The First Day of Christmas

Yesterday was the first day of Christmas over here in Germany. Tell me tell ya its big. I woke up a little depressed and sad but the holiday spirit wouldn`t let me stay like that for long. My host-family and I ate a small breakfast and each got ready for the day. Some wrapped their presents and some played on the computer. Around 3 pm we were visited by some of my host-mom`s friends who came with us to Mass. Yes thats right I went to Mass. At first I was a little not to friendly about the idea but in the end I decided to go with a happy heart and a opened mind. Plus my mom wrote me a e-mail telling me that she would like me to go. Mass was all together interessting and a little different. There was a lot of singing (most of the songs I didn`t know and so I kinda of stood there) and alot of praying, they pray for everything, and each thing had its own prayer. All together it was about an hour long. After Mass we came back to the house and set up dinner which was a make your own meat and rice oriental bowl. During the meal we talked and visited. Once dinner was over we took a break and the kids played games while the three moms talked and cleaned up. Then it was time for the presents. To be able to open up your first present someone flipped a coin and you had to call out heads or tales. If you got it right you got to open up your first present, if you got it wrong you had to wait for your next turn. However that soon dissolved and we were opening presents right and left. Now some of you back home might remeber that i absulotly love orange, well my family here found that out and I had a collection of orange presents plus some other things. here is what I received:
A German Calender
A Brother Grimm Story Book (in german)
The Hobbit ( the book)
Bath Soaps
Marshmallows
Oreos
Microwaveable Popcorn
Chocolate
,and now my orange collection;
Orange Gloves
Orange Beanie
Orange Bathroom Supplies
Orange Legwarmers
Orange Towels
Orange Earring (from the Porters my sisters family)
a Orange stick of candy
and
a Orange Angel,
Those are my presents and what I bought for my host-family were
Laurids (brother) - Beanie and Gray pullover
Mira (sister) - Purple jacket with fur Hood
and Gabi (mom) - a Novel and a cookbook,
After we all had opened our presents we sat and talked for a few more minutes and some of our quest left for home and we all got ready for bed.
And the last thing I did yesterday was I calle dmy Friend Debbie to surprise her for her brithday and for her family for christmas a phone call from me. And boy were they surprised!
And that was my first day of Christmas in Germany.