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| Life-size gingerbread house! |
One of the strangest things about living abroad is being away for the holidays. Christmas is a time of year that is filled with more traditions than any other and being away from home during this time really makes you consider what the most important aspects of the holiday are.
Last year
was my first holiday away from home and it was an odd mix of extreme fun and
extreme disappointment. Things that I would have said really weren't that
important turned out to be some of the things I missed most.
This year is the first year that Orion and I are celebrating Christmas properly
together, and Orion’s first proper Christmas ever – I can’t imagine getting
through 30 years of life without a proper Christmas! But trying to make the
most authentic Christmas possible in China can be a bit of a struggle. Lots of
the things that I consider essential to a true Christmas that don’t really exist
here (mince pies anyone?) so there’s a bit of mix and match going on.
The first port
of call was the Christmas tree, home would not feel Christmassy if there was no
tree with a slowly growing pile of presents underneath. The tree is probably
the part of Chinese Christmas that is most similar to at home. Sure, the tree
only goes up to my waist but it’s still got lights and baubles and the ever
important star on the top. At home the Christmas tree is the first sign that
Christmas is really around the corner, and decorating it with the family is a
much loved tradition and for someone who has been putting up and decorating
Christmas Trees for 23 years, it was strange having to explain the logistics of
decorating an artificial Christmas tree! |
| Oh Rudolf... |
Next to tick off the list was presents, and maybe more importantly a Christmas stocking filled by Santa. I did my Christmas shopping and stacked the presents under the tree and my mum was kind enough to sort a stocking for Orion. Sadly, I had to forego my own stocking but in the end it was much more fun to be on the giving end of the Christmas experience.
A big tradition when I was young was the routine of putting our Christmas stockings out on Christmas Eve and leaving cookies and milk for Santa, and a carrot for Rudolf. And so as it was Orion’s first Christmas I made him do that too! Before we left for our Christmas Eve party we left the treats out for Santa and I did the obligatory nibbling and note writing at 2am when I came back after many cups of mulled wine! I even went as far as leaving some raisins on the floor as a little “accident” left by Rudolf; hilarious at 2am, still funny the next morning.
Unfortunately we missed a trick when neither of us set our alarm clocks and so woke up 20 minutes before Orion had to leave for work (no Christmas holidays here), just enough time to read Santa’s note and open one present quickly. It also turned out Orion decided to play “Chinese Santa” (not a thing) and decided that Chinese Santa’s thing was to leave presents hidden in a draw…what a strange and international Christmas world I live in!
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, was food. Christmas is all about the food, turkey, gravely, stuffing, roast potatoes...the list goes on; and last year was a huge disappointment that (not to be over dramatic) pretty much ruined Christmas for me. This year we were better prepared. At the beginning of December we contacted our local foreign-owned 5-star hotel and booked in for their Christmas buffet. I think it is fair to say they didn't disappoint, they had everything that makes Christmas Christmas plus heaps of other foods that we wouldn't usually get to eat in China. The 300元 a head price tag was a little steep by Chinese standards, but for £30 a pop it was a bargain for me! 
In China your standards for home traditions have to drop a bit, it's never going to be the same as the holidays at home - especially when everyone has different ideas about how it should be; but if had to boil down Christmas into its most essential parts I think we did a pretty good job this year. Over all Christmas this year was much more festive that last year and spending it with the amazing family of friends I've made in Yinchuan was really the icing on the cake, especially when it's going to be my last Christmas in China (at least for a while). But more on that in the New Years!
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