Christmas in Canada [intermediate]

Written by Chris Callaghan

Christmas in Canada is a celebration of consumerism and an orgy of gift giving. It’s also the time of year when people are their best, friendliest, funniest, kindest and most generous selves.

For some, preparations for Christmas begin on Dec. 27 the previous year when they start collecting presents for the next Christmas. After Halloween, things really intensify as people scramble to find that hard-to-find gift for that hard-to-please child, conduct several test experiments as they try-out their new Christmas cake recipe and get pictures taken for the perfect family Christmas card (which will hopefully top last year’s card).

If Christmas were a play November and December would be the rehearsals, Christmas Eve (December 24th) would be the preview and Christmas Day (December 25th) the big premiere.

On Christmas Eve many Canadians gather in the homes of relatives where a Christmas ham is often served, eggnog is consumed by the bowl and presents between grandparents and grandchildren and cousins are exchanged. On the ride home from the relatives over-excited children listen to the radio which reports, with the help of NATO military radar, the exact flight status of Santa Claus as he rounds the globe delivering presents.

On Christmas morning young children often wake well before the break of day (some kids somehow manage to wake-up before they even fall asleep!). First they run to the Christmas tree where they begin a rigorous inspection of the wrapped presents which lie waiting for them. As part of this investigation children shake the presents, measure them and weigh them all in an attempt to guess what it may be. Once the children have a good idea of what their presents will be, they drag their weary parents out of bed and begin the unwrapping. This can often last the entire morning, with new games, toys and chocolates being tested. As a result, by the time the Christmas turkey (along with stuffing and mashed potatoes) is served for lunch in the late afternoon many people don’t even have a real appetite. After the lunchtime feast, the rest of Christmas day is spent recovering on the couch after an exhaustive 24 hours of excessive joy.

In Canada December 26th is called Boxing Day for a reason I cannot explain. Rest assured that, in most cases, it has very little to do with actual fighting amongst family members. On this day people usually visit friends or extended family, left-over turkey is eaten and exchange left-over presents.

On December 27th the stores are open again and unfortunately, on this day people are already a little less friendly, funny, kind and generous. But the good news, however, is that the next Christmas is already just around the corner.

Vocabulary:

consumerism orgy gift kindest generous previous collect intensify as scramble hard-to-find hard-to-please conduct several try-out recipe top if Christmas were a play the rehearsals preview gather consumed by the bowl exchanged on the ride home over excited exact flight status delivering presents well before break of day even rigorous wrapped shake measure weigh attempt guess once drag weary entire as a result feast recovering exhaustive joy explain rest assured actual fighting amongst extended family left-over kind generous

Konsumdenken Orgie Geschenk netteste, freundlichste großzügig vorherig sammeln intensivieren hier: wenn drängeln schwer zu finden schwer zufrieden zu stellen ausführen mehrere ausprobieren Rezept überragen, toppen wenn Weihnachte ein Theaterstück wäre Proben, Hauptproben Probevorführung sich versammeln der Schüssel nach konsumiert ausgetauscht auf dem Weg nach Hause über-aufgeregt genauer Flugstatus Geschenke ausliefern weit vor Tagesanbruch sogar drastisch eingepackt schütteln messen wiegen Versuch raten wenn erst mal schleppen abgekäpft gesamt demzufolge Festmahl erholen erschöpfend Freude erklären sie können sich sicher sein dem tatsächlichen Käpfen unter Großfamilie übriggeblieben freundlich großzügig