Holidays and Traditions in the USA

Ciao everyone! My name is Myra and I live in Oregon, which is on the west coast of the United States, just north of California. I thought I would share a little bit about the holidays and traditions that we celebrate here and introduce myself to the group.

Here is a picture from Christmas of me, my husband, and our dog in his Santa suit.

The United States has a very diverse population, with a large number of cultures contributing to how people celebrate here.  For example, this winter around the holidays our local grocery store had loads of panetonne (Italian), but you could also find baklava (Turkish), stollen (Germany), mango and sticky rice (Thailand), and my personal favorite, chocolate covered peppermint oreos (very american)!

Despite this large number of options, individual families all fine tune their celebrations, many of which are handed down from previous generations.

As one of my favorite holidays is Christmas, I thought I would share what a typical Christmas with my family is like. It usually starts December 1st when we purchase advent calendars; every day you open a little door in the calendar and find a treat behind it. Nothing like counting down the days to Christmas with chocolate! Then during the second week of December our family drives to Christmas tree lot and talks to the local farmers. There is usually a fair amount of debate, making sure the tree (usually a noble fir) is just right, is just full enough etc.

Once the tree is home, we put apple juice with mulling spices on the oven and play Christmas carols to put us in a tree decorating mood. For our tree we have strings of lights that go on first, followed by standard red and white bulbs, and lastly our special ornaments. Every year we purchase a new ornament that is representative of something that happened that year or a place we visited. That way, when we look at the tree, it is like looking back in time at all of our good memories. We also hang stockings from the fireplace, put lights outside on the trees, and put up decorations around the house. Usually the week before Christmas we will make hot chocolate and drive around town looking at other peoples Christmas light displays. These can get quite extravagant withe people even having blinking lights that flash in time to the music playing on the radio station. On Christmas eve we usually have a potluck where everyone brings a different food item and spends time socializing. Each person then picks out a single present to open, and as always when opening Christmas presents, has to guess what is in the box prior to unwrapping. Then it is time for the little kids to put out their note for Santa with milk, cookies, and carrots for the reindeer, and then go to bed. Then, first thing Christmas morning everyone makes their way to the living room and looks in their stockings. They are usually filled with candies, soaps, lottery tickets, and fun knick knacks. After that everyone opens their gifts and then we have a big brunch (breakfast and lunch combined). The rest of the day is usually very relaxed with visits to extended family and tinkering with new toys. The remnants of Christmas, like the tree, seem to linger around until new years when everything is taken down and packed away until December of the next year.

I can't wait to hear all about all of your traditions and holiday celebrations! Happy Writing!!