Advent Calendar Part I
Introduction
Hello everyone! As Christmas approaches and the holiday spirit grows nearer every day, we created an Advent Calendar full of surprises for all students to enjoy.
Every day from December 1st up until Christmas Eve, our team will post an Instagram story with a certain topic: each Monday we will take a trip together with Dijkstra, our beloved mascot; on Tuesdays you will have the chance to test your knowledge in our weekly Christmas quiz; Wednesdays will bring you gift ideas for you or your loved ones; each Thursday you will receive two movie recommendations to entertain yourself and your friends; on Fridays we will give you instructions on how to brew the perfect Christmas drinks; and on weekends we will surprise you with our Weekend Specials… no spoiling ahead!
Go to our instagram page to see the Advent Calendar posts and stories following this link: https://www.instagram.com/fstumsom/ .
As two weeks have already passed, here’s a recap of our activity:
Week One
Tuesday the 30th of November our team created an Instagram post teasing the upcoming Advent Calendar, in which we explained what surprise each day of the week will bring you and who will host these events. We present: Danna’s Dijkstra Mondays, Dalia’s Quiz Tuesdays, Vlada’s Gift Wednesdays, Catalina’s Movie Thursdays, Miriam’s Drink Fridays and the Weekend Specials.
Everyone loves gifts and with Christmas time approaching, it’s the perfect occasion to get some present ideas. In this regard, December 1st brought forth the first Gift Wednesday in which Vlada kindly reminded you that a perk of being a student at TUM is getting six months of Amazon Prime for free! Aside from that, she also presented a gift idea: the Bierbrauset – a perfect present for any beer lover. You can buy one for yourself or for someone else following this link: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07JQXGP88/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_a_6NBV4ZH2XS3VDWDD2A0S .
Movies are a great pastime, whether you are watching them alone or with someone, and watching films is of course part of the holiday spirit. On December 2nd, Catalina brought you the first edition of Movie Thursdays in which she recommended “The Man who Invented Christmas”, but because not everybody likes watching Christmas themed movies, her other recommendation was the drama “Her”.
When it’s cold outside and you’re sitting in a cozy room with your family and friends, a warm drink never fails to improve the mood. So, on December 3rd, Miriam hosted the first edition of Drink Fridays, in which she presented the first holiday drink: the famous Glühwein (mulled wine). With the ingredients and instructions Miriam indicated, you can brew this tasty drink for you and your loved ones to enjoy. Follow this link to see how to make your own Glühwein: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/mulled-wine-recipe/#tasty-recipes-61790
December 4th brought the first Weekend Special: decorations! As Christmas approaches, decorations will bring the holiday spirit home. In that regard, we posted two Instagram stories with decoration ideas and how to make them: on Saturday we recommended the pine cone Christmas trees and on Sunday the scented spice candles. These little decorations are fairly easy to make and decorating your house with them will bring the winter magic to you, especially if you don’t have the space necessary for a Christmas tree. And even if you do, a few more decorations will just improve the cozy holiday atmosphere! Instructions on how to build the pine cone Christmas trees, the scented spice candles and more decorations can be found following these links:
https://themummyfront.com/easy-christmas-ornaments-to-make-and-sell
With this, our first week came to an end, but the following also brought new exciting posts for you to enjoy.
Week 2
We started off the second week with the first edition of Dijkstra Mondays, in which Danna and our mascot went to visit Marienplatz, where they took a photo with the Neues Rathaus (the new town hall) and the Christmas tree. Dijkstra also showed you a place where you can take your friends out to eat and drink some Glühwein. For more cool places in and around the city, stay tuned for next week’s adventure with Dijkstra.
The next day, Dalia presented the first Quiz Tuesday, the question being which company shaped the contemporary image of Santa Claus, the answer of which is Coca Cola. Dalia also provided some context, explaining that the image of Father Christmas was not always the one we know today.
Board games are a very enjoyable way of spending time with your friends and family, which is why, on the second edition of Gift Wednesday, Vlada suggested Catan. This popular game is a classic and it deserves its praise, as it’s a great way to have fun and socialize. And what better gift to give than an engaging game to entertain everyone on a winter evening?
You can never watch too many good movies, so on December 9th Catalina recommended Klaus, an animated movie suited for all ages, that you can watch alone or with your loved ones, for a journey back to your childhood. And for the film enthusiasts who wish to spend their evening watching something with a more serious theme, Catalina suggested the documentary “Human”, a short series of three episodes containing the real-life stories of 2000 people from 60 countries.
Mulled wine is a very popular drink in Christmas times, but most people only know and drink red mulled wine, which is why, on the second edition of Drinks Fridays, Miriam presented its other version: the Weißer Glühwein (white mulled wine). You can find the instructions on how to brew this tasty drink by following the link below:
The second weekend of our Advent Calendar came and brought with it our second Weekend Special. Everyone listens to music and because tastes differ from person to person, we took some playlists from different members of our team and posted them, giving you the Music Weekend Special! On Saturday, December the 11th, we posted Lora’s “Late night driving”, Dalia’s “Christmas Mood” and Catalina’s “Cooking with soul” playlists, while on Sunday the 12th we gave you Vlada’s “Good vibes only” and Che’s “Ambience bossa nova” playlists. To top it all off, we also recommend the extra long Spotify playlist “Christmas Hits” for you to listen throughout the winter holiday:
We hope you’ve enjoyed the Advent Calendar up until now and we hope we provided some interesting and engaging posts. Stay tuned for the rest!
