Though the German winter semester does not actually end until the beginning of February, classes are now on pause for holiday break. The house — typically buzzing with activity and occupied by 27 students — all but emptied out as my housemates returned home to spend time with their families. For me, this is the first time I have ever celebrated the winter holidays outside of the US.
Chanukah: This year, Chanukah started on the evening of December 14th. However, the Jewish population in Germany is rather small, and I am the only Jewish person I have encountered so far during my time here. Granted, I grew up in a small town in the US which had no synagogue and essentially no Jewish community, but I at least always had my family to celebrate with. Now, being the only Jewish person in my house and exchange program presented me with the opportunity to share some aspects of my culture and traditions. Unable to find a menorah in Heidelberg, I had to get creative. For the first few nights of the eight-day holiday, I formed my own candle holder out of tinfoil. Each night, some of my friends would sit with me and help me light the candles as I sang the Chanukah blessings and explained the story behind the festival of lights. By the fourth night of Chanukah, my parents had arrived in Germany and had brought a real menorah and candles with them as well as dreidels to play with. (To my frustration, one of my friends was immediately better at spinning a dreidel than me.) For the remaining days, I lit the candles and sang the blessings once more with my family.
Weihnachten: Christmas in Germany is actually two days, with official public holidays on both the 25th and the 26th of December, during which the vast majority of stores and businesses are closed. That being said, the main Christmas celebration (including giving/receiving presents and a large dinner) occurs on the evening of the 24th. Though my family personally does not do much to celebrate Christmas, my parents were in Germany to visit me during this time. We spent time as a family, played board games, and cooked dinner together on Christmas Eve.
Silvester: New Year’s Eve is known as Silvester in Germany and is celebrated quite enthusiastically. It is fairly typical to attend large parties with friends to bring in the New Year together. For dinner, I gathered with some of my housemates as we prepared and enjoyed raclette together (which involves melting a special type of cheese over a variety of vegetables and other foods of choice). Another tradition included sharing a cake, in which one slice contained a small trinket. Whoever finds it is the king/queen of the night and has good luck for the New Year. As it so happens, I was the one to find it!
As the clock approached midnight, I joined my housemates in a walk to the Old Bridge in Heidelberg. Thousands of people were in the streets, setting off hundreds of fireworks over the river. It was easily the most fireworks I had ever seen in one place at one time. It was hectic and loud and certainly quite a way to start the New Year. As the day changed, everyone went around hugging all their friends and wishing them a happy New Year. Overall, I had a lot of fun celebrating the winter holidays here in Germany.