Germany vs. America. Round 3. The Christmas Season.

So it's about mid-December and that means that there is only one thing on everyone's mind: Christmas. While this holiday is very similar in both America and Germany, there are quite a few differences as well.
First off, in Germany there is a big focus on the Advents season. There are four Advents (today is the 3rd) and every Sunday my host family lights the corresponding number of candles on our wreath (today we'll light 3) and sings Christmas carols and it's pretty lovely. In America, I didn't really acknowledge that there was an Advent. It was all just Christmas season.
The holiday season has always began the day after Thanksgiving for me, which is when we would begin to put up all of our decorations and our Christmas tree. In Germany you put up decorations after Dead Sunday, a holiday in November to honor all those who have died in the past year, and you put up your tree sometime around Heiligabend (December 24th).
In Germany kids open their presents on the 24th, a day earlier than in America. Also, all of their presents come from Santa Claus, instead of just a few from Santa and then the rest from family and friends.
Christmas could certainly be a difficult time, being so far away from my family, but I'm trying to find a new thing I love for everything old the I miss. Although I'm missing the 24/7 Christmas music on the radio and the over-the-top Christmas decorations on the houses, I'm loving the Christmas markets and Christmas cookies.
Whether you're in Germany or America right now, I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas/Advent season and are looking forward to a few days with no work/school. I know I sure am!

*I also decided to do away with the point system because I decided it was pretty inaccurate and dumb, since neither America or Germany is better, they're just different.