November 10. One of my favorite days of the year when I was a child!
On this very special day, German kids gather in groups, and go from door to door singing songs. They carry lanterns, often homemade, and maybe one or two of them will bring a recorder and try not play out of tune. And why do they do this? For sweets, of course! Lots and lots of them! All this happens in honor of the two Martins. Either St. Martin who divided his warm coat with a sword and shared it with a homeless man on a cold winter night, or alternatively Martin Luther. It depends on which region you live in, but I don't think the kids actually care. For them, it's about the sweets. About lots of sweets!
As an adult, it's not exactly as much fun, as either you need to take extra care when you're driving your car after dark, or you're the one accompanying the kids and suddenly you find that you've been degraded to a mere packmule because they have gathered so many sweets they need help to carry them! Or you're the one who stays at home and opens the door. You may need to listen to the same song 20 times or more.
I remember that in the good old days, we knew exactly where we needed to go in order to get the best stuff. Who would be generous and who wouldn't. Where you would only get "healthy" things - opposed to the small snack bar where you would get a portion of french fries. Of course you'd prefer densely populated areas anyway. This was basically my first lesson in learning how to work effectively...
Do you know what my favorite song was? Here's the English translation:
I'm going with my lantern,
and my lantern goes with me.
Up there the stars are shining,
down here it's us who are.
My light's gone out, I'm going home
Rabimmel-Rabammel-RaBUMM!
Don't ask what "Rabimmel-Rabammel-Rabumm" means. It doesn't have any real meaning. But imagine kids shouting it out fervently, and it makes perfect sense!
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