Christmas Here V Christmas There

We may be separated by an Ocean and the use of the letter 'u' (it's a vowel for crying out loud) but the UK and America are also different animals when it comes to Christmas because there are some Christmas things over here which are not a Christmas thing over there.

One tradition and choking hazard is us putting a silver coin in the Christmas Pudding and the person who finds it are either driven to the hospital to get it surgically removed before they choke to death or they can look forward to a years worth of good luck.  

Another is the Queens Speech on TV where Her Majesty discusses current issues as well as tidbits on what Christmas means to her but due to a bunch of drunken men dressing as Indians and watching tea chests bob around in Boston Harbour years ago, it is understandable and to be fair i have never actually watched one myself, by 3pm on Christmas Day i am usually laying on the sofa in a food induced coma.

I only recently found out that American's don't have Boxing Day, the traditional day to return Christmas gifts to the shops and exchange them for the correct size, an alternative to the same value or make up stories about how it was broken when we got it and can we have the money back please.
Americans are not missing out on much, a national holiday to get over Christmas Day after all those mince pies and an early chance to exchange that Joe Biden Calendar for something of equal value at the 99c store.  

You would assume that if there was one country that would introduce mild explosives to their Christmas dinner it would be the Americans but Christmas Cracker's, cardboard tubes wrapped in colorful paper that are pulled apart by two people, make a loud cracking sound and hold a small toy, a joke, and a tissue-paper crown, never really took off over there and remain a very British thing but then when you see the bad jokes (Who hides in the bakery at Christmas? A mince spy!) i can understand that.

Egg nog but I'm not really sure what that is but i guess it has an egg mixed in with Nog somewhere.

A Christmas pantomime, or panto, are weird and wonderful musical comedies based on famous fairy tales which are performed at Christmas and usually star long forgotten male actors playing women's roles and female's taking male roles with some audience participation which generally includes, blimey, i thought he died years ago when that actor who was in Eastenders in 1986 comes onto stage prancing about in a tutu.

Americans have Televisions and as they have advertisements every 7 mins, you would have thought the stores would have cottoned on to this one but big, lavish Christmas commercials are not a thing, here we sometimes have adverts to advertise the Christmas Adverts which are usually a couple of minutes long and feature a heartwarming story of a dog or an alien such as this years John Lewis offering. Think of the furore around the Super Bowl commercials, only with Jingle Bells.

Who holds the Christmas No. 1 single is a big deal, or rather it was until Simon Cowell ruined it by releasing his newest stars single a week before Christmas and guaranteeing it the number one spot but after a lot of kick back (and the campaigns to get another song there) he has seen the light and stopped doing it but the topping the British singles chart on Christmas Day is still a much sought position and the Beatles currently hold the title with four.

It seems that when children leave a little something for Father Christmas to help keep up his energy levels as he whizzes around the globe delivering presents, in America it is milk and cookies where in Britain we go for wine and a mince pie because you know, Santa is an adult not 6.

There is a big hint in the name 'Christmas' to show who the day is actually about but Jesus hardly gets a look in here, its all Father Christmas and Snowmen and reindeer with nasal deformities so unless you go to a Church or watch Song's of Praise Xmas Special on BBC at some ungodly hour, you won't hear the Birthday Boy's name mentioned anywhere. I have seen enough Hallmark Christmas Films to know that you guys try to keep Jesus front and center as 'the reason for the season', but we zoned him out years ago and replaced him with light up Elf that dances and sings 'Merry Christmas Everyone' when you push his foot. Damned cute it is too.