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ESL forum >
Message board > Christmas celebrations
Christmas celebrations
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aliciapc
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Christmas celebrations
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Hello dear people , I was thinking how our friends here spent the Christmas weekend ! Did you have a good time ? Did you spend Christmas with friends or family? What do / don �t you like about the season ? If you don �t celebrate Xmas, what do you do ? I just thought it �d be interesting to know about the customs around the world ! God bless you and may the coming year bring you happiness and personal success ! Alicia |
27 Dec 2010
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yanogator
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Thanks for asking, Alicia.
I spent Christmas Eve making a dying old man very happy. My sister-in-law �s father is 90 and has widespread cancer, so he won �t be around next Christmas. He lives about 150 km from here, in the same city as my sister. I took my accordion to his house and his family (7 people that night) and I sang Christmas carols after dinner. Each person chose a song for us to sing, and we had a wonderful time. I also made him a mince pie from my homemade mincemeat (Here in the US, the pie is not very popular, and very few people make the filling from scratch). He had a wonderful time, and will probably talk about it to everyone he sees.
On Christmas Day, my sister and I have a tradition since 1987 of eating together. I prepare a very special meal for us, beginning with soup. This year we had four others with us. We decided that I will bring my accordion with me every year to enlarge the tradition.
Bruce |
27 Dec 2010
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Mariethe House
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Thank you Bruce for being such a nice and caring person! I feel I can hear the sound of your accordion. Thank you so much!
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27 Dec 2010
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swissprof
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Wonderful Bruce what you did with your elderly father-in-law and your family !
I used to play the organ at Christmas Eve at home, I played Christmas songs and when my children were young, they sang but now I haven �t played the organ for a few years, I don �t have the desire to do it anymore... Christmas Time is not always easy in families ! It �s even hypocrisy in my family with people that I don �t meet once in a year so I have decided to withdraw from some Christmas receptions... I am quite happy with my children at home and with the grandparents...
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27 Dec 2010
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aliciapc
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I understand you completely, swissprof ! Same here ... but we try and do as best we can, to have a nice time in spite of missing some people who are not around anymore ...
Congratulations, Bruce, such meaningful Xmas "matches" the Bruce we know and care about (  ) I spent yesterday afternoon with an American friend who �s great at playing the guitar and we had a nice time, my kids just loved it! But it �s not going to become a tradition, he �s coming back to the US next month ... So I hope you, Mariethe and Nicole had the best of times, surrounded by the ones you love ... Same wish to all eslp members !
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27 Dec 2010
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swissprof
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When I was a child, my mother used to decorate the Christmas tree a few days before Christmas. She put the presents under the tree, with my little sister we were very excited about the presents and when my parents weren �t at home, we opened the presents and then scotched them again ! What I remember, too is that my mother found that a Christmas tree was too much mess in her flat so the 23rd or 24th december in the morning she gave us our presents, then took away all the Christmas ornaments from the tree and threw it away. An old lady in the neighbourhood was glad to pick it up for her Christmas day ( the real day!!)
Another thing that I remember is that we had to play with our presents in our rooms and not in the living-room, I have no memories about food !
I am now a happily married mother with two big children and my home is always decorated with a Christmas tree till the beginning of the year and everywhere there are candles and my children can live in my house, I don �t care so much about tidying up !
That was my Christmas a long time ago ! |
27 Dec 2010
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manonski (f)
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Wow Bruce, that was a really nice gesture! You �re sweet and shared the true spirit of Christmas with us.
Every year, I split the holidays in 2 and visit both sides of my parents � family. This year, Christmas was with my mom �s side and we were about 25-30 people. We ate a lot and watched the little ones open their presents. When everyone left, my parents and I exchanged our own gifts.
New Year will be on my father �s side, in my hometown. |
27 Dec 2010
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I wish Bruce had been here to play some tunes on his accordion and we could have engaged in a waltz or tango!