Christmas in the North
Christmas holds mixed feelings for me this year.
It’s always been about family, getting spoilt, and catching some sun. Wait, what? Oh yes, that’s right. When you grow up in the Northern Hemisphere, the idea of a sunny Christmas slathered up with sunscreen and rolling around on the beach with a cricket bat won’t make much sense, but that’s what it is for a lot of people in the Southern half of the world.
Moving north did mean there was the joyful expectation of experiencing a cold, snowy Christmas, and boy does it change the mood! Being cuddled up around a fire drinking hot chocolate and listening to the sultry sounds of a jazzy Christmas album sure does seem to better suit the colder months!
This year we will be celebrating Christmas away from our families for the second time. Which begs the question: If Christmas can’t be about extended family and nostalgic traditions, what is it about?
Well for me, the stripping away of all that it used to mean holds the opportunity to purposefully add in new traditions and new ways of seeing this most important Christian season of remembrance.
This year it will include multiple meals shared with team members and friends; people who are not born into my family but have made decisions that led them to the same place as me. We will break bread together, and share warm laughs and colourful stories. The warmth of these companionships always makes the dark, cold winter season feel a little warmer.
This year we’ll remember Saint Nicholas and the generosity he showed to his community. It’s one tradition that we bring from home but have chosen to adapt to the Hungarian culture. Minna had to clean her boots and put them out on the evening of December 5, and in the morning, there were treats packed to the brim. Here in Hungary, it’s separated from Christmas Eve, which also means there’s more definition between the role of Saint Nicholas and the role of Jesus through this season. For Minna, it means getting treats sooner, so she was obviously stoked!
This year we’ll light a candle and celebrate Advent, a season of waiting and preparation. Advent prepares us for the dual coming of Jesus. As we celebrate his first coming through Christmas, we await and eagerly prepare for his second coming, hour unknown.
This year we’ll attend a Christmas choir, running through the freezing cold to reach a place where hundreds of people will gather to sing Christmas carols together. This act will hopefully warm the body and the spirit, and then we’ll all spill out into the cold, arms locked with friends, all racing back home to hot chocolates, mulled wine, and our warm beds.
I don’t know about you, but taking something that could be sad and cold and turning it into something new and heartwarming, sounds a lot like Christmas to me.
