All of a sudden, it became December. The weather finally tuned into our November mood and it is becoming rainier, windier and colder. In the course of the last month, I finally settled in. Partly that was also due to the fact that I had ranted in public; but either way I realized that after that rant, I was done complaining (obviously more in a metaphorical than actual way). Long story short: It's December now and who would've guessed, the holidays are approaching. 

Tomorrow in exactly two weeks, I'll sit in a train home to my sister's house. I get the feeling that these two weeks will pass in a blink. Thanks to generous donations of friends and family (thanks for the calendar, Claudia! At least for one month now I'll know which day it is) my room is filling up and feeling much more like the holidays. And believe it or not, this is actually a post about paperclips. 

Because although it's not Sinterclaas-day yet, I opened a suspicious package my sister sent me. It already smelled so good when I ripped open the envelop! Pepernoten, a chocolate letter, drawings and collages from my nephews and nieces AND a bag of funky shaped paperclips came out of it! I had to laugh, because just that morning, I was puzzling what I could possibly write about. Thank you Tanja! You absolutely know how to get a smile on my face every time!

So in two weeks, the first semester of my MA program will be over. In two weeks, I'll go down south (where, oddly enough, it seems to be colder than here). In two weeks, the real deal Christmas is going to set in (almost). I hope I won't get a pack of paperclips as a present...

Today, I received a huge Christmas package from my parents. It was stuffed with treats and goodies and warm socks for the cold winter days. The timing could not be better: Tonight is our house Christmas dinner. Partly because I didn't feel like it the last few days, I kept myself out of the planning of the night, but the more I learn to more I'm amazed. Tonight could challenge the real Christmas in scope, meal diversity and with Danish Julebryg. Many of my housemates are preparing a part of their families' traditional dishes, so I decided to make Plätzchen. The only English translation for the word is cookie, but I guess German Christmas cookies is as close as I can bring you. I loved helping my mum make these pre-Christmas every year. She loved making them too, I guess, which is why we had Plätzchen until February. I down-sized my Christmas bakery a little and sticked to one sheet of Angel Eye Cookies and two sheets of coconut macaroons. 

I'm getting really excited about tonight, in fact. It's been a while since we all came together and I haven't spoken to some of my housemates in a long time. They are creating Christmas music playlists on facebook while I'm writing this.

Is it weird that today feels like Christmas? One month in advance, and there's no snow? But then again, how often is there snow on Christmas? And how often does Christmas feel like Christmas (last year it didn't...)? So I'll enjoy the Christmas anticipation for tonight as if it was the real thing. 

Speaking of the basement before, here’s one to clarify. Our house in Retirementhomestreet is hyggelig (cozy. well, call it that, but it's more). We spoke today of cultural conceptions that differ in specific countries, and Germany was mentioned in the context of homeliness. But the Danes certainly take this to the top. When I lived with my mentor for the first few days of being in Aarhus, fresh buns or bread or cakes were always in the oven, and Luane was just busy making jam from some fruits she collected on her way home. On TV and Game nights, there were candles lit all over, at 4pm, even in the bathroom.  So when Sergio from Italy spoke of the Germans as a heimelige (see hyggelig) society, I had to smile.

In our house, 13 people share their lives to a greater or lesser extent. Add numerous bugs and spiders in our basement apartment. A few days ago, right after I revivified this blog, my housemate Sanna sent me a text message: “I just found a paperclip!”

Without implying any hierarchical relations here, this was funny. How many emails has my mum sent me about finding paperclips? So house equals home sooner or later. House becomes home because that’s all we have, because we throw our stuff around and store our food and our memories at this place, even though it’s in a limited time frame. House becomes home because you share stories with people you didn’t choose but chose to spend time with anyways. House becomes home because with 13 people, there will be people you instantly connect with, and others you get along with, and so on. 

There are candles lit in my room, my room is a mess (it’s home, after all) and I’m recovering from a hyggelig Pölser-Dinner with the basement roomies.

Next to hyggelig and candles, pölser is the thing to do in Denmark, or so it seems. Wikipedia says the Danish Hot Dog is the most known hot dog in Europe: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_dog_variations#Denmark_.26_Iceland

House became home. Hot dogs in the basement turned into a boys vs girls evening: when Kieran and Stephan began playing fifa on Stephan’s playstation just one wall away, Liselott (who almost lives in the basement) and I drank cheap sparkling wine and watched Sex and the City. Kieran is off to a trip round Europe. Sanna’s back in Norway for the weekend to recover from Aarhus and visit her real family. And the replacement will be waiting for them here.