So, apparently today is St. Martin's Day. This is a holiday I'd never heard of before moving here, so it is all new to me. From what I understand, St. Martin was a soldier who joined the Catholic church as an adult, and he was so nice that once gave half his cloak to a beggar so he wouldn't freeze to death.
The tradition here is that on November 11, children carry paper lanterns in a procession after dark while singing some special songs. It is supposed to be a rather reverent assembly, with children enjoying the magic of being out after dark and lighting the way with their lanterns while everyone sings and remembers nice St. Martin.
Lukie's class made lanterns, and we met at nightfall to join a German school on their procession.
The flaw with this plan is that none of us knew what in the heck we were doing. So, basically, we non-Germans stumbled after the singing German children and parents, trying to keep our kids from yelling and having sword fights with their lanterns while the German teachers pursed their lips at us and gave us dirty looks. Oh, and it was really cold.
It was a special night.
But swordfighting with lanterns is SOOOO COOOL!
ReplyDeleteI teared up at our laternfest. These are the moments you can never have if you came here on vacation and not as an expatriate. I'm bringing this tradition home with me :)
ReplyDelete