20 Adventures from my 20s: #4

The holidays while in Europe were gearing up to be a very lonely event. The Americans around me were either going home (very few) or having family come visit them in Europe, so they were retreating to the bigger cities, or to the French countryside. In light of this, I ended up having a far better adventure, and that was:

HOLIDAYS IN GERMANY

Jens invited me to his hometown to spend Christmas with him and his family, and while I accepted cause I preferred that to being alone, I was immediately terrified. I didn't speak any German, and I didn't even really know Jens all that well. I knew I wanted to visit Germany, but that was about it. As the time came closer, I was starting to feel very welcome. Jens started passing on questions from his mother - was I vegetarian? Was there any meat I didn't eat? Did I have any dietary restrictions? They were really gearing up to welcome me.

I was pretty excited, even when I landed in Düsseldorf and found my luggage had been lost by Air France. Jens was there waiting on the other side, had his car, and I was still in a good mood when we stopped for gas. When he turned onto a smaller street and said his house was 2 minutes away, I started panicking. Whyyyyy did I agree to this? I don't know these people, I don't know this language, and now I'm under their roof for almost a week!

It. Was. Amazing.

First of all, Jens' father wore Harry Potter glasses completely unironically, and didn't speak a lick of English. Jens' mother was adorable and tried to use her English as much as possible, but it really wasn't much.

Their welcome was warm indeed. When they learned that my luggage had been lost, they ransacked their house for coupons to a local department store and told Jens to take me out to buy clothes or at least underwear. Jens' father loved to joke around and make fun of me lightheartedly and would speak to me in French or have Jens translate something. I remember him telling Jens to tell me something that turned out to be "Have fun!" before we went out to get inebriated for the night. One morning, we had bad hangovers... to this day it was by far the worst hangover of my life. Jens and I didn't make it down to eat until the afternoon. His father was very aware and didn't care at all. Instead, seeing that food was making me sick to my stomach, he kept putting more and more on my plate and telling me I should eat something, laughing and refilling my water. One evening over dinner, Jens' mother was trying to tell Jens that he should play the cello for us afterwards and it came out "YOU VILL PLAY CELLO" it was very German hahaha.

On Christmas Eve, they let me do everything my heart desired (namely, build a gingerbread house and listen to Christmas music) and they got a Christmas tree for me to decorate, and they included me in everything, and even asked if I would prefer going to a Catholic or Protestant service - Jens' mom was (uncharacteristically for a German) Catholic, and his father was Lutheran, and they alternated the services that they went to each year. I believe we went to the Lutheran church - and I remember someone next to me tried talking to me, probably wishing me merry Christmas and may the Lord bless me and what was I thankful for this year? But at the time, I only knew how to say "I love the poolboy" in German, so I outright ignored them oops. When we went home, Jens' family (his sister Wiebke included) actually showered me with gifts, all of which I have today except for the pocketwarmers I used that winter. I have a book on German culture, 2 breakfast cutting boards, and an authentic stein from the Hofbrauhaus in Munich.

Our gingerbread house. Jens' father came through and added the little white puff on top of the gummy bear to make it more like Santa Claus

 

I have to say that the very thing I dreaded the most (the communicating) ended up being my most favorite thing. Having three languages between us and finding ways to make ourselves understood with them was just fascinating, and it was my first real experience with something like that. And there's nothing like a Christmas in Germany!

This picture was the backdrop of my computer for the longest time. Located in Cologne, this statue is depicting a famous fairy tale - I think it was The Cobbler and the Elves - and I thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world. Storybooks gracing your public - and the Christmas tree too?? Swoon!

I left Jens' house a day or two after Christmas and headed up to Berlin to meet with some friends in order to celebrate New Year's there. Another Santa Barbara student was studying for the year in Berlin and had an apartment for us all to crash at. New Year's Eve in Berlin was outright joyous. I couldn't tell you where the hell we were or what street we were standing on - our host friend took us wherever and we didn't argue - but it was somewhere in the thick of the downtown, and fireworks had a grace period of legality, so they were going off everywhere! People would light them and throw them into the sky and they would ricochet off the skyscrapers. People would even drop them into sewer grates and they would come bursting out of them. Dangerous I suppose, but beautiful.

Notice the firework in the sky?

After midnight, we went to a club that we had tickets for and shut the place down, returning to the apartment at the sun was rising. Honestly these memories are hazy now, but I remember them all being a wonderful night.

For having to miss the holidays away from home and family for the first time in my life, it was the best way to do it.