Has your boss ever cooked for you?

At this year’s Christmas party, we were treated to something truly special.

Our manager and her husband invited our whole team to their home and went all out in the kitchen! A massive turkey with all the trimmings stole the show, and let’s just say no one left hungry.

But the fun didn’t stop there: We also played "Schrottwichteln"—a German holiday tradition that's like Secret Santa but with a twist. Instead of thoughtful gifts, you exchange funny, quirky, or totally useless items. It's all about having a good laugh and embracing the chaos!

We had a wonderful time full of food, fun, and festive cheer. A huge thank you to our wonderful host and manager —what a way to celebrate the season. 🎄✨

Wilde Team experiences Christmas abroad - Today, Susanne in India

Kochi is located in southwest India on the coast of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district in the state of Kerala.

The state of Kerala has a Christian population of around 20%, so Christmas Day, 25 December, is a public holiday.

Christmas is a very important holiday in Kochi. The streets are decorated with fairy lights and the cityscape is bathed in a festive light. Houses are decorated with glowing stars, fairy lights and a richly decorated Christmas tree, which is made of plastic due to the lack of real trees.

Christmas is celebrated in a very traditional way. Giving presents, as we do in the West, is not common.

There is a lot of cooking in the days before Christmas, and the food is distributed in the neighborhood at Christmas. It is not important that the neighbors are Christians themselves.

I was lucky enough to spend Christmas with a Christian family. The mother and daughter prepared meals that are not often eaten in normal life. They prepared a lot of meat, which is expensive. But at Christmas, only the best is good enough for the neighborhood.

In the evening, people go to church for midnight mass.

For many years, Cochin has celebrated a carnival that runs from Christmas to New Year. At Veli Ground, a large square in Fort Cochin, you can see one of the largest Christmas trees in India, decorated all over with lights. It is a festival with live music, food stalls and carnival. This is where Indian families go to celebrate. They dress up, the women in their finest sarees, the children in new clothes.

The highlight of the Cochin Carnival is the burning of a giant statue on New Year's Eve and a carnival procession through the streets of Fort Cochin on New Year's Day.

Wilde Team experiences Christmas abroad. Today the Story of Severin, who once celebrated Christmas in Colombia.

A few years ago, I spent two months in Colombia over the holiday season with my best friend. It was my first Christmas away from home and i was genuinely surprised by how elaborately everything was decorated there. Christmas trees, fairy lights, and festive decorations were everywhere, and honestly, it felt like even more than in Germany.

For the holidays, I stayed at a beachside hostel with my travel companion.

Celebrating Christmas in 30-degree weather, surrounded by palm trees and Christmas trees, felt surreal. To make it extra fun, my friend and i decided to each buy three Colombian-themed gifts. On Christmas Eve, we unwrapped them by the pool, which was such a unique and relaxed way to celebrate.

The highlight of the evening was a festive dinner organized by the hostel owner for all the guests. It brought everyone together, and we ended up partying into the night.

In the end, I realized that Christmas in Colombia isn’t all that different from home—it’s just celebrated with sunshine, palm trees, and perhaps a bit more of that fiery Colombian spirit.