the words! Karneval, sort of ignored! And how do you make a chicken lantern?

Liam wants to say so much-- in addition to the ubiquitous "turtle, turtle", he is now very seriously pointing to pictures and things and repeating after me when I tell him the name. Beetles, Zebras, Monkey, Cupcakes, Tea-- he LOVES to smell tea. He points at our tea shelf and loudly sniffs, and when I reach up to get a container of tea he bounds up and down in his chair, grinning wildly.

The season fo Karneval started on Friday, but we just went about our day as usual. The 11/11 is quite a strange day. Some people dress up and drunkenly roam certain designated streets, while others go about their normal days. The "celebrators" are mostly college students, but some older folks --- the die-hard Kölnern--- also join in, and you meet everyone on the metro. Liam was vaguely interested in the costumes,but that's about it.

The holiday that I am excited to celebrate is

ST. MARTIN'S!

I have to put it on my list of things that I love about Germany. Children carry lanterns, and meet in groups (usually the neighborhood day-care , pre-school, or elementary school) to act out the story of St. Martin. During the performance, the kids who are watching eat Weckmann, a little brioche-y kind of bread made in the shape of a person. Then, and I#ve heard conflicting reports on this so maybe it varies between regions and neighborhoods, you walk around your neighborhood singing the St. Martin's songs and receiving candy from businesses.

But why don't I let You Tube explain it for me?

And here is an example of the performance the kids do:



Go to 3:30 for the big number..