Do you know about Secret Santa?

Many offices and factories play “Secret Santa” before Christmas. All the workers in the office or factory write their names on a piece of paper. Then, they put the names into a box. Each person takes a piece of paper. They have to buy a present for that person. They wrap the present, and on the day of the Christmas party, they take the present to the office or factory. So, everyone gets one present.

You can read a story about a factory Christmas party and Secret Santa in one of our books. The book is called Christmas Tales.

My family loves buying presents. But families get bigger. People get married and have children – the family grows and grows. It is difficult to think of a present for everyone.

This year, all the small children got a present from everyone, but the adults played Secret Santa. So the adults got just one present from another member of the family.

By Patricia @ I Talk You Talk Press

Sometimes when we think about Christmas, we only think about Christmas Day. But the Christmas festival is much longer than that!

Since the beginning of December, I have been hearing Christmas music in all the stores. Some people’s houses have big Santas in their gardens or many Christmas lights. The streets of our city have Christmas lights too. Everything is very colourful.

Christmas parties start early too. Everyone is very busy near December 25^th so Christmas parties start in the first week of December. Most workplaces have a Christmas party for their workers. Clubs have Christmas parties too. I have been to a lunch party for my swimming group and another party for my sewing club.

Christmas Day is a family day, so we also try to meet up with friends in the weeks before Christmas. It is a very social time.

It is very difficult for everyone in a family to be together on just one special day, so often people have more than one family party. I cook a special meal on Christmas Eve and then it will be Christmas Day. We call December 26^th  Boxing Day. On Boxing Day we go to a family party at a relatives house. Then on December 27^th , some family members we didn’t see on Christmas Day or Boxing Day come here.

Perhaps we should stop saying Christmas Day and start saying Christmas month!

By Patricia @ I Talk You Talk Press

Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. It is a very important day for family and friends. People travel long distances to be at home for Thanksgiving. Sharing a meal is an important part of Thanksgiving.

One of my American friends told me what she cooked for Thanksgiving this year.

turkey

stuffing

mashed potatoes

gravy

cranberry-orange sauce

5-cup salad

baked apples and carrots

olives

raspberry pie

pumpkin cheesecake

 

That’s a lot of different dishes isn’t it? I thought my friend must be tired after cooking so much. But she said they ate leftovers for the next three days! So she cooked a lot, but then she had a rest.

If you look at the menu – you will see 5-cup salad. My friend has been making this recipe for many years. The first time I ate it, was when my friend and her husband came to visit us in Japan. We had a party so that our visitors could meet some of our Japanese friends.

My friend made 5-cup salad. It was very popular. If you are interested, send us a message and I will ask her for the recipe!

Christmas comes about four weeks after Thanksgiving.

We eat turkey at Christmas. But most Americans eat Turkey at Thanksgiving. So what do Americans eat at Christmas? I don’t know. Do you?

By Patricia @I Talk You Talk Press