CHRISTMAS 2011

It's 15.30 and I am writing this while drinking my second Christmas beer of the day. I am alone in the house, as everybody has gone off to church at 16.00, leaving early in order to get a seat, since it is one of the few days in the year when it is full. The turkey has been in the oven for 3.5 hours already, and is looking good. I have showered, and ironed my shirt. We are on schedule for dinner at 6 o'clock.

There will be ten of us this year. My family of five, plus my wife's sister and her two sons, plus two Chinese lads from Hong Kong. They are on my elder son's university course, and will be with him when he goes to Hong Kong on 3 January to study for six months. Instead of letting them be lonely in their rooms in Copenhagen, he has brought them home.

Christmas and its traditions, both religious and non-religious, are so deeply ingrained in Europeans that it is remarkable to meet two well-travelled young people for whom it is not at all part of their cultural background (other than producing lots of toys for us to buy). I think it is the first time that I have had non-family members to share Christmas dinner with me, and I am looking forward to it.

A happy Christmas to all who read this.

Walter Blotscher