How are you going to spend the holidays, this year?

[foreigncorrespondent]

Our holidays here in Australia don't really begin until December 24th, so I won't be making mention of Thanksgiving (even though I will say a little prayer to myself on that day, something I have done for the last almost four years of my life.)

Mine will be spent surrounded by my sisters kids, my brother inlaw, my mum, and anyone who calls in, or decides to spend the day with us.

No matter how many people I will have around me, it still won't feel like Christmas to me, but that is another story entirely.

So how are you going to be spending the holidays, this year?

[Piperay]

1. Simpler and smaller than ever

before, with just my father, brother and boyfriend. We used to have a big family get together with aunts, uncles, cousins etc. but due to death killing off most of them and having a falling out this past summer with the rest of them from now on extended family is out of the picture. :-( This is going to be a totally new experience not buying gifts for all those extra people and no get together. It's depressing in a way but on the other hand I think it is going to be kind of freeing, I feel like I am going to experience the holidays in a whole new way. I will be able to go out and enjoy other festivities (seeing lights, Christmas plays, getting to observe the holiday as a sort of bystander etc), things I didn't have time for before because of all the shopping. I don't know if this whole thing is going to be better but it is going to be a new experience. :-)

[politicat]

2. We don't.... not in the traditional sense, anyway.

We don't celebrate since neither of us are Christian and our winter holiday is very private and personal.

My mum's coming up (oh, this will be a delight - she hasn't seen snow in nearly 20 years!!) on December 25th since the prices are cheap that day. She'll stay until our anniversary (the 29th) and then go home.

She lost her husband (my stepfather) in February and doesn't want to be alone.

This will be the first time we've shared a holiday with anyone in 10 years for my partner and 7 for me....

Should be interesting. We're going to the Buddhist Thai restaurant for dinner, dragging her poor sun-baked carcase into the cold, snowy mountains.....

Hope she survives!

Politicat