What it's really about

This morning I saw this incredible video on YouTube, so have 21.330.938 other people, which I think is awesome.

In the video you see a food court in a mall. I hate food courts, because you have to eat in the middle of all these consumerist temples, next to the makeup and jeans stores. To me, food belongs in a safe, quite place, where you get the chance to enjoy what’s on your plate, and to enjoy your company.

Anywho, there is a key board player, who plays Christmas tunes in the background, he is ignored, but suddenly a woman jumps up singing Haleluya. And a flash-mob starts with a choir singing beautifully in the middle of the shopping mall.

This moved me a lot, because suddenly the choir brought such a beautiful mood to that ugly place. The mall, where consumerism and the biggest and best gift rule the holidays, was reminded of what Christmas actually is about: To be with the people you love and spend a good and peaceful time together.

I was haunted the past days, because this year I am not able to afford all these nice gifts I like to spoil my mum and my sister with. Instead I have to turn every penny and be quite creative with my gifts. And it made me feel bad. After seeing the video, I have changed my mood. So I am giving time this year, and love and improvement, instead of books, makeup and cloths.

Ok, just finished polishing my halo, now back to work.

Where is the love?

This time of the year, a lot of people are talking about love and compassion. I will take this as a reason to quickly evaluate my love life. Super quick: basically non-existent.

A little bit more in detail: I have had boyfriends, some of them I deserved, some of them not. Today I am trying to keep in mind that I make my own choices and also that there is responsibility connected to it, so if I am dating a douchebag, it is my own fault. It practically reflects back on me, which enlarges my own douchebagness.

The chain goes like this: In high school I dated a couple of guys who were nice and sometimes a bit stupid, but still mostly nice.

The ultimate first big love came around when I was 21. I wanted to marry, have plenty of kinds, move to Africa with him and imagined that together we would save the world. After clinging too hard on him, he left me, which made me lose a lot of my love-self-confidence.

As a result, I wanted someone who would stick around and who would care about me one hundred percent. What I got was the most jealous and emotionally blackmailing dude on the planet. We moved in together after four months, I left three months later and there was no love-self-confidence back.

Then came the wonderful period of freedom. I dated a couple of guys, broke some hearts and had FUN! I underlined to everyone that I was emotionally stabbed and was unfit for a relationship.

In the end I still got into a relationship with a guy who was too awesome to not to be with. Unfortunately the knife was still stuck in my chest and I screwed it up.

Now I fled the country, live in a city with no meaningful male acquaintances and continue building up the courage to find Mr. Right.

Picture: Flickr

Jingle Bells Indian Style

Thanks to my friend Leila, I got to know this super awesome song, which truely enhances my holiday mood:



With a wobble of my head, I say: Enjoy your day, Sir/ Madam!

Banana Traditions

Today is the 6^th of December: Saint Nicholas Day!! As I learnt to love Christmas time, I also learned to love “Nikolaus”, as we call it in Germany. In my years abroad and amidst Internationals, I always tried to include as many people as possible in these celebrations. Today is the first time in nine years that I was at home at “Nikolaus”.

So here it, what happens at this day: Generally it is the celebration of Saint Nicholas, who kind of is the pre Coca Cola Santa. He actually helped the poor and is celebrated widely in countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, and many others. In Germany, we have to clean our winter boots at the night of the 5^th of December. If we do so, St. Nicholas will put candy and gifts in them during the night, if not (or if we put out bigger boots that are not our own), he will put coal into the boots. Actually my aunt Moni was punished with coal once, as she put out my grandpa’s rubber boots for St. Nicholas. It is a story widely known in our family, as you can imagine.

Normally, I put candy into the boots of my room mates, colleagues and friends, this year it was my mom. She got a rasp, but the reason for that she has to tell you yourself.

So, to all of you, who are not around this year, I am putting an imaginary piece of chocolate into your boots. Take care and eat it, before your hot feet melt it!

Picture: http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s242/Knuddelfussel/adventskalender/nikolaus_stiefel.gif

Goodwill or Stupidity?

It is minus 10 °C in Berlin.

I am a pretty normal Western girl. I got a lot of education, I like to do read, party, jump, and be random with friends… I think you get the picture. My parents have the tendency to be a bit weird and hippy like. This way I had to renovate rooms, chop wood, wear weird cloths and hang out at punk concerts with my mom. So I have seen things.

It is minus 10 °C in Berlin.

This heritage, maybe also my provincial hometown, might explain why I fall for beggars of most kind. Every time I am in a bigger city, I give my change to strangers and in Berlin many of them are smelly and alcoholic.

It is minus 10 °C in Berlin.

Asia taught me a lesson about this. Especially in India I learnt that begging is a business. People make a living of it and they use your “pity” for their own advantage. In Asia my skin color showed people that I am supposedly rich. I learnt very fast that I did not want to give much to this business. I had this revelation of how you yourself are responsible for your own happiness and that this money does not do any good.

It is minus 10 °C in Berlin.

I rather would share my education and enable people to grow and get out of poverty. The beggars in Berlin live on the streets. They often do alcohol or drugs. Every year some of them die in the cold. So I am what is the best thing I could do? Give them my small change, which they could use on more alcohol? Buy their newspapers? Spend a day in a so-called soup kitchen?

It is minus 10 °C in Berlin. What’s your opinion or advice?

Picture Getty Images #81226846