Christmas traditions
 

What do you typically do for Christmas in your family/country? (That is, if you celebrate it at all).
What do you eat, are you alone or with the closest family or lots of relatives?
Do you celebrate it on the 24th or 25th? When do you open the presents?

This year I'm with my parents and my sister. The main day in Iceland is the 24th, we open the presents that night. I'm not 100% sure what we'll eat which day (we have nice food on the 24th, 25th and 31st), but I'm guessing lamb back and smoked and hanged lamb leg. On the 23rd we eat sting-rays.

We've got 13 Santa Clauses. Starting on the night of the 11th of December, children put their shoes in their window, and Santa comes early the morning after (way before the kids wake up) and puts something in the shoe.

For me, it's limited to the dinner, basically. Dunno, but the entire buy-buy-buy craze makes me feel kinda sick. To me it seems xmas is to celebrate Jesus the Merchant, and for us to feel annoyed the presents we got weren't more expensive and impressive than they were. Home made? Only if you're too cheap to buy a Merchedes as a gift. Putting your heart into it? Nah, we want to see the price tags. Anyway:

The 24th:
Dinner, which is pork rib with extras, fruitcake and retireing to my room to rest while the others run screaming around the xmas tree. Then back in for the presents :p

We decorate a small Christmas tree, and eat a lot of good food on 24th and 25th. Between then and 31 st it's largely eating leftovers, on 31st we eat awesome food again, before going out somewhere to celebrate New Year.

Except sweets and candies and some small stuff we don't really buy or each other presents, so it's mostly about eating and getting together with your family.

Gathering with the family, Christmas tree with presents, first rule: small and cheap presents pref something useful, except for the little ones, they may be spoiled.
Second rule: none gets drunk@Christmas, that's for new year.

That's usual here , Christmas is family day, new year is party time.
The older I become, the more I prefer Christmas.

The family gathered, the 23th we make a helluvalot of ricepudding then we eat the delicious rice pudding, and save the rest , then the 24th we are all stressed and hating eachother until about 6 in the afternoon when the dinner is ready; Duck, pork loin, potatoes, and potatoes covered in melted sugar-something, red cabbage, ..and much more stuff i don't know the english words for.
as dessert we eat Ris á l'amande, which is made from the leftovers of yesterdays ricepudding..then we sit in pain and agony because we've eaten too much, then we dance around the christmastree,..sings christmassongs...then the old ones reads some fiction from the bible, then we open our presents.
The 25th i eat the remaining ris á l'amande leftovers :E

Traditionally, what dosraider said. Time with family, presents, dinner.
I've been moving in the direction of Mighty Midget, though. I'm not liking the whole buy buy buy fiasco any more. If there's anything I want, I can generally afford to buy it myself.

This year, my parents-in-laws are talking about pooling all our money into a big family trip sometime during the next year, which I think is much more in the Christmas spirit.

We wait until Christmas morning to open presents, making the children suffer, which is definitely fun for me! :mischief:

Depending on where we go, it'll be lamb, or ham, for Christmas dinner on the 25th.

We never celebrate Christmas.
We do get together for new year usually.

My christmas involves finding excuses to not see my family. Failing, buying them terrible gifts in the hopes they will never speak to me again and not saying thank you for any of the garbage they do buy me... even though I do appreciate them wasting money. However, this year I have a job dispatching snowplows on Provincial highways so I have a legit excuse for skipping dinner.:thumbs:

In my country... people who never believe in anything and have no religious feeling whatsoever (unless it's for joining in protest against somebody who's undermining their religious misconsepctions) are rushing to churches to get their food blessed (or is that easter) so they can get overstuffed... and stalk on their prayer for a few years (in case they can't make it next year).
Then they usually get drunk after church and do things they should go to confescion, but forget by the time they next go there (next christmas).

Those who really do believe are either disgusted (if they can think) or enthusiastic (if they can't) because they they think people will finally find religion again.

In our family - well, we might get together at grandma's for an afternoon snack and exchange of gifts... usually trinckets we got way back through the year, but only give it now...

Once grandma's dead (not looking forward to it, but it's enevidable - for anybody, so why should she be any different) I doubt we'll get together for christmas... but we do get together on New Years (or the day after - when we're in a bit more sober state).