The last piece that Viktoria wrote from Bavaria, 2005.
She returned home on Dec. 13. Welcome Back, Vik! :)

***Santa's Lesser Known Helper***

I've heard from people back home that it has yet to snow. It's been a different story here in Bavaria! One day we had to shovel the snow three times, and it wasn't just for the fun of it. The first day it snowed was unforgettable. I hadn't even noticed it until I had done breakfasting and went back upstairs to get dressed. When I looked out the window, I saw the snowed-covered roofs glistening in the soft morning sunlight and paused with wonder. When I awoke from my hypnotic state, I took a picture, but there was no way of capturing the beauty of it. Never have I seen so much snow in my life, and the Germans tell me that it's at its worst in January!

The Christmas season here, however, could be wondrously beautiful, even without the snow. German Christmas stories are quite different than from in the States. They tell of St. Nicolas coming on December the sixth, not the twenty-fifth. Two Christmas men come that day: the first man is St. Nicolas, who wears red and carries a bag full of candy to give to the good children. His assistant, who wears brown, also carries a bag. However, his is empty so he can stuff it with the bad children. A child has to be really bad to be carted away by the Christmas man. Usually the child is only spanked with his tree branch, but even then, the child can save itself from the terrible fate of the branch by singing the Christmas men a song.

German children then expect a second visitor on the twenty-fourth of Christmas. That night, the Christ Child comes bringing beautiful presents for all the children. He flies from house to house, leaving trails of His golden hair behind. (This is where the tradition of putting tinsel on the tree began.)

All over Germany now are Weinachsmarkts (Christmas Markets), where one can buy Advent calendars and wreathes, tree decorations, and equally beautiful decorations. I've now visited three, but my favorite was, without a doubt, the non-traditional Tollwood Weinachsmarkt in my favorite German city, (you guessed it!) Munich! If you've ever seen 'The Nightmare Before Christmas', imagine stepping into the Christmas created by this film: charming but slightly twisted. For example, they had a cookie stand with a straw witch hanging over it called the 'Knusper Haüsen', from what the witch in the German fairy tale 'Hansel and Gretel' said: 'Knusper, Knusper, Knaüsen! Wer knuspert auf meinen Haüsen?' (Roughly translating: 'Crunching, Crunching, Couse! Who's crunching on my house?')

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in two weeks!