Christmas in Your Area

[Aru]

My family always celebrated rather simply and without too many traditions involved. Set up the tree the night before Christmas, eat pork or turkey for lunch and that's everything which separates Christmas from any other day. We're not religious and we're third generation urban family with background from different regions so old traditions didn't hang around. Also, my family never had gift giving tradition. The companies my parents worked for usually gave presents for workers children (candy and toy cars) and that was it.

Modern consumerist Christmas is a thing only in last ~15 years. Before that religious people preferred St. Nicholas in early December, and secular people preferred New Year (and Grandpa Frost, the commie Santa).

Of course, my region has a bunch of traditions for every religious holiday, but I don't even care to read about them, let alone follow them.

[Diamat]

That does look pretty good.

@Aru: My region was Communist too, but the traditions never went away. One major reason why the Soviets probably weren't able to exterminate them is because my region is Germany's main producer of all things Christmas, and I'm sure we exported a lot of that stuff to West Germany in the old days. We did the same for our local beer, Wernesgrüner, thus making it a rather limited commodity for East Germans. Whenever my grandpa went on a trip, he always had a case of Wernsgrüner in his boot, just in case he needed something to trade for spare parts.

[Col. Tartleton]

I try to milk a full month out of it. Advent to New Years. Make Hanukkah look bad by upstaging it 4:1.

[Aru]

@Aru: My region was Communist too, but the traditions never went away. One major reason why the Soviets probably weren't able to exterminate them is because my region is Germany's main producer of all things Christmas, and I'm sure we exported a lot of that stuff to West Germany in the old days. We did the same for our local beer, Wernesgrüner, thus making it a rather limited commodity for East Germans. Whenever my grandpa went on a trip, he always had a case of Wernsgrüner in his boot, just in case he needed something to trade for spare parts.

Nah, I'm just talking about my family, most other people are very traditional, if not backward. And every region has a bunch of different traditions.

Oh, there's another thing we do I just remembered. Christmas wheat.



And advent wreath.



edit: also communists didn't really try to eradicate Christmas traditions. That's post communist myth created by nationalists. Commies created secular celebration of new year which was publically celebrated and when ever possible old traditions were secularized, but at home you could do what you want.

It's natural that people from many regions settle in cities, so traditions of their home regions re abandoned in favour of watered down version of local tradition. I'm from such urban family with different backgrounds.

[lolIsuck]

A little late but hey, better late than pregnanever.

@lolIsuck: Dutch people also eat Rouladen? I thought it was a German food.

Yes we do.

Germans in disguise, badum tssssj.

Hehehe.

@Diamat: People often call Limburgers reserve Germans (because they're ignorant of course), because we have a lot in common with the area around Aachen and the Rhineland but also with Belgian Limburg and Liège (and to lesser extent with Flanders). It's more of a regional culture, something we call Burgundian here.

[Diamat]

And advent wreath.

We have those too. Today we light the first candle.

@Diamat: People often call Limburgers reserve Germans (because they're ignorant of course), because we have a lot in common with the area around Aachen and the Rhineland but also with Belgian Limburg and Liège (and to lesser extent with Flanders). It's more of a regional culture, something we call Burgundian here.

That makes sense when looking at this map:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[John ''True Grit'' Wayne]

Watch the Late Late show toy show.Which shows all the toys that are in for Xmas.Then the letter goes to Santa.
Go to Newry and buy loads of alcohol and food and keep your eyes open for the natives North of the wall are dangerous.
Put up a Xmas tree and loads of lights.
Open the presents Xmas morning.Eat and drink till you cant move.Watching Tv.Then the relatives show up and ruin it........

Xmas dinner would consist of Turkey,Ham Mashed spuds and Carrots and Gravy and stuffing followed by a desert.



TRIFLE FOR DESERT YUM...

[Stavroforos]

[lolIsuck]

We have those too. Today we light the first candle.



That makes sense when looking at this map:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Well yeah, it was the first world war that forced people here to focus at Holland instead of the area around us, modern Limburg is a little larger than on that map though.

[Påsan]

Cradle of Civilization and Philosophy.



Sometimes I just get the impression that the Greeks are purposely trying to destroy their own legacy.

[Diamat]

Sometimes I just get the impression that the Greeks are purposely trying to destroy their own legacy.

By singing a German Christmas song? Oh, the irony...

[Stavroforos]

Cradle of Civilization and Philosophy.



Sometimes I just get the impression that the Greeks are purposely trying to destroy their own legacy.

Quite the opposite. Worshiping trees and such silliness is a practice of northern barbarians. By mocking their "music" and burning their pagan idols, we are reclaiming Christmas.

[Logios]

And advent wreath.

We have those too. Today we light the first candle.

So do we, to me Yuhle symbolize the death/rebirth of the sun, and the Advent wreath is to me a solar symbol. A fire is lit every sunday for the newborn daughter of the old sun. Most others has a different interpretation of this I guess, but each to their own.

edit: also communists didn't really try to eradicate Christmas traditions. That's post communist myth created by nationalists. Commies created secular celebration of new year which was publically celebrated and when ever possible old traditions were secularized, but at home you could do what you want.

I have a colleuge from FYROM, who went to Denmark when Yugoslavia still existed. The first couple of years she thought we were "cultural communists" in Denmark because everybody did the exact same things for yuhle (Cahomas post from last year describes it + parts of what Luna and Påsan posted). Me and my daughter have planned to give rice porridge to the "nisse" sometime next week, but in our new building there may both be one in the basement and one in the attic. Somehow december is the only month of the year we seem to have any culture here.

Edit:

Quite the opposite. Worshiping trees and such silliness is a practice of northern barbarians. By mocking their "music" and burning their pagan idols, we are reclaiming Christmas.

Originally the entire tree (the Winter King) was supposed to be burned as an offering to the newborn Sun, but as culture moved indoors this became impractical, and the fire was replaced by candles, glittery stuff and later electric lights.

[Logios]

Double post, sorry

[Påsan]

Quite the opposite. Worshiping trees and such silliness is a practice of northern barbarians. By mocking their "music" and burning their pagan idols, we are reclaiming Christmas.

Actually I was in the process of editing in "Wait what are a pine three doing in Athens" before my laptop went flat.
So why are there a pinetree in Athens?

[Hobbes]

Pines are everywhere in Greece. If you mean why we have a Christmas tree in Athens it's because it's Christmas.

[Derpy Hooves]

​My family usually goes skiing around Christmas time every year. This year: southern Colorado.

[Tureuki]

There are few western elements adopted by some, but usually some people goes to clubs, drinking etc. and most usually just stays at home, watches tv.

[Påsan]

Pines are everywhere in Greece. If you mean why we have a Christmas tree in Athens it's because it's Christmas.

Never saw any Pines in Greece the times I've been there. But if you say so, Fair enough.

[John ''True Grit'' Wayne]

Santa is from Lapland so why are Germans getting the credit for inventing the holidays.?Lapland is not German.