The Germans Invented Christmas? And Why?

If one takes the Bible at face value it is quite clear that Jesus was not born anytime near December 25th. So why did Julius I of Rome pick December 25th as Christ's birthday in 350 AD? For a brief moment last weekend I understood.

A colleague told me the one thing I had to do in Europe was visit a German Christmas Market. "It sounds kitschy," he said, "but it's really wonderful."

He's right, and the problem is I can't describe it in a way that doesn't sound kitschy. But it reminded me why Christmas is the season of wonder.

John Eisenbrey's college roommate Greg Hayes lives in Holland so we met up in Cologne. Despite numerous travel delays we ended up arriving within 5 minutes of each other, and 5 minutes later we were drinking a beer in the snow gazing up at the Cologne Cathedral.

We walked to our hotel (tiny!) and set out for Barberossaplatz (too bad I had shaven). We had trouble getting into clubs but found a meter (of beer)!

and another one...

and maybe some more but there aren't any pictures.

We set out the next morning and wandered around the City- fortunate to have sunny 25-degree weather. It was weird being with a friend of John's who didn't make fun of me for drinking a cappuccino.

We stopped at the Neumarket first. Imagine dozens of wooden stalls selling mulled wine, sausages, holiday ornaments (nothing religious), electric trains, scarves, hats, woodfires burning, lights, music, snow, smiles, cold.

We then headed to the Cathedral, more tourists there.

Sorry- borrowed this picture. No way to get this angle

After a few more meters we headed home.

Walking to the train station the next day we came upon the Alstadt Christmas Market- my favorite yet. I didn't have time for pictures and can't find any on the internet but it was all raw dark wood and ice rinks and evergreen. A good reason to go back.

Christmas is a lot of things to me- some I like, more I don't. I love singing in church with my sister. The lit up arcades in London make the commercial side less galling. Watching "Love Actually" and singing along to Mariah Carey and enjoying how this time of year makes people do crazy, heart-warming, silly things. My cousins picking charities that all connect back to family members.

I haven't missed inflatable reindeer and how Christmas brings out the worst in some families. Or that horrible feeling of waste and over-abundance when all the presents are opened and everyone sits around wondering where they're going to put all the unnecessary crap that their loved ones so carefully selected.

The real reason Christmas is December 25th is bc there were such strong pagan rituals associated with Yule and the Winter Solstice. Those holidays were all about finding a reason to get together and create warmth during the darkest time of the year. For a few brief moments in the NeuMarkt as I wondered at all the happy Germans braving 25 degree temperatures to drink mulled wine and savor light- I felt that most atavistic element of Christmas.

And it's a very good reason to celebrate.

You're (We're) getting F_____ On the Telly...

I attended the Reading-Arsenal game last night. Reading is a town ~30 minutes west of London with a smaller club that has bounced bw 2nd, 3rd, and occasionally 1st division. It felt a bit like a minor league baseball stadium.

English fans are meticulously separated bc of the old hooligan problem. Away fans in one corner surrounded by police, home fans everywhere else. My tickets said "Reading Supporters Only" and had I worn red or shown any enthusiasm for Arsenal I'd have been escorted out of the stadium.

Naturally we ended up seated on the very border bw home and away fans. Songs flew (both ways) over us and we received some gentle barracking from the Arsenal supporters. An unusual situation.

In this post-game picture from the Arsenal section you can see our group of 4 underneath the white screen and above the last neon-jacketed policeman. Right on the border indeed!

Reading are in last place and were desperately poor. Arsenal have been mediocre this season but scored 3 goals in the 14th, 30th, and 32nd minutes. Some funny songs flew back and forth.

(Arsenal) "Is there a fire drill" (to an opera tune!) at the Reading supporters that were leaving

(Reading) "We Support Our Local Team" (many Arsenal fans like me, are not from North London so are perceived as "bandwagoners")

(Arsenal) "We'll never play here again" (you're getting relegated to 2nd division)

In the 60th minute Arsenal scored a 4th and the Arsenal fans started up.

(Arsenal) "You're Getting F_____ On the Telly" (the game was prominently featured on TV and the whole country is seeing how bad you are)

but the Reading fans had had enough  of their own team and agreed

(Reading) "We're Getting F_____ On the Telly" (yup- we are and its bad)

(Applause from the Arsenal Fans respecting the Reading fans self-awareness)

(Reading) "I Know I am I'm Sure I Am I'm Reading til I Die" (but we still support our team)

(Applause from the Arsenal Fans respecting loyalty to a poor team)

Arsenal then handed Reading a goal on a silver platter.

(Reading) "We scored a goal, how useless are you!" (You must be terrible to let us score a goal)

(Arsenal) "We're winning away, how useless are you!" (If we are winning away from home you must be really bad)

(Arsenal) "Chamahk Scored Twice On You" (Our worst player scored twice against you so you are really bad)

(Reading) Reading Reading Sign Him Up! (He's bad but better than any of our lot!)

(Arsenal fans join in) Reading Reading Sign Him Up (We'd Love to get rid of him)

And both fans sang together. And for once- football created unity.

Second Wind

This post relates entirely to my Squash life in London. There are no pictures.

In Spring of 2010 I injured my rotator cuff doing yoga and didn't play a meaningful match for 11 months. Since then my squash game has slowly deteriorated as aging, work, and canine care degraded my fitness and racquet sharpness. I've been quite ok with the whole situation- I worry about playing well rather than winning, and am happy enough to come off court injury-free with a good sweat.

My corporate housing has squash courts in the basement and I can sometimes leave work at 8:30pm and be on court for solo hitting or fitness work by 9. My fitness and sharpness are as good as they have been in 3 years.

That's fortuitous bc London must be the best city in the world for a squash player. There are hundreds of courts and numerous leagues, tournaments, cups, and tours. It's actually quite hard to schedule casual matches ("friendlies") or challenges within my team as everyone has so many competitions.

Breaking In
I had a tough time getting matches when I first arrived
1. Everyone schedules everything way in advance.
2. British players assume all Americans are crap at squash.

I was fortunate that two English players I had hosted on tour in Boston lobbied hard to get me games.

English Players
Most of the guys I play with learned to play as children, handle the racquet elegantly, and hit the ball quite beautifully. They are gentlemanly to a fault. During the warmup it looks like I will get chopped up.

My advantages are they play predictable patterns, typically aren't willing to stay on court as long as I am, and are unused to unorthodox players (I qualify over here). They also tend to try and win by overpowering the ball.

The "Preston drop" and the "run through the ball into the front right corner and hit a straight drive" are my two most effective shots over here.

Bath Cup
Bath Cup is the oldest squash league in the world and consists of the "posh" London clubs. Participating teams include
Queens
Royal Automobile Club
Royal Air Force
Oxford & Cambridge
Hurlingham
Lansdown Club
Bath & Racquet
Cumberland
MCC
Roehampton
HAC

I play for the seconds team at the Oxford & Cambridge Club. It's 3-man squads with English scoring to 9 (only win points on serve so longer matches). We are in a tight 4th but a ways off the top 2 teams.

Middlesex League
Middlesex League might be the toughest squash league in the world. The first division is mainly professionals. A team of former Lamb's Club members and Warick University grads play out of my gym. It took some convincing but eventually they agreed to let me join and I play #2-4 for them. Matches are 5 man and games to 15 point a rally. Most clubs are YMCA-type gyms and dinner always follows.

They're more diverse (less than 50% lawyers and finance!) and I quite enjoy the team.

You can check out the league standings here. We are Dolphin Sq I.
http://www.middlesexsra.com/leagueshome/middlesex-leagues

We are in 3rd at the break and have a decent shot to win the league.

Going forward I am looking forward to the Jesters Tournament at the RAC in early February, the Super Series Professional Tournament at Queens in January, and a weekend Continental Tour at the end of March!

Like Bending Metal...

The modern petcare industry has yet to discover a means to contain Jerz if she wants to escape. She has hurdled 6 foot fences, ripped holes in stainless steel wire crates, opened doors, squeezed through impossibly tight bars, and knocked holes in wooden doors. She never touches anything in the house and is typically found in my bed or on the couch.

I marvel and am sometimes frightened by her strength and single-mindedness.

Whenever she gets sick I have to crate her bc she loses her house-training. She doesn't like being crated and her way of giving the all-clear sign on her healthiness is to destroy, mangle, demolish, or otherwise make useless whatever contains her.

Here is a recent picture of the crate door (after someone tried to repair it...)

London Part Deux

English pears are stunningly tasty. I buy them every week at my local street market. Can't remember ever buying pears in the US

Doing laundry is difficult. I am fortunate to have a washer/dryer (dryers are rare). My socks come out stiff, I have to run the dry cycle 2-4 times, and I need to iron stuff like jeans. Sports clothes lose their elasticity, the load capacity is tiny, and clothes shrink in funny places.

Many signs in London remind pedestrians to "Keep Left." No one actually knows which side to walk on in many of the foreign enclaves so you corkscrew through the crowds. It's an interesting dividing point where pedestrians actually walk on the left (Islington, Hackney, some parts of Fulham) and where there's a disorderly mass (Chelsea, Soho, Picadilly, Pimlico). A correlation exists bw my favorite parts of London and where people walk on the left.

The other day I ran into England National Soccer team manager Roy Hodgeson. I wished him luck and said I thought he was doing a great job. He considered for a second and said "eh- no one ever tells me that!"

My Apartment

bedroom

My building

the courtyard

This sign requires no explanation

I cannot imagine a less confidence inducing sign

Bring Me My Chariot of Fire...

I've a long-standing fascination with the relationship bw sports and colonialism. South African Rugby is perhaps the most multi-dimensional example. I wrote several papers (and almost a thesis) examining the interplay bw apartheid, Afrikaaner nationalism, and rugby.

A colleague was kind enough to invite me to the England-South Africa Rugby International at Twickenham on a rainy Saturday.

My favorite part of the experience preceded the opening kick. An opera singer performed "Jerusalem"- the William Blake poem. The text is below along with a youtube link of the same singer at Twickenham last year.

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountain green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKVJRmBVEsc

The South African national anthem was interesting. Nkosi Sikelele Afrika (a wrenchingly beautiful anti-apartheid song) and Die Stam (the old Afrikaaner anthem) are merged with some English and Zulu added on. A marked change in enthusiasm occurred amongst the (almost exclusively white) South African fans ~halfway through the anthem... My favorite image of the match was the South African captain (a practicing doctor!) with his head thrown back and tears rolling down his face ecstatically singing the entire song. 

and hearing 80,000 English overwhelm the singer during "God Save the Queen" moved me in a different way. I'd never felt a national anthem at a sporting event so deeply.

Post-national anthems I had switched allegiance and was rooting for England.

The game didn't do much for me. Open play is brilliant but everything important happened in the scrums (giant human inverted tug of war). 8 of the 9 scores came from penalty kicks (field goals) called in the scrums and indecipherable to even a knowledgeable spectator. They actually sell "ref links" so fans can hear what the ref is saying in order to follow the game.

It was telling that the only try (touchdown) was scored off a crazy (lucky) deflection. After the match a rugby coach in the pub commented "all the scores nowadays are the result of mistakes." the players are too big and too fast for that size field. Not a good situation for any sport longer-term.

Much more so than an Arsenal game- it felt a "proper English" experience.

Japan and China

While in London I'm enjoying a wonderful book by Gao Xingjian called "Soul Mountain." It's a semi-autobiographical work trading his physical and metaphorical journey to Sichuan Province after receiving a false diagnosis of lung cancer. Gao left China in the late 80's, and is not welcome back.

I always always pack a book on long work trips so put Soul Mountain in my bag. Only when walking out the door did the obvious thought cross my mind. Probably not a good idea to bring a book banned in China when the guest of a state owned enterprise...

Every few years I really hanker to visit Japan. In my work environment there is tremendous condescension towards the country given the economy's decades-long doldrums. The great fear in the market is that the US will "do a Japan."

I think we could do a lot worse.

incredibly efficient infrastructure
Very few homeless people (and they look quite comfortable)
full employment
Fascinating array of sub-cultures
absolutely amazing food. After eating Japanese sushi I can't eat any other for at least 6 months.

Yeah the stock market sucks, the economy doesn't grow, the demographics are terrible, everyone drinks too much, but in terms of social ills you could do much worse.

As an American it's hard to relate to Japanese economic prioritizations but it is the most advanced country on earth- maybe an endpoint, but still amazing to experience. It feels like hyperspace in Star Wars, hyper-trendy, hyper-efficient, hyper-sophisticated, like the world is spinning around you faster than anywhere else.

I also had one of the wildest, funniest nights of my life in Osaka (descriptions only available in person).

I don't have many pictures from Osaka (reminds me of Chicago) but here are a few.
Osaka Castle

A giant Seamonster in the maritime museum (rented out for a conference event)!

beautiful autumnal food

and the obligatory weird cartoon dancing machine at the conference...

My flight from Japan to China was empty (I assume the hostilities over the Islands)

China just finished its once a decade power transition. Only the second peaceful transition (and i suspect less so than the press portrays) since 1949. it was an amazing privilege to be in Beijing for the opening of the party congress- I drove past Tian'amen Sq and the Great Hall of the People every day, the City was dressed to the nines with decorations and lights, and contrary to stereotype, there were 3 perfect fall days that made a New Englander feel right at home.

I then took the high speed train to Shanghai for a day of meetings and ate dinner in a 12th floor Pudong restaurant overlooking the Bund.

I'll close with a hilarious picture from the Shanghai Rail Station. Apparently the UBC is a big coffee brand in China! great marketing ploy Brent!