... and here's a plate of duck, together with all the trimmings!
The keen onlooker will note that a lot of the dishes we serve for Christmas are the same as we serve for Thanksgiving... I must admit that the fact that we are a family of diverse natianal backgrounds has caused some confusion in the upkeeping of traditions - what to do when, why we do it and who we are doing it for! But it's nice.. we have our own hotchpotch of cultural identity that every single one of us can relate to and call our own. I guess that's really what it's about. Creating a nice and comfortable framework that all can relate to.
Speaking of culture. Our Catholic landlord couple in London definately don't see it that way. Talking to them about how we would go home for the holidays, they asked us whether we were Catholic or not..? As we both shook our heads and smiled, Maria, the corpulent short woman, said: "But then why are you celebrating Christmas?", totally ignoring the fact that also other churches celebrate the birth of baby-jesus. Not that I belong to any of them, but still...!
It seems so odd to me that Christmas is in fact a religious celebration. To me it's about being with the family, the ones you care about, sharing time. I guess that's just my modern interpretation of a religious feast. Not being religious and still celebrating religous events is actually a very odd occurence. And nevertheless, basically the whole country is doing it these days (ignoring the fraction of actual believers). As more and more of us become non-believers, we are living in a culture based on Christian values, with holidays marking Christian events in the holy text of the Bible, while not believing one word of it - enjoying the days off from work and the opportunity to be with family! Make sense of it, whoever can...
I for one am a perfectly happy culprit. Great to see my brothers, parents grandfather + half of my inlaws. Unfortunately illness prevented us from seeing the younger section, but I'm sure we'll get to see them soon, somehow.
7 comments:
the duck looks positively yummy!!!
do you know how to prepare it? any chances of you preparing it for me? (i'll get the duck for you of course). yeah another episode of food-induced discussion session, hehe.
as for celebrating religious festivities without actually being attached (or maybe remotely attached) to the religion itself, well, i guess that's the prevailing trend in most places, even in malaysia truly asia =)
The duck was really nice - a happy country duck that has waddled around in the dirt just tastes better! I sure do know how to cook it, it's not that difficult...! Let's look into doing it one day - we should be able to figure that out :.)
You should have told your landlady that Danes have been celebrating Jul since centuries before christianity was spread across Europe...
So very true.. the solstice celebrations just make more sense, don't they?
Well, not since the weather changed.... But who cares! Its a good excuse to get together and be happy.
=)
Is he geting better?
Yeah, he is, thankfully! However when he got home, the water heater had set out, and he is now suffering from a lack of hot water..! The general room heaters are on, though, so he should be ok ;.)
Poor lil lamb
=)
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