Resource Update: December 2007
Spending the holidays away from home? Here are some ways to make it “homier.” As much as we love living overseas, something about holidays makes us crave home. Whether it's because we miss spending the holidays with our extended families, our traditions aren't celebrated in our adopted countries – or we’re afraid our kids won't know how to celebrate our holidays if we don't show them – many of us try to recreate our traditions wherever we are. Here are a few ideas for celebrating traditional December holidays.
TRADITIONS: Ever tried explaining one of your traditions to people in your host country? It's hard without visuals. And their questions may reveal gaps in your own knowledge – really, do you know what Halloween signifies, why dreidels are Hanukkah toys, or how many states in the United States claim to have had the first Thanksgiving celebration?
Sharing your traditions with your friends and colleagues overseas, as well as your kids, can be both enjoyable and rewarding. The sites below are full of information, recipes and ideas for decorations, which may be a big help if you weren't able to bring your giant Kwanzaa kinara or your 8-foot artificial Christmas tree abroad. (If you’re facing an upcoming move, remember holiday items in your shipment! For example, there may be no candles available to fit your menorah or kinara.)
Wikipedia In-.holiday descriptions
North Pole UK
Christmas Traditions in France and Canada
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators Holiday descriptions/activities
Multi-cultural Calendar Multicultural holidays
compiled by kids worldwide
Apples 4 the Teacher Holiday descriptions
and activities/coloring pages
Holiday Insights Holiday history and descriptions
The Holiday Spot Holiday descriptions and resources
FOOD: Some special holiday ingredients just don’t exist in other places: cranberries (canned or dried are good), pumpkin pie filling, mint jelly, brown sugar..... Don’t be shy about asking any holiday visitors to slip a few of these treats in their suitcases (if allowed)!
As an American overseas, I’ve discovered some useful substitutes for items I couldn't find:
- Pomegranate seeds can replace cranberries in a fruit salad.
- Sugar mixed with molasses simulates brown sugar (about 2:1 ratio)
- Round mint candies can be smashed and used like crushed candy canes
- Latin American batatas can replace sweet potatoes, with the addition of extra brown
sugar or pancake syrup
- Instead of a Halloween pumpkin, carve a watermelon or even a grapefruit!
Check out our Message Boards for suggestions from others spending the holidays abroad:
DECORATIONS: On a substitute Christmas tree abroad, traditional ornaments may have the same effect as the forlornly drooping one in the Charlie Brown Christmas special. Some lightweight tree-trimming ideas include:
- ribbons tied directly to the branches
- small, lightweight boxes wrapped to look like presents
- laminated illustrations cut from last year's greeting cards, tied on with string
- old-fashioned garlands of popcorn or wrapped hard candies
- paper chains, especially if you can find shiny paper.
Greeting cards hung on a string like a clothesline make a good room decoration. Apples are pretty and red and can look quite festive in a bowl as a centerpiece. Buy cloth locally in appropriate colors and temporarily change the color of your accent pillows or table runners. You can also paint designs onto a white tablecloth, and use candles of holiday colors.
If gift wrap is expensive or hard to find, try aluminum foil, butcher’s paper or thin sketching paper trimmed with colored ribbon from a fabric store. To decorate the paper, you could even carve a stamp from a potato or rubber eraser. For large gifts, put some glitter paint on a trash bag and tie it with a ribbon.
Although it takes a bit more planning, making holiday items yourself can make the season even more festive and meaningful. Here are some useful sites for crafts and recipes:
Holidays on the Net - Craft and recipe ideas
Monthly Holidays and Celebrations - Holiday ideas and information by month
DMoz Open Directory Project - Holiday Recipes
Family Fun Magazine - Activities and coloring pages for holidays and throughout the year
DLTK's Holiday Activities – Crafts and activities
Better Homes and Gardens - Craft and recipe ideas
HGTV Crafts – Craft ideas
GIFTS: What would life be without the belt from Aunt Mary each year, or the cutesy kitten calendar from Cousin Sal? The traditional gift exchange becomes more challenging outside our home countries. Here are some ways to make it easier.
Online buying for friends and family back home
When buying online, look for sites with free or at least reasonable shipping, and do a search for free shipping coupons. If you’ve waited and can't afford to spend more on express shipping than the gift is worth, consider buying books – same-day or next-day shipping is often available to major cities. Think online gifts/wrapping/cards aren't personal enough? Consider creating your own calendars or other personalized gifts at:
Here are some sites where you can get free or reasonable shipping:
Shoes.com Zappos
Old Navy ($5 shipping per order) Barnes and Noble
If none of these strike your fancy, look for free shipping coupons for other sites at:
Shipping local gifts -- and receiving gifts from your home country
This is really hard in some places unless you have a special mail service or your company will foot the bill for your packages. Even then, customs fees can be prohibitive.
When you’re overseas, shipping packages out of the country is usually easier than receiving them. Your homeland may have a more efficient mail system and fewer customs requirements than your host than your host country. Especially, if you are willing to pay for the higher priced options like express or insured mail, most likely your packages will not be lost going out. But shop and send early.
Also, check out whether the following delivery services have offices in your city. They may be a bit more expensive, but they are usually reliable, even in less-developed countries. This may be your best option for receiving packages if the import duties on gifts are reasonable where you live. There are smaller services as well, easily findable online, but with this type of service it may be best to go with the big names:
Federal Express United Parcel Service
DHL US Postal Service
If you don't want to pin the responsibility for mailing or sending by express delivery service on some overburdened friend or relative, you can work with one of these services to receive and direct mail for you. This way, you don't have to worry about tracking and paying back the expense or sending kind friends to the poorhouse.
Earth Class Mail USA Mail Network USA
USA Box USA Access USA USA
My UK Mail UK The Post House UK
Global Mailing Australia
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Wherever you are for the holidays, treasure your old traditions, but don't be afraid to add new ones. The little quirky bits of our overseas lives are a part of what make each year's celebrations special. The staff of Tales from a Small Planet wish you a happy holiday season.
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