positive mental attitude, a pint glass containing only half a pint is a sad situation it's true, but to me it's half full and not half empty (unless I'm deperate for someone to top it up I guess...

The world has, however, far too many people who suck the joy out of life and bring the shadow of their gloom with them wherever they go.

One such person is someone I know here in Germany (I hesitate to use the word friend, for fear that her negativity infect me), at the moment on her facebook page her status is a rant about how miserable the people of Essen are and why don't they smile at her? Various people have since commented to her that maybe if she lightened up so would the other people.

However she's not the first to make such a comment.
My parents have been coming to Germany twice a year since we moved here and every time they're here they spend most of their time walking my dog (they love it, not sure about Logan, he's one lazy hound) consequently they meet lots of other people out walking.
My parents are not known for their loquaciousness (don't you just love a computer that helps you with definitions and spelling?) but they are unfailingly polite (terribly British) and will always say 'hello' when out walking in England, so we've retrained them to say 'Morgan' or 'guten Tag' when they're here but they have commented that people here don't always respond - whereas in the UK everyone will respond (the British kneejerk reaction is to be polite at all costs).

This morning I walked Logan along the river, well I walked along it and he paddled in it (stupid dog - I think he's part hippo) and despite the fact that I was listening to music as I walked, I made a point of greeting everyone who dared to walk towards me with a happy smile and a chirpy 'morgan' - and they all responded (maybe they thought I'd set the mad dog on them if they didn't).
I often run with Logan and again, whenever I pass someone I will always say (ok, gasp) 'morgan' and they will mostly respond likewise.

For me it's not about being polite - although it was in the beginning, now it's a challenge. Having had people 'complaining' that the Germans don't always offer greetings, I'm determined to get in there first and almost dare them not to respond to me.

As I put on Facebook today 'Verena has been out 'morgan'-ing the Germans', I'm just thankful we don't live in an area like Nürnberg where they say 'Gruss Gott', that I would struggle with!

Laternefest

Every year around the end of November kindergarten aged children make paper lanterns, these are then paraded through the streets hung off the end of a specially purchased plastic stick which has a tiny light bulb on the end of it to illuminate the lantern.
Not having been in Germany with kindergarten aged children I've missed out on the significance of why they do this, could be to do with oncoming winter or Christmas...who knows.

Anyway, at Jasmine's grundschule they make lanterns and we have a whole evening event devoted to a laternefest. This was last night.

5pm kickoff around a fire (carefully roped off to keep curious smaller siblings away) all the classes gather with their different lanterns (I think there is almost an unspoken competition between the teachers of the different classes - the class of the head teacher yesterday had lanterns that were green frogs with boing-y legs, definitely the winners) they sing a couple of songs and then parade off through the woods class by class until only the parents are left in the playground chatting and drinking glühwein until the children make it back to school again - good job the 2nd of the escaped prisoners from last week was caught yesterday, especially as we've since learnt that they were very close on Friday night (like near the bakers that we use, kind of close - should clearly have taken the whole thing with a bit more ernst rather than laughing at it all in our we're so funny British manner!)
Anyway, the children safely paraded through the woods, we drank glühwein and then there's more singing around the fire - well the children sing, the parents stand and chat, loudly so that we can hear what we're saying over the noise of the pesky kids singing and then each class retires to its classroom for a little show...

Jasmine's class were doing the German version (obviously) of a Hans Christian Andersen story that I know as the Emporer's New Clothes, except this time it's the Kaiser. They performed the first half and we were then told that on the last day of term after the Christmas singing we're all invited to, the class will perform the whole of this 'theaterstück' (advance warning to grandparents!!). Herr Bartnizky (Jasmine's teacher) made the mistake then of coming and sitting with me and Valerie (us foreign mom's stick together - Valerie is French and has been here as long as we have) so I asked him whether the Kaisers neue kleidung was what I know of as the emporer's new clothes...I thought it was but I hate to make assumptions. He confirmed that it was and of course my English humour couldn't resist but then comment about the nakedness of the kaiser/emporer (what can I say...I blame the glühwein - it's lethal).

I learnt later from Jasmine that she has the role of the child at the end of the piece who points out the lack of clothing to everyone...well cast I think! Herr B must be thinking 'like mother like daughter'...I wonder if there is a German equivalent for that?