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How do you expats spend Christmas & the New Year? Do you still celebrate in the Ye Olde English way with Turkey & all the trimmings or have you converted?? :o

Caz

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Hi Caz, We always spend Christmas and the New Year the old traditional way. Is there any other!

We'll go to an English pantomime before Christmas.

Sometimes depending on the weather I go to a Christmas Eve carol service.

Of course we love to open our presents and see what Santa has brought, and this year I've been ever so good, so I should get lots :-))

For Christmas dinner we'll have turkey and stuffing and all the trimmings, pull crackers and wear silly paper hats..and eat and drink until we are stuffed.

We always listen to the Queen's speech with a glass of sherry, although it is morning here in Canada when she gives her speech.

I always love Boxing Day, eating up the leftovers and relaxing.

We always stay up to see the New Year in, but usually sit and watch the telly unless we have company.

We like to watch others in different time zones let in their New Year on the television.

I always cook a big dinner for the family on New Year's Day.

Our whole holiday season is still very old fashioned and English of course me duck, and now I have 3 year old twin Grandsons they make Christmas very special.

Merry Christmas and a Happy Healthy New Year to one and all,

Anne from Aspley

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Hi Anne,

OOO sounds lovely just as I remember. I miss the cold weather at Christmas. :(

My first Christmas in Oz we went to the shopping mall in Nov & the heat ! my god I thought the chocolate decorations on the tree would melt. Took me years before i could get into the swing of things & really enjoy Christmas. We have celebrated Christmas like you in the traditional way & in the Ozzie way with Prawns,lobster & steak on the barbie,but nowadays we seem to do it the old way too.

It's not so much the food though that's important, but that we all get together with friends & family & have a good time. Since moving East we sometimes get a bit cooler weather on the day & I always pray for rain but it doesn't come very often!

I miss my son who is in the UK & my mum & sisters & their families at Christmas but I guess that's the sacrifice we all make when we decide to make a new life for ourselves isn't it? Hope you have a very happy & safe Christmas & New Year.

Caz in Oz B)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Caz,

I'm smiling as I'm sitting here. I know I asked if there was any other way than the traditional old fashioned English Christmas and I meant it..buuut...

your Ozzie way sounds pretty darned good to me...prawns, lobster and steak on the barbie.

I'll be over..have it ready and waiting..ok ;)

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:P It can be pretty good with the BBQ.This year we are having a spit roast, a whole 2 tooth, spit roasted for hours until it's cooked to perfection,mmm hope we get turkey too as it's not Christmas with out it is it? My boys are both away from me one in Nottm & the other in Perth W.A. on the other side of Oz,so Christmas has a couple of things missing for me, but we will catch up next year hopefully so I'll try not to think about it too much :(

Hope you have a lovely safe Christmas & New year Anne.I'm going away for a while to relax as we haven't had a holiday this year,so will check out whats happening with you all in a week or so.

Caz

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Your Christmas sounds great Caz, but Christmas can be a time of really mixed feelings.

It's always best if you can celebrate it with those you love, but we know that isn't always possible.

Then you get the phone calls from far away, it is an emotional roller coaster I know.

Have a great holiday Caz. See you when you get back.

Happy Holidays to every-one.

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  • 10 years later...

In England the only traditional christmas lunch I had was at my mums. While my 2 children were small my husband was working in restaurants. Finally when we had our own restaurant s we always worked, when customers had left we would have our lunch same food as customers.

My husband is the eldest of 7 and all have children so we are a big family and of course in Italy we are all together. The woman all prepare a dish each the men provide the wine, beer and soft drinks for the kids. Its usually a long drawn out affair ending with the women at one end of the long table the men at the other and the kids running riot. It ends with everyone singing. A lot of the songs are what the alpini soldiers sing. Very enjoyable to listen to. The food varies there isn't a particular speciality as traditional dishes are nearly always on the menu, such as insalata russa, ( russian salad) carne cruda, ( slices or minced raw meat) bagna cauda, with roasted peppers( hot garlic sauce, fondue, and many more.

Christmas eve many go to midnightmass ( I'm not catholic) the children go home to open their pressies. New year is dedicated to the saying... "Natale con i tuoi e anno nuovo con chi vuoi " ( christmas with yours and newyear with who you like) after the new years celebrations and a pizza or wherever theyve been they go dancing to a night club until the early and sometimes late morning. Then we have Epiphany ( La Befana) visits the children who have been good and gives them presents or else if theyve been naughty " coal"

The street decorations stay up for ages after all the festivities. This year both my son and daughter are working Christmas day . My husband is chef for my son so I dont know yet where I'm going may be have starter at one go to the other for main course and go back for sweet and finish with coffee and liquore at who knows where.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Caz,

Christmas in our house (in Melbourne) is always celebrated in the traditional way, even if its 40 degrees. My wife is Australian but here dad was English so she grew up having the

Roast Turkey, Pork , and Ham lunch.

Christmas day always follows the same pattern: Children and Grandchildren arrive late morning, drinks, lunch, and then presents from under the tree.

We also have a family custom in which we all have a decoration engraved with our name and we take it in turns to hang them on the tree.

The grandchildren then hang the decorations of those that are no longer with us (or cannot be with us).

Funny thing is, after 51 years in Oz, it never really feels like Christmas. Have to say though, don't miss those freezing cold nights.

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Sadly, Caz passed on a few years back.

Christmas down under was something I could never get used to, too hot for a hot cooked dinner, although most years I "hit the road" and took my annual three week break plus an extra week added to it. We usually set off Boxing Day.

Now we celibrate in winter again. Two turkeys close together are too much, so we have turkey on Thanksgiving, next week, and a pork dinner with all the trimmings Christmas Day.

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When we first arrived "Down Under" forty years ago this week it was really strange walking round the shopping centres in shorts and a T shirt in a temperature of 100 deg listening to someone singing "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas".

Still not fully used to it after all this time but we do still have the traditional Christmas lunch with all the family. The seafood and steak - Surf and Turf BBQ is Christmas eve usually around the pool.

Over the last few years it has become a bit of a tradition to have Christmas in July when we have turkey and all the trimmings in the middle of our winter.

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We spent Christmas 2005 in Los Angeles.

The Americans are great in the run up to Christmas, but Christmas day/boxing day we found a bit of a damp squid.

We had a great Christmas dinner because we spent it in the The British Home in California

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Durban beach with chicken sarnies.

I may have made the sarnies up 'cos I can't really remember but we defo did Durban beach Christmas day - it would be about Christmas 1973.

Talking of eating in South Africa I just took delivery of 2kgs of biltong yesterday and it's very nice - yumm.

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When we first arrived in oz, we had a real ozzy christmas's on the beach, with lots of seafood and other goodies, when the kids grew we tried reverting back to a traditional style of christmas dinner but it was just not the same.

As the kids married we took turns in who's house we went to to have a barbie, but since traveling full time, most of our kids and grandkids go to Bali or Thailand with each other or friends, we get invited but I would hate the noisy chaos so now we usually spend it with friends or another similar like minded couple, somewhere quiet and away from the maddening crowds.

Last year we were property sitting so met up with our eldest daughter and family and literally pigged out all day on king prawns, scallops and crayfish, locally caught.

This year we will spend it at a friends place on the Murray river in Northern Victoria. Probably have a seafood lunch, then a quiet tea and a nice bottle of red.

As you've probably gathered we love fresh seafood !

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When I lived in Oman 30 odd years ago we always celebrated Christmas in the traditional manner, even turning the air conditioning on full blast to make it seem cold.

Santa Claus would arrive on the camp in a fire engine and drive round all the houses, visit the school (in fact before Santa we had Sinter Klaas and Schwarze Piet visit at the beginning of December as there was also a large contingent of Dutch nationals) and distribute gifts to children of all nationalities, including Muslims.

We had friends round for a full traditional turkey lunch. With family being too far away we were all family together. Lunch was followed by an afternoon of silly games and Boxing day was usually spent on the beach recovering.........Great memories of Christmas abroad.

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Nothing to do with christmas abroad but this is the season for "Bagna Cauda". Garlic and anchovies make up a hot sauce to serve on veg and roasted peppers.It warms you up on these cold, wet and foggy days. But be careful who you kiss.

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  • 1 month later...

For some reason sprouts do not grow well in Ethiopia, so when I was out there for a couple of years I missed my Christmas sprouts. One year the Shell Oil boss decided that our little gang of ex-pats would have sprouts for Xmas and gave instructions for his girlfriend to bring us a load out when she came for Xmas. Everything went well; we scrounged a turkey from the yanks and got some spuds from the market and someone else made a Christmas pudding. We were all looking forward to the big meal when out came the lady....minus sprouts....ARGH!....She had left them on the tube in London. She had just had her hair dyed blonde - coincidence?!

:)

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I've spent several Christmases in Canada in the past and of course, even though the low temperatures can be quite testing, the scenery and towns covered in snow can look wonderful. Only once did I visit and experience a 'brown Christmas' - most disappointing!

Plenty of outdoor stuff to do over there at that time of year to keep one out of the shopping malls and the usual (and for me, wearing) commercial aspects of Christmas. Skiing (both downhill and cross-country, outdoor skating and hockey on the frozen ponds, lakes and rivers, snowmobiling and snowshoeing, among other great experiences.

Canada Memories

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The vista that Lake Louise presents is stunning at any time isn't it, Loppy. Just an incredible place.

I agree, there is nowhere that has the grandeur of the Canadian Rockies - so stunning. I do miss it, like yourself.

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