Ah, it’s the most wonderful time of the year! Just like that, 2022 is quickly drawing to a close and Christmas is once again right around the corner. For all of us, it’s finally time to start preparing: decorating the house, putting up the Christmas tree and go shopping for presents is something that all of us can relate to. However, I’m not here to talk about the things we have in common, because this article would be very boring, but about what makes the holiday season in my home a little bit different from yours. The answer? My heritage.
As the description of this blog already gives out, I grew up in a binational household, with parents who come from different countries. On my father's side, I'm German; he was born and raised in and around Berlin before he first came to Chile in the mid-80s and met my mother, so he eventually ended up staying. I was born and have spent 24 out of my 25 years of life in Chile, so I mostly blend in with the crowd except for my lighter skin and hair. Throughout the years, my father has made sure that I feel German as much as I feel Chilean, always keeping the language, culture and traditions alive on a daily basis. And at no other time does the German side become more evident than during the holidays, even though we celebrate them in 80 degree heat instead of covered in snow, which always blows the mind of my German relatives.
First of all, we have celebrated Advent at home ever since I was little, long before it became a “thing” over here. We have our wreath on the dinner table with the four candles we light on each Sunday one by one, and we sing Advent hymns in German accompanied by my father on the recorder (Wir Sagen Euch An Den Lieben Advent at the start and O Heiland Reiß Die Himmel Auf at the end). I also had an Advent calendar until I was deemed too big for it, but last year, I had the idea of reintroducing it with a small twist: instead of the small toy or sweet treat that used to be inside when I opened a window each night, there is now a piece of paper with a Bible passage, which we then read and reflect upon.
Another thing that is different in my house is that we get a small “teaser” of Christmas almost three weeks before it comes. On the morning of December 6th, we all wake up to find our shoes stuffed with small presents from good old Saint Nicholas (or Nikolaus, as we call him). Saint Nicholas of Myra was a 4th Century bishop of Greek descent whose well-documented habit of giving out gifts makes him the real-life character that Santa Claus was presumably modeled after. This story also explains why people in other countries, such as the United States, get their Christmas presents inside of stockings, a slight deviation of the original story. I always look forward to this day a lot. The only problem is that poor Nicholas has to figure out a way to keep our two dogs from chewing on the shoes. Sorry!
As for the actual Christmas celebration, the German heritage gets yet another chance to shine. After coming home waaaay past midnight with my parents from celebrating at my grandmother's with my extended family, we read the Nativity story out loud and install Baby Jesus in our Nativity scene as we sing Zu Bethlehem Geboren, a German Christmas carol composed by Friedrich Spee in the 17th century. After the small Lithurgy, we then finally open our presents, but we do it on Christmas Eve before we go to be as opposed to Christmas morning like people in other countries do.
What we eat is another thing. The image that accompanies this article shows a Bunter Teller, which literally translates as “colorful plate”, which is basically just a paper plate decorated with a Christmas motif filled with good ol’ German holiday sweet things that we eat until we can’t even look at them anymore. Some of the classics include Stollen, Dominosteine (domino tiles), Lebkuchenherzen (Lebkuchen hearts), Marzipankartoffeln (marzipan potatoes), Zimtsterne (cinnamon stars) Pfeffernüsse (pepper nuts) and a few more. It obviously isn’t easy to find these products outside of Germany, but we have managed to bring them to our table anyway because one of Chile's biggest supermarket chains is owned by a German immigrant who imports them. For me, ever since I can remember, the distinctive scent of those things is the unmistakable sign that the holiday season has arrived. To put it in layman's terms, German Christmas = diabetic coma.
Anyway, now that I think about it, this time of the year is when I usually feel “the most German”, if you like. My father has succeeded in keeping these traditions alive no matter where we are, and they have grown on me so much that I now can’t imagine celebrating Christmas in any other way. I sincerely hope this never changes, even after I marry and have my own children, because it’s the most perfect way to keep a little piece of home close to my heart. Being an expat is sometimes not easy, but there is always something you can do to feel like you never left at all.
I'm curious to know how other immigrants or children of immigrants celebrate the holidays, so if you are one, feel free to let me know. And also, Merry Christmas!
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