this year's winter..

By hezamarie on Dec 18, 2007 | In Traditions | 5 feedbacks »

..if you live in Germany and there isn’t any snow on the ground already, you’re likely not to see any snow on the Winter Solstice or Christmas morning, so says the weatherman.

Darn! I was really hoping for a little white before the end of the year. These minus temperatures are a bit dull without some sparkling ice crystals. By the way, the Winter Solstice happens in Germany (Northern Hemisphere) on December 22, 2007 at 7:08 AM. I look forward to the Solstice every year because from this day on, the days get longer and the chance of sunshine increases. That is one the best presents I can count on.

But I have a confession. I haven’t sent any Christmas cards and I don’t plan on it this year. Ach, the guilt! Instead there will be a mass of ones and zeros sent across fiber optic channels (or my favorite: “a series of tubes"). In other words: an e-mail message. If I had to do some green engineering, I wonder if I’d save the planet CO2 by foregoing snail mail this holiday season or the amount of energy used to read my message, own a computer, manufacture a computer.. um nevermind. How do you expats deal with a Euro per postcard for just shipping?

Tags: germany, traditions

5 comments

christina says:

We expats are just very picky about who gets a card. :-) I do send cards to a select few, but haven't even got around to writing any yet. I don't want to shock anyone for being on time, that would be so out of character for me. But yeah, it does get kind of expensive. Not all of my recipients have e mail, though, so I solder on...

on Tue, December 18, 2007 @ 11:53

Chris in Oxford says:

I generally deal with it the same way that you do - laziness and guilt. It depends on my mood around Xmas, but the one year that I sent cards and gifts to lots of people it very nearly broke the bank. Phone calls are cheap, though!

on Tue, December 18, 2007 @ 18:04

CN Heidelberg says:

I just suck it up and pay. I really like getting mail and appreciate the cards I get in return enough to deal with the cost. And I buy those really ugly REALLY cheap postcards.
I do cut people from the list if I never get a card back from them, though. Have to cut it back somehow, or we'd be sending upwards of 50 cards every year and that's too many.

on Tue, December 18, 2007 @ 18:10

hezamarie says:

@Christina: That is a good point. Not all of my Bekannten have e-mail addresses.. that work, or that the check regularly.

@Chris: I'm even worse with phone calls. But the price tag is a strong motivator.

@CN: I had a to laugh at 'suck it up and pay'. Sometimes I tell myself the same thing. Glad I'm not the only one.

on Wed, December 19, 2007 @ 09:21

Maribeth says:

I send snail-mail cards to all our friends and family. I do it because it's still the one little "gift" I can send. But I have finally gotten set up to do all my bills on-line so I don't have to send anything postal unless, of course, I mail something to Germany!

on Wed, December 19, 2007 @ 15:04

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