Marie Oelgemöller Leisure and Tourism master student
When I think of Christmas during my childhood , I think about my family who I celebrated it with , and probably also all the food we would eat together . I can barely remember any gifts I got , but I can very well remember all the nice time I spent with my family . By now , it is a tradition for me and my dad to go and choose a Christmas tree on the 23rd of December , so very late compared to most other families . Usually , I am also the one decorating the tree and setting up our living room . When my brother and I were still younger , we used to watch , or perform a nativity play at church , afterwards we would have dinner together , sing some carols and then open gifts , and then eat some Christmas cookies and other sweets . Since I am German , we open and exchange our gifts on the night of the 24th already . The next day , my family just spends chilling at home , because we have a lot of excitement the next day . On the 26th , we used to visit both my grandparents , which was always a lot of fun , with a lot of really nice food . When we were younger , we played board and card games with my cousins , later on , we just talked and shared stories from the previous year . Looking back , I really enjoyed spending quality time with my family ( and also eating good food ). There is one gift I remember and still cherish - a ring my late grandma gave me . Up untill today , I am still wearing it every day , thinking of her .
Fraser Robinson
Creative Business lecturer
We used to send our Christmas wishes to Santa Claus early , usually in November . My mum would get the catalogue from Sears ( department store ) out and I was allowed to cut out pictures of things I wanted that we would include in a letter to Santa , sort of like a wish list collage . Very creative ! I still wonder what ‘ Santa ’ did with them , will have to ask my mum if she knows ... I remember one year I was really keen on a three-speed bike , I was maybe seven or eight ... and got the exact bike I ’ d asked for , that was maybe the only time I asked for something really specific and got the actual model . My issue usually would be that I ’ d asked for a specific thing and got something that was a bit different - not the same brand or a slightly different model or something - but after the initial disappointment those items always worked just as well as what I thought I ’ d wanted in the first place ! The one year I just did not get what I wanted , it was around 1987 or so . Ferrets were all the rage as pets , and I was desperate for one . My birthday is in November , so I ’ d asked then and even though my younger brother TOLD me I was getting one , no ferret ever appeared . I was really upset , and my parents gave my brother hell for leading me on , but then as Christmas approached , he started up again with the ferret talk and , because I ’ m a sucker , I believed him again . Christmas day : no ferret . But in retrospect I totally get it , who wants a stinky ferret slinking around the house ? Can ’ t hold that against my parents !