For the land of Christmas, Germany doesn't go very all-out on the decorations the way we North Americans do. Sure, some people string lights across their balconies or put those little candle-light things in the window, but the full on house-framing, outdoor-tree-decorating, reindeer-on-the-lawn/roof stuff is largely missing from German Christmas decorating.
You know how I know I've been here too long?
I was taking the bus home last night (because I got on the wrong train since I was engrossed in my book, but that's a different story), which is always a nice thing around Christmas because you get to see house decorations on the non-main roads. So, I was looking at the lit stars and candles in the windows, when I saw a couple of trees in the yards strung with lights.
It must be a testament to how rarely that happens, because two things went practically simultaneously through my head:
1. "Huh, you don't see that every day."
2. "Are people even allowed to do that?"
Now, upon reflection of that stupid second question, the only thing I could think was why wouldn't people be allowed to put lights on the trees outside? The little voice in my head remarked "possible fire hazard"? Which, of course, makes absolutely no sense. After all, this is the country where a few good people still insist on putting real candles on their Christmas trees, while much of the rest have those electric candle lights full with melted-wax look in a safe attempt to mimic the real thing.
The thing that worries me is that my first reaction was "Is that verboten?!"
Who's officially eingedeutscht?
I am! Me! Me!
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