Semester 2 Week 1 topic. Christmas Traditions

The first topic is to talk about your christmas traditions, if you don't have any then just talk about a typical Christmas eve/day for you or a typical new year.

For the Christmas traditions the first point is to be in family and with happiness, we go too in Christmas mass because we are a catholic family. But we don't believe in Santa Claus and we don't pose cookies and milk for him. We pose too the christmas tree  and some garland and too the nativity scene. We don't have especially days to open the gifts same if there is not necessarly.
For my sister they don't celebrate this because they are muslim and they don't believe in the Christ power. My sister say directly to them children Santa Claus don't exists. For New year i usually stay awaken but this year i was at my sister home and they prefer celebrate the today.

For Christmas, I usually rejoin my family, one year it's with my dad's family and the next year it's with my mom's family. My grandparents, oncles, aunts and cousins come or we come at their home, so it's either in Charente-Maritime, to the mountains or in Toulouse. One time I did it in La Réunion Island because I have an oncle there. We just share a good meal, sometimes we go to the midnight mass, and we offer gifts that we have put under the Christmas tree.

For christmas i usually go in the two sides of my family. It's mean that in 2020 I was on my mother's side and next year it will be on my father's side. In my mother's family the BIG tradition is "La bûche au Marron de Papi" This recipe is a must have on a christmas table. If you don't like it then you are not part of the family. (Personally I hate it... ). On my father's side, the tradition is the Champagne and more precisely the Pougeoise Cghampagne because my family own this firm. So every year we drink Champagne. Every afternoon and evening we drink... As you can see, my life is Hell on earth...

Eva Gousserey wrote:For christmas i usually go in the two sides of my family. It's mean that in 2020 I was on my mother's side and next year it will be on my father's side. In my mother's family the BIG tradition is "La bûche au Marron de Papi" This recipe is a must have on a christmas table. If you don't like it then you are not part of the family. (Personally I hate it... ). On my father's side, the tradition is the Champagne and more precisely the Pougeoise Cghampagne because my family own this firm. So every year we drink Champagne. Every afternoon and evening we drink... As you can see, my life is Hell on earth...

I don't like Champagne - don't tell your father - the fizziness detracts from the taste for me.

Within my family, there is a conflict to open the gifts, there is the 24th evening team and the 25th morning team. Since no one agreed this year, we opened half gifts the 24th night and the other half the 25th in morning. However, we always have a big dinner the 24th evenning with the foie gras for starter and the yule log speciality to finish. It’s an oppotunity to see again my family and their longs discussions at the table...

For Christmas, I'm always with my family, it's really a time when I find my family, my parents, my brother and my grandmother. It's really a moment that we spend in joy. My dad often has nonsense to say, I admit that there is always a political debate that gets into the conversation that lasts long enough but then it passes (these are very long moments). There is also the joy of giving gifts and seeing the cheek on everyone's face and then seeing people using the objects. There is also the pleasure of receiving them. In my family it is very rare that we manage to wait until 00:00 to open them. Everyone is dressed as he wishes, there is no code, no need to dress like a wedding. It's just the pleasure of spending time together and getting together.

For Christmas, I'm always with my family and I celebrate it with both sides of my family. I often celebrate with my grandparents on my mother's side on the evening of the 24th and the next day at lunch with my whole family on my father's side. I know some people who open their presents on the 24th but we open them on the 25th. We don't have really traditions and we eat different things every year. The only dishes that are almost always present are fois gras, salmon and oysters as a starter.
This year, Christmas was very special because the masks, we had to stay away from our family and we couldn't kiss or hug each other.

For Christmas the tradition in my family is to go to my mother’s mother’s. We all eat together: my mother, my brother, my grandmother and my auntie. My father is not present, we eat with him the next day with my brother. Now he lives in Spain so I don’t see him often. On Christmas my grandmother makes a big meal that changes every year. But as my brother and I love roast, she always makes it. We open presents after dinner with them and gifts from my father the next day when we see him. Sometimes we see my father on Christmas Eve, but we always celebrate the 24th at my grandmother’s house. I forgot to mention this, but my parents are separated and I don’t have any uncles, cousins or other grandparents.

A day of christmas is very expected by children because this tradition is the passage of santa claus . The goal of christmas is to give each other gift with the family , and it is too a good meal with certain product indisputable as the log of christmas . the tradition of christmas it is to gather all the family for past a good moment . This tradition is different for some person because Certain person open the gift in the 24 december and other open the 25 december . To conclude the christmas tradition makes people happy and allows families to have a good time .

For Christmas, I am always surrounded by my family, for me it is an opportunity to find everyone. But this year this tradition has been a bit turned upside down because of the COVID-19. But the tradition that it has not been changed is the opening of gifts that in my family is done on the 25th in the morning. For the opening of the gifts there are two teams, the one that opens them on the evening of the 24th and the one that opens them on the 25th in the morning. Faced with a struggle, I would not tell you who is right or who is wrong but in any case I know that who open them on the 25th in the morning are much cooler than the others!

For Christmas, it's a family moment. I usually spend the 24th with my family, with my parents, my sisters, we often go to the mountains to get snow. We have a little ritual, we have an aperitif, then we open the gifts most often from the oldest person to the youngest, then we have a brunch where there is something salty and sweet for all tastes. Then for the dessert it's a log with champagne. On the 25th, I spend it with my boyfriend's family, who are numerous, we play board games, we talk ... These are wonderful moments spent with the family, we must take advantage ...

For the holidays I did Christmas with my family on my father's side on the evening of December 24, then I sleep at my father's house and we open the gifts on December 25. For to eat at noon I go to my maternal family, we open the presents and then we stay there until the evening. On the evening of December 25th I sleep at my mother's.
For new year I did a party with my friends, with musics and ligths with many colors, it's fun !

December the 24th, knowing in advance that the diner would be richer than normal I decided to, spend a while at the fitness club. Then I helped my mother shopping the last fresh food. In the evening, I called my friends and my familly to wish them all a wonderful night of crishtmas, and my mother and I sent nice and soft holly day with special dishes such as oasters, crabs and champaign (just a little bit because I dislike it, I prefer a good beer or a good glass of wine). At 10pm I decided to go to bed with my such a good boy (my dog).

At my house at Christmas we do not make a Christmas log. Too bad because I like it. Otherwise I don't know what I could say ... Oh yes! This Christmas, for example, we did not have a tree and we could not buy any more it was too late. So the only solution was to cut a tree in the wild. But we didn't do that because it's wrong and we didn't have the right. In the end we drew a tree on a large sheet of paper stuck on the wall. I really thought it wasn't going to be very nice. Finally it was nice and then no tree to clean in the living room! And to finish it was not bad because there was chocolate on it.

My traditions for my Christmases are first of all for me to get together as a family, which is the most important thing. In addition, the food of course with foie gras, turkey, and especially the log for dessert. After the food, the presents which must be at midnight on December 25th because we can't wait until the morning. Gifts are obviously the coolest tradition.

For my part, I celebrate Christmas every 24 in the evening. I always celebrate Christmas with my family, that is to say my parents, my brothers and my grandparents. But this year in was really unique because I could only celebrate Christmas with my parents and my little brother because of the Covid. Otherwise I love Christmas because I love having lots of gifts and new toys because I was still a child.

I haven't any christmas traditions, before, in my familly we have not a big spirit of familly so it's regular that we celebrate noel with friends and not with my familly. But a typical christmas at home it's a christmas during which we eat many differents meals (and not necessarily christmas meals). We eat foie gras, oyster of course but after that all is possible. In addition, this year, we haven't christmas tree, it was a tree in wood like "Kapla". And, I think it's the most strange in my familly... We open the presents on the... We don't know ! One year it's on the 24th, another year it's on the 25th (or more sometimes)...

Often when I celebrate Christmas with my family, we don't really respect a tradition, of course we eat a Christmas log for dessert. When I make Christmas at my grandmother's, she likes to serve us a little bit of caviar as a starter. Sometimes we also open the presents in the evening and not in the morning because we are impatient.

for christmas, for some years now, we have had a kind of little routine. On the evening of the 24th before leaving I put the presents under my Christmas trees at my parents' house then we left for Niort to spend New Years Eve with part of my family. The next day I open the presents if there are any and then I go to the house on the other side of my family. We open the presents before eating and then in the afternoon we all together perform a lotto (this is a small tradition). The evening after eating, I go home then I open the last gifts I have left and then I go to bed.

I celebrate Christmas in Poland with my family. As far as traditions are concerned, we have to eat 12 dishes on the evening of the 24th. The dishes may vary depending on the region in which we are. Little anecdote: every year my parents and I celebrate Christmas twice, (in the afternoon with my mother's family and in the evening with my father's family) so we have to eat 24 dishes on the same day. tell you that during this Christmas period I can only gain a lot of pounds.
We open the gifts on the 25th.
On New Years Eve we buy fireworks for miniut. I believe that in France it is forbidden but here in Poland it is authorized. Obviously first we drink champagne then we light the fireworks.

the tradition for the period remains the same forever. My parents are divorced so that on the evening of the 24th I am reunited with all my family on my mother's side and on the 25th midday I celebrate it with all my father's family. These are great moments of celebration with a lot of people, a lot of gifts and a very long meal. There are always the same jokes and the same angry subject.
Everyone is looking forward to this date.

For Christmas, I always spend Chrismas eve vigil with my family. There is my aunt, my uncle, my cousins and my grandmother. During the evening, we have a large traditional meal with shellfish, logs, and champagne. Around midnight, we open the presents together before celebrating until no time.

At Christmas, there is no particular tradition. I celebrate Christmas on the evening of the 24th with my grandparents on my mother's side then on the 25th at noon with my grandparents on my father's side. Each year the meals change except for the starter where we find foie gras and oysters. In addition, we open the gifts on the evening of the 24th. To finish this Christmas could not be celebrated like every year because of the covid but it still allowed us to find each other.

For me a typical christmas day begin with snow, i think it's important for the magic of christmas. Obvioulsy during the chistmas day we have to prepare all of food like fishes, but we have to prepare the gifts because a christmas with no gifts it's not a christmas. And if you want a beautiful christmas just take care of your family.