Now in December outside it’s often really cold. But inside our homes it is warm and beautiful. Typical Christmas cookies are baked. And the kids are getting excited for Christmas when finally they get their long anticipated gifts.

In Switzerland and Germany the four weeks leading up to Christmas are called Advent (latin: arrival – celebrating the arrival or birth of Jesus Christ). On the first Sunday of Advent (either end of November or beginning of December) a first candle is lit on an advent wreath. By then the house also gets decorated for Christmas. On each consecutive Sunday another candle is lit. When the fourth candle is lit Christmas is just around the corner.