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[turtleman534]

what are you doing for the holidays? either you celebrate Christmas or Hanuka etc.


do you have any traditions you always do?

[Kokuma]

I'm going to my dad's place. He lives in countryside (4 miles to nearest store ) where's large fields surrounding the farmyard, forest in horizon and small lake nearby.

My aunt comes there with her 9yo and 16yo children like she has done in past 5-6 years when spending holidays. This year they manage to stay only from 23th of Dec to 26th cause of her work, usually they stay longer near to New Year.

We go to pick Christmastree from our own forest (dad has sold or rent most of his lands away after he gave out being a farmer in the middle of 90's but we have still small area of woods left for getting Christmastrees ). Thou it's becoming more and more difficult to find good right-size firtree or pine from there every year cause the area's only about two hectacres. 3 years ago dad bought plastic Christmastree but I threw it into the carage cause I want to have real tree in the house when I'm spending holidays there...

I also visit my cousins who live next door. They are 18, 16 and 12yo with 4yo cute little sister whose only one in the house to be childly excited of the Christmas and presents. Her 12yo brother is of course also awaiting to see if he gets new ATB bike (he gots offroad biking as hobby) which he've been wanting since summer.
This 4yo sister is so cute when she's opening her presents. She wants to open them at same time and quickly in a row and then being bit confused with what to play first cause there's so many new toys and things like hair pins and coloring books =)

This year I get 2 weeks holiday from college. From 21th of December until 8th of January. Usually school starts again just after New Year (3rd of Jan.) but this time I get long rest from the school and have plenty of time to go skiing and skating and doing my unfinished school projects before I have to go back to campus in January.

Our Christmas is usually really peaceful and harmonical there in the middle of snowy fields. We eat leftover Christmas foods for couple of days, explore our new presents, do long walks into the woods and just have a good time as it should be in Holidays.

edit: fixing some typos and grammar bugs

[turtleman534]

oh that seems wonderful. its been my dream to have Christmas with my family somewhere near the woods when it is snowing and all that nice stuff.  I bet its like a winter wonderland over there.

well for me its nothing that nice.

i go over to my grandmothers house in Santa Barbara Christmas eve to have a nice dinner and open some presents with my moms family.  then we go back and go to sleep and wake up Christmas morning and relax, open presents and just have a nice Christmas.

I'm looking foreward to it this year

[Elana]

The only Christmases I've had have been when I was dating Christian boys. One time I was dating a boy from northern California, so I spent Christmas with his family there. They also lived on a large plot of land (although not quite as isolated as your dad's, Kokuma), and they would always cut their own Christmas tree. I remember how awful it was to hang ornaments, because wild pine trees (at least in northern California) still have toxins in their spines and we both got rashes on our hands and arms!

[turtleman534]

ehh. that sounds like it would take all the fun from hanging up decorations

[Bojko]

I have a lot of things planned for this Christmas.

My boyfriend Jarrad is driving down with his family (he lives on the top of Western Australia, in a small town) and I was invited to spend Christmas with them since I wont be going home, that's awfully nice of them. I miss him a lot, it's going to be great to spend time with him.

My Dad is also flying over for Christmas, I haven't seen him for about a year and a half, I miss him terribly too! Aaah!

So yes, lots of love to be shared around Christmas, lots of hugs and sadly.. goodbyes once more afterwards. But it'll be nice.

[Kokuma]

I remember how awful it was to hang ornaments, because wild pine trees (at least in northern California) still have toxins in their spines and we both got rashes on our hands and arms!

Northern hemipshere conifers don't do that. I think that sap/toxins extraction through the trunk and branches is related to the higher temperature in sothern hemipshere.
Northern conifer trees extract sap only when their trunk is wounded and they cover the wound with sap that acts bit like band-aid.

Only worse feature in northern conifers is that they are da*n spiky which, as far as I know, is not problem with southern conifers as their needles are softer.

I've always wanted to get 'real' Christmastree cause they smell so "woody" and natural, and you can't get that same smell with burning "forest smellinng" scent candles or aroma oils.

[Jiro]

I'll go to the church and then go home, and then sleep...
The next day I'll just watch special Christmas movie series or something...
and then at the 27th we're going to Singapore and celebrate new year and Late Christmas Shopping over there LOL!

[TigerLily013]

Well not sure what is going to happen as of yet, but every year, Toni (who's very close friends of the family) is throwing her yearly get together on christmas eve. We usually go to that and stay pretty late. It's gonna be even more awesome this year because my nephew (I call him my nephew, he's not biologically related) will be there. He was born on halloween, and it'll be nice to see Shelley (Toni's daughter) again and such.

Christmas day? Dunno. My guess we'd go up to Hamilton to see my aunt and uncle and cousins, as well as my grandmother. No idea yet. But as soon as I find out, we'll let you know.

[Elana]

I remember how awful it was to hang ornaments, because wild pine trees (at least in northern California) still have toxins in their spines and we both got rashes on our hands and arms!

Northern hemipshere conifers don't do that. I think that sap/toxins extraction through the trunk and branches is related to the higher temperature in sothern hemipshere.

Oh honey, California is in the northern hemisphere!

But there are many thousands of species of conifer, I'm sure, and certainly there must be many differences between the ones of California and the ones of Finland.