How to celebrate Christmas as an Ex-Pat
An estimated 2.3 million people chose to leave the country last Christmas and New Year to celebrate the festive season. Furthermore, according to MINTEL research commissioned by overseas property expert Parador Properties, over half a million Britons now live abroad permanently. Christmas traditions vary hugely throughout the world but some age-old customs, such as hanging stockings to be filled with gifts, are followed by most countries in Europe. So what’s the best way to celebrate Christmas as an ex-Pat? Wise counsel seems to be to transport a few of your favourite customs from home, but embrace local ones too. Here are a few to choose from.
In Spain, the Christmas festival starts with the feast of the Immaculate Conception on the 8th December, in front of the Gothic cathedral in Seville. The ceremony is known as ‘Los Seises’ or the ‘dance of six.’ Ten boys, all in elaborate costumes, conduct the dance. Christmas Eve is known as ‘Nochebuena’ or ‘the Good Night’. Tiny oil lamps are often lit in houses, creating the appearance of stars in the sky. Spanish children receive gifts on the 6th of January from the Three Wise Men. On the previous evening children leave their shoes outside and fill them with straw, barley or carrots then awake in the morning to find the Wise Men’s horses have eaten the contents, which have been replaced with presents.
Similarly, Portuguese traditions include a Christmas Feast of the Immaculate Conception. On Christmas Day, the feast is known as ‘Consoda’, where extra places can be set for the souls of the dead. It is believed that giving food to ancestors’ souls will make them bless the household with good fortune for the forthcoming year. The Portuguese also bury the ‘Cepp de Natal’ or ‘the Christmas Log’ – a piece of oak that burns on the hearth on Christmas day. The 5th January, or ‘Epiphany Eve’, is when children place their shoes along windowsills and doorways, filling them with straw to lure the horses of the Three Wise Men to their home. The Wise Men will then leave gifts and treats for the children to find in the morning.
Although St Nicolas, who is strongly associated with Christmas, was born in Patara around 280 A.D, Christmas is not a hugely celebrated tradition in Turkey. However, an annual festival is yet held in Myra for three days, around the time of St Nicolas’s official death on 6th December. There are many stories surrounding St Nicolas, including how children came to hang stockings to be filled with gifts. It is said that there was a poor man with three daughters who, in order for his daughters to be married, would have to offer perspective suitors a dowry (something of value). The larger the dowry, the more chance that a young woman would gain a good husband. Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry. As he couldn’t afford a dowry, this poor man’s daughters were destined to be sold into slavery. Mysteriously, and on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared in their home providing the needed dowries. The bags of gold, tossed through an open window are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left by the fire to dry. This is one of the legends behind the custom of children leaving out stockings or shoes to be filled with gifts.
In Cyprus, Christmas celebrations are quite different to those in Spain or Portugal. Preparations begin forty days in advance with ‘spring’ cleaning, shopping and fasting. It is a treasured tradition that all the family have new clothes and shoes for Christmas. As Christmas day approaches, festivals take place all over the country. In Paphos, a live recreation of Christ’s birth takes place in the caves near Agia Solomini. On Christmas Eve, housewives bake special bread (Koulouria) and pastries (Kourapiedes) while children go from door to door singing Christmas carols. Christmas Day begins with egg and lemon rice soup for breakfast and the feast continues through the day.
So, you will be able to hang your stockings up without fear of looking strange, but just where can you get Paxo stuffing, and how do you make a Christmas cake in sweltering overseas temperatures?
There are now many websites offering British food deliveries to ex-pat communities, and most large supermarkets will stock British brands, albeit at a premium price. If the thought of baking a Christmas cake in the heat is just too much, you can make it when the weather is cooler and freeze it; Christmas cake, well wrapped, can last for years in the freezer. Or with the availability of low cost flights, family and friends will be keen to visit and can be prevailed upon to bring vital items as gifts. But don’t ask friends to bring Christmas crackers, as even the tiny amount of explosive that makes them go bang won’t be welcome on a plane!
If you want to get more into your host country’s Christmas traditions ditch the English cake and try Turkish Delight in Turkey, Kourambiedes (Greek Cookies) in Cyprus, Turrón and Marzipan in Spain or "Bolo Rei" King’s Cake in Portugal. Go ahead and have a Christmas tree, but be flexible! Spain Portugal, Turkey and Cyprus all have native trees which can be decorated to give your home from home a continental yet festive twist.
Once you have your tree, food and stockings, all you need to know now is how to say Merry Christmas in the local language. Turkish – “Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun”, Spanish – “Feliz Navidad”, Portuguese – “Feliz Natal” and in Cyprus; where Turkish and Greek are spoken, Greek – “Kala Christouyenna!”
So who said you couldn’t have Christmas abroad? Embrace European traditions and merge them with the good old British turkey and who knows – you could be having turkey in Turkey before the year is out: and you may not be alone. MINTEL estimates that well over half a million Spanish homes are owned by UK residents, and the trend is growing. Spain is still our favourite destination but Parador Properties also sells in Cyprus, Portugal and Turkey. For more information and to book an inspection tour visit paradorproperties.com.
