XII
Neglect, neglect, neglect.
The nearer Christmas approaches, the more Heimweh¹ settles in. I miss my family and I wish I could be there to decorate the tree and pull out all of those old dusty boxes of Christmas decorations that always make the house smell that certain way. When it comes time to open those boxes I always find myself suddenly thrown back to our era at 617 McCubbin Street. No matter how many years pass those boxes still remind me of that house. For obvious reasons I suppose, all of the Christmas' of my formitive years were spent there. I remember rushing into the livingroom first thing in the morning, looking outside and being disappointed by the lack of snow, plopping down on that awful (awesome?) brown carpeting, and the rush of excitement at what the dressed up packages might hold, even though we often picked out something personally, there was always a surprise or two. Especially the stockings. Oh the stockings! My second favorite part of Christmas, the first being the smells and tastes.
This year I will probably be alone. Last Christmas I didn't go home, and instead spent it with my best friend Alice and her family. It was really nice to have been invited, but it was hard for me to enjoy all of the festivities. I believe that just having spent it with a cozy little family made me miss mine even worse. I somehow convince myself that I will be better off if I do not do anything particularly special. I will enjoy myself probably. I will probably stay inside, stay warm, and drink plenty of Glühwein². I have a few friends here but I believe they have plans to travel other places. My roommates all have families in close proximity so they will probably be away as well. I have been invited by my new friend, Amandine³, to join her on her trip back home to Toulouse, France for the holiday. I might do that if the transit doesn't cost me too much! I haven't had the chance to see much of France!
I think I am going to use footnotes forever. I feel less rambly.
¹One of my favorite terms in the German language; from "Heim", meaning "home" with an emphasized connotation of the perspective of home, belonging, familiarity, etc. and "weh" which describes an aching pain, sorrow, grief. In short, "homesickness", obviously. But when I think of the concept within the frame of German and what the two seperate terms imply together, it hits my gut a little bit harder. The Germans have a way of economizing a lot of sentiment into single words or simple word combinations. The entirety of the language seems to be based on this combining of words to make new ones, or changing the action of a verb by giving it a different prefix. As students of the language when we come across a particularly amusing example of this we often use the expression, "Deutsche Sprache, kleine Sprache" meaning simply "German language, small language".
²The German version of Mulled wine, usually red wine, combined with cinnamon sticks, cloves, sugar, and am besten with some orange peel. I have made it for myself and friends before in the wintry season. You just put all the ingredients in a pot on the stove and let it slowly warm up. The citrus fruit isn't necessary, but I like the added flavor. Sure to warm your tummy! It is also good with a shot of rum for added punch, especially since most of the alcohol content of the wine is cooked away.
³I have a girlfriend in Portland named Chloé, she and her family are from France. When she was a teenager they moved to Portland, but later when they all returned to France, she stayed behind in Oregon. Amandine is her sister. When Chloé realized that her sister and I were in the same town studying German, she helped us to get in contact with one another. As it turns out we also have a class together.
The nearer Christmas approaches, the more Heimweh¹ settles in. I miss my family and I wish I could be there to decorate the tree and pull out all of those old dusty boxes of Christmas decorations that always make the house smell that certain way. When it comes time to open those boxes I always find myself suddenly thrown back to our era at 617 McCubbin Street. No matter how many years pass those boxes still remind me of that house. For obvious reasons I suppose, all of the Christmas' of my formitive years were spent there. I remember rushing into the livingroom first thing in the morning, looking outside and being disappointed by the lack of snow, plopping down on that awful (awesome?) brown carpeting, and the rush of excitement at what the dressed up packages might hold, even though we often picked out something personally, there was always a surprise or two. Especially the stockings. Oh the stockings! My second favorite part of Christmas, the first being the smells and tastes.
This year I will probably be alone. Last Christmas I didn't go home, and instead spent it with my best friend Alice and her family. It was really nice to have been invited, but it was hard for me to enjoy all of the festivities. I believe that just having spent it with a cozy little family made me miss mine even worse. I somehow convince myself that I will be better off if I do not do anything particularly special. I will enjoy myself probably. I will probably stay inside, stay warm, and drink plenty of Glühwein². I have a few friends here but I believe they have plans to travel other places. My roommates all have families in close proximity so they will probably be away as well. I have been invited by my new friend, Amandine³, to join her on her trip back home to Toulouse, France for the holiday. I might do that if the transit doesn't cost me too much! I haven't had the chance to see much of France!
I think I am going to use footnotes forever. I feel less rambly.
¹One of my favorite terms in the German language; from "Heim", meaning "home" with an emphasized connotation of the perspective of home, belonging, familiarity, etc. and "weh" which describes an aching pain, sorrow, grief. In short, "homesickness", obviously. But when I think of the concept within the frame of German and what the two seperate terms imply together, it hits my gut a little bit harder. The Germans have a way of economizing a lot of sentiment into single words or simple word combinations. The entirety of the language seems to be based on this combining of words to make new ones, or changing the action of a verb by giving it a different prefix. As students of the language when we come across a particularly amusing example of this we often use the expression, "Deutsche Sprache, kleine Sprache" meaning simply "German language, small language".
²The German version of Mulled wine, usually red wine, combined with cinnamon sticks, cloves, sugar, and am besten with some orange peel. I have made it for myself and friends before in the wintry season. You just put all the ingredients in a pot on the stove and let it slowly warm up. The citrus fruit isn't necessary, but I like the added flavor. Sure to warm your tummy! It is also good with a shot of rum for added punch, especially since most of the alcohol content of the wine is cooked away.
³I have a girlfriend in Portland named Chloé, she and her family are from France. When she was a teenager they moved to Portland, but later when they all returned to France, she stayed behind in Oregon. Amandine is her sister. When Chloé realized that her sister and I were in the same town studying German, she helped us to get in contact with one another. As it turns out we also have a class together.
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