Presents

Christmas Eve is upon us, and whether or not you celebrate Christmas, it is still a holiday in the United States. Sometimes I have trouble getting excited about Christmas. I think that the purpose of Christmas is to help us reflect on our lives and to be thankful for what we have. In this way, Christmas is the non-secular, gift-giving version of Thanksgiving. But Thanksgiving was a month ago, so I'm not feeling the need to reexamine by life again so soon.

I really get into Christmas when I'm living in other countries that don't celebrate Thanksgiving. Not only are Christmas traditions different in other countries, which excites me all by itself, but without Thanksgiving to force some self-reflection and ritualize holiday cheer, I am certainly ready for a celebration by the middle of winter.

Presents are definitely the best part of Christmas. The food can be either amazing or amazingly bad. Holiday parties have their ups and down. But presents are really the focal point of the day. The most memorable part of Christmas Eve for me is sitting around the Christmas tree and opening presents together as a family.

Now you may be thinking, silly Andrea, don't you know that you're not suppose to open presents until Christmas Day? Well, culturally-insensitive friend, in Germany it is tradition to open presents on Christmas Eve and not on Christmas Day. Since my parents are mostly German in background, we still uphold this tradition and open our presents on Christmas Eve.

This picture was taken in Germany at my host parents' house on a Christmas Eve many moons ago. The presents are all waiting patiently to be opened and enjoyed. The candles (yes, real candles) are all lit. And today, in that same house there are presents that will soon be opened, and I really wish I could be there.