The countdown for Christmas has begun
and people around the world are getting ready.
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| Christmas Market in England |
December is upon us, meaning it’s
that time of the year again. Winter only begins on the 21st of this
enchanting month, but this year the cold has been similar to last winter, which
is alright as is always a good excuse for a nice cuppa or cheeky hot chocolate
with cream anytime of the day.
In December there’s always that
magical felling in the air, especially here in England, because of Christmas:
there’s colourful lights that aluminate the streets, followed by decorations hung
everywhere you go; the white, red, blue, silver and gold colour scheme is universal
and everywhere; mule wine and the smell of Christmassy food.
Being a foreign student myself, it’s different
to see the English approach and preparations for Christmas, sometimes I find it
all quite amusing, I have to say.
In England, everything begins in
October: decorations, cards, Christmas songs and shopping madness. In my
country you only start hearing about Christmas in December and sometimes we
only put up our Christmas tree together on the second week of the month just
because there’s no time for it; we don’t send Christmas cards or have as many
parties (with those lovely hats) as
English people have.
It’s also interesting to see the
British “values” around Christmas which seems to be family and shopping whereas
in Portugal it’s all about religion, family and food.
While in England Christmas is
celebrated on the 25th with dinner at midday with all the family, if
you’re the sort my lucky flatmate is, she and her siblings are usually allowed
to open one present the night before (usually beautiful pyjama’s), mine
Christmas also starts on the 24th, but at midnight with a late dinner and we too
open presents. Now milk and cookies, left for Santa to reward and thank him for
presents left for all the good little boys and girls. Not all are good though,
I know of a few children who have left out cookies and wine, hoping to get
Santa drunk enough to stay at their house with all the presents.
I found the differences interesting
so I decided to ask a few people on the street how they celebrate it, I then got
to the conclusion that they all wake up early in the morning on the 25th
to open their presents, then play with them and then hoisting them to their
rooms to put in place, whilst dinner is being made, then devour traditional
dinner which normally includes a turkey and vegetables that are fought to be
consumed by the kids! Christmas pudding for dessert that’s lit up, which I find
amazing because it’s nice to have a little flame in your life! This dinner usually
assembles all the family and they gather at different houses every year. After
dinning people tend to spend some quality time together perhaps with snow
fights or playing with their new gifts.
In Portugal, a Christmas table
normally consists of a traditional codfish dish, followed but turkey or duck.
There’s always “rabanadas” which is something similar to French toast but with
cinnamon and sugar, and “sonhos” which literally translates from Portuguese as
“dreams” and these small cakes are like doughnuts. After dinner we wait until
midnight to open our gifts and stay up till late. On the 25th we
wake up late and have roasted pig for lunch with yule log for dessert.
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| Praca do Comercio, Lisbon, Portugal |
But the most important thing on
Christmas, for the joy of every shop owner, is gifts. During this time of the
year almost every shop has discounts which is a great encouragement for people
getting gifts for their loved ones. But the process of getting gifts for
everyone is an arduous job: you need to please everyone without spending too much
money while making sure it’s the right thing.
After researching a few websites,
catalogues and magazines, I have come up with a few suggestions to give to
different members of your family so this might help your gift list.
For those who love technology the IPhone
6, Xbox1 and PlayStation 4 will be a good pick. The IPhone can be found
everywhere from Apple’s website to Selfridges and Co. The consoles can be
bought from websites like Amazon and GAME or retail stores like Argos.
For the little ones anything Frozen
or Despicable Me related seems to be a big hit: this too films define 2014.
Merchandise can be bought from Argos or EBay.
A good book or clothing items are
always good and safe options. But why go for a safe option if you can get
amazing and unusual options like an “obsessive chef chopping board” which is a
chopping board with measurements and rulers everywhere or an acre of land onthe moon, mars or Venus from £16.75.
