Europe 103: Throwback Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! 

Merry Christmas Tree! 

Maybe it's a bit technically late to greet but as our elders would say, make every day a Christmas day. :) And... nope. This is not just an excuse to write a super late blog. :D I was meaning to write something about my Europe Christmas. But with so much going on and before Christmas, I can only write text messages of greetings. Since today is throwback Thursday, I think it's just a perfect time to reminisce last year's Christmas.

Although I look forward to spending Christmas in Europe with all those snows and Christmas trees, also dread the time that I have to spend away from my family. You see, this would just be the second time that I'll be spending it away from my family. The first time was because of work. For us, and I guess for people in general, this time has always been about bonding and sharing time with the family. The first time was difficult but I have also people around who also have to spend away time from their families. I guess, that's what made it less difficult. But for this instance, I have to spend it with a different family and the culture that I'm not so familiar with.

Curry Wurst meet-up at a Christmas Market

Thanks for these! :)

It was about a 6-hour drive from Switzerland to Walldorf where my friend, Thomas' family lives. Before we had on, we had a stop over at Basel. It is a very charming town that belongs to the German-speaking region of Switzerland and already borders to Germany. During this time of the year, Christmas markets are very popular around the different towns in Europe. It's quite interesting to see the little Christmas houses they built to sell all different stuffs for Christmas. In the Philippines, we also have small markets at malls but this Christmas market they have, particularly in Basel, looks like a very lively small village. I'm already enjoying just walking around and looking on their goodies. I'm not sure if I bought some or if the some that I bought were chocolates. But if there's one thing that I won't forget, it would be the super tasty curry wurst. If I fell in love with Ribollita and Rissoto in Italy, I'm head over heels with curry wurst in Basel. :) It's like my welcome-to-almost-Germany treat!

After our little detour at Basel, we head on to our destination. During this road trip, it's confirmed that Germans love their cars and they love speed. I know that 230kph is beyond normal for me. Anyways, the more important thing is that we arrived home safely.

Meeting the Parents

It was already dark when we arrived at Walldorf. It was only when we were just 7 minutes to destination (based on the car's GPS) that I had a little panic. I just remembered what my friend said about “meeting the parents” in Europe. Unlike for us, Filipinos, guys are required to meet the girl's parents first before any relationship starts. And in Europe, it's vice-versa... it means the relationship is serious. For some reason this had never came to my mind before. My mind had a little bit of panic mode. Eventually, I settled myself to my purpose of coming... that is, to experience Europe... and this can also entail meeting people. It just so happened that it's his parents.

I had a warm welcome. And I'm glad that they understand English... that means I can easily express myself. One of the traits that's so Filipino is our hospitality. And this is something that we usually expect from others and get disappointed if it was otherwise. And I think my initial panic was if I would feel welcome. And I did. And more importantly, it felt like home. And since then, I'm already curious how it will feel like spending Christmas with them.

A Real Christmas Tree

Ahmm.. yeah, REAL tree.

One thing that I'm looking forward to was the Christmas tree. We all know what a Christmas tree looked like based on movies and Christmas cards. But it's near impossible to get one coming from a tropical country. So, the Christmas trees that I grew up with were more like man-made trees. Not that it has less meaning, but it's always different when you see the real one. And since it's a “real” tree, I didn't anticipate the effort it takes to make it stand. My imagination was limited already to the standing tree and all I had to do is to decorate and light it up. Well, I realized that it wasn't that easy. After a series of chopping and balancing, our Christmas tree finally stand. I was excited. It was the biggest tree that I had to decorate on. I had great fun. We had fun. They have all these different kinds of ornaments some of which my friend did himself when he was a little kid. I can imagine a kid getting excited with the idea of decorating a tree. I felt like a little kid myself. With the ornaments on, it did look like the ones on your Christmas cards. It was a great feeling having to experience that but at the same time a melancholy one. I just wished that our kids back home will be able to see it themselves. They would love it.

Silent Night

In the Philippines, and coming from a big family, Christmases and just about any occasion felt like a big gathering. Kids and kids at heart alike getting excited for their gifts, games kids play, and of course the caroling. In short, its always a festive event... whether there's a crisis or not.

My flowery Christmas sweets... traditional Filipino biko.

Being with my friend's family is different. Different in numbers and different in ways. I think their Christmas is more relaxing in a way. There's no shopping rush, no zillion gifts to wrap, and no kids party to organize. Since I didn't brought any gifts myself, I just tried to cooked from my mother's biko recipe. I was not totally successful because it lacks sweetness but I hoped that effort counts as a gift. :)

We spend Christmas eve with a nice and fun dinner. And after that, just spend some quiet time to enjoy the company and enjoy the night. It's heartwarming to be in a company of people where a few weeks before were total strangers. It's refreshing to see them exchange and opened some gifts... and trying to discern what the thing is for. I even got some presents from them. :) If there's a gift that I would have given them that night, it would have been a carol. Music has been one of the things that I've missed about home. But singing a song would have made me cried at that moment. I'll be more prepared to do it next time. :D

If there's something that I was thankful for this Christmas, it was that when I was away, a family welcomed me and made me a home. I appreciate more the meaning of the family. That it's doesn't mean to be of the same blood or culture. It just mean that you have found a home in people. On the external, it was definitely a different Christmas from what I'm used to. But at its core, it was exactly the same Christmas as back home. A day of bonding and sharing with family. :)