Snow falling outside. Metres of it outside the kitchen door. Wire, christmas light covered deer. And the sound of the giant snow plow as it passes.
Am I dreaming of a White Christmas?
Well, it came and went and the remainders lie in a cake tin on the kitchen counter. Christmas sure was different this year! I spent it in La Baie, Saguenay, Quebec, where they end each sentence with "laa laa" and eat sandwiches on Christmas Eve - "le reveillon." It was a great experience spending Christmas with my ex-neighbour and her lively, bright, Canadian-French family! Although I am thousands of miles from home, it felt like I was even closer as so many of the rituals were the same. The eat eat eating and drink drink drinking; afternoon naps, laughing and singing and kitchen conversations; the coming together of a family, young and old. But there was one large twist...
Instead of doors and windows wide open in an attempt to catch any slight breeze as the hot sun shines through, they were kept closed as the heater worked its warm spell. Instead of the familiar summer day spent in between the pool and verandah table; Christmas was in a warm house as snow kept falling, adding to the large mounds it had already created outside. I was not dreaming of a white Christmas.
So, this is the forth Christmas I have not spent "normally" with family on a hot summer day and I learn more and more how much I love the South African Christmas and the people with whom I would usually share it.
Merry Christmas to all!
Home in 9 sleeps!
Am I dreaming of a White Christmas?
Well, it came and went and the remainders lie in a cake tin on the kitchen counter. Christmas sure was different this year! I spent it in La Baie, Saguenay, Quebec, where they end each sentence with "laa laa" and eat sandwiches on Christmas Eve - "le reveillon." It was a great experience spending Christmas with my ex-neighbour and her lively, bright, Canadian-French family! Although I am thousands of miles from home, it felt like I was even closer as so many of the rituals were the same. The eat eat eating and drink drink drinking; afternoon naps, laughing and singing and kitchen conversations; the coming together of a family, young and old. But there was one large twist...
Instead of doors and windows wide open in an attempt to catch any slight breeze as the hot sun shines through, they were kept closed as the heater worked its warm spell. Instead of the familiar summer day spent in between the pool and verandah table; Christmas was in a warm house as snow kept falling, adding to the large mounds it had already created outside. I was not dreaming of a white Christmas.
So, this is the forth Christmas I have not spent "normally" with family on a hot summer day and I learn more and more how much I love the South African Christmas and the people with whom I would usually share it.
Merry Christmas to all!
Home in 9 sleeps!
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