Christmas is a celebrated time almost everywhere in the world. And tomorrow we’re going to be talking about different traditions and facts from countries all around the world but first I wanted to talk about a few traditions that we’ve adopted as a family from around the world. To be fair, it’s not that many yet. But we’ve only just begun, Andrew is 2 so is just now starting to look forward to Christmas and understand it’s different than just another day. As we travel more during the holidays as a family and find more traditions that we enjoy we’ll definitely add more.
KFC for Christmas
So this is a new tradition for us but one that we’ve adopted after only being in Japan for a few months. It’s so strange, but then again, it makes sense. I love traditional Christmas dinners or turkey or sometimes roast beef or ham with all of the sides. But, especially when it’s just me, Steve, and 2 kids that really don’t eat any of that, it can start to feel like a lot of work on a day that I just want to hang out, drink some hot chocolate, or wine… watch Christmas movies and play with the kids and their new toys. So when Japan said it’s cool for us to eat takeout on Christmas I was like… where do I sign up? If we can find a KFC that’s open on Christmas wherever we live next we might just make this a forever tradition and do our big meal on Christmas Eve to leave the big day as relaxing as possible.
Exchanging Books
Again, this is one that is a recent tradition for us. In Iceland there’s a tradition called “Jólabókaflóðið:” the annual Yule Book Flood. (pronounced YO-la-bok-a-flothe) They give each other a book on December 24thand spend the rest of the night reading. THIS IS MY JAM. Not only is that a personal preference for how I’d like to spend the night before Christmas, but something that I’d like to instill in my kids.
Visit a Christmas Market
I’m not sure if this is really a tradition we’ve adopted or just something we like to do. But because Christmas markets tend to be thought of as European we’re going to say that we’ve adopted this as a tradition from Europe, in general, I guess. But there’s nothing cozier than walking around in the cold with a hot drink, smelling all of the holiday fare, and looking for trinkets to further deck out your home.
Try Christmas Deserts
I’m not really a baker but I do love some British Bake Off. And one thing I like that they do is try deserts from different countries. We also like to cook dishes from different locations so it’s only fitting that we try out some of the sweater things.
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