Magical feeling in the air

The countdown for Christmas has begun and people around the world are getting ready.

Christmas Market in England

December is upon us, meaning it’s that time of the year again. Winter only begins on the 21^st 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 25^th 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 25^th 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 25^th we wake up late and have roasted pig for lunch with yule log for dessert.

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.