This is in English so my American sister can read it. She asked for a christmas report, so here comes.)

You´ve all been there and done that: you board your plane, go to your seat, everything´s fine with your reservation, it´s just that there´s absolutely no space for your luggage. You do what you usually do in that sort of situation. Sit down in the aisle with your bag next to you. You don´t want your computer/ ipad/ machine gun someplace where you can´t reach for it comfortably. It´s not just you – more people board and sit down in the aisle. One of them dares to ask the flight attendant
„Aren´there any more free seats?“
„Not if you haven´t made your reservation in time. There´s a lot of floor space and standing room, though.“
Of course this has never happened to you. Neither to me. The place my parents live is far too close to take a plane. So the story happened on Deutsche Bahn, not Lufthansa. But it´s a short ride and with the new Kate Bush album in my ears, I actually enjoyed it. Even the sprint I made to get from my first train to the connecting train was quite cool. I made it in under a minute, which is even cooler, considering 60 seconds was all I had.
At the little town about 7 kilometres from where my family lives, my brother-in-law and my wonderful godchild and niece picked me up. It was actually her, driving the car – she got her licence about 12 days before christmas. She elegantly manouvred us through the rain and got us home safe and sound.

After supper at my parent´s place I went over to my sister´s house in order to prepare christmas-eve-dinner. That´s what I usually do while they go to church. My brother in law and my sister had bought a giant cart full of food for me to prepare a suisse „raclette“, our christmas eve tradition. You put all sorts of lovely food in a tiny dish, put differnet sorts of cheese and sour cream and what ever comes to mind on top and heat it under a kitchen-gadegety-thing, which, in our case, is called „Electric Petra“ (maybe you get one in New York, too, but it might be called „Electric Rosemary“ or „Electric Rhianna“.) We had a delicious Pouilly Fumé to go with the raclette and, this being sort of a heavy dinner, an extremely delicious hazelnut-schnaps that didn´t taste like alcohol at all, afterwards. Before dinner, we had presented each other with gifts, and I think everyone was delighted and happy with what they got.

After dinner we sat down in my sister´s living-room. My dad chose a tv-show that seemed festive, but it was actually very funny. The presenter was a middle aged violin player and he presented classical christmas music in a church that was lit like a disco for 12 year old girls. Pink, mauve, pink. Walt Disney could have been the inspiration for the ladies´dresses, too. They all looked like big haired princesses in candy colours while the guys wore fantasy-uniforms. I must say, my dad was in a more festive mood than the rest of us were. We broke down laughing when he announced a singer as „Our Black diamond“ and she turned out to be of African descend. The next big laugh came close to the end of the show when he announced the most inspirational, the most festive and the best loved christmas song of all the world and my nephews and niece, my sister and I broke out into a heartfelt interpretation of „Eine Muh, eine Mäh, eine Täterätätä“. This maybe ruined „Silent Night“ performed by the „Blood Diamond“, but my Dad forgave us.

The next two days (in Germany, whe have Christmas eve and then two more days of Christmas holiday) were spent en famille as well. We had a lovey lunch, prepared by my mum, with roastbeef (I think that´s the expression), turkey, brussel sprouts, red cabbage, carrots and peas with asparagus. The gravy was exquisite. Then there was walks around the village, playing games with the kids and watching movies. I spent some alone time reading one of my favourite German authors, Erich Kästner. My parents had given me a huge anthology of his writing as a present. There´s the title of an american novel, that I consider one of the most beautiful and emotional phrases I´ve ever heard. It´s by Joyce Carol Oates and it´s called „Because it´s bitter, and because it´s my heart“. One of the most beautiful German phrases I´ve ever read is from a poem by Kästner, and it goes „Wer nie sein Herz im Spiegel sah, der weiß nicht, wie das ist.“ („If you never saw you´re heart in a mirror, you have no idea how it feels.“) The Kästner I had in my memory was mostly very funny and right-to-the-point with his way of depiciting as he saw it (mostly congruent with my views.). After reading three volumes of his poems this christmas, I came upon a lot of his dark sides, his cynicism, his impatience. It was good to read something very unchristmassy, because it added to point out, that this years´s christmas was one of the most harmonious and wonderful experiences in my family life. Dear American Sister, I hope that we will one day have you over in our family home and celebrate it with you.

The trip home was a lot more comfortable than travelling on christmas eve. I had a seat, and Kate´s „50 words for Snow“ in my ear again. Driving into Berlin on an eastbound train is almost like driving on a sightseeing map. Look, there´s the Zoo! I can see a camel! And here´s Siegessäule and Reichstag and Kanzleramt and Friedrichstraße, and river Spree. At Ostbahnhof I took a cab and we drove alongside the Wall, then crossed Jannowitzbrücke and after a cheap 7-Euro-trip I was back at my house in lovely Kreuzberg. And first thing, I sat down and wrote this little article for you.

One of the loveliest things happening this year was seeing you again after all those years. It was so good, sitting in the sun and drinking Prenzlauer Berg-lemonades. I wish, I´d have been in a better state the next day we met, a couple of days later, but even through one of my darkest days of 2011, seeing you and spending time with you and our German sister and her family was a shining light. You are always in our hearts and always welcome to stay with us. Sending love from Berlin,

V. & your German Family