The Aftermath

So the holidays are finally over, and what are we left with? Empty champaign glasses, leftover party snacks, a colossal mess of streamers and burnt-out firework remnants, and plenty of memories :) As with all celebrations, the aftermath leaves us with a somewhat bittersweet feeling brought on by the promise of a return to school and work, but we hang on to the great moments we had. (I am rather stubborn on this point. I still have birthday cards in a box under my bed at home from two years ago!)

I've been around for three major celebrations since I wrote last: Christmas, my 17th Birthday, and New Year's. (auf Deutsch: Weihnachten, mein 17te Geburtstag, und Silvester) How about we start from the top and work our way down then, shall we? (I promise to add in little trivial events in-between, lol)

For Christmas, we baked bread like my Grandmother used to make. It was really tasty, and my host family enjoyed it, which was a definite plus. The bread itself ends up being in the shape of a Christmas tree, with candied cherries for ornaments on the branches. It felt sooo unbelieveably good to be able to share traditions with my host family and have them share their holidays with me in return.

Christmas was fairly quiet, with us exchanging gifts at home after having a meal together. My host sister and I clung obstinately to our conviction that a Christmas tree should be inside and decorated for Weihnachten, else it's just an evergreen, barely above a fern in ranking, when you think about it. So on Christmas morning (the 24th, in Deutschland), we brought it inside, dried it off, and got it all ready for it's debut as a bonafeid Christmas tree with glass baubles and ornaments. I have to say, it looked like one happy tree!

My birthday was also pretty quiet. My host sister and I got haircuts. God, I didn't realize how badly I needed a haircut until I took a serious look and realized that it was around three to four inches longer!! And anyone who has long hair will know how nice it feels to have a professional wash your hair and then cut and style it. Oh, so that's another first to add to my list. I have now, officially, gotten a haircut in a different country. How many people can say that? :)

Later that evening we went to a Greek restaurant for someone else's birthday which had been the day before. I've started to notice a pattern here... many Greek and Asian restaurants--along with lots of pizza joints!! And then there's the places where they serve Eis. Those places drive me just about over the edge because it's negative ten outside and they're serving ice cream!! And it's delicious because it's from Europe and not like that stuff we get at our siblings' baseball games from the man with a cart which is decked out with bells to make it impossible to ignore. I don't think that bells is the correct word, really. Glocken might be more appropriate, given that they have a certain inharmonious quality which appeals to the more impatient side of one's nature. In short, it makes me want to start a conversation as to why exactly a less discordant noisemaker cannot be selected.

The last major event of last year, and the first of this year, for that matter, was New Year's. I actually like the German word for this time better than the English one. Silvester sounds bright and new, and well, more sparkly, which is what New Year's stands for. The bright, new, and yes, even shiny beggining. One of the major differences between my home and Berlin is that, here, bottle rockets are legal, lol. Yeap, almost like when I happened to be in Paris in front of the Eiffel Tower on Bastille Day, hahaha!

Well, that pretty much wraps up the last of my 2010! Come to think of it, I can't really believe that I've spent half of it in Deutschland!! How time flies :) TGWTC, signing off! P.S. I need to remember to write about Miss Sophie's 90 Geburstag oder Dinner for One in my next entry, lol.