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Post by brettj on Dec 22, 2018 7:30:18 GMT
Living in the southern hemisphere, Christmas has a different perspective.
My view of your northern hemisphere Christmas comes from movies.
Bridget Jones, Love Actually, for example.
Cold, snow, dark.
In New Zealand? A little different.
Firstly, schools shut for 6-7 weeks; the end of the school year.
Expected that families can take time off for a similar time - maybe 4-5 weeks.
Manufacturing closes down.
People that can afford it leave the cities.
Still presents. And family.
Oh, and being summer, temperatures rise, beaches are full, barbeques become the norm, and alcohol is consumed.
The fact that it is normal for families to have 3-4 weeks away, is a big thing.
Commonly ask "what are you doing over the holidays?"
Although where I teach, they don't go away...their response is a little different.
Our view of Christmas must be way different than yours though...
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Post by brettj on Dec 22, 2018 7:32:55 GMT
So, what am I doing?
Having a 'staycation'
Painting my house...
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Post by Tim on Dec 22, 2018 8:40:11 GMT
Our view of Christmas must be way different than yours though... I would agree having spent 4 months in New Zealand which included Christmas - I think it's the only Christmas I really enjoyed for as long as I can remember, fantastic. But then New Zealand is fantastic 
Pavlova on Christmas day instead of that nasty thing we call a pudding. In fact the entire table was set with different food. We do eat some pap here at Christmas and keep doing it year after year in the name of tradition . . . idiots that we are. You guys don't seem as obsessed with it either, it's somehow turned into a colossal corporate led retail circus here.
It's my least favourite time of the year.
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Post by julesd68 on Dec 22, 2018 8:55:50 GMT
I completely understand your perspective Tim.
I actually really like Christmas but mainly from the spending of quality time with family, carol services, good food, cold weather etc
But of course I'm careful to avoid the worst commercial excesses this time of year can bring.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2018 11:21:51 GMT
Christmas a dish best served having fun, no Xmas bloody family dinners, arguing who's doing the washing, sprout missiles and whining brats. Mine have departed the nest  We have a Christmas dinner at a different restaurant every year, last year we had Arabic on the Edge-ware road, this year China Town, no fuss, no hassle, guilt free pleasure, and NO brats or grumpy old farts looking for another Gin/Port fix and a wedge of Xmas pub slathered in brandy  Some people 'do' the family thing, after 22 years of it, my thirst has been quenched we don't (happily so) However that doesn't stop everyone else form enjoying it. Xmas in NZ is wonderful, spent two seasons there back in the 80's quite weird having dinner on a beach, but a great experience plus the inhabitants a good step up from the Oz neighbours. |
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Post by zippy on Dec 22, 2018 12:35:23 GMT
Humbug !
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Post by MartinT on Dec 22, 2018 12:48:04 GMT
instead of that nasty thing we call a pudding Wash your mouth out! Proper Christmas pudding, with fruit in it and a little alcohol but no nuts, is a wonderful thing. The fact that I am the only one in the entire family who likes it just makes me like it more  |
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Post by Slinger on Dec 22, 2018 12:53:38 GMT
I'll see your "humbug," and I'll raise you a "BAH!" |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2018 13:37:16 GMT
instead of that nasty thing we call a pudding Wash your mouth out! Proper Christmas pudding, with fruit in it and a little alcohol but no nuts, is a wonderful thing. The fact that I am the only one in the entire family who likes it just makes me like it more Christmas Pudding, yuk, yuk, yukety, yuk. How can you like that stuff???! |
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Post by Slinger on Dec 22, 2018 13:55:28 GMT
I like turkey, and stuffing, and sprouts, and I like Christmas pud. I just don't like Christmas much.
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Post by Tim on Dec 22, 2018 14:10:02 GMT
Humbug eh? haha, same old tiresome retort from the herd . . . One of the many reason’s why I’m disinterested in Christmas is the banal monotony of it all, the only thing different since I was about 7 is the amount of money spent, which can be crippling for many families – and the fact it now starts in October not the week before 25 December. Will it ever be enough? The same Christmas decorations, same music, same films, same food, same adverts (just a different theme) same excess, same unattainable ‘perfect Christmas dinner’ and if it’s such an amazing meal, why do we only eat it once a year? And let’s not forget that darned song. Have we all lost any sense of imagination, individuality or the ability to do something different? As I've grown older I care a lot more about waste and read an article on the BBC News site last year, which stated 40% of Christmas ends up on landfill. Even if that’s only half true, it’s still pretty shocking. So I tend to see waste and corporate consumerism, instead of baubles and trinkets. The friends and family bit I do enjoy, but does it have to involve so much excess, money and waste? I don’t need all that nonsense to have fun with my friends, a bottle or two of wine and some good cheese will do me. It also amuses me that people are so brainwashed by the hype and marketing, following along like sheep, that if you happen to not be into it, it’s seen as a huge negative. I’m not really sure why not being into Christmas automatically enrols you into the bah-humbug, Mr. Grumpy club. People can enjoy it to their hearts content, great to see folk enjoy themselves actually. I'm just not into it myself, so don't ever do anything like decorations, cards and obscene amounts of unhealthy food. Why that makes me grumpy is beyond me? I was in the bank the other day and the teller asked me if I was ready for Christmas, when I replied I don’t really celebrate it, she looked at me like I had two heads and scowled – quite an amazing reaction. Having a different viewpoint shouldn’t make you an outcast, but if you don’t like Christmas there’s something wrong with you, which has become rather old. I’ve not been into it since my 20s. I just think there’s another way and it’s time to call foul on the corporate money machine. More does not always mean better and there are so many other ways to express your love for friends and family without putting money into a retailers till, unhealthy inches on the waistline or bags and bags of whatever on a landfill. So bah humbug to ya’ll, if that makes me a bad person then good luck to the herd, I’m happy to tread my own path  |
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Post by Slinger on Dec 22, 2018 14:55:06 GMT
And, thank you B.B.-bloody-C, I haven't even got Doctor Who to look forward to on Christmas evening this year!
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Post by MikeMusic on Dec 22, 2018 15:18:24 GMT
Pointers for Christmas
Christmas is the time of good will to all men
Wrong.
365 days a year is the time of good will to all men
Christmas is for the children
Wrong
365 days a year is for the children
Other Christmas pat phrases
365 days .......
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Post by MartinT on Dec 22, 2018 17:09:27 GMT
I think humbug is the right phrase but I do it with a grin so that people know I'm not grumpy about it. I shall enjoy it in my own way but all the commercialism just turns me off. I leave it behind and relish the chance to enjoy our children's company and play silly board games with a tipple to accompany.
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Post by John on Dec 22, 2018 17:16:49 GMT
My favourite Christmas memory is my nephew at 4 years old doing a backward flip due to the excitement of it all
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Post by MartinT on Dec 22, 2018 18:30:59 GMT
Christmas is for children, and children love it.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2018 18:41:03 GMT
This Christmas should be super fun with Leo now being 16 months. He's really beginning to understand it all and we went and saw Father Christmas today at Finkley Farm which is not far from us and he just loved it.
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Post by brettj on Dec 22, 2018 20:09:04 GMT
I keep away from the commercialism of it all.
My youngest is 18, so Jane and I are far removed from that side of it.
Her Christmas present is a banjo. A little odd, I know. She does get teased by us. Her school got her into it.
Way less annoying than a recorder...
And no awkward family gatherings any more. Those used to be so tedious.
Now just my girls and us.
Each make some food. Last year I made a raw fish dish, and my garlic mussels.
This year, has to all be gluten free, since one my girl's diagnosis.
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Post by brettj on Dec 22, 2018 20:15:33 GMT
We are lucky in a way though.
For a large proportion of the country, things shut down. Lots of people won't be back at work until the 14th or 21st January.
In Wellington, the place empties until mid Jan. I love it here this time of year.
I didn't understand how much harder it is elsewhere.
We have an accepted 'shut down' time.
My son-in-law is from Chicago.
They don't have holidays per se.
You are frowned upon if you take longer than a week off at any time.
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Post by MartinT on Dec 22, 2018 21:26:11 GMT
I can't stand all the Boxing Day sales crap. Who needs something that desperately?
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