It pleases me that the South Tyroleans waited until the appropriate moment, two days before the first Sunday of Advent, to get into the festive spirit. In Innsbruck, the other side of the Alps,  trees, street decorations, and all manner of Christmassy installations had been up since November, which felt wrong to me. I think the anticipation is important. This morning I left our home at 7 am to take the train to Bozen for my Italian class. As I walked from the station till the street where the language class is located, I glimpsed at the wreaths hanging between buildings, the ice skating rink that has finally been set up, and the Christmas market stands. The air smelled sweet from the wafts of freshly baked cookies from the various bakeries and the light scent of wood burning in old houses to keep their inhabitants warm. By the time I returned to Tramin, the Christmas tree had been set up and the street decorations were already in place.

Unlike back home in Goa or Mumbai, there’s a minimalism to the affair. It isn’t overly garish or loud; the streets are lit just enough that when the sky darkens by 4.30 pm you feel the glow. I like the lightness of touch, the small interventions from ground-floor homes, like candles lit in paper bags with cutouts of Christmas trees or stars. My mother-in-law simply puts out a star-shaped mould on one of the tables in the living room and fills it with cinnamon and other spices with a large candle taking centre-stage. A day or two before Christmas a friend of my father-in-law usually comes by with an indigenous Christmas tree which looks somewhat emaciated, compared to the better-bred ones you usually see in other people’s homes, or that is associated with the festivities. We always laugh at it. He always makes it a point to mention it is native and indigenous. We are always embarrassed by it. I like saying always, offering the illusion of habituation. It is, in fact, the norm. I just like being able to talk about it as if I had always been around as a witness. This will be my second Christmas in Tramin.