Thanksgiving: I do what I do, if you don't like it don't come (infant, grandfather)
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Here in the US, for me anyway, Thanksgiving is like the beginning of the Christmas season - it's like it ushers it in. Many people, myself included, start decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving - that weekend. For my family, Thanksgiving starts off the holiday season in a big way.
Some people are already decorating for Christmas though. I don't know how they see Thanksgiving. I can only speak for my family.
I have always thought it is a great custom to not decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. It starts way too early here, though a cultural difference we discovered is that here, every mall is cleared of decorations on Christmas night. They reopen the following day or the next one, without a trace of Christmas to be seen. They then start on back to school even though it is a month away.
Of course the retailers are keen to adopt Black Friday and every year that becomes more prominent.
I refuse to decorate the house before the beginning of December. We have a raft of family birthdays in October and November and when they are out of the way, time to think of Christmas.
My kids are pretty excited about Friendsgiving. They live too far away to come home for a dinner. Especially as everyone travels on Thanksgiving. Traffic jams, airline/train delays, it's crazy. It's chaotic even without weather and snow delays. My kids are using their vacation time to come home for Christmas. It's more important to us.
What's a Christmas lunch?
I have not heard of Friendsgiving.
Here Christmas is the event of the year for the extended family to come together, often over a couple of days. We usually get four days public holidays over Christmas and many businesses shut down between Christmas and New Year.
We are fairly secular so some people do go to church, but not the majority.
We generally have our Christmas meal at lunch time, not on Christmas Eve, which is common in Europe. But many families spend half the day on the road, racing from one extended family gathering at lunch time to another in the evening.
The traditional Christmas meal is the British hot meal, with roast chicken/turkey, pork or lamb. Hot Christmas pudding and fruit cake. Obviously cold weather food and it is mid summer here. So many people have barbecues and seafood, or whatever they like to eat.
Most of us combine the customs and that is when you get all the dramas about who likes what. As it sounds like happens with Thanksgiving. I have my family here this Christmas and we are having some Italian food to please my husband, some seafood to please the adults, something very plain to please the extended family who do not like flavour with their food(!!)
Many families have family gatherings at Easter but many also are away at that time. One of my daughters and family always go camping with friends.
Here Christmas is the event of the year for the extended family to come together, often over a couple of days. We usually get four days public holidays over Christmas and many businesses shut down between Christmas and New Year.
We are fairly secular so some people do go to church, but not the majority.
We generally have our Christmas meal at lunch time, not on Christmas Eve, which is common in Europe. But many families spend half the day on the road, racing from one extended family gathering at lunch time to another in the evening.
The traditional Christmas meal is the British hot meal, with roast chicken/turkey, pork or lamb. Hot Christmas pudding and fruit cake. Obviously cold weather food and it is mid summer here. So many people have barbecues and seafood, or whatever they like to eat.
Most of us combine the customs and that is when you get all the dramas about who likes what. As it sounds like happens with Thanksgiving. I have my family here this Christmas and we are having some Italian food to please my husband, some seafood to please the adults, something very plain to please the extended family who do not like flavour with their food(!!)
Many families have family gatherings at Easter but many also are away at that time. One of my daughters and family always go camping with friends.
Thanksgiving's origins are a harvest time feast, so I can see why that wouldn't work for Australians in October or November, as in Canada and the US, respectively.
But wait, so then for you Easter is an autumn holiday?
^^^ Thanks, Marisa May, for sharing so much about how it is in Australia, or at least with you!
I love hearing about holiday customs of other countries!
Canada's is pretty much like the USA's with the big turkey except that it's the second Monday in October. That's also the weekend when people with summer cottages on the lakes close them up for the season.
For the past three years I've spent American Thanksgiving in Ontario, Canada and had duck. This year I will spend Thanksgiving with my daughter on Long Island, NY. We will be having lentil loaf, mashed potatoes, and roasted vegetables.
Three of my wife's four siblings attended, the fourth refused because one of the other three was coming (no one knows the source of the conflict except the one who didn't attend). My older Sister is bed-bound and my younger Sister was hosting her daughters with husbands. So five people total.
Meal was a success. I also cooked Turkey Legs to appease the lone dark meat lover. (too much leftovers!) My wife did all the other cooking with my assistance when requested.
No family drama. Probably the final time we will host due to the challenges of getting family to attend.
Three of my wife's four siblings attended, the fourth refused because one of the other three was coming (no one knows the source of the conflict except the one who didn't attend). My older Sister is bed-bound and my younger Sister was hosting her daughters with husbands. So five people total.
Meal was a success. I also cooked Turkey Legs to appease the lone dark meat lover. (too much leftovers!) My wife did all the other cooking with my assistance when requested.
No family drama. Probably the final time we will host due to the challenges of getting family to attend.
No such thing as too many leftovers!!!
Turkey Tetrazzani - salute onions, celery, red bell pepper in butter and a dash of white wine (some people add carrots, mushrooms or cream which is too much for me), Add cubed leftover turkey to veggies and stir until warm. Toss in pasta. Sprinkle a lot of parmesan and chopped parsley.
Here Christmas is the event of the year for the extended family to come together, often over a couple of days. We usually get four days public holidays over Christmas and many businesses shut down between Christmas and New Year.
We are fairly secular so some people do go to church, but not the majority.
We generally have our Christmas meal at lunch time, not on Christmas Eve, which is common in Europe. But many families spend half the day on the road, racing from one extended family gathering at lunch time to another in the evening.
The traditional Christmas meal is the British hot meal, with roast chicken/turkey, pork or lamb. Hot Christmas pudding and fruit cake. Obviously cold weather food and it is mid summer here. So many people have barbecues and seafood, or whatever they like to eat.
Most of us combine the customs and that is when you get all the dramas about who likes what. As it sounds like happens with Thanksgiving. I have my family here this Christmas and we are having some Italian food to please my husband, some seafood to please the adults, something very plain to please the extended family who do not like flavour with their food(!!)
Many families have family gatherings at Easter but many also are away at that time. One of my daughters and family always go camping with friends.
That was so interesting. I've seen people at the beach during Christmas in Australia.
That was so interesting. I've seen people at the beach during Christmas in Australia.
The beach is especially popular with British and other backpackers, who usually have a huge party at Bondi Beach in Sydney. Also with all of us who want to exercise after a meal at lunchtime which is much heavier than usual.
Another summer tradition is that of Carols by Candlelight, often on Christmas Eve, in parks around the country.
On Christmas Day in Sydney, at least, the parks are full of people who are often not of Christian background and spend the day having picnics.
Will be interesting whether we get beach weather this Christmas. We are just concluding the coldest wettest spring in Sydney since 1999. Tonight it is only C60 degrees, raining, with strong winds. Sitting here in winter clothes!
Thanksgiving's origins are a harvest time feast, so I can see why that wouldn't work for Australians in October or November, as in Canada and the US, respectively.
But wait, so then for you Easter is an autumn holiday?
Yes, it is autumn which is usually lovely weather. But we lack the beautiful fall colours of other countries as our natural vegetation is evergreen. Deciduous trees have been planted in many places, especially Canberra, but it is not the thing to plant them these days.
We get four days public holidays at Easter and often the end of first term school vacation coincides with it. Thus a very popular time for families to go away.
Of course, the Easter Bunny brings chocolate eggs to good children on Easter Sunday. Hot cross buns are a traditional Easter food and seem to have become so popular that some supermarkets start selling them in January. I kid you not!
Naturally some people go to church at Easter and very many go to the Sydney Royal Easter Show. It was cancelled in 2020 because of Covid but this year 700,000 people attended, over 12 days. Very fortunately before our second lockdown.
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