Reinfeiern: Waiting for Midnight to Say Happy Birthday — Epoche A2
Hello everyone! A small story from my office in Hamburg. My desk neighbour Petra had her birthday on Saturday. On Friday afternoon I did what anyone does in England when they will miss the day: I put a card on her desk and said, brightly, "Happy birthday for tomorrow!" The room went very quiet. Petra smiled carefully, thanked me for the card — and did not open it. It went into her bag, closed. At the coffee machine, Jonas explained. In Germany you never congratulate before the day. An early wish is believed to bring bad luck, because you are celebrating a day the person has not safely reached yet. Many people will stop you in the middle of the sentence, and some touch wood straight after hearing it. Younger people say they do not believe it — and then they wait until midnight anyway. Because Germany also has a solution, and on Friday night I saw it. Petra invited the desk row to her flat at ten in the evening — to "reinfeiern", to celebrate into the day. There was music and talk, and not one word about birthdays. At midnight the glasses went up and everyone said it at once, because now it was Saturday, and now it was allowed. The card came out of her bag at ten past twelve. "Now it counts," Petra said.