jobean
First novel published
Posts: 2,479
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Post by jobean on Nov 20, 2007 4:57:06 GMT -5
I've really always thought that overseas, the Christmases seem much much more charming than Australia. There are so many traditions to follow. Like I've heard about the lighting of the Christmas tree in Friends... I don't really have that many traditions, but that might be because I'm not Christian. All we do at home is decorate the tree and have a family Christmas dinner with our relatives. I actually look forward to Boxing Day more because of post xmas sales...
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Post by Carma on Nov 20, 2007 11:15:49 GMT -5
our Christmas is pretty much the same.. we do have 2 Christmas days.. I don't think a lot of other countries have that..? We (read: I) decorate the tree and we have dinner with just us, and with my grandma and my moms aunt, and we get some presents.. but we've never believed in santa.. we have another 'santa' Sinterklaas.. oh and sometimes we go to church, but we haven't done that last year.. (I know, it's bad.. )
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Kristie
Novel turned into BBC miniseries
"If a book is well written, I always find it too short."
Posts: 7,214
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Post by Kristie on Nov 20, 2007 14:47:32 GMT -5
My family doesn't really have many traditions around Christmas, but we do similar things every year. We put the Christmas tree up the second weekend after Thanksgiving. Mostly that's come to being I put the tree together and I still decorate it with my sisters and Mom, Dad puts the angel on top. We sometimes open one present Christmas Eve night. When we were younger and gas was cheaper, we'd go out driving and look at all the houses decorated with lights. We're all more busy now, so I get sad we don't do our "traditional" stuff more often, but I do what I can. I still decorate the house with my mom's and my own decorations. Mom drags us to a church service where we have a candlelight singing service and sing the religious carols.
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Post by Hanna on Nov 21, 2007 2:15:44 GMT -5
We have a bunch of traditions, but I think that's mostly because of my mom and I. After I've grown up and moved out my mom always saves some of the cookie baking till I come home:) And it has become a tradition of ours that we always start making a gingerbread village, and after one house and a train station we give up;) We put up the Christmas tree on "Little Christmas Eve" the 23 of December, in the evening, and then we light the fireplace and eat chocolate, just sitting there watching the tree for a little while. We then proceed to decorating the entire house, usually my mom use half the night for that. When "us kids" go to bed we put up our stockings. The next day is TV and Christmas breakfast, we then have a traditional family dinner at 17 (I think 85% of Norway have their dinner at that time that day) and later in the evening we open our presents. My family are all Christians, but still it has never been a tradition for us to go to church in Christmas. My dad says its because in Christmas everyone else goes (of those who do not usualy go) so we should leave seats for them;)
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Post by Carma on Nov 21, 2007 5:57:35 GMT -5
so.. just wondering do you have real trees or fake ones? we had a fake one for the last few years.. an my brother keeps complaining, because according to him a fake tree isn't really a Christmas tree..
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Lu
Administrator
Posts: 5,469
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Post by Lu on Nov 21, 2007 8:04:58 GMT -5
We have a bunch of traditions too here. And I'm happy of it because I love Christmas! We decorate a tree and make a "presepe" which display the nativity scene, usually during a day from 8th to 13rd December, and we put all decorations off on 7th January. We always spend time with our relatives and have lunches together. My grandparents used to come here on Christmas Eve (just my grandma since last year), on 25th we usually see my mom's relatives and my dad's ones on 26th. We get some presents on Christmas day. When we were child, my brother and I had been told that our presents were from baby Jesus, but since we heard a lot about santa we made up our own theory that Santa delivers presents because Jesus was too young to go out on a freezing winter night... ;D hehehe, we were strange children...but it was sad finding out that parents actually bought our presents We also go to church at midnight on Christmas Eve or the next morning..usually depending on the weather. As we always do on holidays, we eat our traditional food (very good btw..). My favorite Christmas dessert is "pandoro", I like it sooo much and I'm a little sad because I can't eat it any more. I think I love so much Christmas time also because of the 13rd December, which is S. Lucia so my Namesday. It is not a holiday but where I live children gets presents and sweets from S. Lucia (actually from parents..) on that night. I'm grown up so I don't receive presents but I still celebrate my Namesday: my grandma cooks me my favorite cake and I have a dinner with my favorite things to eat. I have a new tradition to add: decorate my grandma's house like my grandpa used to do, I'm not precise as he was but I try to do my best. so.. just wondering do you have real trees or fake ones? we had a fake one for the last few years.. an my brother keeps complaining, because according to him a fake tree isn't really a Christmas tree.. We have a fake tree, mostly because it could not survive here during warmer seasons (my parents had tried and that poor tree died at the beginning of summer )
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Juliet
Collection of short stories published by an independent editor
"To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.?Victor Hugo
Posts: 576
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Post by Juliet on Nov 21, 2007 8:09:21 GMT -5
We have the Santa Lucia tradition in my town as well!!!I love all these traditions ;D!!!!
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Lu
Administrator
Posts: 5,469
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Post by Lu on Nov 21, 2007 8:16:42 GMT -5
We have the Santa Lucia tradition in my town as well!!!I love all these traditions ;D!!!! yay! I love these tradition too!!
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Isa
Administrator
Posts: 6,995
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Post by Isa on Nov 21, 2007 8:40:01 GMT -5
My dad says its because in Christmas everyone else goes (of those who do not usualy go) so we should leave seats for them;) ;D ;D For more Christmas traditions, you can look up page 2 of this thread
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Post by Hanna on Nov 21, 2007 12:28:02 GMT -5
so.. just wondering do you have real trees or fake ones? we had a fake one for the last few years.. an my brother keeps complaining, because according to him a fake tree isn't really a Christmas tree.. Real tree. Always
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Michelle
First novel published
Posts: 2,563
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Post by Michelle on Nov 21, 2007 13:58:59 GMT -5
I have cat issues with my christmas tree, too. Gatsby climbs it, knocks it over, eats it (it's fake too). I'm not putting it up until Ben gets home a few days before christmas because I won't be able to handle it on my own. But I think I'll decorate the rest of my house this weekend.
The rest of my traditions: - Midnight mass - Ben and I watch the Holiday Armadillo episode of friends on the first night of Hanukkah (not sure where that came from as neither of us are Jewish) - Going to a movie on Christmas day after dinner (we go on Thanksgiving and Easter, too). - Ben's family has an Italian meal for Christmas dinner - sausage and spaghetti. - watching all the great holiday cartoons.
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Kristie
Novel turned into BBC miniseries
"If a book is well written, I always find it too short."
Posts: 7,214
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Post by Kristie on Nov 21, 2007 15:05:40 GMT -5
O, I definitely love my Christmas cartoons. I watch the Charlie Brown Christmas of course, and I try to watch the Grinch. My mom has a few short movies on tape called Casper's First Christmas and the Family Circus Christmas. Then I move onto the non-cartoon Christmas movies: Night they Saved Christmas, Borrowed Hearts, A Mom for Christmas, and some others. I don't watch them in any particular order or on any certain day, just whenever.
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Post by Carma on Nov 22, 2007 7:13:35 GMT -5
I don't mind, but this year I don't really have time to do it and if I don't do it, no one else will because they're too lazy and don't care as much as I do. same here. I always decorate the tree, my mum might also do it, but it's usually me, because I want the tree, my dad and brother don't really care...
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oureternity
Collection of short stories bought by Random House
bam.
Posts: 1,568
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Post by oureternity on Nov 23, 2007 9:32:57 GMT -5
Being Jewish, we don't celebrate Christmas. Although sometimes we participate in the celebrations, it seems like a very charming holiday What we usually do on Hanukkah is of course lit up candles every day, lol, and we also eat a lot of donuts! It symbolizes the holiday.
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