December Holiday Celebration Thread

[Boo]

So, for whatever you may be celebrating this December/January: what are you doing this holiday season? New Years included.

I'm celebrating a bit early since I don't see my Dad until early January--we're doing something this weekend. After that... I'll probably be catching up on some chemistry. OH YEAH!...:smallconfused::smallsigh:

(Be wise when discussing religious holidays. THE RULES are watching.)

[scsimodem]

I work and sneer at the same five mainstream Christmas songs that EVERY MUSAK STATION PLAYS FROM MID-OCTOBER TO VALENTINE'S DAY CAN WE PLEASE GET SOME QUEEN OR PINK FLOYD IN HERE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY?!?!?!?!

[Anuan]

Gonna be stuck with my parents, basically.

...Hurrah. :smallsigh:

I love them to pieces, but we don't get along well when we're together.

[arguskos]

Sadly, I'll be with mine too. Not looking forward to it. :smallsigh:

[Dallas-Dakota]

Sinterklaas is aangekomen....

Though I'l probably not celebrating sinterklaas on the fifth.

Yay for dutch-only celebrations ><

[Zeb The Troll]

At this point, it looks like I'll be spending my Christmas solo this year. Alarra will be taking PuddingTroll back to the homelands for that week and I can't go because I have to work Christmas Day. Never fear, however, we have plans! Long ago Belethorien and I have had a tradition of celebrating our Christmas together on January 7th, when the Russian Orthodox celebrate it. We'll be continuing this tradition this year.

As for New Years, the Troll Clan will be venturing south. South East, more precisely, so we can toilet paper the new Hippie Hut (actually, what ARE you guys calling the new place?).

[toasty]

Umm... well let's see...

I get off the 20th for two weeks, during that time I expect to:

Go to Church on Christmas day
Go bowling on Christmas day (do not ask why, but this is what my youth group does. :P)
Play lots of DotA with my friends (who may or may not also have off...)
Stay up all night on New Year's Eve
SLEEP. IN. :smallcool:

[Starscream]

I'm down in Florida working, and all of my family members are up in Ohio. I probably won't be able to go and engage in any holiday cheer until January, because I'm so busy. But plane fares are much cheaper after the holidays, so that's a plus.

Also, I despise driving in snowy weather, and down here it's still getting up to 70 degrees most days. That's another plus. I get to phone up my relatives and talk about how I just went jogging in a t-shirt while they shoveled the driveway in a parka.

[Totally Guy]

We're going to one of the Canary Islands. Abroad as a family. This is the first time we've ever done this, I mean gone abroad together. And at Christmas too.

I'd like to see the sites, volcanic lakes and volcanic rock formed parks...

But I think I'll also slip away from the family and see if I can find a naturist beach. As some of you may recall I experimented with this during the summer. This time I'll probably be alone, so that'll be different.

[KuReshtin]

I have absolutely no plans for the Christmas weekend. I've got a four-day weekend as weäve got both the 24th and 25th off, but I have nothing at all planned. I can't go home to meet the family this year, so unless I find some pals that are stuck in the same boat as me, I guess I'll just be sleeping very late and watch tv all Christmas weekend.

I will get the annual work Christmas lunch/smorgasbord sorted for probably the 22nd or 23rd of December.

For New Years, I'm heading across country (well, the 85 miles across country) to go to a couple of friends' place for some festivities and GH:WT fun.

[Deth Muncher]

I've always wanted to experience Sinterklaas. Curse my living in the US.

Anyway, my plans are:

Hang out with my dad on his birthday (the 16th).
Probably hang out with him until Christmas, unless it turns out I'm still allergic to my house, in which case I'll be hanging with my mom.
Speaking of, I'll have to visit my mom for eight nights in December to celebrate Jews kicking ass. (http://judaism.about.com/od/chanukah/a/hanukkahstory.htm)*
New Years will be as it has been for the last few years: travel to a small town in Florida with my best friend and his family and rock out with our roosters out. Not really. But seriously.

*Please note that that link is not of a religious nature, it's of a historical nature.

[Katana_Geldar]

I will be at my grandmas on christmas day with my dad and my two sisters. The family get together for everyone is on the 20th.

Not sure about New Years yet.

[Cobra_Ikari]

Family vacation from immediately after finals until right after Christmas. I hate family vacations. >.<

Ah, well. Still need to figure out when I can pick up gifts for friends, too. Cobra's bad at that.

[arguskos]

Oh. Yeah. New Years. I'll probably be spending it asleep, like I usually do, enjoying lack of people. I'd write more, but I'm in my spiteful and self-loathing phase of the mental breakdown progression. Wheeeeee, holidays suck! :smallbiggrin::smallsigh::smallfrown:

[Mary Leathert]

Well, my university semester ends at 11th (though I may be having one test even after that). When I don't have to go to the university anymore, I will go to stay with my family for the rest of the year.

Before it's Christmas Eve, there will be lots of present-buying, house-cleaning, etc. All those things you have to do to be ready for Christmas. Good thing my mom isn't a fanatic about these things.

Then, when it's Christmas Eve, we celebrate. Because here in Finland, Christmas Eve is the big day of the holiday season. I don't know why, but that's when we have a big dinner, and after that, deal out the presents. Of yeah, and go to sauna before noon. That's also a tradition, in our family at least. (If it was any other day, sauna would be in the evening.) Also, usually before we go to our father's place, our grandfather takes us to the graveyard to leave some candles on the graves of relatives.

Then, on Christmas day, there will be dinner at my other parents place, and more presents. This is because they're divorced, so me and my brothers will have Christmas celebrations twice. Whether its mother on the Eve and Father on the Day or the other way around depends on when they're working. (My mother is a nurse, she has to work during Christmas).

On Boxing Day, probably yet more visiting relatives and dinner. At that point, I'm getting quite bored of the traditional foods because I'm a vegetarian, and many of them contain meat (a large ham is usually the king of Finnish Christmas table).

Traditionally, New Years Eve includes fireworks, casting tin and, well, not much else. It's mostly about the fireworks. But this year, my friends from all over the country (there are six of us) will be coming to our town, and we will have fun together. Playing video games, drawing silly things, making weird inside jokes, all around enjoying ourselves.

[Eldan]

Sinterklaas is aangekomen....

Though I'l probably not celebrating sinterklaas on the fifth.

Yay for dutch-only celebrations ><


Not really that exculsive... Samichlaus is on the 6th here, but probably about the same celebration. :smallsmile:

Though, from reading wikipedia, you make a lot more fuss about it. Here, we just have him come to each house individually, telling children if they were naughty or nice and handing out presents. No big national celebration.

[HotAndCold]

The usual holiday routine for me, opening the presents from Dad's side of the family on Christmas Eve night, then off on Christmas Day to celebrate it with Mom's side of the family, though it'll be at my Aunt's house this year instead of Grandma's.