“There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions.”
-Bill McKibben

When I was a student, December was too full of projects, exams, and papers, and visions of jeering professors dancing in my head for me to really think about how good I had it.  When the Christmas holiday showed up I would take my final exam bruised soul off to Belgium or England, too tired to consider how lucky I was or how unique my family’s celebration of the season is.  This year, as I sit at my desk and ponder darkly on how I won’t be at home until Christmas Eve and will jet off just a handful of days later on the first, I realize how much I miss about my holidays in Europe.  We’ve got a lot of good stuff!

1) Christmas Markets – Europe, ultra-modern though it may be, still manages to jump straight back to the Middle Ages during the whole season.  During Advent several towns and cities have markets in their squares, usually by the cathedrals, where stalls spring up selling food, crafts, toys, etc.  Brussels has a good one, and heading down to the Grand Place/Grote Markt(depending on whether you speak French of Dutch) was always fun.  One sidestreet was crammed full of restaurants and cafes, another was the Greek and Middle Eastern area with even better food.  Another road was THE place to go for jewelry and artisan chocolates (also known as Nirvana).  Behind the Hotel de Ville/Stadhuis was where to shop for famous Flemish lace, textiles, and tapestry. 

However, the best Christmas Market is in Aachen, Germany, I went with my family the second year we lived in Belgium, the first year we went to Salzburg and the Tirolian Alps for snowboarding.  Equally awesome.

2) My family’s hodge-podge of Christmas traditions – after living so many places we picked up holiday celebrations from all of them.  Because of living in Germany, on December 4th we leave our shoes out at night and when we wake up on the 5th, if we’ve been good, St. Nicholas has left us candy, chestnuts, and huge peppermint sticks in them.  As a kid my parents would buy me an Advent calendar every year with chocolate inside the windows that you got to open one a day.  Mom makes Belgian Yule cake every year since living there. 

After living in Virginia we adopted the idea of decorating with a single candle in each window instead of strings of lights, and a pot of cider brewed with orange slices and cinnamon is always simmering on the stove.   

We also listen to different Christmas music than lots of people, my favorite stuff was always Handel’s Messiah and the Cambridge King’s College Choir, who tends to sing the more traditional carols (i.e. old).

3) Typical Christmas fun – we decorate our family tree together on the first Monday in December.  This will be the fifth year in a row I haven’t done a tree (unless you count the memorable Kays and I did in our freshman dorm, but that still wasn’t a family tree.  There is a difference), I won’t even be there to help take it down since I have to get back quickly to return to work.