My First Christmas!
Many would wonder why only a the age of 21 I would say this is my first Christmas. As you know, my family does not celebrate Christmas. Well, I only remember once when I was young, Santa Clause put a ninja turtle toy in my socks. That was the only time I guess.
I was overjoyed when Tegwen invited me to her house for Christmas. She is so sweet because she said she wouldn't want to abandon me alone in Queens'. I had been hoping to experience a real Christmas in an English family. Now, I can tell you that it was a really wonderful one.
On Christmas eve, Tegwen's dad came with his car to fetch us to their house. It is situated in Saffron Walden, a town just half an hour's drive from Cambridge. It is not my first time there, a lovely down I would say. There were Tegwen and her sister, her dad Bop, her mom Megan and her granny Eve. Oh, Eve is 93 but she is still very healthy and strong for someone of that age. She can still cook alone and take care of herself as she lives alone.
Megan taught us how to make minced pies. Tegwen and I had a go and they came out very nice indeed. Minced pie is a traditional food for the English for Christmas. They are small pies with minced inside, they taste sweet. Dinner was sumptuous. We had pasta and meet ball with some salad. I now start to like English food because they are less oily. Well, of course red wine is also something not to be missed. It was a three course meal with pear as dessert. Well the pear is baked with some port and we eat it with cream. Well, before we eat, Bob will usually say cheers and we toast. After dinner we had a family game where by we acted and guessed what the thing is. It was actually hilarious because Bob was having difficulty trying to act Oxford out. Before we went to bed, the kids (Helen, Tegwen and I) hanged their Christmas socks and labelled them for Santa to put present in! Very exciting, isn't it?
On Christmas day, we all woke up quite late and guess what we do first, of course it's to the presents! Our socks are full and some presents had to be laid outside the socks. Imagine how nice it was to have that. I got a lot of things, chocolates, socks, hankie, soap, puzzle block, playing cards and two wooden spoons for cooking! Santa knows me well. There is a half carrot left next to the fire, so Santa is true! Oh, I forgot to mention that they do light fire at the fire place. This is something quite interesting. Sometimes, Tegwen and Helen will play music, one on the piano, the other playing the clarinet.
Lunch was really very delicious. Instead of having stuffed turkey, we had a stuffed chicken. Christmas pudding was for dessert. Well, I had never like Christmas pudding, it is too fruity for me I guess. Afternoon was time for presents again. There was a huge pile of presents next to a 'tree', most of them from the family and relatives. Tegwen organised the present opening ritual and guess what! They gave me a WOK! I was so surprised and excited. Well, this means that I have to cook more for Tegwen in the future, haha! Well, they kiss, hug or shake hand with the person whom they receive the present from. That is part of their culture. I notice they are very expressive after every gift wrapper being torned apart. It was very interesting to experience such a way of celebrating Christmas!
Dinner was simple but delicious as well with wine, ham, and smoked salmon. After dinner, we watched Jeeves and Wooster, a British series which depicts a master and a vallet around 1930s. Stephen Fry, who is a Queens' graduate acted as Jeeves and I like Jeeves a lot. It is a very English series. They speak in a very English accent and walk like Englishmen. Well, it is funny though. I notice English people are really good at manipulating words. I am really glad that I really have a chance to be immersed in such an English environment, experiencing every bit of English culture. From the way they like tea, to the way they speak and express, every bit is an experience to me. Their hospitality was superb and I like the whole family a lot. Lovely! A very common description by the English. Well, indeed, it was lovely!
Thank you Tegwen, Bop, Megan, Helen, and Nana Eve for the fantastic Christmas!
posted by Wei Shen @ 4:52 AM
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