As I stated in a previous posts, the Canadians I had been talking to thought they really went "all out" for Christmas and Americans really celebrated Thanksgiving more. I haven't noticed a big difference. In town, they had a Santa parade, which we did not attend. I pert-near froze to death at a Santa parade in IL one year, so I was not going to attempt one up here. The zoo/park has a light display (we went during the day when it is free & then we could see the animals; we just envisioned what the lights would look like). I'm still a big upset about seeing the lion in the cold. A descent amount of houses have outdoor lights, but I wouldn't say it's more than in the U.S.
I have noticed that the stores carry a ton of Christmas Crackers like these:
It's an English tradition of pulling these apart with toys/candy inside.
They also seem to really like tarts, as in lemon or apple tarts. I suppose that is also an English thing.
We were invited to a 90-some-year-old couple's house from church where they had a ton of tarts to go with coffee. They also offered us Norwegian goat cheese as they thought it would be something we were familiar with, but in fact we had never tried it. At first I thought it was sliced peanut butter on bread, but it was this cheese. We both like most cheese & like regular goat cheese, so it wasn't too bad.
Looking forward to heading across Canada this week for Christmas. Eric's work Christmas party is Tues night, so we plant to head out early Wed. morning, with hopes for zero precipitation. Our goal is to make it to Winnipeg or further the first day; the total should be around 14-16 hours.
We are so excited to:
*see as many family members and friends as possible
*play games
*eat fish fry, a sandwich from the Country Shoppe in Colfax, & maybe some real hashbrowns
*eat Mexican food and/or good barbequed food
*see our IL friends and other friends in Madison mid-week
*enjoy multiple Christmas gatherings
*enjoy favorite holiday foods & slush
*shopping day with my sister; looking forward to the cheaper price tags..
*relax with family
So thankful we are able to spend a good amount of time at home for Christmas this year! It worked out well with Eric's break & since I cannot work yet. I really don't know what we do if we had less time, because we will be very busy as it is. We plan to take off driving back on the 28th, as Eric starts the second semester right at the start of the new year.
Hi & Merry Christmas again! Have a fun filled vacation-sounds like it will be great.Lot of movement(burning calories:) eating yummy food and great memories being made while doing it:-)We had our family Sunday dinner(every other Sun.) tonite and played "Apples to Apples".Great game,btw:) Cody won, the food was awesome, and the Bears lost!The laughter through out the house, made me stop for a second, just to say "thank you God". What fun memories to be able to look back on. And it's not even Christmas yet! So don't forget the important things in life- like Family! You are on the right track,make every second count! I miss you and your accent, but I tried to think of you speaking as I read your blog:-) It made me smile! Well, take care of yourself and spread the Christmas cheer around..it goes so fast! Hugs to Eric and God bless you both,Love, Bill & Judy
ReplyDeletehold on a second....what's with all the english stuff? i thought canada was partly french?? maybe i missed out on this part in school???
ReplyDeletei'm so jealous you guys get to go home for christmas. please drive safe and have fun!