The Germans of course keep celebrating on the 26th, festive lot that they are. You can find out more about how the German and American Christmases compare to one another on Alex and Jim’s Christmas Special, now with German subtitles, hurrah! Good practice for any of you out there learning German. I’m all for combining traditions to have as many holidays as possible, so here’s to keeping the festivities going all through the 26th with a big eggnog cheer!
You Really Don’t Wanna Face the Wrath of the German Santa
December 23, 2008 at 4:09 pm ("Germany vs. USA", Deutschland, Webcasts)
Still can’t get enough of these guys.
Here are Jim and Alex talking about Saint Nikolaus and his dark, little “mini-me”/evil-twin type character Knecht Ruprecht who rolls w/Santa and beats all of the naughty little kids with either a pole, a stick, or some kind of tree root.
And to think that we only give them coal instead of candy! Heck, coal has little remedial value. In fact, a smart little naughty American kid will claim that it is “clean coal” and make a tidy little profit off of it by selling it to a pandering member of Congress. But a good whoppin’ with a birch root? Now that’ll show the little bastards.
Merry Christmas y’all…and Fröhliche Weihnachten! Sretan Božić! in the Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian tongues (although, of course, they celebrate it at different times, but that’s a whole other story).
Germany vs. USA: Adventskalender
December 20, 2008 at 7:22 am ("Germany vs. USA", Americana, Deutschland, Europe/Europa/Evropa, Webcasts)
Here’s a Christmas-themed episode of one of my favorite webcasts, “Germany vs. USA.” These two guys, Jim from Mississippi and Alex from Germany, regularly put together 4-5 minute videos comparing the cultural and linguistic differences between Germany and the USA. Enjoy:
From the show’s homepage:
What happens when you take a good’ole, Bible-belt, Mississippi conservative and an urbane, plurilingual, liberal, Euro-German and put them in the middle of San Francisco?
Germany vs. USA (GvU) explores the contrasts and joys of two unlikely friends, Jim and Alex, as they learn more about each other’s cutlures, languages, and the greater friendship between Europe and America. Insightful, whimsical, educational and always genuine (not to mention unscripted) the show aims to bring a slice-of-life perspective to viewers around the world.
Chrysalis 