Do you find it hard being overseas at Christmas?

[DreamingOfMincePiesInAustria]

As well as missing friends and family, seasonal food, etc... I really miss all the Christmas events which used to happen at school for children and parents(carol concerts, nativity, party, Christmas dinner etc...), here there's a small party on the last day and we've had a letter today to say only for children and teachers!What makes it worse is that inthe UK I was a Nursery teacher and we LOVED Christmas and did loads of things.

What's it like where you are?

It can be hard to be abroad at times - Austria must be lovely though with the christmas markets.

Here I'm able to get christmas pud & mince pies. There's also St. Nicholas which is super as the school has events for this. At home they'll leave, letters and drawings for St. N to take with him, some carrots out for the donkey & they'll be a pressie each in advance of father christmas.

Well to me the UK is abroad, and I seem to have the same problem as you. I don't think there is that much happening in the british nurseries and schools compared to where I come from.

I just try to make up for it at home in the weekends. Plus we have two Christmases. One doing all my Christmas traditions, and the next day on the 25th we do all the British traditions with my husband's family. (even my husband prefers my traditions now )

Although I have lived abroad for 6 years, this will be the first time that I spend Christmas Day in Spain. Until now I've always gone back to UK, reasoning that as I'm a teacher it's one of the only times I get 2 weeks off to see my family.

But this year I promised DH that I would stay and see how it is here. We're cheating a little though, as we're flying back to UK on 26th December for a late celebration there!

I do miss all the things in the run up to Christmas - naff songs on the radio (Do they know it's Christmas time at all...), the smell of mincepies coming out of bakeries and coffee shops, carol services, etc. However, I'm coming to like the traditions here too.

I'm not sure how I'll feel waking up somewhere other than my childhood home on Christmas morning. But I think at 27 years of age I should get used to it!

I start to get grumpy about now. Here in NZ, it's warm/hot, light of an evening, NO carols, songs in the shops, no mock snow on windows or window decorations, no nativities at nurseries or schools. No shopping with family and friends, stopping for the odd wine laden down with bags and heading home on the tube in teh dark to compare shopping. All in all a bit of a non event . No santas grottos - santa sits on a sleigh in a shopping mall, kids hop on and you pay an arm and a leg for a naff photo. We obviously buy a tree and decorate it but it's so blardy light of an evening unless you stay up til midnight you can't see the lights. Even the food is different, ham salads for christmas day. I started by doing the full roast thing but now we have roast meat with whatever is appropriate for the weather. Then on Boxing Day everybody disappears to the beach for 2 weeks and it's deserted. Very weird.

And don't get me started on no family and old friends. Bah humbug..........

One year I took the boys to snow planet - a 3 hour round trip just to feel festive. Hopefully next year we'll make it home for christmas to eat and drink ourselves stupid in the cold .

Oh Sibble I feel for you, I think you need some blackout curtains so you can see your lights at least. Hope you get back to the UK next Christmas.

Im the complete opposite. Its cold, grey and wet here. It should be hot and sunny. Christmas lunch is cold ham. seafood, salad and cold roast chicken with lots of champagne.
I miss playing cricket after lunch in the backyard, going to the Christmas sales or beach on Boxing Day. I miss seeing Santa in David Jones, the Myer Christmas windows, carols by candlelight in the domain, park etc... Most of all I miss my family and friends.

AussieLou maybe we should do an annual house swap . Dh prefers Christmas here as it's what he grew up with and is used to, heading to the beach on Boxing Day etc...

Do they have christmas in July in NZ? We went to it in the Blue Mountains (Oz) this year & I was practically crying with nostalgic type sentiment. They must make a fortune out of homesick expats!

elvisgirl, they do have mid-winter christmas' here. They are indeed big business and a good money spinner for restaurants. We've yet to hold one or go to one but they are very tempting. All the right ingredients, dark, cold, necessity for red wine (gluhwein at some), roasts, lights. I've even heard of some having the tree - bit OTT but never the less

AussieLou you've made me really sad! That's exactly how Christmas should be!

I actually find Christmas a really depressing time, and cant wait till the 26th.

We have no family here (London), are going away on the 19th, and don't get back till January 1, so it's like Christmas will pass us by!

What AussieLou said. And this year I have two new neices who I won't get to see

But but but... DH and I (with DS) did go back to Australia for Christmas one year - both our families are there. There was a massive amount of fighting (family - not me and DH!)as to where we would be spending lunch and dinner and when we would be allowed to leave and who we had to see on Christmas day that we swore we would never do it again....

I love Christmas, I have my most important family with me and that is all that matters, I make my mince pies with my own mince meat and my own Christmas pud, its now become quite a tradition.

We miss crackers but some lovely family member sends us them over .