Weihnachten

"How are you?" "How's it going?"

A common way of saying hello in the US. You can easily breeze by someone, say one of these, and keep walking without skipping a beat. Not so much in Germany. I've been trying to talk to my colleagues more, but without any idea of what to talk about. So, I start with "so how are you?" I have since learned not to expect the usual "fine" or "not bad", but instead to expect a detailed run down of their lives as of late with all the personal or unpleasant details thrown in. This isn't really a problem, but I'm realizing now that asking someone "how are you" may in fact be considered a very personal and possibly impolite question, considering that they will in fact give you a completely honest and personal response. I suppose I should find a new conversation starter.

All the Christmas stuff only recently started going up. There really isn't even that much, either. Some lights hanging around the city and a few places have Christmas trees. There are Christmas markets in different cities and I'm going to one of them this weekend.