Tuesday, January 01, 2008

21 Christmas Questions - on New Year

I did this meme - and the other one that'll be right above this one - last Christmas as well. Only this year I didn't get around before New Year.


1. Eggnog or hot chocolate?

Well, I looooove hot chocolate, every day of the year, so what do you think?


2. Does Santa wrap presents or just put them under the tree?

This year he wrapped them, last year he didn't.


3. Coloured lights on tree/house or white?

I don't have a tree and live in a flat, but if I did decorate, the lights would be coloured.


4. Do you hang mistletoe?

No, because that's not a tradition in Germany - and I would a) not know where to get some anyway and b) not have somebody around to kiss underneath it (boohoo). (That's actually last year's answer.)


5. When do you put your decorations up?

I don't have any decorations, but if I did, there were some I would put up at the beginning of December and some I would put up during the day of Christmas Eve. That's traditional in my family.


6. What is your favourite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?

My mother's cooked rabbit, it's always delicious. Plus, I don't have to cook it, because it comes with spending most of Christmas with my parents. (Also the same answer as last year. Isn't it nice some things remain the same?)


7. Favourite holiday memory as a child?

The years before my grandmother died when I was ten. It was so great when we would go around the house (my parents and some of my mother's relatives live in one house) and visit all the others, finishing with my grandmother on the ground floor. After she died, the family started to break apart. (Another answer that can stay.)


8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?

Well, first of all we don't have Santa Claus in Germany, we have either the 'Weihnachtsmann' (who's very much like Santa, anyway) or the 'Christkind' (in the area of southern Germany where I live). I guess I was about seven or eight when I realized my parents actually bought the presents and put them under the tree. I wasn't really told, but I think that year I stumbled over some presents when I was playing hide and seek with somebody. (And another one.)


9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

All of them actually, that's the way it's done in Germany. We do get our presents on Christmas Eve. (One more, this is getting boring, isn't it?)


10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

As I don't have one, I don't decorate it. Again, if I had one, I'd do it rather colourful, as we've always had a lot of different-coloured items on the tree.


11. Snow! Love it or dread it?

I love snow as long as I don't have to go out much and don't have to mind the walkway in front of the house I live in.


12. Can you ice skate?

No, I can't even roller skate. I'm not very good at sports as a rule.


13. Do you remember your favourite gift?

Absolutely. It was a book my parents wrote and drew for me themselves. I still keep it and remember fondly how jealous my friends were... (Still the same answer, again)


14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?

Spending time with family and friends and thinking back on the last year. Some meditation, you might say


15. What is your favourite holiday dessert?

My family's very special brand of Christmas cookies, you can't get them anywhere and nobody else does them like my mother. (Yup, you guessed right, same answer as last year again.)


16. What is your favourite holiday tradition?

Spending the afternoon of Christmas Eve with my parents. (Same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie. Does anyone reading this know "Dinner for One"?)


17. What tops your tree?

Again, nothing, as I don't have a tree. But my parents had a very beautiful glass top that looked like a turned-over ice-cream cone with a hole cut in.


18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?

Giving, not because it makes me look like a nice person, but because I like the challenge of finding the right gift for everybody. It's not easy, as I've written before. But I would be the world's biggest hypocrite if I said I don't like receiving, wouldn't I? (Same procedure as every year, James. Same answer, too.)


19. What is your favourite Christmas song?

Well, anything that's not "Last Christmas" (though I managed to escape the song this year, lucky me). Traditional Christmas songs will get me as much as rock songs with a Christmas theme.


20. Candy canes?

Not traditional for Christmas in Germany, but I like them.


21. Favourite Christmas movie?

First of all "The Nightmare before Christmas", I just love the story. In addition I enjoy watching two Austrian TV-movies every year: "Single Bells" and "Oh Palmenbaum". (And, at the end, another answer left over from last year...)

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