Cologne International’s very first Weihnachtsmarkt
Germany is known for many wonderful traditions and one of them includes… the christmas markets! According to Wikipedia, this street market originated in the late Middle Ages from the germanophone regions of Europe, i.e. mainly Germany, eastern part of France as well as Switzerland and Austria. The street markets open at the beginning of Advent to usher in the holiday season.
The markets feature many traditional delicacies such as gebrannte Mandeln (caramelised and toasted almonds), Bratwurst (a type of German sausage that can vary with different regions), Lebkuchen (soft ginger bread biscuits), Glühwein and Punsch (warm alcholic drinks), heiße Maronen (roasted chestnuts), Christstollen (fruit cake with dried candied fruits and marzipan) and not to mention Berliner doughnuts. Along with the food, every stall offers something different, including hand-knitted scarves and gloves, scented candles, moulded chocolate treats, wood-crafted goods, christmas ornaments, customised snowglobes and many more.
There are many cities all over Germany which have famous christmas markets but perhaps one of the most famous and visited one of all is here in Cologne with over 4 million people each season!
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| The christmas market by the Cologne Cathedral* |
Activity Planning
In order to welcome the christmas holidays which were approaching rapidly, several classmates of mine decided to open up our own school christmas market. This purposeful CAS activity required us to work towards high goal together, to present a sensational event our whole school on the penultimate Friday before the winter holidays of 2014.
The main organisers included five of my classmates, whereas the rest of us provided support with everything possibly needed. They selected the date of the event, organised posters for announcement, planned the venue and then together, we brainstormed who could offer which products and how many. We were all given the deadline of December the 8th to prepare our items in order to keep ourselves ready for the event. We agreed unanimously that all the profit of our current and future Class CAS projects will be donated to a good cause of our choice, at the end of our 18 months CAS program of the IB DP.
As I was inspired by the countless christmas ornaments sold at the real markets, I decided to make my own with origami. In fact, the art of paper-folding has always been a comforting hobby of mine where I can put all my concentration onto the technique and dedicate time to make a well-crafted piece. Furthermore, this activity was certainly a budget-proof one with the cost on only paper, time and commitment. There are many types of modular origami and the one I chose for this project is a kusudama, a decorative origami ball assembled by many identical pieces. This piece is by Philip Shen and consists of 6 modules in total.
For material preparation, I collected and counted various sized sheets of A4 coloured paper and organised them into the colour combination which I was fond of most. Next, I cut them using the a large manual paper cutting machine into equal squares and finally began the paper-folding frenzy! In terms of Learning Outcomes, I hope to achieve all 8 of them successfully.
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| Little colourful Origami christmas ornaments |
Reflection
It was enjoyable to see these creations come to ‘life’, however I noticed that with all the pre-creasing to do, I was soon running out of time to complete all for the deadline. Therefore together with the help of a few friends, I first demonstrated the simple pre-creases to them, followed by the method to fold each unit. It felt satisfying to be able to share my paper passion with my friends and introduce them to a different type of visual arts. As soon as 6 units were prepared, I assembled them together as that was the trickiest part of the task.
While we were folding intensively, we selected the price range together: since I made 4 sizes of origami ornaments, it was logical for a consecutive increase in the prices respective to the size, i.e. smallest to largest would be 1€, 2€, 3€ and 4€. Along with four colourful A3 posters I made for my stall in the market, I accomplished 16 ornaments of different sizes and colours altogether!
The days following up to the Friday, several friends and I were to bake in the school’s kitchen for the bake sale stall in our market. One of my friends prepared all the materials and gathered the recipes, whilst the rest of us were there for support. It was actually quite fun to help out and motivate one another. After some hours, we completely ready with food for our customers!
19th December: The big day finally arrived and unto our surprise, we were truly busy with the set-up and decor for half of the school day. We excused ourselves from class to prepare and organise tables, chairs, posters, balloons, christmas hats, many colourful decorations, our products including baked goods and drinks and last but not least - music for the christmas atmosphere!
We depended on one another and worked cooperatively throughout the project and also individually play a role for the team: e.g. Since the baked goods started out to sell well, I had to leave my stand temporarily and be the go-fer to pick up paper plates and napkins. A concrete foundation of trust was required and this CAS activity was definitely no exception.
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| Let's set it up people! |
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| My friends were hard at work by the bake sale |
To summarise, we offered hot chocolate for a small price, hand-made plasticine Olaf magnets (from the Disney animated film Frozen) made by our classmate, christmas tree-shaped and snow-flake-themed ornaments made by another, water-marbled holiday cards by my arty friend, many delicious home-baked goodies such as brownies, lemon cake etc. and finally my hand-crafted origami star ornaments.
The plan was to open at 14:00, right after lunch as some primary school students and parents would come through via the building’s main foyer which therefore meant customers for our christmas market! We greeted parents and students warmly and welcomed them to our event.
Rush hour (which we later discovered to be an understatement with all the hustle and bustle) was to commence at 15:25, the moment the school day ends and after school projects begin. Parents were intrigued and supported us immensely with their purchases and nor were our school friends letting us down with all the enthusiasm to our market.
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| Welcome our dearest customers -welcome to our christmas market! |
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As the younger students passed by, I greeted and showed them my origami stars. All were astonished at how paper could be recreated into such detailed pieces. To top it off, I dazzled them by throwing the sturdy stars up into the air and catching them repeatedly - proving just how tough and fun the stars could be! I really appreciated every pleased look on the students faces when they finally purchased the stars, since it felt reassuring to know that somehow with paper and patience, you can brighten up someone’s day.
17 minutes later, there was the table, myself and only one origami star left to sell! This task of selling my products allowed me to interact with the audience, i.e. the customers, and helped me to communicate more confidently about my hobby, as well as improving my marketing skills. After an exciting afternoon, it was time to slowly collect and clean up by 16:15.
Naturally, there is always room for improvement for planning and executing such events. I believe the key to our success was management and organisation, even if I honestly doubted it at times myself. By trusting one another and aiming towards a common target, we were able to work together efficiently. I am sure that as we complete future projects, we will improve our class relationship even further and develop our organisation skills.
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| Cheers to a successful Class CAS project! |
I can proudly say with all our effort and hard work, the CIS Christmas Market was a real success! It was certainly exhausting but very worth it from the beginning to the end and not to mention that we collected over 250€! As for myself, I have dedicated just about 11 hours of my free time into the project. Moreover, I enjoyed working as a team player as it has allowed me to be a part of the project and focus on my roles - and not to stress about others and their contribution. As my other classmates would say, I look forward to yet another future brilliant Class CAS project!
*Disclaimer: The image used is subject to copyright. I do not own the image nor do I have any legal rights on them. Thank you for your attention.
Evita ☺
