The Weirdest Christmas Ever

Where's Waldo? (Personal Photo)

Regard our family Christmas photo. Anything seem... strange to you?

Call me selfish, but I didn’t go home for Christmas. Plane tickets home are pricey, jet lag is a pain and really, when it’s between Spain/Nice, where I’m outside wearing a t-shirt and drinking in the cerulean skies, and Canada, where the polar vortex is causing heavy snowfalls, ice storms and power outages... Well, what would you do?

 Ever seen Christmas with the Kranks? That’s what this year felt like—like I was skipping Christmas. There’s no snow, it’s warm, and I wasn’t with my family. But I do have an awesome pair of French neighbours who seem to have adopted me, dropping by with random gifts (to date: nail polish, a dress (unfortunately, too small in the shoulders, so I couldn’t keep it), rainbow gloves). Whenever I try to bake them something, they always put a slice of cake on the plate when they return it! They’re also the ones who contacted my landlord after my apartment was almost broken into, and they’re always on the look-out for suspicious activity. Since then, my neighbour has invited me to eat a galette des rois with her to celebrate the New Year (but that’s for a later post!)

And did I mention that she invited me for Christmas Eve dinner à la niçoise?

*clears throat*

Scaaarrrfff (Personal Photo)

On the Veille de Noël, my neighbour gave to me:*

• Twelve ounces of rosé
• Eleven buttered bread slices
• Ten spoonfuls of foie gras
• Nine helpings of scampi**
• Eight cups of mussels
• Seven slices of duck
• Six types of vegetables
• Five minutes for a stretch break!
• Four types of cheese
• Three bûches de Noël
• Lindor chocolates
• And champagne—our favourite “bubbly”!

* Sorry, foodies, no pictures of the dinner! But take note of all the seafood!

** and oysters—fresh from one of Yolande’s friends

I brought a bottle of wine as a gift, but we did not drink it. Naturally, Yolande had already chosen wine to accompany our meal: a rose to go with all the seafood (that being said, red wine does go with cheese). This did not surprise me, as I know these sorts of things, and I did not insist on my bottle being opened. We supped with her daughter, so it was all of this food just for the three of us! She even got me a scarf and nail polish! Earlier in the month, I gave Jean-Pierre and Yolande their own gifts—Christmas mugs filled with chocolates and tea.

We ate for about four hours straight, chatting the whole night. According to my Dad, according to my landlord, according to Yolande, my French was “impeccable.” (Aww, yeah!)

15 C, even in January. i.e. T-shirt weather. (Personal Photo)

Christmas morning was mine alone, although I spent most of it unpacking from Spain and packing for my next destination—Germany (next post). I busied myself until my family back in Canada would be awake and called for a video chat using my Blackberry Playbook.

It’s the first year, in fact, that I’ve spent Christmas (and Thanksgiving, for that matter) away from my family. And it looks like Easter will follow, but Ill tackle that hurdle when I get there.

It’s not quite the same watching your brother open yours presents and his presents. Really, he gets twice the fun and I’m stuck there, looking in and making funny faces on the screen. Or when he gives you chocolates that you CAN’T EAT because you’re in France... (Yeah, I didn’t expect any sympathy—“I’d go to your [event], but I’m in Europe... boo hoo” doesn’t work, either.)

I did, however, get to see how my parents and my brother reacted to their personalized gifts (compliments of online shopping, which I’m really getting the hang of!). David’s Tea has this “Provence” tea with lavender reminiscent of the part of France I’m residing in, so I got them that, among other things.

Between that and spending the evening with some of my Canadian classmates, it was a good two days of craziness! But the craziness would spiral into madness... and insomnia...

TO BE CONTINUED...