Christmas in Austria

I feel very lucky to have really lived Christmas in Austria. So many things are similar to an American Christmas, but just a little different. But keep in mind that my relative are very traditional even compared to their neighbors.

Christmas starts in early December. The four Sundays previous to Christmas are spent with family praying and then socializing. The praying gave me chills at first because it is kind of a chant that is done over and over. The women and the men each have different part that they verbalize. I never understood (but didn't really care) exactly how it works or how they decide to stop. But the snacks at the end were good =]

Because different parts of the families are always getting together, there's always lots of good food. There's no Santa Claus but they have Kristkind, the Christ Child, who brings gifts. I mentioned the Krampos already.

One highlight of the early holiday season was that Sep and Kurt decided to sell Christmas trees from the courtyard of the farmhouse. I designed the signs directing traffic to the "Christbaum Verkauft" and helped keep the showroom full of new trees each day. The courtyard looked beautiful each morning after a layer of fresh powder had fallen.

Christmas Eve is when the climax occurs. Sparklers are added to the tree and lit. When they die we trade gifts with each other and personally wish each person "Froye Weinachten." Then each person opens their gifts on their own and thanks the giver. A few weeks before Christmas, Stephan was given a 'survival knife' with a whistle that he blew over and over. So, a few days before Christmas I wrapped it up when he wasn't looking and put it under the tree. He was very happy to get it back.

Our Christmas Tree: [with sparklers] [with lights] [with stephan] [ohne ich] [ohne stephan]

Christmas Day was spent eating more. The rest of the Rechenmacher's came over on and I finally met them all except Ilse who was working that night. But tomorrow I'll go out with a few of them and I'll meet her...

Would you know where in the US I could purchase sparklers for the tree?

Wanna comment?