Christmas in England

There’s something different and special about an English Christmas. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Perhaps it’s just the colder weather or something. But the British really do get into the festive spirit more so than I’ve ever seen the Americans do.

Of course, the Brits undoubtedly drink a lot more than the Americans, and drinking and partying is very much a part of the British Christmas celebrations. The parties tend to start around the first of December and continue throughout the entire month. Every day is a reason to celebrate. And drinking during working hours and at lunch is so commonplace that it is not frowned upon and in fact is encouraged. It’s bizarre.

Most of the Christmas traditions celebrated in America today come from England: Christmas cards, Christmas decorations and Christmas carols, to name a few. Other traditions didn’t quite make their way to the US, such as pantomimes (song and dance dramatizations of well-known fairy tales which encourage audience participation), Christmas crackers, and of course the Queen’s Christmas Message to the nation, broadcast on radio and TV.

Strangely enough, there is one tradition the Brits got from the Americans – the Christmas turkey! Before turkey was introduced to the UK from America, the Brits would celebrate Christmas dinner with a goose. Goose is still widely eaten, but not as much so as turkey. The dinner is traditionally served with roast potatoes, vegetables, and stuffing with gravy. This is usually followed by mince pies and Christmas pudding (a rich fruit cake) served with a brandy sauce or cream.

Christmas Crackers have been a part of traditional British Christmas since 1847. They are used to decorate dinner tables and are brightly-colored paper tubes, twisted at both ends, containing a paper party hat, riddle, and a small toy or trinket. When pulled by two people, the cracker pops open, making a loud cracking sound, as the contents spill out over the table.

The day after Christmas is known in Britain as Boxing Day and is a national holiday. The name is derived from a former tradition of giving a Christmas box (a gift of money or food) to the local poor people and to service people (milkman, postman, etc.). Regardless of where it comes from, it sure is nice to have an extra day off work at Christmas time.

The Ashes

Today England lost “The Ashes” to Australia. Correct me if I’m wrong, but is cricket not the strangest of all sports? The Ashes, as I understand it, is a cricket tournament held between only England and Australia. It all started back in 1882 when England lost to Australia for the first time. As a symbol to show that England’s cricket was “dead,” some of the equipment used in that game was burned and the ashes stored in a small little urn. This tiny urn of ashes is now the trophy prize in the game that has gone on between the two countries ever since.

Even more bizarre is that it is only held in the summer in whichever country is hosting the event. But since summer time in Australia is during England’s winter months, the tournament only gets held ever 18 to 30 months. The next one isn’t until 2009! In any case, England embarrassed itself today by losing The Ashes in the 3^rd of 5 games played. It had already taken them 16 years to win back the urn the last time the tournament was played 15 months ago, only to lose it again today it in a matter of days.

And here’s the best of the lot. The winner of The Ashes is whichever team wins the best of 5 games. And each game takes 5 days to play! With breaks between games, a full 5 games could effectively take over a month to play. And it doesn’t stop there. The games are so long and drawn out that they even take time out for a lunch AND a tea break during each day of play. What a life.

And yet I still don’t understand the first thing about the rules of the game. I’ll leave that to another day.

Update (Fri, Jan 5, 2007):

Well, I overlooked something else about the Ashes. Apparently, even though Australia won The Ashes back on Dec 18^th, the series wasn’t over. They continue to play all 5 games to the end. Today Australia celebrated their first “whitewash” since 1921 by beating England in all 5 games. Now The Ashes is officially over. Good grief. Talk about overkill. Can you imagine the World Series going all 7 games regardless of who might have won?