Berlin is currently in full Christmas mode, which is exciting, even though it is not my favorite holiday. That is not Christmas’s fault though. My birthday falls on Halloween, so combine that with getting sacks full of candy, everyone ready to celebrate your birthday, and you getting to run around all day with a cape and glitter; you have a killer combination. No holiday could ever beat that. Unfortunately Germany is still trying to learn what this is about. I went trick or treating and I only saw scary creatures, there was no creativity, no glitter, no inspirational figures, and people actually tricked. Why is there toothpaste on the crosswalk buttons? That is not Halloween fun, that is just annoying. And then Thanksgiving is probably my next favorite. It has the food and my family and sweatpants: all of the good things. Unfortunately, Germany really does not have that. They don’t even try. But Christmas is my number 3 or 4, definitely at least in my top 5. And luckily for me, Germany does Christmas right, possibly better than America.
Starting the first Sunday of Advent begins the Christmas Markets. There are nearly a hundred Christmas Markets in Berlin, so of course we thought we had to travel to Lübeck and Hamburg to visit more. Coming from the midwest, I am actually not completely foreign to these types of holiday markets. I grew up only 20 minutes outside of Akron, which according to the summit county website held “America’s Most Authentic German Christmas Market” in 2008. I was there. It was nothing compared to these. These German towns hold Christmas markets in every square, on every block, down every pedestrian street. It would be hard to tell where one began and the next one started if you didn’t get to walk through tunnels of florescent lights every time you entered a new one. There is so much Christmas in the air.
What is a Christmas Market exactly you may ask? It is first and foremost a lot of food. My host mother, who isn’t the greatest fan of the markets, complains that it is just fressen. German lessen: when humans eat it is essen, but when animals eat, it is fressen. Fortunately I love to fressen. And there is everything. Candied nuts, lebkuchen, crepes, sausage, goulash, mushrooms, meat on a stick, currywurst (if you are in Berlin), soup, hot chocolate, chocolate in the shape of tools (You don’t think you need a pair of scissors made out of chocolate until you see a pair, then you need them), circles of fried sweet dough that have a name I can’t remember, potato latkes that are called something else here, eggnog, gluhwein, kinderpunsch (which tastes much better than the real stuff). The list could go on forever. It is all good, it will all make you feel warm, and it comes in snack size portions so you can try all of them.
But more fun for me than the food are the handmade crafts. This is where it really matters which market you go to. Every market has food. The quality and variety of crafts is not always there. Which is unfortunate because with globalization, these markets feel like the only place I can get (affordable) gifts that aren’t also purchasable in Target. The key to finding these markets are going to the ones that aren’t in the middle of the city. Those stands will be full of Berlin souvenirs. If you go into the small neighborhoods, or the ones inside churches, or the ones where *gasp* you have to pay a euro or two to get in, you will find much cooler handicrafts.
So why are there so many markets? My Furman Professor said that it could be because the sun goes down at four every afternoon. That is not an exaggeration the sunset today is at 3:52pm. THREE FIFTY TWO. How in the world do Germans deal with it? Christmas Markets. It is a fun, warm, bright way to spend a dark winter evening. You can replace late night strolls through the parks, with late night stops eating German donuts. You can warm up with a few glasses of hot chocolate smothered in whipped cream. Don’t fear the dark, just wander around the paper star section while snacking on candied almonds. Sugar solves all problems that fluorescent lights don’t. I am excited to go home and spend Christmas with my family, but I am glad that I got to spend the Christmas season here.
