Five Things for a Wonderful Christmas Morning
Now all new and in technicolor.
This Sunday is different, at least for most people I know. It’s Christmas. And in Germany we do the christmas presents extravaganza on Christmas Eve, so the first and second Christmas Day, yes we have two, one for each side of the family, are all about food and family. And digesting.
I’m not religious, but I do like Christmas a lot. Sure, I like giving presents, although I have to admit that my wife did most of the shopping and had the better ideas, but I like it when we sit with our four kids under the tree and see all the excitement and all the disappointment… and yes, Christmas is all about rituals, and that starts with the food we eat. On Christmas Eve we always have potato salad and wiener sausages. That’s a tradition both my wife and I carried over from our families. And I don’t really like potato salad that much, and in Germany we have two different variations, one with mayo and one with bacon, and on Christmas we always have the one with mayo, because that’s the tradition. I prefer the potato salad with bacon, but hey, tradition wins. On the first Christmas Day we have turkey and a ton of side dishes, so essentially we do a Thanksgiving Dinner for Lunch on Christmas Day. That’s a tradition my wife and I started and I really like it. After setting off all the smoke detectors in the apartment when preparing goose, I felt that turkey is a much safer bet and I hope the neighbors thank me for this decision. Also, I like turkey a lot more than duck or goose. Today something weird and memorable happened. I volunteered to go to church with the kids as my wife didn’t feel good. And for the first time since I can remember we arrived at church in time and we all found a place to sit. My kids are still amazed that I went to church with them, but I’m a sucker for silent night sung by a couple hundred people in a church.
The best part of Christmas is that the whole country slows down until the second week of January. We call the time after Christmas and before New Years Eve “between the years” and I really like this. Nothing happens. Nothing at all. That’s so wonderful and necessary after a long and exhausting year.
Anyhow, here are the five things you should read this week, based on my own amazing opinion.
The War on Christmas Is Winning
Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays - religion plays a different role nowadays and obviously this also changes how we perceive this holiday.
How Changing Diets Leave Us Exposed to War, Extreme Weather and Market Turbulence
This is really interesting stuff - and I have to admit that before Russia invaded Ukraine I had no idea how important the wheat exports from Ukraine are for some parts of the world.
One year in, has Germany’s traffic-light coalition “dared more progress”?
I assume the members of the coalition had different things on their minds when the coalition started, and then two months later everything changed when Russia invaded Ukraine. The coalition did many quick decisions that essentially reversed longstanding German policies. Still, obviously, things could be better.
How Amazon put Ukraine’s ‘government in a box’ — and saved its economy from Russia
The Ukrainians continue to amaze me by just doing things that make sense instead of talking about it and doing nothing because of theoretic consequences. Obviously, the Ukraine doesn’t have time for an endless discussion, they have to act quickly and fight back everywhere.
A New Chat Bot Is a ‘Code Red’ for Google’s Search Business
Innovation is amazing and ChatGPT creates new challenges for businesses like Google, but also for a society that has to try to understand how text can be created in the future. The development of Generative AI is really interesting to see.
Enjoy the next few days between the years. If you still need a great gift for somebody, just give a subscription to Five Things!
Oh, and here’s a bonus link:
The World in Miniature: A Model Train (and Plane) Lover’s Paradise in Hamburg
This place is insane. I will never forget how my wife endlessly complained when I dragged her to the Miniatur Wunderland for the first time and as soon as she got to see this amazing setup, she was in awe and really enjoyed it. Every time we visit, there’s something new or we rediscover something somewhere. It is now Germany’s biggest tourist attraction and I fully understand why.