It is nearing the end of my first term working as an English Language Assistant in primary schools in France. This week I have been talking about and doing activities based around Christmas traditions in England. A main theme of my lessons has been food, my pupils have been really interested to see the differences between the food that we eat in England at Christmas and the food that is eaten in France at Christmas. Now, of course all families have their own Christmas traditions and we all eat different things, but I thought I would share with you the meal that my family eat on Christmas day. We eat our Christmas dinner normally around 1p.m. To start off the meal we have butternut squash and sweet potato soup topped with crème fraiche and nutmeg. For the main course we have roast turkey, roast potatoes, Brussel sprouts, roasted carrots and parsnips, stuffing and pigs in blankets (sausages wrapped in bacon).
For dessert we either have Christmas pudding and custard or chocolate torte and ice cream. I always choose the chocolate as I do not like the taste of Christmas pudding, it is covered in brandy which is a liquor that has a very strong taste. To finish the meal we have coffee and mince pies. After this very large meal, we usually do a Christmas quiz. We spend Christmas with our friends and we usually have two teams that is either boys against girls or adults versus youngsters. I am very competitive and always get very excited for the quiz. We are a very lively bunch and dance late into the night to Christmas songs.
Christmas is a great time of year, as you get to relax and spend quality time with your friends and family. One of my favourite parts of Christmas is all the festive food that we get to eat. This is the first time that I have been in another country other than the UK in the festive period and I love being able to see the differences in the ways different countries celebrate Christmas. France starts its festivities a lot later than Norwich (the place where I live in England); all of the Christmas lights are up but they have not been switched on yet. Next week there is a Christmas market and ice-skating rink in the city near by me. I am very excited to enjoy some festivities with the other assistants. I am looking forward to heading home to enjoy Christmas there as well. This year is great as I get to experience Christmas in two countries.
What is your favourite part of the Christmas period?
