Tuesday 21 December 2010

Camille's Christmas message

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I would like to wish a very merry Christmas to all of you who are reading this.
I will be leaving tomorrow for my parents' place, and then to visit my mum's very large family. We celebrate what I have been told a few years ago is a "very French-Canadian" Christmas, meaning that it lasts a very long time: réveillon (an over-night party starting late on the 24th and finishing in the early hours of the 25th), then Christmas day with a family dinner at night. We usually all see each other in a more casual way on the 26th and eat all the leftovers! But the thing I have been told is the most unusual of my holiday festivities is the lack of Christmas stockings: we all have New Year stockings filled with clementines and sweets. When I was still living with my parents, we would also extend the holiday season until January the 6th, the Epiphany (they still do it, but I have been unable to celebrate it in the last two years; hopefully, this year it will be possible). Although none of us is particularly religious, the celebration of the Three Wise Kings is still deep-rooted in our habits, but has become more of an excuse to eat good food and a "galette des rois", crispy pastry filled with cream and a bean to determine who will be the king of the night.
And what about presents? Well, the family is so large that we do a gift exchange, and only give personal presents to the closer family (in my case, only my parents as I am an only child!).

How about you, how will you spend your Holidays?

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J'aimerais souhaiter un très joyeux Noël à tous ceux qui lisent ceci.
Je pars demain pour la maison de mes parents, et ensuite je vais visiter la très grande famille de ma mère. Nous célébrons à ce qu'on m'a dit, il y a quelques années, un Noël "très Canadien-français", signifiant que les célébrations durent très longtemps: réveillon (une fête nocturne qui commence tard le 24 et finit dans les petites heures du 25), ensuite le jour de Noël avec un souper de famille. On se voit habituellement le 26 d'une façon un peu plus décontractée, et nous mangeons les restants! Mais la chose qu'on m'a dit qui est la plus inhabituelle de mes fêtes est l'absence de bas de Noël: nous avons des bas du jour de l'an remplis de clémentines et de sucreries. Quand je vivais toujours avec mes parents, nous allongions la saison des fêtes jusqu'au 6 janvier pour la Fête des rois (ils le font toujours, mais j'ai été incapable de la fêter ces deux dernières années; avec un peu de chance, ce sera possible cette année!). Bien qu'aucun de nous ne soit particulièrement religieux, la Fête des rois est tout de même implantée dans nos moeurs mais est plutôt devenue une occasion de bien manger et de déguster une galette des rois (une pâtisserie feuilletée remplie de crème et d'une fève pour désigner le roi de la soirée).
Et les cadeaux, eux? Eh bien, la famille est tellement grande que nous faisons un échange de cadeaux, et ne donnons des cadeaux personnels qu'à notre famille plus rapprochée (dans mon cas, seulement mes parents comme je suis fille unique!).

Et vous, comment allez-vous passer votre temps des fêtes?

Photo: 1.

8 comments:

  1. je te souhaite un très joyeux et un très précieux noël!!!
    have a marvelous time with your family...and not too much caribou! ;))

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  3. I'm heading home tomorrow too! Since i've been with my boyfriend my christmas also starts on the 24th, with a bbq (hurrah for summer christmasing) then some people go to midnight mass and then there's a big breakfast after church which also lst till the wee hours. Our only problem is that my family doesnt do that...so we have to get up realy to go to my parents house and to the whole scheebang again. I can't wait! I hope you have a blast and fun frollicking in the snow..of schnuggling by the fire perhaps ..

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  4. i will be speding the holidays at my parents - hope you have a fab time x

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  5. what a wonderful holiday tradition. family, food, good times... i'm normally in india at this time of year, with my family. this year i'm staying in nyc. should be relaxing... i like the fact that you keep the gift-giving under control -- i know it can become a source of stress in big families... xo bb

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  6. We celebrate a bastardized version of réveillon, since my mom is half French Canadian. I hope yours is lovely! Merry Christmas!

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  7. I hope you had a good Christmas!

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