Christmas in Europe

Warning: This post may contain a traumatic spoiler for some of my previous kindergarten and first grade students. Please don't read it without your parents' permission.

Intriguing, right? Well, here it is: my confession. I don't actually like Santa Claus. I wasn't raised to dislike him, but my parents were up front with me about the fact that he wasn't real. So we never left him cookies and milk, and he never brought me any presents. To me, he was just kind of the creepy old guy in the red suit who was always hanging around the mall during Christmastime.

Well, after hearing for many years how secular Europe has become, I thought Christmas here wouldn't be a very big deal, or at the very least, it would be all about Santa. How wrong I was! Christmas is a very big deal in Europe. Decorations abound. Across the main street of each town, they drape evergreens with lights and some kind of star or wreath in the center every 4 meters or so, creating a glorious path of light and good cheer!

The windows on the buildings are not to be forgotten and they are either lined with lights or draped in evergreens. In one town square, I counted 92 balconies all dressed in matching greenery with red bows and gold, silver, green, and red balls. And lights, of course. Another staggering number was the thirty-odd Christmas trees in downtown Kandern. They have crammed Christmas trees into every nook and cranny. If space doesn't exist for one--no problem--they'll slice it down the middle and stick half a tree against a wall, leaving barely enough room to squeeze by.

But no one cares because it's Christmastime and they can just walk in the streets that are closed half the month for all the festivals and Christmas markets. The town is transformed into a magical Christmas land. They build little huts or booths that become shops, selling nativity sets, scarfs, candles, mulled wine, and roasted chestnuts. The exact opposite of a mall, the Christmas markets actually make Christmas shopping fun! Stores are open late and the entire town bundles up and comes out to celebrate.

With my sweet friend Betsy, inside the drink booth at the BFA Christmas banquet.

Of course, shops and restaurants go all-out in making their windows the most Christmasy as possible, filling them with evergreens, ornaments, snowballs, and advent candles. Advent is very important. Everyone has at least one kind of advent wreath, and if you don't, you can buy one at the grocery store, flower store, or local fruit stand. In fact, the town fountain in Kandern is transformed into a larger-than-life advent wreath complete with light bulbs and paper flames.

The only tradition that appears more prevalent than the advent celebration is the displaying of the nativity scene. No one seems to find it offensive, or politically incorrect, or hurtful to people celebrating Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, or not celebrating anything at all. No, in fact, everyone seems to be in a secret competition with one another to display the best nativity ever. I've seen the holy family made of wood, clay, paper, and even pizza dough! They appear in churches, of course, but also above doorways, outside parking garages, and even in fish tanks! An electronics store in Italy, not to be left out, simply stuck a baby, presumably Jesus, in a basket (Or was it Moses?) on the counter. There wasn't room for Mary or Joseph, much less shepherds or wise-men among the electronic gadgets, but Jesus is, arguably, the most critical figure.

Outside a parking garage, Jesus appears to already be practicing his cartwheels.

A pizza dough creche is most impressive.

Behind these gates, I encountered my first ever live-nativity. It was cool, until I saw the three wise-men...three women drinking coffee and chatting with each other.  Apparently there is a shortage of wise-men actors.

And the nativity in a fish tank.

For all creatures, great and small.

It is funny, and refreshing, and a little bit sad to be so readily reminded of why we celebrate Christmas by people who perhaps only display their nativities because of tradition, and not because of any true faith in the baby who was born because of the deep love God has for them. But sometimes it's hardest to see what's right in front of us. And sometimes, I think, God uses people who don't even know him, to draw others closer to himself. Regardless, I'm grateful for the ever present reminders of Jesus birth from these sweet little towns.

And Santa? The only times I've seen him, he's been crawling up a rope or ladder, trying to get in a window or balcony, but he never seems to make it inside.