Fake cultural traditions

It’s nearing Christmastime, when all your family’s traditions come out to play. My family is mostly Irish-German (which explains why I like beer so much), and we’ve always hung a glass pickle ornament from our Christmas tree. The story goes that it’s an old German tradition that the parents hang the pickle deep in the tree’s boughs on Christmas Eve, and whoever finds the pickle first the next morning gets a special prize. Isn’t that nice? I mean, aside from the fact that it may have caused Lil Bro and I to knock over the tree in an effort to find the dang pickle.

But it’s fake.

I just had what Mum described (when I told her) as a “balloon > pin > psssssss” moment. It was like finding my letters to the Tooth Fairy and Santa and maybe even the Easter Bunny in the top of the medicine cabinet when I was young (true story).

According to these articles I’ve found on Google, the tradition is American and somehow got pinned on the Germans. From what I’ve read, the German tie comes from a town in Germany that’s famous for its blown-glass ornaments, many of which are in fruit or nut shapes.

I immediately emailed Mum to ask her what other pseudo-cultural traditions we observe might be fake (wearing green and drinking Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day immediately came to mind). She gently asked if I knew St. Paddy’s Day was a bigger deal here than it is in Ireland, which I knew. But she was, in her words “verklempt” that the pickle tradition was a fake.

Naturally, I bought a few of the dang pickles to give as gifts this year, so writing the “tradition” behind them will be an exercise in creative storytelling.

Have you ever had a “balloon > pin > psssssss” moment about one of your traditions or beliefs? What was it?

Ode to Oktoberfest

Listen up: if there’s an Oktoberfest in New England, I want to know about it. I’ve got 2 on my plate right now, and would love to add like 7 million or so more. So let me know.

Tonight, I’m off to the Park Plaza Castle in Boston for Beer Summit’s Octoberfest, sponsored by Samuel Adams, one of my favorite beer brands of all time. It’s the kickoff reception, so for a little extra dough, the ticket includes a beer stein, four beers (all of Sam’s best flavors [other than the White Ale, which makes sense because the Octoberfest is in season] will be available), and Mr. Jim Koch will be there himself.

You might be saying to yourself, “Who the eff is Jim Koch, and why is she referring to him so reverently?” Allow me to explain, friends. Jim Koch is the founder of the Boston Beer Company, parent company of Samuel Adams. He started the first batch of Samuel Adams Boston Lager in his kitchen in the 80s, and has grown the business to be the company’s largest craft brewery, and if I’m not mistaken, the largest American brewery overall (since the big macro guys are internationally-owned). He is my idol, my hero. He is everything good about brewing. I made this comparison to a coworker who’s a fan of planes and flying: Jim Koch is my Wright Brothers– a pioneer in his field, a field I am passionate about.

But enough about my serious hobby-crush on Jim (he’s not my type for a “real” crush, like this stud is, particularly in Shooter).

It’s no secret I love beer. If you’ve read this blog at all, you know I love beer. One of the best parts of being a beer drinker is beer-drinking holidays. St. Patrick’s Day (also known as St. PaDDy’s Day… St. Patty would have been a woman, thankyouverymuch.) obviously comes to mind for most people. I have to admit, though, I might be a bigger fan of its German counterpart, Oktoberfest. Why? Let me count the reasons:

1. It’s more than one day. St. Patrick’s Day is always March 17, but Oktoberfest? It’s a week long in Munich, Germany. It’s 2 months long here in the States, with celebrations happening through September and October.
2. More dancing. Oompah bands freakin’ rock. They’re tons of fun, even if you have no idea what they’re singing. They sound a little silly, so everyone’s smiling and laughing.
3. Chicken dancing. You might think this belongs with the last point, but you’re entirely wrong. It’s one thing to attempt to dance to most oompah bands, since you’re just kind of making an ass of yourself doing it. When that band fires up the chicken dance, though, it’s ON. We went to Harpoon‘s Oktoberfest in Boston last year, and the chicken dance competition was no joke. But a joke at the same time. You follow? People take it seriously, man!
4. Contests. I mentioned the chicken dance contest last year. There was also a German chocolate cake-eating contest. There are more contests guaranteed for tonight, and I am psyched.
5. It’s not about cramming yourself into a bar and drinking yourself silly. Sure, after a few steins of delicious beer, you might be a little silly (I know I will be), but that’s not the point of Oktoberfest. Because not as many people think about it like they think about St. Patrick’s Day, it’s more about drinking good beer, dancing your ass off, and watching/participating in the myriad contests out there.

And so I love Oktoberfest.

The BF and I are also heading to Windsor, VT for Harpoon’s Octoberfest for the second weekend of October, since we’ll miss the Boston one due to his Alumni Weekend. We love it so much, we’re making a camping trip of it! In our marriage/wedding discussions we’ve had (this is nothing new, so don’t get excited), we talked about taking a trip to Munich for the original Oktoberfest someday. I mentioned maybe going for our honeymoon… to which he replied we might have to take a practice honeymoon to master the local language first! Rosetta Stone, here I come