All I want for Christmas is to freeze my ass off

Question: How are you supposed to get into the Christmas spirit when it's constantly 20 degrees here? There is no winter here because there are no seasons at all and don't get me wrong, I am very grateful that this year I am spared the time of frozen toes and the disappointment of the "snow" that is actually just mud. However, the cold is good for exactly one thing: Christmas spirit. Halloween is over, which means Christmas has been around for about a week. But where is my Christmas spirit hidden this year? I haven't even thought about turning on my (incredibly good) Christmas playlist that I've been carefully building and refining for decades (I just turned it on for the first time). She really is a feast for the ears. But something is missing this year. The time when you mourn the end of summer and are so sad one dim autumn day that you decide that Christmas has begun. Suddenly you see the world with different eyes. There are lights everywhere, the darkness and the cold couldn't be more romantic, you bake cookies with Mariah Carey (who, by the way, is the stupid cow, I heard) and hang some ugly Santa Claus heads over your bed and over the door and on the fridge and over the toilet. Any other time of year they would be ugly, but Christmas triggers something in you. And if you're being completely honest, Christmas is just a defense mechanism so you don't become a moping Ebby Scrooge in the cold winter months you're thrown into after a serotonin-charged summer, but: it works. And it's nice. Who's playing with me now? How am I supposed to bake cookies if I don't even have a rolling pin and who will fill my Nikes with tangerines and Veganz chocolate on December 6th? Who will sing Mistletoe by Justin Bieber with me with all their heart (even if I boycott everything else by the dude but let's be real, he can do Christmas music)? Summer never ends here because it hasn't even begun. The seasons melt into one another like a vegan marshmallow in hot chocolate. But: Christmas here should be great. Christmas is very important here because everyone is very religious. I don't really care what the reasons are, but now throw your Christmas lights on mis amores. Unfortunately for me it won't be the same. Christmas means biting cold, not being able to feel your ears despite wearing three hats, that moment when you can't skip the song because you don't want to take off your gloves and they have no touch, eating snow and then realizing that there was dog pee on it, red Cheeks and disproportionate fascination at his own cloud of breath. One of the few things I miss so far. Really miss it. Winter in Germany. I never thought I'd say this, but I miss this time more than summer. So November and December, January is for the barrel. I'm thinking of you and baking a cookie for myself. Hang up an ugly Santa Claus head for me and maybe light a candle. In memory of Paulo, who unfortunately has to listen to "Mommy's Kissing Santa Claus" by The Jackson 5 alone in her room during this special time (that goes to my shared apartment). Contemplative kisses to everyone except Santa Claus