Sad to say myself and the people around me aren't used to the idea of traditional Xmas dinner or lunch where we're from, which also means I've never had an actual one :( Was always envious of the Christmas hams, prawns and lobsters people buy.
And now I've been blocked off from visiting my folks even in Jan as some countries have paused their entries for vaccinated travellers. Anyone in the same boat as I am?
I just remember eating a lot of fast food on xmas as the supermarkets were closed :(
Same as most things in life it takes a little pre-planning, most people would head to the supermarket beforehand… You could always throw a xmas lunch with KFC or other take away chook if you're that way inclined…
A few cheap decorations, tinsel, bonbons and such from a dollar store would help make the table feel festive, but it's probably a bit late for that now…
Edit: Funny, this just appeared in the ABC news::
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-25/sydney-family-christm…
Christmas feast featuring KFC
Some Sydneysiders of Japanese descent shared that it would not be a merry Christmas for an estimated 3.5 million Japanese families without "a proper Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) feast". Nozomi Ohike, who grew up in Japan, said eating the fast food was a Christmas staple in her community.
"During Christmas time, Colonel Sanders is more popular than Santa Claus in Japan," Ms Ohike said.
"Since a 1974 ad campaign called 'Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii' (Kentucky for Christmas), many Japanese have turned up in long queues outside KFC or placed orders a few weeks in advance around Christmas time."
While she no longer has to put up with long waiting times outside KFC restaurants in Australia, Ms Ohike has not brought the custom to the southern hemisphere.
"It is not the food that I miss, but the exciting atmosphere of the long lines of people outside KFC and the beautiful Christmas lights everywhere in Japan."
OMG this looks to me like the 2 nukes were a practical non-event. I knew it had a hard impact but I would not succomb dropping a culture after all them years.
Get some really tasty Unami and good healthy stuff. Enjoy a quality beer of even a glass of really good wine instead!
You and the guy looking for ham should get together
I guess the ham can be in the middle.
Guy to the left of me
guy to the right
and a ham
stuck in the middle with you
I LoL'd
You're not missing out on much, most of the time its just family members bringing outside drama to the table which is only exacerbated by alcohol consumption.
That's why I love going to them, drinks, dinner and a show with occassional audience participation!
"I got a lot of problems with you people! And now you're gonna hear about it!"
"Kruger, my son tells me your company stinks!"
"Oh God."
"Quiet! You'll get yours in a minute."
This is the reason i go,
It brings out our true colours/antivaxxers/political alignments.
And just general banter
OP, you still feeling it from earlier in the year?. Hope you feeling better, you can talk to us on OzB :)
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wow!😮
Cultures may be different all over the world, but family drama is universal and just reskinned depending on where you are.
If the people around you aren't used to having it, then you can organise one with them. What is stopping you? There's nothing that says that Christmas has to involve hams, prawn and lobster.
Might sound harsh, but the reality is, a Christmas lunch/dinner isn't going to organise itself if you just sit around feeling sorry for yourself. Get out there and do it!
Try and get yourself invited to a friend's family's Christmas lunch
Some churches hold free Christmas lunches for anyone tomorrow.
And you dont even have to be religious or accept their faith, they provide for those without
Send Xmas cards to random houses, play innocent that you got wrong house. Then accept the invitation to dinner.
Bring a bottle.
The Jehovas witness are doing this to my mum. I think they worked out she's old and owns her house. I don't know how they got this info but they send her hand written letters with tea bags which she gives me every time I go over. I mentioned to her they are looking for an in to steal her house she said 'nah, I will just take em for their tea and they can bugger off"
The main driver for Christmas is to get people to spend as much of their yearly income on widgets, trinkets and other soft things.
A lot of it will be unwanted junk and will end up on the bottom of the drawer before the next Christmas comes around. Some will be regifted and others end up on the street or at the pound.
Hey, stop spying on us!
You must be new here, Welcome to ozbargain all year round.
Do Xmas however you like. Aside from dragging ourselves to the inlaws for food no one wants, our family does a mix of our favourite dishes.
Sleep in, eat a treat, try something new, share the day or chill and have a quiet one. It can be whatever you want it to be.
Christmas in my late teens/early 20s was the best. Few schooners at the pub, few beers at home and then bed. Now I have extended family on the other side it's the worst! I have to go to Chrsitmas lunch and dinner, travel for 4 or 5 hours after I've just worked for a month straight. Can we swap?
the grass is always greener on the other side…
i'll swap with you.
Yep. Enjoy the reaction when people hear from you about how you are spending Christmas if they bother to ask at all. It's doubly good when they then ask about your relatives and family and you tell them your closest living relative is a twice removed in-law living overseas that hasn't be returning calls or answering e-mail for years. Didn't score me a Christmas invite though but I'm cool with that. Their loss, they'll be missing out on an expensive bottle of Champagne that I would have given them. Haven't you ever been to some work Christmas event at work involving food?
Anyway, Happy Holidays to you and everyone. At least people seem nicer at this time of year which is what I look forward too. That and relief from the Christmas muzak that has been playing for weeks.
This is actually the first year I'm giving all that stuff a miss. I'll put a simple roast on for the wife and I but none of the food extravaganza typical at my Italian parents. Kinda over all that stuff and I always do a massive degustation for NYE so I'll rest up for that night.
Are you sure you're Italian? A roast? I'm sure Italians must roast things but I'd prefer just about any Italian dish including even a simple pasta dish over an anglo style roast. Out of roasts though I must confess I like roast turkey the best. OP, I hope you've tried that, though some people find it too dry.
Maybe the wife isn't Italian?
This ironically is the first time we'll be hosting my inlaws for dinner.
Normally, the wife and I would just treat christmas as any other day in the past.
on first glance I misread your first sentence as 'the first time we'll be roasting my inlaws for dinner'
how do you like your in-laws ?
lightly fried in a little batter
I have also never had the whole "Christmas hams, prawns and lobsters", our usual go to is always a Xmas BBQ.
You should count yourself lucky that you didn't get invited to a "Virtual team Xmas lunch", a whole hour of trying to tune out people talking over each other.
Hey mate, if you're feeling a bit lonely and unable to spend time with family or friends, maybe see if your neighbours might be friendly and invite you to spend some time with them?
They may welcome you if they see you're a bit lost on this unusual day of the year.
Someone needs to invite you around to theirs. I’d offer, but I’m nowhere near central Sydney.
Sydney people, I can vouch, inviting a stranger to Christmas lunch is incredibly rewarding. There’s always too much food and they’re a welcome distraction from your own family. It’s not too late.
"Christmas hams, prawns and lobsters people buy"
Good job, you avoided traditional animal cruelty
I bet you're fun company at the Xmas dinner table, lol
I reckon Paul Kelly's next big Christmas hit will be inspired by this thread.
I was alone one Xmas, I bought a lobster and boiled it in Shin Ramen instant noodles. Then I paired it with Sancerre wine. It tasted grand!
You gotta treat yoself OP.
xmas is like Chinese New Year in those countries - family-centric where public places are quiet because people stay home with relatives, eat too much and try to avoid the relatives they conflict with, and topics that cause them to avoid each other the rest of the year.
anyone who is a traveller, immigrant, overseas student away from family, orphan, bereaved, separated or divorced, or simply living alone as an introvert, can feel lonely and sad
I think I've read that suicide rates tend to be higher on beautiful sunny days - when lonely people imagine everyone else is having a good time - triggering feelings of 'I'm all alone and depressed'
reality is we come into and depart this world alone, and most of our lives will be spent alone - and the world is full of friends I've not yet met
in northern hemisphere cold winters, xmas chestnuts roasting by the open fire might be a thing, but in Queensland the optimum xmas was a picnic by the beach with a bucket of prawns and a slab of beer - cheers mate !
Yep, I'm an immigrant + orphan, so i tick 2 of those checkmarks haha.
A lot of people do an ‘orphans Christmas’ ie get together with other people who don’t have family together. Maybe you can host one. Do Christmas in July if you can’t wait until next year. Or the same kind of catch up and food is pretty much standard between now and Australia Day.
Anyway… sorry that you’re missing your family and hope you get to do something nice soon.
My religion doesn't celebrate Xmas. Never had Xmas dinners or lunches
Yes, along with that many people are opting to celebrate Festivus now instead of the antiquated Christmas season.
Christmas has never been an important time holiday in my family and will become less for others over time.
We did Christmas dinners for about 2 years with the ham and the turkey and stuff. For the past 25 years of my life we didn't really do it the American way which seems to be how Hollywood tells us we should be doing it.
The glazed ham skin tastes and smells nice, but otherwise it's just salty meat and the turkey is just salty chicken with cranberry sauce.
Much rather prefer a rib eye or scotch fillet and some snags - much faster and less preparation involved.
You're not missing out on much believe me.
The muslim eid food is a lot tastier.
The italian style is good too.
I
What's stopping you from hosting a traditional xmas lunch for yourself and/or the people around you..
There's no rules, it doesn't have to be fancy, it could just be a supermarket roast chicken or such and some frozen vegies… It's really all just about getting together with people…
You don't "need" to have a big fancy ham:
https://i.postimg.cc/TYWDMBG1/4c9e6e2e5537692745eda5b4fe99b8…