Dazed & Bedazzled

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This post is probably the most solid proof you can find to certify that i have the talent for drinking (alcohol). Or not.

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In Esslingen, there is an old tradition called Heiliger Vormittag where friends get together during the afternoon of Christmas eve to simply: get tipsy*. You are felicitously expected to give your freezing organs a good wash of sparkling champagne (or any alcohol of your choice); which to me, sounds absolutely like an idea close to heaven. In the midst of pressing my frosty nose against champagne flutes ninety percent of the time, every now and then i find myself toasting a shot of Ramazzotti in the air, bottled at 30% alcohol by volume. At the end of the celebration, i was wearing only my bare skin and a glittering peplum through the wintry weather. i wondered, “How did i survive the long hours?

*Fun as it sounds, i found a hidden challenge of Level: High Difficulty behind this merry tradition. The rule is, you:

1. MUST get drunk.
2. But not TOO drunk.

Because you don’t wanna miss Christmas night, right?

It is a very difficult thing to achieve, if you ask me, and i was endlessly falling on my ass towards the end; thus missing my Christmas dinner – the whole and absolute reason i flew 6000 miles to Germany after all. According to witnesses, Leo had no choice but to carry an almost wailing me to the car, while Frank had to ‘lie’ to me that we are not going home (Think: Father telling daughter that we are not leaving grandma’s, just picking up another playmate.) Praise the Lord for trusty Christmas friends! But you can’t blame me really, it was so. much. FUN. i swear.

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We went bar hopping, planted big fat kisses on countless unfamiliar cheeks, drank beer at back alleys, i lost and found my iPhone 5; which i bought just a week before leaving my country land; confident that it is only (possible) in Germany that someone returns your lost items back to you. Drunk as i was, i can never forget the men’s faces when i innocently broke the news that “i think i lost my iPhone” with the straightest face i could align. Drunk as everyone was, Cem, Frank, Karl, all disappeared in a blink of my shifty eyes in different directions to look for my missing gem. <3

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Late that evening back at home when all the children were silently sleeping, i wobbled down the stairs balancing my head that felt like it weighs 300 KGs on my neck. Sitting at my host’s cosy dining table, Leo cooked me tender pieces of chicken in broth ala fondue as i lovingly stared at my colorful variety of dippings that cheerily looked like a curved smile on my plate, while waiting for the translucent pale pink bite size pieces turn juicy and succulent that mellow, peaceful Christmas supper time. Take a trip down memory lane: How did you spend your Christmas eve? 🙂

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One comment

  1. […] When Leo first proposed the idea to me, i was secretly sceptical. “What do people actually do during Christmas?” i asked, afraid i might miss out another awesome tradition like Heiliger Vormittag. […]

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