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Just our of inter-cultural interest: When do you "celebrate" Christmas, with handing out the gifts, family dinners and stuff?
Here in Germany we do that stuff on the 24th, the other two Christmas days are just basically normal holidays (Most people visit their other relatives on those days, like the in-laws and the like )

Depends.

For Friends: Whenever we gather.

For Family: the 25th

Ghost Rider wrote:For Friends: Whenever we gather.

For Family: the 25th

Bing.

Family on the 25th, for the big dinner and shit, we usually have people round and a buffet on boxing day and new year's eve/day.

The big dinner held and gifts are handed out on the 24th.

Here's how we used to do it:

24th - my mother's family gathers in one house (used to be grammy's) we have an excellent dinner (with turkey and "paneton" and sweet potato puree and other things), and at midnight we all say "merry christmas" and all that crap, lots of huggies huggies and kissies kissies, then we gather around the tree, and start handing out the presents that everyone dumped there on arrival.

This has been changed over the years, from having crappier presents every year (like that year the President decided to seize all savings accounts from the banks, and that kind of thing), to of course having less and less relatives. My mother had like 7 siblings, and this year we only had two uncles for dinner. And my grandmother is dead so she obviously couldn't host it.

25th - we have something called the "tree tea party", even though most people don't drink tea, and it has nothing to do with tea at all. My father's family gathers in my other grandmother's apartment (who isn't dead) there are little snacks on the table, like little black olive sandwiches and traditional candy (bought), and some kind of cake/mousse/whatever, nuts, pecans, yadda yadda. At an arbitrary time of the night (usually around 8 or 9 pm) we gather around the Le Roux tree and pretty much do the same gift trading. I got a t-shirt and some booze.

This gathering is usually the best one because I have more cousins in my dad's family, and they're about my age, while on my mother's side there's only one aunt with one daughter who's my age and they're all snobs anyway. But lately they are all out of the country, so I don't get to see them every year. This year seems to have been an exception.

Oh yeah this Christmas rocked because we got a visit from my brother who's been out of the country for the last 6 years.

EDIT: reference to my country of origin deleted

Christmas Eve, the 24th, is usually spent at my Aunt's house, doing the traditional fish dinner. Recently though we've (me and my sister) only spent a bit of time there before going to our father's filthy bachelor condo for dinner and gifts.

Christmas? This year was the best ever. Niece's first We usually open presents at around 11 and then have family come over later for have ham dinner upstairs.

I think Saturday is going to be the post-X-mas drunk night with Rob.

It varies from year to year for us, usually my mum's side of the family all gather at the same place. Then sometime around that I go to my dad's house and party with them.

Dahak wrote:Just our of inter-cultural interest: When do you "celebrate" Christmas, with handing out the gifts, family dinners and stuff?

We hand out all gifts on the 24th. My mother is from Germany, thus we've kept that tradition, and I like it. It's also practical...parents don't need to worry about waking up so early, and additionally, kids get the added bonus of staying up as late as they want.

Xmas dinner we have on the 25th.

Here in Germany we do that stuff on the 24th, the other two Christmas days are just basically normal holidays (Most people visit their other relatives on those days, like the in-laws and the like )

Same here.

My family's tradition is very simple.

The Saturday before Christmas we gather at my little brother's house for the December Birthday Party. When you have 8 people having birthdays in one month, some of them on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, it's just better to throw the party beforehand.

Christmas Eve is spent quietly, each part of the family doing their own thing, with the kids usually allowed to open one and only one present.

Christmas Day everyone gathers at Mom's house around 3ish for the big dinner, and presents are opened then coffee and dessert served. This year we had the added task of putting the new doghouse outside and burning the old one, as well as a pile of yardcuttings Mom hadn't quite gotten around to. Nothing more fun than a huge bonfire in the backyard with the family around it.
my hair still smells smoky.....

Christmas Eve: Last minute prep.

Christmas Day: Gatherings, Food, Presents

On Christmas eve we go out and deliver presents to the extended family, receving loads in return. The we hit the off-license and try to turn a weeks wages into alcohol. at 12am we remove the bacon from the turkey and have it as a late night snack.

On christmas day i'm awakened at 8am by my sister. After she stops dodging shots from oner of my BB guns we go down and open our presents. Before breakfast only the presents from the immediate family, all other presents after i get my bowl of crunchie nut cornflakes. At 12pm my niece, my sister and her boyfriend arrive. The 1st of the booze is oppened, for me a can of beer and a glass of Bailey's over ice. After the queens speech we serve dinner. After that it becomes a drunken haze.