So I managed to survive the two days of Dutch Christmas.
The first day was spent at home as my other half was working. Before he left I
introduced him to the British traditions of “Christmas crackers” & “mince
pies”. It would appear the Dutch have no experience with either. The cracker
was met with utter bemusement. I explained that you grab one end & pull.
This was done… accompanied with the traditional >bang<… & the not so
traditional comment of “it smells funny”. I had to explain that this was due to
the little firework thing that makes it go bang… along with explaining the
contents of crappy hat, crappier joke & crappier-still present. I’m not
sure the concept of this tradition was truly grasped.
Next came the eating of the mince pie. One bite was taken…
one face was pulled… & I finished off the rest. *Sigh*. I seriously need to
bring some Christmas culture to these people. LOL
Second Christmas day was spent at the “in-law’s” (I use
quotation marks as mum-in-law is not strictly so as we’re not married but
happily living in sin). I was presented, for one gift, the book ‘VegetarianCooking for Dummies’ & was given a year’s notice… next Christmas I would be
cooking dinner. Yay me! At least I have 365 days to plan (366 if next year’s a
leap year… I hope!)
So that was my first brief foray into Dutch Christmas.
All the mince pies have been eaten (by me!). All the Cadbury’s biscuits have
been eaten (mostly by me) & my present of posh Pucinni chocolates has also
been polished off (by me!). Needless to say the arrival of January 1st
will be accompanied with the obligatory resolution to diet. Now there’s a
groundhog day if ever there was one.
Pucinni chocolates are the best chocolates in the world
by the way. At least I think they are & considering how much chocolate I
eat I must be regarded as some sort of connoisseur (as opposed to just a greedy
so-&-so). There are several shops around Amsterdam… one of which is just
down the road from me & would be dangerous, if I was rich. Luckily for my
waistline I’m not, so birthdays & Christmas’ I get to indulge.
Next Dutch experience… New Year’s Eve!
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