Spending Christmas abroad

I would guess that since graduating from university in 2018 I have spent around 75% of my time outside of the UK. Longer-stints in the Netherlands, Spain, Romania and Poland have been interspersed with trips through many more; even the existence of a global pandemic has barely acted as a hindrance to my nomadic ways. Given this fact, I have often had to miss out on events taking place back in the UK from birthday parties to weddings - some more regrettably than others.

For example, none of my last five birthdays have been spent at home in Liverpool. Since turning twenty-one whilst finishing my studies in Scotland, the following four birthdays have been spent in the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania. I am not someone who particularly cares about birthday celebrations normally and, in fact, birthdays enjoyed with co-workers at summer camps or fellow hostel-stayers have been exactly how I would prefer to spend such days.

Christmas on the other hand is an event that perhaps comes with more social - or familial - expectations. The stereotypical Christmas is one spent with family in a cozy environment surrounded by decorations, good food and an abundance of alcohol (in my case at least). For the past two years - and this coming Christmas period too - I have spent this period abroad, first in Zaragoza and then in Amsterdam. Rather than dwell on what I miss, I want to share some positive stories about Christmas’ spent with my other ‘families’ (in both a literal and metaphorical sense).

The Christmas of 2019 was spent in Zaragoza, blissfully unaware of the pandemic that was to begin just a couple of months later. At the time I was working at an English academy in which all of the teachers - around 35 or so in total - were native speakers; as such the majority wanted to spend the holiday season in their home countries. Almost every teacher was given a week off at either Christmas or New Year whilst a few chose to stay for the whole period, including myself having used my time-off to travel to Vietnam a month or so earlier.

Given that every year there were teachers left in Zaragoza at Christmas, some of the ‘veterans’ (given the turnover of staff at the academy, anyone who stayed longer than a year could perhaps be considered a veteran) had created a tradition. Shaun and Iggy prepared a traditional English Christmas dinner and invited all who remained in Zaragoza to join them on Christmas Eve. Whilst, to put it politely, my opinions of the school were not entirely positive, one thing I could never fault was the team-spirit among the teachers and this was perfectly exemplified in this experience. Here, a group that ranged from the UK, to the US and to South Africa could celebrate Christmas together into the early hours of Christmas Day.

Having experienced an English Christmas, the next day I had a more local experience. Upon learning at the last minute that I had no plans on Christmas Day, I was invited to join My Spanish Family at their house. Christmas may not hold as much significance in Spain as it does in UK - there, the Three Magic Kings Day on the 6th January is more important - the gesture was nevertheless an incredible one, particularly given they had only known me for a couple of months at that point. There I spent an evening playing board games, eating Spanish hams and drinking one or ten beers….

The following Christmas I was away again, this time I was working in Amsterdam whilst the country was in the midst of a very unpopular lockdown. The reason I was there was that I was working there for a company owned by family members and consequently I was lucky enough to have people to spend Christmas with.

Given that my cousin is half-English and half-Dutch and his wife is French, it was indeed a multicultural experience. All cultures were respected and given their opportunity to be appreciated, and it was the ‘French Christmas’ that took place first, on Christmas Eve. Perhaps the thing I remember most - beyond playing many card games - was the traditional food, including a rare pâté made from goose liver. The next day was the turn of the English Christmas Dinner in which I could contribute, including introducing the family to the wonders that are pigs-in-blankets.

Whilst they may have been family, there was absolutely no expectation that they would accommodate me for Christmas, just like the year before in Spain. Some of the people you meet whilst travelling - many of whom are doing the same - never fail to amaze. The communities and friendships that form and the generosity within them are truly incredible and I am fortunate to have been just a small part of a few of those.

This year I am spending Christmas in Argentina and have already made plans to spend it at the beach. This will be my first summer Christmas and having spent last year cycling through sub-zero temperatures around the canals of Amsterdam, I can’t think of a more different set of scenarios!

Posted: 13/12/2021
Written by: Tom Taylor (@tomtayloor)