Weihnachts Zeit (Christmas Time)

              Now, it is a new and fantastic time in Germany. It is Christmas time! Christmas is, without question, one of the things that the Germans do best; that, and sausages, cars, beer, and bread. It was a general consensus among the exchange students (Austausch Schüler) that the Christmas season here is pretty magical. The whole country gets the streets dressed for Christmas starting around the 20^th of November; there are lights and decorations everywhere, enormous trees (Tannenbaum) are put up and lit full with Christmas lights, and best of all, they begin to set up the Weihnachtsmärkte. A Weihnachtsmarkt is, from direct translation, a Christmas Market or Christmas Festival. However, it is so much more than just a market. It is where the people get together and gather in the streets to smell fantastic sausages and other meats, roasted almonds and chestnuts, and many other foods, drink amazing Gluhwine (a warm wine with cinnamon), and by gifts. It is a social gathering and a tradition, and is something that people look forward to the whole year. There are small rides for young kids and of course many things for adults. Almost every town and section of a city has their own Weihnachtsmarkt, some only on specific days, and others everyday, all day. I and the other exchange students went to the Weihnachtsmärkte in Dortmund, Düsseldorf, and of course Wuppertal (which alone has about ten). In Dortmund we saw the biggest chirstmas tree in the world. I also went with my family to the Weihnachtsmarkt in Hattingen, a small, walled in town from the Middle Ages. For the entire Advent season there are traditions. Everybody here in Germany has their own Advents Calendar. For the most part the kids have ones where for every day you open a small door and there is a piece of chocolate there with a different winter themed shape. Some even have a small gift for every day. Then, on the sixth of December, the kids all clean their shoes and put a shoe outside of their door, and in the morning they rush out to find sweets and maybe a small gift from Nikolaus. That is the tradition on Nikolaustag.

            As I mentioned, we exchange students went together to Dortmund to go to the Weihnachtsmarkt (which is rated as one of the best), but we also went because on that day there was a soccer game between Borussia Dortmund 09 and Schalke 04. Both of these teams are from North Rhine-Westphalia and happen to be rivals. We were there early and the fights had begun in the train already. We were in a train full of Dortmund fans, and happened to be sitting to the only group of Schalke fans in the whole train. Of course they were already drinking beer at 11:00 AM and singing as loud as they could. They yelled nothing but insults at each other, and this was the mildest form of rivalry that we witnessed that day. The streets were full of yellow and black. Whatever Schalke fans there were were smart enough to go directly to the stadium, or hide their Schalke fan clothes. During the game the whole city was tucked away into the stadium or into bars to watch the game. We were among them in a crowded bar where we had to sit on the ground just to watch this game. Dortmund won 2-0 in a great game. The result was singing in the streets, drunk guys running everywhere and more than anything, police. I was denied entry to a mall because I was holding a glass bottle and was wearing a Dortmund scarf. I guess it was understandable considering there were people who were lighting things on fire and smoking the whole mall full. Then there was the Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station). All the super fans had congregated there and it was party mode. They were screaming and chanting and singing and they were walled in by rows of Police, dressed as if it was a riot, which it almost was. Before the match there was a mistake and a delay in a train full of Schalke fans. It came at the same time as a train full of Dortmund fans and they clashed, there were many injuries and all of them who were injured were proud. So I suppose I witnessed first hand the hectic and intense sport that is Fußball.

            So that was pretty much a general overview of what I have been through on my adventure from an American in high school in Lenox, Massachusetts to an exchange student exploring his dual citizenship and learning more about the world, making new friends and making the world seem a whole lot smaller.