Merry Little Christmas!
We are in Sheffield and Leeds and spending Christmas with John’s family. It is my first real Christmas experience in the UK and I heard there will be a lot of food in Christmas day.
Finally it is Christmas day. We drove to Leeds where John’s sister Melanie hosted the dinner this year. We prawn and salad for starters, along with some wine. Then everyone pulls crackers and exchange gifts. This is strange as I always thought it was boxing day when you exchange gifts, but it seems I was wrong. Next is roasted vegetables (potatoes, beans, carrots, and parsnips), along with some bacon wrapped sausages, stuffing (a tasty bread mix) and some carrots and sprouts with butter. The food tastes so delicious, and finally the main Christmas star – is the turkey with gravy and cranberry sauce. To be honest I don’t know why turkey comes with fruit jam, but it is said that this is tradition. I think it is a weird conbination, but actually it tasted pretty good. After the main course everyone is so full, but I still want to try some trifle and the Christmas cake. You can imagine how full I am.
The next day we visit John’s grandmother and some relatives. It is just like our chinese new year – it is all about family gather with delicious food.
I know properly some people hate Christmas just like we don’t fancy Chinese new year gathering any more. It is like a duty rather than a thing we look forward to, but this Christmas for me is special and unique. I received many gifts and enjoyed it a lot.
I hope everyone had a good Christmas and good luck in 2009. Here are the latest pictures for Christmas day!
我的第一个英国圣诞节
我们又到谢菲尔德和利兹，约翰父母在谢菲尔德，而妹妹生活在利兹。这是我的第一个英国的圣诞节，很期待它的来临。记得小时候常幻想真正的西方圣诞节是什么样子，这次终于梦想成真了。
圣诞节这天到了，我们开车到利兹，圣诞大餐在约翰的妹妹-梅乐尼家里举行。所有的菜都是梅乐尼和男友准备的，我们先吃开胃菜-大头虾沙律，然后大家喝酒聊天，拉圣诞花礼炮，一拉‘嘭‘一声，然后里面有礼物和笑话题，大家一起开心的交换礼物。在我印象中，总觉得是26号boxing day打开礼物的，但实际上是圣诞节当天。接下来是很多烤蔬菜，有胡萝卜，传统一定要吃的烤土豆，香肠卷着培根，圣诞配料（有洋葱，果仁，饼干，干果）放进土鸡里面一起烤，都超级美味！主角来了-圣诞土鸡！他们说要下点果酱和肉酱一起吃才野味，也是传统的吃法，觉得怪怪的，不过吃起来还可以。我们都吃得太饱了，不过还要吃巧克力蛋糕和圣诞蛋糕哦，巧克力蛋糕吃起来像提拉米苏一样，不太甜，很多忌廉和巧克力。圣诞蛋糕里面有很多酒和果仁酝酿一起的，6个月不断的下白兰地一起酝酿的，然后可以在圣诞蛋糕上点火，超好玩！从下午1点吃到3点，你可以想象我们有多饱。
隔天我们开车去看约翰的90岁的奶奶和他们的亲戚，就像我们过年一样，都是家人亲戚聚餐和围炉！我知道很多人都不太喜欢圣诞节了，就像例行公事，像我们中国过年一样，没有什么新鲜意思。不过这个圣诞节我过得十分充实和有意义，同时也收到了很多礼物和厚爱！
希望好运在2009年，大家过一个肥厚的新年！这是我最新的圣诞的的相片，好看吗？