The German supermarkets have been swamped since yesterday. The madness will continue until tomorrow afternoon, 31 Dec, when the shops close at 2pm. Here are a few items Germans like to buy around this time of year.

Clover, pigs, and chimney sweeps are good luck charms and make a nice thank-you present for co-workers, neighbors, etc.

Fireworks sell out quickly. Our children got their own share of firecrackers and bottle rockets.

Germans spent 113 million euro on fireworks last year. If I had any say in this, I would stop this waste.

Then, some of us tend to give our friends drinks with interesting labels, such as ‘Kalte Muschi’, which is a coke and red wine mix, or plain red wine with an alluring name.

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.”

(Little Gidding)
― T.S. Eliot