Merry Christmas, everyone! πβοΈπ«
Or, if you don’t celebrate Christmas, I hope you’re having a wonderful day all the same!!
Anyway, I just wanted to briefly check in and let you know that I won’t be posting my regular bookish content today, since I’m busy enjoying the holidays with my family π But seeing that I’m on break from university until January 6th, you can expect a few extra posts next week to make up for it!
Still, in order to not leave you completely empty-handed, here are a few impressions of what I’ve been up to:
As is tradition here in Germany, my siblings and I spent Christmas Eve morning putting up and decorating our Christmas tree. And, also as always, our cats were completely fascinated. I’m sure they think we’re bringing in the tree just for them, and even adding ornaments that they can play with! π At least none of them have tried to climb the tree yet, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time. We never make it through a year without at least one ornament breaking…
Then, we pretty much spent the rest of the day waiting, playing board games, and eating A TON of Christmas cookies. Honestly, all the food might be a huge part of why I love Christmas so much π I’m so glad people decided to get rid of those older fasting traditions before I was born… And in the evening, we had even more food. My family always makes cheese fondue for Christmas, and I just love how full and content you feel afterwards π
And then it was already time for presents! Because in Germany, the Christkind (which literally translates to “Christchild”) brings them in the evening of December 24th. However, before the unwrapping frenzy, we spent about an hour singing carols around the Christmas tree – because let me tell you, my family takes music VERY seriously! Although even we had gotten rusty on some of the later stanzas or their order of occurrence, which, if you ask me, made everything even more fun π
But afterwards it was presents for real, and I’m really happy with this year’s haul! I got a couple of new books – *surprise, surprise* – and my sister, who’s insanely good at art, made me a Voyager painting to match the Enterprise one she’d given me a few years ago π And our family also got a couple of new board games, which we then immediately had to test and argue about… So that’s pretty much how we spent the evening until midnight, which is when everything switches abruptly from Christmas to birthday mood in this household. My youngest brother turned 18 today, and he always hates when his birthday gets overlooked because everyone is celebrating Christmas. So today actually hasn’t been filled with Christmassy things, but with doing whatever my brother wanted.
Which, for some insane reason, included my sister and me giving him a haircut… π We’d never cut anyone’s hair before, so let’s just say the process was hilarious! Though I’m actually rather proud of us! I think it turned out well enough that, if we weren’t under lockdown, he could still go out in public and not die of embarrassment. Which, obviously, should count as a success! π
So yeah – that’s what I’ve been doing. I’ll be rejoining my family for some birthday board games now, so I’ve got to sign off, but I hope you’ve also been having an amazing day! Let me know some of your favorite holiday traditions down below! And, if you’ve ever cut someone’s hair, do tell how the experience went! π
A Book Owl's Corner 
Merry Christmas to you too!
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Thank you! I hope you’re also enjoying the holidays! π
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Merry Christmas Naemi!
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Thanks, Riddhi! I hope you’ve also had a great day!!
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That sounds like such a lovely Christmas Eve! And very much like ours. We’re also all about the 24th in terms of food, caroling and presents, although I can’t relate to cheese fondue π I always think it’s weird watching American or British Christmas movies where they practically don’t care that it’s Christmas Eve. It’s good to know that you know how to do it properly π
And favorite holiday traditions? Well, in Denmark our dessert is a game. It’s a sort of porridge with rice and crushed almonds, except there’s one whole almond in there you need to find to get a present. It’s a very intense game, let me tell you. People develop strategies and nobody trusts anyone for those 10 minutes because when you find the almond, you need to hide it in your mouth to get the rest of your family to eat some more and become frustrated because they can’t find it. It’s always something I look forward to π
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I’m glad to hear you also do Christmas properly! π Because I totally agree that it’s weird when people in movies completely gloss over Christmas Eve… I mean, sure, I get that some people open their presents on Christmas Day morning, but shouldn’t Christmas Eve still be special? I mean, it’s not like we forget about the other two days of Christmas here, just because we happen to celebrate on Christmas Eve π€
And that almond game sounds so fun! I’ve read about something similar in Swedish children’s books, and I’ve always wanted to try it some day! I can see it escalating very quickly in our family, too π The only problem is that, after the cheese fondue (which by the way, is a Swiss tradition my dad’s family picked up when he lived there as a child; I don’t know anyone else who does this, either π), we’re usually so stuffed that there’s no room for dessert π Which means that we usually just end up eating more cookies a few hours later, once everyone has digested a bit π
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Merry Christmas, Naemi!! It sounds like you’re having a lovely couple of days. My family has also resorted to cards and board games this year. And food. Lots of food. Holidays are all about the food, so enjoy it to the fullest! And happy birthday to your brother! It’s so nice that he trusted you to cut his hair. My brother wouldn’t even let me near his hair with scissors π.
As for Christmas traditions, we always spend Christmas at my grandpa’s house in the village with the rest of the family. Not all of us can travel every year so it’s usually about twenty people. Depending on the weather we either go hiking or make snowmen in the yard. And, of course, we roast chestnuts in the fireplace and taste the fresh batch of moonshine from grandpa’s vineyard. Sadly, this year it’s just the four of us at home and we’ve spent most of the day on the phone with everyone else π .
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Thank you, Nefeli! It sounds like you and your family are also spending a wonderful time together, even if the celebration is a bit smaller than usual. You can never go wrong with board games and food! π Though spending time at your grandpa’s also sounds lovely! Since my brother’s birthday is on Christmas Day, my family has actually always skipped the big family Christmas celebrations on the 25th, so for us, this year hasn’t really been that different from how we usually spend the holidays… But I can imagine how weird it must feel from suddenly going from twenty people to four!
And trust me, my sister and I were very surprised about this level of trust, too π We’d always joked around that surely cutting hair couldn’t be that hard, and our brother had always given us a look of pure disbelief. But I guess he was pretty desperate for a hair cut, and compared with our parents and other brother, my sister and I must have seemed more competent π Though he did say he was only allowing us to try since we were under lockdown and no one would see the result anyway, and since he’d thought about cutting it really short for a while, which he might have done if we messed it up to badly… But while it certainly isn’t barbershop quality, I really think it doesn’t look too bad! Maybe I’ll go into hair styling if teaching doesn’t work out π
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Haha that sounds like a good backup plan! In Greece we have a saying: ΞάθΡ ΟΞΟΞ½Ξ· ΞΊΞΉ Ξ¬ΟΟΞ·Ξ½Ξ΅ ΞΊΞΉ Ξ±Ξ½ ΟΡινάΟΞ΅ΞΉΟ ΟΞΉΞ¬ΟΟΞ·Ξ½Ξ΅ (Learn a craft and leave it aside and when you get hungry pick it up), which means you never know when a skill might come in handy π.
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That sounds very wise – I’ll definitely have to remember that for when I want to justify learning seemingly useless skills in the future! π
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merry christmas!! it sounds like you had a lovely day!! this Christmas was obviously not as elaborately planned as our other ones, and we didn’t get to meet as many friends and family, but it was lovely all the same!! i’m so glad you enjoyed though!! haha, i hope you also had fun celebrating your brothers birthday – and congratulations on doing an acceptable job of cutting your sisters hair!! loved this post β€β€
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Thank you, Ahaana! β€ Your Christmas also sounds lovely, even if the celebrations were a bit smaller than usual. I’m happy you had an enjoyable time!
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Merry Christmas! It sounds like you had an amazing time and I can’t wait to see posts about those new books you got π
In my house, we put the tree up somewhat early in the month…Might even buy two (my mum is tree crazy and also…Allergic to Christmas trees and also sleeps in the same room as the tree and can’t breathe at night because of the tree…She’s crazy)π . This year thought my siblings made me presents that made me cry. My 6-year-old sister drew a bookmark for me with Hedwig on Harry’s arm and a wand, my 10-year-old brother made me a Hogwarts acceptance letter in an envelope he made himself using the address Harry had from the book just changing Harry’s name to mine…I cried… π I hope you had AMAZING presents and that you enjoy the books you got when you read them β€
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Thanks, Meena! I’m glad you also had a wonderful Christmas! Your siblings’ gifts sound so thoughtful – and really, you can never go wrong with Harry Potter presents! At least one of our sibling presents is also always Harry Potter related. This year, for example, my sister gave my youngest brother Dobby-inspired socks with snitches and broomsticks on them π And your mom sounds just like me: I LOVE Christmas trees!! Thank god I’m not allergic, but if I were, I’d totally still keep one in the house, too π They just immediately put you in a happy, festive mood!! π
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Harry Potter related gifts are the best! Those socks sound amazing, I’d always wear those if I were him π
Yeah, it can’t be too fun itching and not being able to breathe for a tree π they’re cute though
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Merry Christmas!
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Thanks, Evelyn! A very merry Christmas to you and your family, too! πβ
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Merry belated Christmas Naemi!!! (Iβm not sure if thatβs how Christmas greetings work, but weβre rolling with it π ) Iβm so glad to hear that youβve been spending an amazing time with your family β€οΈ And wow, I canβt believe you managed to make that haircut look acceptable!! π Loved reading this post π
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Thank you, Abby! β€ A very merry belated Christmas to you, too! π (I mean, if this works with birthday greetings, surely you can also apply it to Christmas… π) I hope you also had some wonderful and relaxing days with your family!
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Iβve been cutting my own hair since the first lockdown in March, does that count?π
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Of course that counts! π Now that I know how horribly difficult it is to cut hair on another person (especially short hair), I can’t even image how hard it must be to do it on yourself! Consider me very impressed! π
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oooh merry christmas!!! hope you had the best time!
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Thanks, Erin! I hope you also enjoyed the holidays!!
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Merry (late?) Christmas! It sounds like you had such a great time and I’m so jealous of your cookies and cheese fondue haha!
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Thanks, Allison!! I hope you had a great Christmas as well! π And trust me – I’m already jealous of my past self as well π Food is just one of the best parts about Christmas! π
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I hope your cats didnβt break any ornaments!! And I wish my family were so open to board games, I always have to negotiate with them so that we play something π But these traditions sound wonderful, so I hope you had a great day!! Merry Christmas Naemi! βΊοΈ
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And Christmas Eve is definitely the star in my family (and country, honestly) as well. We do everything, except for the presents, on December 24th βΊοΈ
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And yay, I’m glad Christmas Eve is getting the appreciation it deserves! πI hope you also had a wonderful day with your family!!
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So far we’ve been lucky and everything is still in one piece! But my cat, Jaro, is absolutely fascinated by the candles and keeps trying to catch them π So we’ve been watching the tree like a hawk whenever it’s lit ππ
And I guess I’m lucky in that regard – my whole family is obsessed with board games, so obviously all new acquisitions immediately had to be tested π
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