THE UNIVERSITY DAILY ANSAN
FEATURES
》 HOLIDAY SEASON
9B
Santa Claus, alias former lieutenant FIU Infgon u Brunnelsenh, waves to children as he arrives aboard a German Navy submarine 'U 15' at the navy base in Eckernöder, northern Germany, on Wednesday. He was part of the hope Christmas celebration that takes place in Germany every year.
Freribert Proepper/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Germany celebrates holidays in big way
BY MATT MOORE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KOBLENZ. Germany — You know it's Christmas time in Germany when the main squares of many cities and towns are transformed overnight into glittering shopping
back to 1434, and is home to Dresdner Christstollen. a butter-rich fruitcake topped with powdered sugar that has become a national holiday staple.
taars offering everything from hand-carved Christmas ornaments to Bob Marley T-shirts.
Shoppers can find a bounty of carved wooden items such as schwibbogen, or decora-
The markets have been part of the country's Yuletide celebration for
Glittering shopping bazaars have been a part of Germany's Yuletide celebration for hundreds of years and remain a tourist favorite today.
Dresden's Strizeelmarkt is considered the oldest, dating
hundreds of years and remain a tourist favorite.
One of the biggest and best-known is the Christkindlesmarkt in Nuremberg, where some 2 million people are expected to visit the market square in the heart of the city's old quarter from Dec. 1-23.
tive candle arches from the Erzgebige mining region. There are also nativity figurines, hand-blow glass tree ornaments and blue-tinged pottery
from the Lusatia region.
Yet another favorite is the Christmas pyramid — an ornamental tower turned by a fan that catches rising warm air from candles.
In Frankfurt, the market covers the expanse of the rebuilt Old Town and counts thousands upon thousands of visitors daily until Dec. 24.
Others, such as Rudesheim
and Michelstadt, are more intimate affairs, off the beaten path and open only weekends.
Erfurt's Christmas market, the biggest in the state of Thuringia in former East Germany, is one of the most beautiful, with 200 stalls lining the city's Domplatz, or Cathedral Square.
Lights from the 80-foot high Christmas tree softly illuminate people slowly sipping gluehwein — warm, spiced wine — and eating Thuringian sausages.
Food choices include bratwurst sausage, gluchwein, deep-fried potato cakes, and chunks of goose or turkey fried in batter and smothered with creamy garlic sauce.
Lebkuchen, or gingerbread, ranges from thin cookies enjoyed with a cup of hot chocolate to larger cakes, sometimes heart-shaped and iced with sentimental holiday messages — an edible Christmas card.
In Koblenz, one teenager wore hers around her neck, with "I love my boyfriend" in strawberry icing.
》 HOLIDAY SEASON
Single people get the least when it comes to gift giving
BY CHELSEA J. CARTER ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — There are two things single people can count on during the holidays: They will give more presents than they receive, and they will likely spend more money than a family will spend on them.
Call it the curse of the single — a story as old as time that has been played out at birthday parties, wedding receptions and, of course, at Christmas parties.
"Maybe Hallmark should invent a 'Me Day?'"" joked Sarah Weidman, author of "Gifted: 1001 Gift Ideas for Everyone in Your Life."
It's an accepted fate for the unmarried, who feel obligated to give their married friends with families gifts: One for mom, one for dad, one for junior — or some similar combination.
Until that happens, though, she and other etiquette gurus say singles have to find away another way to deal with it.
"If you're beginning to feel resentful about it as the single person, it's time to get into a different pattern," said Cindy Post Senning of the Emily Post Institute.
Senning, the granddaughter of etiquette goddess Emily Post, said singles should begin by following the three etiquette rules: respect, consideration and honesty.
"This is really one where the honesty comes into play. What if you decided to either cut back or change your pattern or stop giving, and you don't talk to your friends about what is the issue? They are going to wonder what's wrong," she said.
It's a step that Suzanne Gomez, 33, of Burbank took when her married friends started having children.
"Once they have kids, I tell them the presents only go to the kids," she said.
"With 'Secret Santa,' you get one person in your big family or friend group and you can focus on the gift," she said.
With her other friends and family, Gomez participates in "Secret Santa" - where a person draws a name and then shops for a gift below a certain price for that person.
Senning said families don't intentionally "cultivate gifting inequity."
don't even realize it."
"I think families don't think about it that way. They probably
Weidman said it is understandable a single person might be a little more sensitive to "gifting inequity" during the holidays.
But she pointed out families sometimes are as financially strapped as a single person around the holidays because of the number of gifts they have to purchase.
"Families have a lot to pay for too," she said.
When giving gifts to friends and their children, Senning said there were two things to take into consideration:
- Relationship. "If you're really close to this little kid, then you are not going to feel that inequality of gift-giving."
- Affordability. "What can your budget stand?"
If money is a bit tight, Senning and Weidman suggested buying one gift for the family.
"What is it they enjoy to do together?" Senning said. "If a family likes waffles, buy them a waffle iron and the waffle mix. They all benefit from the gift," she said.
Weidman said putting thought into the gift was important.
"You know families, just like
》 HOLIDAY SEASON
Dreidel has long, significant history
BY BETH J. HARPAZ ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — "Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel. I made you out of clay." So goes a well-known children's song from the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top, and these days, toy dreidels are more likely to be made from plastic than clay. But there are also collectible dreidels, designed to be displayed rather than spun, that are crafted from
wood, metal, porcelain, silver and even ceramic.
The miracle took place in the second century B.C., when Jews survived an attempt by the Assyrian Army to wipe them out. To
celebrate, the Jews rededicated their temple and lit a candelabra there with enough oil to last for one day. The oil burned for eight days. The holiday of Hanukkah, which begins Dec. 15 this year, is celebrated by lighting candles for eight nights.
The one thing all these dreidels have in common is that each side bears a different Hebrew letter. Each of the letters — nun, gimel, hay and shin — stands for a Hebrew word in the sentence, "Nes gadol haya sham," which means, "A great miracle happened there."
The Jewish Museum in New York City sells dreidels in its gift shop — http://shop.thejewishmuseum.org/museum — from 25-cent toys and fabric dreidels for babies, to miniature works of art.
mended a membership to a museum.
"It lasts a year, it's something the whole family can do together and you get a tax deduction," she said.
session at a photography studio or a membership to an "of-the-month club." such as video rentals or fruit.
She also suggested a portrait
In the end, Weidman and Senning said gifts are expressions of friendship.
singles, are busy. They get into the grind and sometimes they forget to do things for themselves," she said. "Think of something that they wouldn't think of doing for themselves."
For example, she recom-
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