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christmas is coming soon and while i was searching for a good recipe to make gingerbread men (if you have one btw...) i found a french website listing all the little differences in countries, and how you celebrate it. so i thought it'd be nice to share our own versions
in my country it's a family event, we may live at different places in the country, but we reunite all together for this event. i used to spend my first christmas at my dad's parents place, but with dad's job, it became just the reunion of us four (five this year with my brother's gf
).
december 25th is a holiday, but we celebrate christmas on the 24th (though it may vary in some families). it is traditional for shops to close a little earlier for that reason. we open the gifts on the 25th morning.
you may find some people in the streets selling hot chestnuts.
there are also christmas markets around the country (the biggest and the most notorious being the one taking place at Strasbourg). they sell many stuff, mostly food or handcraft objects. you can find good gifts there. of course, there is also the traditional hot wine (be careful not to drink too much
).
the big shops also have animated show windows, it's a great thing to do in family, kids love it (and bigger ones too !).
of course, we decorate a tree, and also the house. there are contests on the most beautiful decorated house.
we eat stuff like salted salmon, foie gras with toasts, turkey, my mom serves some vegetables and chestnuts with it. we drink champagne and wine. the traditional dessert is the Yule log, a rolled cake with a butter cream filling. very good, but hard to digest, i am also allergic to butter cream
in the south of my country, they have 13 desserts, cakes and fruits(dried or fresh). which is interesting as my dad told me in his childhood, the christmas gift was usually made of oranges, clementines... but i think with the development of consumer society, the gifts changed to become what they are now.
as my mom is partially belgian, every december 6th, my brother and i get our chocolate Saint Nicholas. though we have grown up, we remain attached to this little family tradition. besides, my mom would call the doctor if we refused an occasion of eating chocolate
.
a box of chocolate is usually the gift friends will bring when you invite them around christmas. i also remember mom and i bake a lot more than usual, and it's okay to eat more cakes during that time.
in my country it's a family event, we may live at different places in the country, but we reunite all together for this event. i used to spend my first christmas at my dad's parents place, but with dad's job, it became just the reunion of us four (five this year with my brother's gf
december 25th is a holiday, but we celebrate christmas on the 24th (though it may vary in some families). it is traditional for shops to close a little earlier for that reason. we open the gifts on the 25th morning.
you may find some people in the streets selling hot chestnuts.
there are also christmas markets around the country (the biggest and the most notorious being the one taking place at Strasbourg). they sell many stuff, mostly food or handcraft objects. you can find good gifts there. of course, there is also the traditional hot wine (be careful not to drink too much
the big shops also have animated show windows, it's a great thing to do in family, kids love it (and bigger ones too !).
of course, we decorate a tree, and also the house. there are contests on the most beautiful decorated house.
we eat stuff like salted salmon, foie gras with toasts, turkey, my mom serves some vegetables and chestnuts with it. we drink champagne and wine. the traditional dessert is the Yule log, a rolled cake with a butter cream filling. very good, but hard to digest, i am also allergic to butter cream
in the south of my country, they have 13 desserts, cakes and fruits(dried or fresh). which is interesting as my dad told me in his childhood, the christmas gift was usually made of oranges, clementines... but i think with the development of consumer society, the gifts changed to become what they are now.
as my mom is partially belgian, every december 6th, my brother and i get our chocolate Saint Nicholas. though we have grown up, we remain attached to this little family tradition. besides, my mom would call the doctor if we refused an occasion of eating chocolate
a box of chocolate is usually the gift friends will bring when you invite them around christmas. i also remember mom and i bake a lot more than usual, and it's okay to eat more cakes during that time.