Manageble Monday

Hello nobodies!

Since nobody is reading this blog, yet. :D I actually have 22 pageviews, mostly from Russia. Funny enough, since I changed my blog name from Unemployment, I haven't had a single pageview. Oh well.

So. How was your Christmas? Mine was fantastic. I got just what I wanted, which was spending a wonderful day with my family playing games and dancing like an idiot. Overall it was an almost perfect Christmas.

Anyway, in case you haven't noticed. Today is a Manageable Monday. Since this blog is mostly about the museum I volunteer at and history in general, I've decided that one or two Mondays out of a month will be dedicated to other stuff. I'll probably still sneak history into these posts but you never know.

Today's post is about Christmas. Especially about Christmas in other places than America. Since I don't know much, it may be a little short. Now, for those of you that don't know, I am an ARMY brat and I have lived six years (non-consecutively) in Germany. That's why I'm going to start with a few German traditions that I know about.

The first tradition is a very personal one for me, eating Lebkuchen. If you don't know what Lebkuchen is then you are missing out! Lebkuchen is a cookie, very much like gingerbread. Lebkuchen is not a hard cookie, like gingerbread can be, but is, instead, a delicious soft cookie. If you have ever eaten a domino, another yummy German treat, then those have Lebkuchen in them.

The second tradition is on the eve of the 6th of December. That's when all the children put out a shoe in hopes that St. Nickolaus will put small gifts in them. The third tradition is also involving children and that is the Adventskalendar. I know they do this in the states too. Its a little calendar that counts down the days till Christmas. each day the child or children will open the little door for that date and behind that door is chocolate. At least, there was always chocolate in ours.

I'm now going to move out of Germany, however the next tradition/myth, is still in Northern Europe. That is the Krampus. I'd never heard of the Krampus before until a friend warned me to watch out for him. The Krampus, really more of a myth, is a demon/monster that accompanies St. Nickolaus and takes away the naughty children's gifts, or the naughty children themselves. The Krampus is used to warn children into behaving, much like the idea of Santa leaving coal in our stockings. Only worse.

The last tradition I'm going to talk about is actually from the United Kingdom. This information comes from my brother, who has an online friend that lives in England. Apparently for Christmas dinner they eat Turkey in the UK. Of course this meant that my brother and his friend had an interesting conversation about eating Turkey for Christmas. Though, we in America, typically eat Turkey at Thanksgiving, it's more common to eat Ham for our Christmas dinner. Isn't that funny? Another funny thought I had was the fact that Turkey is not native to the UK at all, but it is native to North America. I would ask if pigs were only native to Europe but I know that they're not since Javelinas (or Peccaries) are native to the North, Central, and South American continents.

One last thing about Christmas before I go. The man I work with at the museum was so kind as to give me a 25 dollar gift card to Walmart this year for Christmas, especially since I'm doing all this work for free. Today I went to Walmart and I spent the whole 25 dollars. I bought a binder, dividers, and cloth diapers - which will need to be washed to remove chemicals - all so I can use them for the museum. With the 5 dollars left over I bought myself a book. Its the best 25 dollars I have ever spent.

48 items in the system. Thousands of more to go.