It’s official. It’s Christmas. Get ready for ‘Last Christmas’ on repeat, an overload of nuts, dates and mint/gingerbread flavoured everything, and a general feeling of slight stress, if everything we do isn’t ‘christmassy’.
I love christmas, I really do – But I’m not very good at it. I’m good at the eating and drinking part (who isn’t?), but not so much at the preparation part. When I read other peoples’ blogs, everyone seems to have the entire house decorated on the spot at midnight on December 1st, ready and prepped for lots of christmassy photo shoots of artisan advent presents, home-made elfs, and a constant pot of hot mulled wine at the ready.
Most of the Christmas decorations I own, have been given to me by more christmassy relatives. I’m also quite lucky, as one Dane will normally send over a calendar candle in time for December first (I’m pretty sure this is a Danish tradition, adding to the christmassy stress if you get behind on burning it down, a little bit each day).
Luckily, England is much more about the going-out than the staying-in, compared to Denmark. Denmark is all about ‘hygge‘, preferably in a perfectly decorated Christmassy home. In London, you can rely on other people (mostly pubs or bars) to provide the flawless decoration, which is pretty convenient for someone like me. One thing I don’t get about English christmas though, is how acceptable a plastic tree is. I can’t imagine anything less Christmassy than a plastic Christmas tree, that you pick up from Argos at a discount. And get a ready made bundle of decorations in a ‘theme’ colour while you’re at it. I would rather have no tree at all.
Having said all that, I is more about the feeling than the setting. And I must say, that nothing beats Londoners, or the English in general, at getting together and celebrating.
I do think Christmas will sneak in to our little home sooner or later though. As will a real Christmas tree. And when I sit on the Ryanair plane in a few weeks time, ready to take off to Denmark, I’m sure I’ll be very excited. Excited to see the family, the dog, and the christmas tree with all questionable home-made decorations, that I spent my childhood producing.
