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Reliant121 wrote:Of course

I've been raised into a very...Inactive household. My father has long since done his fair share of travelling, and my mother is petrified of driving up a street she doesn't know let alone go to another county (Don't even mention going abroad) So we don't go on holiday. They have never bothered with big celebrations, Birthday's have gone largely unnoticed for years in my household (baring their 40th birthdays). I don't think I've had a cake since I was...6? maybe 7? Christmas has always been either a do nothing day or a chore, do nothing day if we are at home and a chore if mother makes us go up to Essex.

What's wrong with Essex?

Anyway, there's plenty of folks like that, and there's nothing wrong with it. Growing up, we always had the joke "Christmas... or as the Jews call it, 'a day off.'" There's been another long-standing joke of the Jewish Christmas tradition of ordering Chinese take-out and going to see a movie. I've come to appreciate the take my wife's family has on the holiday because it melds religious observance (which I can appreciate, even though I don't share the faith,) cultural traditions, and a more modern family celebration.

Captain Seafort wrote:

Mikey wrote:In our home, at least, the two are quite distinct. My wife's church strongly celebrates the feast day of St. Nicholas - December 6 - with a special mass, a visit from "St. Nicholas" for the children after mass, and a tradition of the children finding small gifts in shoes left out the night before.

Nonetheless, one developed from the other, rather than having purely pagan origins as with the trees and the date.

Indeed, I was just pointing out that there is still a significant distinction. Many people still consider the difference between the Thomas Nast Santa Claus and the theological figure of St. Nicholas.

Nothing is particularly wrong with Essex barring its reputation (Girls in white stilettos and boy racers) it's simply having to spend christmas out of my own home and comfort zone. Plus, once you go under the Dartford tunnel and hit Essex it's as if the very air changes and being in a car in Essex is NOT fun.

Saw this on twitter: Jewish Christmas=take out Chinese food and a movie.

Ah, so you mean more that it's just a chore to pack up and go. Yeah, I get that too - there's a part of me that just wants to stay home on Christmas, light a fire, and relax, rather than what actually happens: open "Santa's" bounty with the kids, then pack 'em up and head up to the out-laws for mind-boggling gift overboard. But it is what it is, and we make the best of it.

Royal_Foxx wrote:Saw this on twitter: Jewish Christmas=take out Chinese food and a movie.

Exactly.

Reliant121 wrote:Nothing is particularly wrong with Essex barring its reputation (Girls in white stilettos

Tell me more.

Mark wrote:Tell me more.

Stay away from the place for your own good. Unless you like a girl with fake jewellery, a tendency to Grand Slam the nearest wall/front door/war memorial every Friday night, and a mouth like a toilet (and not in a good way, before you start).

So, we're not talking easy......we're talking obnoxious?

a tendency to Grand Slam the nearest wall/front door/war memorial every Friday night

Lol....I have no idea what this means

Mark wrote:So, we're not talking easy......we're talking obnoxious?

We're talking both.

Lol....I have no idea what this means

Use your imagination. Unless, of course, you're eating.

the light bulb just came on

I wish people would stop calling today Christmas Eve Eve, I fucking hate it!

How about Christmas Eve²?

Or Pre-Christmas Eve?

Thursday?

Captain Seafort wrote:

Mark wrote:Tell me more.

Stay away from the place for your own good. Unless you like a girl with fake jewellery, a tendency to Grand Slam the nearest wall/front door/war memorial every Friday night, and a mouth like a toilet (and not in a good way, before you start).

Have you ever been to any part of Essex?

Never been to any part of that continent