12 Days of Christmas
Dec. 8th, 2014 06:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mangacat201From 
zubeneschamali and asorted flisties. I'm making an effort of being a little more social accessible and give regular signs of life. LOL, let's see how this goes.
Drummers Drumming:
1) This is going to sound weird, but it says holidays there, not Christmas, so I'm actually starting off with my most favourite holiday. I'm German - Southern German to be precise - and we celebrate Fasching/Fastnacht/Karneval, which is a bit like Halloween except in Feb/March and FOR A WHOLE WEEK. I love dressing up in costumes (it's a theater thing) and cheer at the parades, though I don't drink, so I don't take part in the alcoholic debauchery that's admittedly taken over in some places over the past few years. Still, off-with-ye-ghosts is my favourite holiday time of the year. Go figure.
2) My dad loves breeding small farm animals for fun, so we used to hunt the (parent-hidden) eggs laid by our own hens. The Easter Bunny is much more likely to have landed on our table as holiday roast though.
3) We decorate our tree at Christmas-Eve-morning with the whole family, well, whoever's available.
4) Since it's tradition in Germany to open presents on Christmas presents on Christmas Eve, we do that, but we also have to get through the Christmas hymn book at least once in family singing before we get anywhere near the unwrapping.
5) We used to put up a manger, but the (plastic) sheep got decimated by the wandering dog one year, so we don't anymore for dog safety purposes.
6) I love New Year's fireworks, but I detest sparkling wine, so no Champagne for me at the Gong.
7) My Granma used to bake at least ... ten different kinds of Christmas cookies, we don't manage so many anymore, but it's usually at least three. I love the ones with pistacchio nuts and wafers best - I even translated the recipe to make them together with my American students for our Christmas lesson.
8) I love the smell ginger and cinnamon and other Christmas spices mixing together in the air in winter.
9) I have half of my Christmas presents bought by September (and then hide them somewhere and forget I haven't wrapped them until Christmas Eve) and the other half two days before Christmas.
10) I like to take strolls through Christmas Markets, but I rarely find something I actually want to buy. Lots of fried and unhealthy food that I love to devour standing in the cold though.
11) As a non-negotiable New Year's Eve tradition we watch 'Dinner For One' at least once with the family sometime on Dec 31st. It's a German thing, which is weird, because 'Dinner For One' is a sketch performed in English (and broadcast in OV with an introduction by a German moderator that has almost as much cult factor as the sketch itself). It's not watched at any other day of the year, but you can find it on youtube when you'd like to have a good laugh sometime.
12) We don't have a particularly staple holiday meal, but it's always something elaborate, rarely had and most importantly of all, home-cooked. We all help with the cooking (well, dad gets to set the table, if we're generous.) and there's a no-fighting-embargo until everyone has had at least one helping *g*.
Drummers Drumming:Twelve facts about my holiday life
Pipers Piping:Eleven of my favorite things
Lords a-Leaping:Ten things I like about my personality
Ladies Dancing: Nine facts about my body
Maids a-Milking:Eight things I like about my friends
Swans a-Swimming:Seven foods I dislike
Geese a-Laying:Six quirks
Golden Rings:Five shiny things I like
Calling Birds:Four things I dislike about my life
French Hens: Three rivals/enemies
Turtle Doves:Two people I like
Partridge in a Pear Tree:My one loveDrummers Drumming:
1) This is going to sound weird, but it says holidays there, not Christmas, so I'm actually starting off with my most favourite holiday. I'm German - Southern German to be precise - and we celebrate Fasching/Fastnacht/Karneval, which is a bit like Halloween except in Feb/March and FOR A WHOLE WEEK. I love dressing up in costumes (it's a theater thing) and cheer at the parades, though I don't drink, so I don't take part in the alcoholic debauchery that's admittedly taken over in some places over the past few years. Still, off-with-ye-ghosts is my favourite holiday time of the year. Go figure.
2) My dad loves breeding small farm animals for fun, so we used to hunt the (parent-hidden) eggs laid by our own hens. The Easter Bunny is much more likely to have landed on our table as holiday roast though.
3) We decorate our tree at Christmas-Eve-morning with the whole family, well, whoever's available.
4) Since it's tradition in Germany to open presents on Christmas presents on Christmas Eve, we do that, but we also have to get through the Christmas hymn book at least once in family singing before we get anywhere near the unwrapping.
5) We used to put up a manger, but the (plastic) sheep got decimated by the wandering dog one year, so we don't anymore for dog safety purposes.
6) I love New Year's fireworks, but I detest sparkling wine, so no Champagne for me at the Gong.
7) My Granma used to bake at least ... ten different kinds of Christmas cookies, we don't manage so many anymore, but it's usually at least three. I love the ones with pistacchio nuts and wafers best - I even translated the recipe to make them together with my American students for our Christmas lesson.
8) I love the smell ginger and cinnamon and other Christmas spices mixing together in the air in winter.
9) I have half of my Christmas presents bought by September (and then hide them somewhere and forget I haven't wrapped them until Christmas Eve) and the other half two days before Christmas.
10) I like to take strolls through Christmas Markets, but I rarely find something I actually want to buy. Lots of fried and unhealthy food that I love to devour standing in the cold though.
11) As a non-negotiable New Year's Eve tradition we watch 'Dinner For One' at least once with the family sometime on Dec 31st. It's a German thing, which is weird, because 'Dinner For One' is a sketch performed in English (and broadcast in OV with an introduction by a German moderator that has almost as much cult factor as the sketch itself). It's not watched at any other day of the year, but you can find it on youtube when you'd like to have a good laugh sometime.
12) We don't have a particularly staple holiday meal, but it's always something elaborate, rarely had and most importantly of all, home-cooked. We all help with the cooking (well, dad gets to set the table, if we're generous.) and there's a no-fighting-embargo until everyone has had at least one helping *g*.
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Date: 2014-12-10 04:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-12-10 06:48 am (UTC)Also, this week I'll get word whether I'll be moving to Thailand next year. Interesting times.
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Date: 2014-12-17 02:03 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-12-17 06:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-04 06:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-04 06:43 pm (UTC)