A Welsh Christmas!

Hiya everyone! It was one crazy week but so memorable. I hope that you guys had a great holiday as well, I would LOVE to hear about it!

 

 

So, I know that all you really care about is what a "Welsh Christmas" is like. To be honest it isn't strikingly dissimilar, but just a little more traditional I would say.

 

 

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First: Food

Like America, the meal is in the late afternoon and it is intended to be all the food for the day. This is known as "Tea". 

 

 

We had a Brazilian meal on Christmas eve. Sausages and Pork was being grilled OUTSIDE. Really caught me off guard since Christmas is known as a "Sit by the fire, bake in the oven" sort of thing. It was mainly rice with vegetables, meat, roast potatoes, and garlic bread. Later we had a hot chocolate station. I didn't realize that you are supposed to heat up milk AND THEN add the chocolate. They also had no powder mix. It was pure flakes of chocolate, chocolate "buttons" (little flat circle chocolates) and the cream and all that. Once again the food comes in bland in the UK, but if you are into a milder kind of hot choc, there you go

 

 

On Christmas day we had a much more traditional meal. And by that I mean another roast dinner. So many Roast dinners. (I'm gonna learn how to do it and then come home and we can celebrate with one, who's down?) The classic roast:

-Roast Pork

-Yorkshire Puddings

-Gravy

-Roasties

-Roast Parsnips

-Peas Carrots and Brussel Sprouts

-Stuffing Balls

- Pigs in a blanket (which are sausages wrapped in BACON instead of puff pastry)

 

 

Don't get me wrong, it is good, but in America THAT ^^^^^^ would be explicitly a celebratory meal. This is just the daily out here it seems haha. But what took the cake, was the cake. I had the *best* chocolate cake I have ever had for dessert. So moist, rich, and soft. It was an orange creme chocolate 2 tier cake with Madagascan vanilla buttercream. All homemade. 

 

 

Then for Boxing day we had another meal. Yet ANOTHER roast dinner of sorts. We ate with an older lady and she has just got cooking expertise. It was 3-course

1st course: Bread and butter, fancy cheeses and crackers, grapes, and prawn salad

 

 

2nd course: Roast Pork with Mushrooms and gravy, Roasties, Peas and Carrots, Cabbage and Bacon

 

 

3rd course: The SECOND best cake I have ever had. Another chocolate flavored one with crusty chocolate frosting, vanilla Ice cream and *chocolate agave sauce* <---that is what made it super good.

 

 

I have been blessed with way too much chocolate as a gift this season. Oh boy.

 

 

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Second: games and celebrations

 

 

Going back through the 3 day Christmas holiday I learned more about the culture and some games over here:

 

 

For Christmas Eve we played a game called musical hats. It is basically musical chairs, but instead hats are rotated. You steal hats off of people's heads when you are without one and put it on yourself. It is kind of funny. (Ladies have the advantage because you have to *carefully* take of the hat from them- not their hair)

 

 

We also did a drawing game. One person stands facing a wall and has a paper they are drawing on against the wall. Another person does the same but instead pressing the paper against the person's BACK. The person drawing on the wall tries to draw what the other person is scratching onto their back. It went so horribly wrong. Try it out, it is so hard.

 

 

They have these things called "Christmas Crackers" over here. Basically they are little paper things that 2 people tug on. One side breaks off and the gunpowder inside makes a *crack* sound. The one who is still holding onto the main bit receives a paper crown and a gag of some type, like a joke or a cardboard statue. So everyone eats Christmas dinner with a paper crown on their head.

 

 

I was a bit surprised that a young boy had received a big Hex Bug set for Christmas. Are Hex Bugs making a comeback or something? Any info from America on that?

 

 

A ton of people were out walking around on Boxing day. The sun decided to shine and a rainbow graced the sky. It was a great way to end the week.

 

 

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3rd: Other news.

 

 

So, Covid. Yeah it really sucks. The new Omicron variant is upending society again. More restrictions are back in place and if I am going to be perfectly honest I would not be surprised if we entered another lockdown shortly

 

 

To give you an idea, at church we had a total of 13 people come. Elder Morriss and I alone did the sacrament, only the Bishop spoke for the meeting, and he stated that the church is requiring more restrictions now, which seems to include vaccinations. 

 

 

23 or so people joined on Zoom because they are at risk or HAVE Covid. 

 

 

Also, transfers are SUPPOSED to be tomorrow, but they got delayed because of, yup, Covid news. Edit: It is in! Nothing is changing, I am chilling in Newport until at least the middle of February.

 

 

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Overall, I am really thankful for all the blessings I have had this week though. I know I can sound negative, but it really is in a jovial manner. Except Covid, but society as a whole can collectively be frustrated at that one, so we are chilling.

 

 

My family got me some great gifts, my favorite is a custom calendar. The photos inside are decorated with my family holding sticks with our heads on them. It is heartwarming to see that we are "still with them" in the family pictures.

 

 

That is what it is all about in the end: Loving and being with our families, whoever they are. The Gospel of Jesus Christ helps to found families on the attributes of Christ. Forgiveness, love, humility, and patience. I am grateful that Jesus Christ came into the world that night long ago to exemplify and teach us to become more than carnal humans. We can progress to be more like Him because he forgives and strengthens us as we try. He is the gift of not just this season, but of our lives.

 

 

-Onward and Upward

 

 

Elder Berry

 

 

Pics! (Out of order probably)

-Caerphilly Castle!! 

-Brazilian Roast Dinner

-Drawings from the game

-A Christmas Cracker

-An English Roast

-Me chillin' in a crown

-A place that looks nothing like America

-Rainbow at the Church of Wales








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