Somehow my immersion into american christmas rites did not work out as planned. I was dedicated to experience the foreign first hand and neither mock the unfamiliar nor change the course of the proceedings. I wanted 100% US holidays. But maybe one has to be a child to follow the tradition with the sort of wide eyed enthusiasm I was expecting from my self. Yes we left the electric lights on over night so santa could find his way and we unpacked the gifts on the morning of the 25th but we started inventing our own rituals as we went along. When it came to decorating the tree we discovered, that we had nothing to decorate it with. So we went out and bought e few overpriced antique looking glass balls. Short of a basket full of christmas ornaments we set out to make our own. KAte and Scott came over and lend us a hand. Then Helen and Ed came too and before we knew it we had a regular ornament making party going on. It's amazing what six drunk grown-ups can accomplish with a bit of cardboard, gouache paint, glitter and glue. The event as well as the products of our creative outburst proved so convincing that we decided to make this an annual event. So now we have our own, brand new tradition.


The tree in it's entirety and a zebra. Every tree should have a zebra.

Sharkey and Rodensanta by Rodenhizer.

Bina's Weihnachtsmann with Bina's angel.

Mr Hanky (my favorite) and his friend the oldfashioned glass ball.

Steve Zissou's seahorse and a german Apple.

I don't know what to tell you... yes this is Dolly Parton (curtesy of Kate) and Alex Famira's wood-Santa.

Black Santa (north pole represent) and a box of chocolates.

Mama's angel keeping it real and Ed's super-sleigh.

Last minute handbag (the tree deserves a handbag) and some Swiss ham (von Thomas und Myriel)

And I almost forgot: Disco Earth and Helen's Joy.!

Advise from Tante Ute, my aunt who emigrated to California back during the Nixon administration is a source of wisdom here. She recommends to have electric lights and candles for a cross cultural Christmas experience. She laughingly admits it freaks out the americans but it's cool if you know what you're doing. Happy holidays everybody!