It's close to Christmas!!! [caption id="attachment_820" align="alignleft" width="210" caption="German Traditional Christmas Advent Wreath"][/caption] Only days to the second of advent and Christmas preparations are in full swing. It's close to Christmas! On Tuesday, November 24^th, we turned the Great Room into a Christmas bakery for a few hours. But things did not run as smoothly as we know it from home - and that's what made it a funny afternoon. It's close to Christmas! We made four different types of typical German Christmas cookies:

• "Kokosmakronen"
• "Schokoladenplaetzchen"
• "Zimtsterne"
• "Marmeladenknusperchen"

[caption id="attachment_819" align="alignright" width="300" caption="PTG Staff Bake Up Special German Cookies for Christmas"][/caption] ...and of course they all look very delicious so that we had to defend them against cookie-thieves with our lives! It's close to Christmas! This can be recognized by all the lights on trees and houses, by all the Christmas decorations in the windows, by Christmas songs that are played in the shopping malls and by the snow-topped Mount Benson. It's close to Christmas! But there was still something very important missing: an advent wreath! So we decided to set off together in the early morning and pinch some branches for our self-made advent wreath. Now the wreath is sitting on the table in the Great Room and spreads a smell of Christmas! It's close to Christmas! Although we imported some typical German Christmas traditions we are really looking forward to experience Canadian Christmas! It's close to Christmas!

Lisa and Johanna

Extra Special Holiday Elves & Painted Turtle Guesthouse Interns from Germany