It is often strange to me, the customs and things I see over here in the United States, that are totally foreign to me.

This time of year, really brings it home, because the things that are done here in the States are so different.

For instance, the holiday season starts with Thanksgiving,  a holiday just not celebrated in England.  It is similar to the custom of the Harvest Festival that my Catholic Primary School used to do every year.  We would collect all kinds of foods, have a harvest mass thanking God for the bounty, and then baskets would be filled and taken to the elderly shut-ins in the area.

Thanksgiving is not quite the same thing, as you can see.  Here, my celebration of Thanksgiving is immediate family only.  For the past two years I have also cooked the Thanksgiving dinner, which I usually try to make as traditional as possible… within the limits of my husband’s taste palette.  Why do I try to make it so traditional?  Because the holiday is not mine, I think it behooves me to actually attempt to do the thing the right way!

Speaking of Thanksgiving... I think you might enjoy this: Turkey Shoot

There is no clear cut start to the season in England.  Typically the first week in December will start the season for us all.

We are a nation with a national religion, so advent is taken quite seriously.  There are advent calendars to be found in all the stores, and the first Sunday of advent, will also find the local shops to be open.  Usually there are ‘Sunday Trading Laws’ which cause most shops to be closed, since you need a special license to open then.  The four Sundays (and in some cases, six Sundays) before advent, actually are exempt from that rule.  The shops are open on Sunday, for the maximum allowed 6 hours, and business is brisk.  Most shops are open late nights at least once a week, if not every day except Sunday.

That is not such a big deal here in the USA, where a town is a ‘small town’ if everything closes at 6pm, and more usually the malls are open until 9pm.  This is very convenient to the immigrant English woman!!

Christmas decorations are another area where we differ.  The traditional ‘Christmas Lights’ found on many American homes (not to mention the giant, inflatable snowmen, snow globes and Santas) are considered quite ‘tacky’ on an English home.  You may find the odd house with an outdoor Christmas tree all decked out, but usually this is not the case. 

Instead, Christmas trees are placed near front windows (if the radiators allow them to be so placed) and the houses are festooned inside with tinsel, crepe bunting, and various ceiling trimming.  Mantels are festooned with more of the same, and most houses (at least the Christian ones) will have a crèche set up in a corner (if you don't have one, there is a cool one you can make here).  I'd like to say it looks like colonial Williamsburg, but that would be a lie... and an insult to Williamsburg... which has fabulous decorations!  Don't believe me?  Check them out here!

The only outside lights that are a big deal, are those in the local High Streets of town.  That is to say the main street of the town... or the shopping district.  Like Oxford Street and Regents Street, London.

Old York, Town Centre

           

An attractive tea room, dolled up!

The Christmas tree is more likely to have presents laid out underneath it, than a nice train set, and Christmas crackers are often displayed on the tree itself.

Which brings me to the whole Christmas cracker thing…

Yes, we have something called a Christmas cracker.  Think of it as a toilet paper tube with foil paper wrapped around it and tied at each end.  Inside is a small ‘fire cracker’ style bit of paper, which makes a loud BANG when you and a partner each take an end and pull.  Inside you will find a Christmas crown (which you wear through dinner), a (usually bad) joke and a ‘gift’.  The gift value depends on whether you get the expensive crackers (pens, metal things…) or the cheap ones (stickers and plastic toys).

The Christmas meal is as big a deal as Thanksgiving over here.  It is an intimate, immediate family gathering most of the time, and has at least two courses.  The dessert course will of course feature the ‘Christmas Pudding’, which is lit on fire when being brought to the table.

On Christmas day, everyone listens to the Queen’s speech at 3pm, watches the variety of T.V. on for the day (the whole season features lots of old films and Christmas specials of family favourites).

The whole country knows the following day as ‘Boxing Day’.  This is the day most of us choose to visit with extended family and exchange more gifts.

The rest of the season is actually surprisingly similar to the post Christmas one in the USA… New Year’s eve is celebrated with wine and parties… only instead of Times Square, we all watch Trafalgar Square.  Instead of the Glass Ball, we listen for the chimes of Big Ben.  And yes, I truly mean Big Ben… as that is really the name of the great bell inside the clock tower of the Palaces at Westminster!

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into an English Christmas!  I'll leave you with another photo from freefoto.com, that of my favourite holiday scene:

The Fire.