The 2nd of advent has been and gone, the tree is up, we’ve been making German Christmas cookies, and still – it doesn’t really feel like the big day’s only just over 2 weeks away. F has been making a couple of xmas things at pre-school, but it’s all been very underwhelming – especially compared to what I’m used to from the UK! They don’t have a nativity play here, or made nice designs for cards either. I’m almost a bit miffed that it’s been so low key. But of course (I’ve been told) there are way too many religions, cultures etc thrown together here to be able to celebrate a Christian/pagan one. Way too non-PC!
Last Saturday we went to the German Christmas market at the German International School in need of some pre-Christmas cheer, but ended up spending more time at their playground than the actual market. It was full of tall blond people, a lot of scrubbed clean faces with not a trace of (Christmas) glitter, children with sensible hats and mittens on (it was abot 14 Celsius), and lots of babies slung in tie-dyed hipscarves over the not insubstantial hips of mums with sensibly short hair. And they had no hot chocolate! And no waffles dusted in clouds of icing sugar? No pancakes! No mulled wine, I ask you?! Just sludgy brown pea soup and bo-ring punch. All a bit of a let down, and no wonder my girls chose to sneak off to the playground instead. So this weekend, we might try… drum roll…. the “Great Dickens Christmas Fair”, where we can “wander the lanes of Victorian London”, “enjoy tea, cucumber sandwiches and scones”, and some “rollicking entertainment”. Now that’s more like it! I’m, of course, as ever, highly sceptical, but I’m desperate for some “proper” Christmas pomp. Wish me luck.
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