Thanksgiving is a traditional American holiday that I think has mostly become a joke to Americans. We eat a lot of Turkey, watch football, sit around with random cousins and have the same small talk you had the year before ("So Amanda, have a boyfriend? How's school?" etc) and if we do remember what this holiday is supposed to signify, it is mostly joking about how after this meal Americans then spent 200 years killing Indians. Which, let's face it, is true . . . but that is not the point. The point is we should take this day to express our thanks to the people and things that perhaps we have not for the rest of the year. Forced, yes, but appreciated . . . also a yes.
This year was not my first Thanksgiving away from my family, but unlike last year which I spent doing final papers alone in my apartment, this year Dr. Liu invited the UMD group and some of her friends here to a big feast. Turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, gravy--and a Turkish/German touch with delicious couscous and Turkish Pizzas. Even though I was forced to express my thankfulness in very inarticulate--and probably completely wrong--German, it was an enjoyable evening and it was nice to hang out in a mostly school-free setting. (Except for the German speaking.) We also played a German board game for children which showed how little of German geography I actually know and I think the evening was all in all a great time. I am glad that out of the country we found a way to have our own traditions, altered of course a little by the fact that we are in Germany, and I am especially grateful for the turkey. :-)
As Thanksgiving is the official start of the holiday season for Americans, I was not surprised to see that in Germany also Christmas starts way before December 24th. A number of Weihnachtsmarkts are popping up all over Berlin, some more commercial than others. There is a fake sledding hill at Potsdamer Platz that is definitely on my todo list and I hear there's a roller coaster at Alexanderplatz which Meredith may have bruised her nose on . . . that however has not deterred my desire to go on it. Yet there are other reasons for these things--little traditional gifts, Christmas ornaments, thick paper stars, and of course lots of food. I'm hoping to do what little Christmas shopping I have left at one of these markets, with hopefully a Glühwein in one hand and a sausage in the other. I'm hoping my last 2 weeks (actually 13 days now) can be filled with something traditionally German like these markets as opposed to just final exams and trying to cram everything I own in 2 suitcases.
Something perhaps not traditionally German but also Christmas-y that I saw this weekend was the giant decorations at KaDeWe. I'm sure every American has
watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade at least once and has heard of, if not seen for themselves, the window decorations at Macy's flagship store in Herald Square. Even though Herald Square now has an H&M, among other stores, and is a bustling shopping center throughout the year, people come out in droves to see the decorations in the windows at Macy's. Yet KaDeWe has a different kind of draw--while it has some Christmas themed windows, it is what is inside that is the most important. There are decorated trees, snow-covered ivy, Santas, ornaments . . . it is quite a sight, and also crowded with people shopping or looking. The Christmas decorations on the streets are equally as beautiful, though I feel like Christmas homesickness is perhaps an all new animal. I am still having mixed emotions about leaving Berlin--I finally feel settled here, it's even more beautiful with the lights everywhere, I'm getting used to the dark at 3 and the cold--but it will be nice to be home for Christmas. I have yet to spend a Christmas away from my entire family and I am grateful that as much as I love Berlin, this is not the year for that first.
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