Ahh Christmas...that was a memorable experience, there were some good parts, there were some bad parts, but I will never forget my first christmas away from home.
Bare in mind that the summer season in Chile is December-February, but of course, christmas is still celebrated within the same time period. Now whereas I previously complained about how cold the winter was, the summer is scorching. There is no middle ground in terms of weather out here; you are either wrapped up as tightly as a mummy in several layers of thick coats, scarves, gloves, headbands, etc; or you are boiling, so boiling than wearing any piece of clothing feels like too much.
Christmas, however, was weird. I am used to the occasional bit of snow, but mostly the miserable rain and dark cloud skies that accompany the winter back in Swansea. Here however, I woke up on Christmas to Skype my parents, and they had a bit of a surprise seeing me wearing my sunglasses, with the window open and me sweating like a pig.
The streets were not decorated, there was no snow, no humid air, no christmas jumpers...or really any christmas clothes for that reason. The only festiveness to be seen was in the adverts of different companies trying to force their products down your throat.
The fact of the matter is that while christmas can be more community focused in the UK, with parades, decorations, special christmas-tree turn-on events and several great charity fundraisers, Chileans hold their families as their greatest value. For this reason, christmas does not tend to be celebrated outside of the home.
Walking along the streets of downtown Santiago on christmas eve, through the dry and sun-scorched streets, was a punishing experience. Admittedly, it did not feel like christmas and I felt a bit homesick. On the plus side, I got a good tan out of it. The only thing which made me feel the slightest bit festive was the small tree in my house, with messages from all the 30 people who were living there written on small cards dangling from each of the branches. Most people had left to go back to their own countries, and the cards served as a great reminder of the awesome experiences I have had and the fantastic friends I had made, many of which I am grateful to still be in touch with 5 months later.
Fortunately, I was not spending christmas alone. In my house remained one chilean guy, a girl from Spain and two mexicans, the last of which I actually spent New Year’s with as well, but that’s a whole different crazy story. Whilst the heat was cruel, at least I knew on my way back home I had some great company to go back to. We were all in the same situation, even the Chilean guy whose family lived in a different city. This was a weird christmas and we knew it, the time would be what we made of it. It really made us value how spirit is the core to a great Christmas. Great company and a smile is all you need to make the day special.
So one of the most memorable moments for me was the moment I arrived back home after my stroll through Santiago. It was funny, a moment of genuine surprise, humor, but at the same time, a fair bit of guilt. When I got home, I waltzed into the kitchen and found that the 4 people I would be spending the holidays with were all very hard at work. That is, they were hard at work cleaning up the mess that was left over after they had finished cooking christmas dinner. I was actually confused, why were they cooking the Turkey on Christmas Eve? I was all up for helping out, although for those of you who know me well, my cooking is not great so my contribution to christmas dinner would have been minimal, although I do not want to toot my own horn, but I am a hell of a dishwasher.
When I walked in, they were slightly annoyed; I would be too if it had been someone else who was slacking. However, I think the genuine look of surprise on my face convinced them that I actually had no idea what was going on. The Chilean guy may have forgotten to mention to me that in Chile, it is normal to eat the dinner on christmas eve, as well as exchange presents. Whereas I used to think it was so the kids were so full they will go into a deep sleep so santa can get by unnoticed, I recently asked around on a Facebook group called The Chile Experience and found out something different.
People say it is for several reasons, causing somewhat of a debate. Some say it is because christmas day is too hot to eat a massive dinner, while others say it is rooted in the Spanish (European) tradition of doing the same (although gifts are not opened until Día de los Reyes in January in Spain). One reason I particularly enjoy because it is more cultural, is that usually at midnight, the kids hear a noise and so they run outside to look for Santa. While this is happening, Santa sneaks in by sliding down the chimney (probably made a lot easier given how much he would be sweating in the heat) and puts the presents under the tree, so that when the kids come back in they see the gifts as having been magically placed under the tree. Presents are then opened after midnight, and given the heat the kids can stay up and play for a while.
Christmas day then, is not really celebrated. Everything is done on christmas eve so that the 25th can be a day of relaxation. You can wake up when you want (I chose to wake up around 3pm I think), do what you want and not have to spend the day worrying about the turkey.
So, moving on, we sat down to eat almost as soon as I got in. I got home around 9, and as my contribution, I set the table for about 10pm (I’m a pro at doing this now too). It was a feast: stuffed turkey, plenty of vegetables, spectacular spuds and a heck of a lot of alcohol. I’m talking Tequila, Micheladas (a beer with lemon, salt and tabasco sauce for the hardcore), Rum, Whiskey, Wine and Pisco (the most popular alcohol in Chile which is kind of like Vodka, but better). Needless to say, we finished it ALL.
The dinner was classy and civilised, a nice glass of wine to start the night off, with some great, festive music from all of our different cultures. I think that was my favourite aspect of christmas this year. I never thought I would say that I spent my christmas at a table with mexicans, chileans and spaniards. It was a learning experience, and I’m sure they would say the same having now spent it with someone from Britain. We exchanged our favourite christmas stories, and talked about our distinct cultures and traditions. The one thing we all had in common however, was the desire to party all night long and finish every last drop of alcohol...and weirdly...the desire to dance (granted this came at around 3 in the morning).
After our dinner, we were joined by two Russian guys who were also living in the house at the time. We hadn’t really spoken much before and did not know they would be around for christmas, but it was still great of them to join us. So we kept drinking, and at around 3am, someone, not me, pitched the idea to turn on Just Dance videos on Youtube and encouraged us to all start dancing. This went on until an astounding 7am, with me and one of the mexicans being the last guys standing. Everyone else was still up with us, although we were the only 2 still enthused by the dancing. Personal highlights included Danza Kuduro and Ra-Ra Rasputin. Fortunately, and actually quite spectacularly, nobody fell over, got dancers’ hip or passed out. Pretty sure the dancing burnt off the christmas dinner.
The night had to end though, and we went to bed around 7am. I emerged fully clothed, wrapped up in my bed like a pig in a blanket, at around 3pm with a not too terrible pounding feeling in my head. The first thing I did was skype the parents, something I thought they would be excited about. My mum answered, yawning like crazy. In the background, I could see my brother fast asleep on the sofa with his jaw wide open with enough drool running down his face to fill a dam. My dad was not too different. He actually spoke to me for 2 seconds before falling asleep during our conversation. I had a good conversation with my mum, the time gap may have only been 3 hours, but it made a big difference. We spoke for about 20 minutes, but she was so tired I let her go to sleep. Ironically, the day was just beginning for me.
So, how do you cure a hangover and have an enjoyable christmas day? Apparently, the conclusion we all came to was to finish off all the leftover alcohol, which was still quite a substantial amount, and start digging into all the leftover food. Our logic goes like this; alcohol is a temporary cure. You should not be hungover on christmas day, you should be energetic and enthusiastic. Therefore, we should take the temporary solution, and suffer with a double hangover on the 26th, a day which nobody really cared about.
With that solution effectively in place, we all took to the front room where we watched Elf, Love Actually and a few cheeky episodes of Courage the Cowardly Dog (more Halloween-ish, but who cares right?). We watched them in Spanish though, so it was not a completely Americanised day, I just could not accept that these people had never seen Elf, it was deprivation of the highest degree.
We laughed, we drank, we suffered, we drank some more, we ate, and we had a great time. Christmas day itself was short and sweet, with us all admitting defeat and heading to bed around midnight for a great sleep. Over the next few days, we said our farewells as they were all going back to their countries whereas I still had 6 months left. These farewells did not come before taking a New Years trip down to a surfing town called Pichilemu with the Mexicans, a topic which will be the content for my next article.
Overall, christmas eve I woke up homesick and not very festive. This all changed when I came home, and it gave me the most weirdly wonderful christmas experience ever. My close-mindedness showed in not thinking about the possibility of celebrating on christmas eve, but as the year has gone by, I truly believe I have developed into a more culturally aware, wiser and more worldly person. I hope I get to experience a similar Christmas again in the future!
Bare in mind that the summer season in Chile is December-February, but of course, christmas is still celebrated within the same time period. Now whereas I previously complained about how cold the winter was, the summer is scorching. There is no middle ground in terms of weather out here; you are either wrapped up as tightly as a mummy in several layers of thick coats, scarves, gloves, headbands, etc; or you are boiling, so boiling than wearing any piece of clothing feels like too much.
Christmas, however, was weird. I am used to the occasional bit of snow, but mostly the miserable rain and dark cloud skies that accompany the winter back in Swansea. Here however, I woke up on Christmas to Skype my parents, and they had a bit of a surprise seeing me wearing my sunglasses, with the window open and me sweating like a pig.
The streets were not decorated, there was no snow, no humid air, no christmas jumpers...or really any christmas clothes for that reason. The only festiveness to be seen was in the adverts of different companies trying to force their products down your throat.
The fact of the matter is that while christmas can be more community focused in the UK, with parades, decorations, special christmas-tree turn-on events and several great charity fundraisers, Chileans hold their families as their greatest value. For this reason, christmas does not tend to be celebrated outside of the home.
Walking along the streets of downtown Santiago on christmas eve, through the dry and sun-scorched streets, was a punishing experience. Admittedly, it did not feel like christmas and I felt a bit homesick. On the plus side, I got a good tan out of it. The only thing which made me feel the slightest bit festive was the small tree in my house, with messages from all the 30 people who were living there written on small cards dangling from each of the branches. Most people had left to go back to their own countries, and the cards served as a great reminder of the awesome experiences I have had and the fantastic friends I had made, many of which I am grateful to still be in touch with 5 months later.
Fortunately, I was not spending christmas alone. In my house remained one chilean guy, a girl from Spain and two mexicans, the last of which I actually spent New Year’s with as well, but that’s a whole different crazy story. Whilst the heat was cruel, at least I knew on my way back home I had some great company to go back to. We were all in the same situation, even the Chilean guy whose family lived in a different city. This was a weird christmas and we knew it, the time would be what we made of it. It really made us value how spirit is the core to a great Christmas. Great company and a smile is all you need to make the day special.
So one of the most memorable moments for me was the moment I arrived back home after my stroll through Santiago. It was funny, a moment of genuine surprise, humor, but at the same time, a fair bit of guilt. When I got home, I waltzed into the kitchen and found that the 4 people I would be spending the holidays with were all very hard at work. That is, they were hard at work cleaning up the mess that was left over after they had finished cooking christmas dinner. I was actually confused, why were they cooking the Turkey on Christmas Eve? I was all up for helping out, although for those of you who know me well, my cooking is not great so my contribution to christmas dinner would have been minimal, although I do not want to toot my own horn, but I am a hell of a dishwasher.
When I walked in, they were slightly annoyed; I would be too if it had been someone else who was slacking. However, I think the genuine look of surprise on my face convinced them that I actually had no idea what was going on. The Chilean guy may have forgotten to mention to me that in Chile, it is normal to eat the dinner on christmas eve, as well as exchange presents. Whereas I used to think it was so the kids were so full they will go into a deep sleep so santa can get by unnoticed, I recently asked around on a Facebook group called The Chile Experience and found out something different.
People say it is for several reasons, causing somewhat of a debate. Some say it is because christmas day is too hot to eat a massive dinner, while others say it is rooted in the Spanish (European) tradition of doing the same (although gifts are not opened until Día de los Reyes in January in Spain). One reason I particularly enjoy because it is more cultural, is that usually at midnight, the kids hear a noise and so they run outside to look for Santa. While this is happening, Santa sneaks in by sliding down the chimney (probably made a lot easier given how much he would be sweating in the heat) and puts the presents under the tree, so that when the kids come back in they see the gifts as having been magically placed under the tree. Presents are then opened after midnight, and given the heat the kids can stay up and play for a while.
Christmas day then, is not really celebrated. Everything is done on christmas eve so that the 25th can be a day of relaxation. You can wake up when you want (I chose to wake up around 3pm I think), do what you want and not have to spend the day worrying about the turkey.
So, moving on, we sat down to eat almost as soon as I got in. I got home around 9, and as my contribution, I set the table for about 10pm (I’m a pro at doing this now too). It was a feast: stuffed turkey, plenty of vegetables, spectacular spuds and a heck of a lot of alcohol. I’m talking Tequila, Micheladas (a beer with lemon, salt and tabasco sauce for the hardcore), Rum, Whiskey, Wine and Pisco (the most popular alcohol in Chile which is kind of like Vodka, but better). Needless to say, we finished it ALL.
The dinner was classy and civilised, a nice glass of wine to start the night off, with some great, festive music from all of our different cultures. I think that was my favourite aspect of christmas this year. I never thought I would say that I spent my christmas at a table with mexicans, chileans and spaniards. It was a learning experience, and I’m sure they would say the same having now spent it with someone from Britain. We exchanged our favourite christmas stories, and talked about our distinct cultures and traditions. The one thing we all had in common however, was the desire to party all night long and finish every last drop of alcohol...and weirdly...the desire to dance (granted this came at around 3 in the morning).
After our dinner, we were joined by two Russian guys who were also living in the house at the time. We hadn’t really spoken much before and did not know they would be around for christmas, but it was still great of them to join us. So we kept drinking, and at around 3am, someone, not me, pitched the idea to turn on Just Dance videos on Youtube and encouraged us to all start dancing. This went on until an astounding 7am, with me and one of the mexicans being the last guys standing. Everyone else was still up with us, although we were the only 2 still enthused by the dancing. Personal highlights included Danza Kuduro and Ra-Ra Rasputin. Fortunately, and actually quite spectacularly, nobody fell over, got dancers’ hip or passed out. Pretty sure the dancing burnt off the christmas dinner.
The night had to end though, and we went to bed around 7am. I emerged fully clothed, wrapped up in my bed like a pig in a blanket, at around 3pm with a not too terrible pounding feeling in my head. The first thing I did was skype the parents, something I thought they would be excited about. My mum answered, yawning like crazy. In the background, I could see my brother fast asleep on the sofa with his jaw wide open with enough drool running down his face to fill a dam. My dad was not too different. He actually spoke to me for 2 seconds before falling asleep during our conversation. I had a good conversation with my mum, the time gap may have only been 3 hours, but it made a big difference. We spoke for about 20 minutes, but she was so tired I let her go to sleep. Ironically, the day was just beginning for me.
So, how do you cure a hangover and have an enjoyable christmas day? Apparently, the conclusion we all came to was to finish off all the leftover alcohol, which was still quite a substantial amount, and start digging into all the leftover food. Our logic goes like this; alcohol is a temporary cure. You should not be hungover on christmas day, you should be energetic and enthusiastic. Therefore, we should take the temporary solution, and suffer with a double hangover on the 26th, a day which nobody really cared about.
With that solution effectively in place, we all took to the front room where we watched Elf, Love Actually and a few cheeky episodes of Courage the Cowardly Dog (more Halloween-ish, but who cares right?). We watched them in Spanish though, so it was not a completely Americanised day, I just could not accept that these people had never seen Elf, it was deprivation of the highest degree.
We laughed, we drank, we suffered, we drank some more, we ate, and we had a great time. Christmas day itself was short and sweet, with us all admitting defeat and heading to bed around midnight for a great sleep. Over the next few days, we said our farewells as they were all going back to their countries whereas I still had 6 months left. These farewells did not come before taking a New Years trip down to a surfing town called Pichilemu with the Mexicans, a topic which will be the content for my next article.
Overall, christmas eve I woke up homesick and not very festive. This all changed when I came home, and it gave me the most weirdly wonderful christmas experience ever. My close-mindedness showed in not thinking about the possibility of celebrating on christmas eve, but as the year has gone by, I truly believe I have developed into a more culturally aware, wiser and more worldly person. I hope I get to experience a similar Christmas again in the future!