This holiday season we celebrated our first Christmas away from home AND our first Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere. Everything about the lead up to Christmas and Christmas itself was a cultural experience.
1) Christmas Hype: Relative to home, there is very little hype leading up to Christmas - sparse and modest decorations (except in the malls), little if any Christmas music on the radio, an absence of the usual Christmas movies and specials on TV, etc. Also, at home we are accustomed to an endless stream of parties on the weekends throughout December and without friends/family nearby it was very quiet. Combine this with warm weather and it didn't feel like Christmas at all, until Christmas was actually upon us!
2) Work Parties: Our work parties were also very different than in Canada. Jeremy didn't really have an office party and I didn't attend Deloitte's party - long story, but essentially it was late (10 PM-5 AM), far (not actually in the city) and we were not allowed to bring spouses, so I opted out this year - getting lost in the middle of the night in the countryside by myself was something I didn't feel up to risking! Jeremy took William and Jackson to the Kinross kids' party - which was held on two days notice and occurred during the afternoon, on a weekday, in the office. Deloitte had a kids party, but similar to Kinross, it was held on a Friday morning at a theme park and everyone was expected to take their kids for a couple hours, return them to their homes and go to work for 1 PM. Again, I opted out - I couldn't fathom the logistics of doing this for a few hours of benefit and getting myself to work in one piece. Put it this way - we will have a whole new level of appreciation for the Christmas parties when we return to Toronto!
3) Christmas Feast: We surveyed friends and colleagues in an attempt to determine what a traditional Chilean Christmas dinner consists of. As it turns out, there is no typical feast - everyone does something different. We settled on a compromise; a traditional Canadian turkey dinner on Christmas Eve and Chilean BBQ on Christmas Day. Our turkey dinner was somewhat sabotoged by the fact that we couldn't locate a fresh turkey on Christmas Eve (despite earlier assurances that they were common), so we settled on a pre-cooked turkey.
Alison's parents arrived a week before Christmas, so it was wonderful celebrating with family in a different setting. We also hosted some friends who recently relocated to Santiago on Christmas day, which also made it special. Despite the worries of the boys, Santa made it safely from the North Pole to deliver gifts, including a cute black bunny rabbit who William named "Nightmare" - we're hoping he doesn't live up to his name! Santa enjoyed the Crystal (beer) that William left with him along with milk and cookies, figuring that Santa would need extra fuel for his long ride.
We hope you all had a safe and Merry Christmas, where ever you may have been! Although we enjoyed our Chilean Christmas, our thoughts and hearts were with you.
No comments:
Post a Comment