Christmas in England is very different. For starters it is freezing, although this is also a bonus as you can wear an awesome Christmas Jumper like I did. Another difference is the build-up on the 24th, I watched a Christmas Pantomime (a musical production) with my host family and some of their friends. The show was enjoyable, afterwards we drove to St Luke’s Church and attended the ritual known as Christingle. Christingle involved a short service where everybody receives a symbolic decorated orange and candle (I have put a photo below). I departed the Church with my host family and went home, after finishing wrapping my presents we left for a family friends house. We arrived at James house after a quick drive, Emily and I went upstairs and hung out with the other teenagers whilst the parents stayed downstairs. The final part of Christmas Eve was Midnight Mass, although I am not highly religious the Church was beautiful as it was lit entirely by candles. I was very tired after the service concluded, I went straight to bed. I awoke a couple hours later a little tired, together with my host family we all opened our presents. My host sisters definitely liked their Australian Hoodies, and my host parents liked their Australian Cap and T-shirt.
After putting our presents away my host family started preparing for Christmas Dinner (a significant meal at 2 or 3pm), the dinner was very delicious. I enjoyed the Yorkshire Pudding (which is an English side dish made from batter consisting of eggs, flour, and milk). Not spending Christmas with my family was definitely difficult although my host family made me feel very welcome. My Australian family was unable to Skype as they were in remote Ski Lanka, this made things tougher as I felt a little lonely not speaking or seeing my family on Christmas. Overall I highly enjoyed Christmas in England (even the cold weather) and I apologize if this post is a little confusing talking about two families. J I will update soon on my future endeavours.
-Bella
After putting our presents away my host family started preparing for Christmas Dinner (a significant meal at 2 or 3pm), the dinner was very delicious. I enjoyed the Yorkshire Pudding (which is an English side dish made from batter consisting of eggs, flour, and milk). Not spending Christmas with my family was definitely difficult although my host family made me feel very welcome. My Australian family was unable to Skype as they were in remote Ski Lanka, this made things tougher as I felt a little lonely not speaking or seeing my family on Christmas. Overall I highly enjoyed Christmas in England (even the cold weather) and I apologize if this post is a little confusing talking about two families. J I will update soon on my future endeavours.
-Bella