Though we are not going to be here for Christmas (hooray USA!), for the months of November and December, it is pretty hard to miss the Christmas build-up. Because the Brits don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, after their August Bank Holiday (a seemingly-meaningless convention for having a random 3-day weekend) they have nothing to look forward to until Christmas. For this reason, Christmas here seems to last for months, with most of the fall devoted to Christmas preparations.
When we first got here (mid August) we were amazed to see pubs and restaurants encouraging companies to hurry and book their Christmas parties there. Being a good documenter of culture, Lauren noted that OCTOBER 24th was the day that the Christmas exhibit selling Christmas cards and gifts went up outside the library downtown. Ever since then, it’s been full-tilt on the decorations, music, and shopping. The whole thing seems like Christmas overload to us, and, as if we needed another reason to love Thanksgiving, it serves the valuable purpose in the US of delaying the Christmas shopping madness a full month compared with here.
We spent yesterday (Saturday) in the Birmingham city center doing a little bit of shopping, and immediately felt like we were back in the States fighting through crowded malls. The only real difference is that the shopping center we went to, the Bullring, began in 1154 as a cattle and food market. This was just a few years before the King of Prussia mall had its first customer. We posted some pictures of the Bullring, an Arup-designed building completed in 2003 on our photo album here. Most of these photos were actually taken when we came out for Nick’s interview in early December, 2005, but everything looks about the same as last year. They give a good feel for the Birmingham city centre, and the small suburb of Solihull where Nick works.
Another Brum (Birmingham) Christmas tradition is the German market. There are rides, and stalls selling traditional German crafts and kitsch, and plenty of sausages and beer stands that line the city’s main thoroughfare. We feasted on fried cheese and warm pretzels last night, so good! This sort of outdoor market wouldn’t work as well in the snowy States, but the weather here is perfect – just cold enough to make you appreciate the crowds of people pushing against you.
The flower shop across the street from us has been selling Christmas trees for weeks now, and as convenient as this is, we’re glad we won’t be needing one. It’s been culturally interesting to see all this build-up, but we really just can’t wait to get on a plane and come back to America for the holidays. Just 13 days!
When we first got here (mid August) we were amazed to see pubs and restaurants encouraging companies to hurry and book their Christmas parties there. Being a good documenter of culture, Lauren noted that OCTOBER 24th was the day that the Christmas exhibit selling Christmas cards and gifts went up outside the library downtown. Ever since then, it’s been full-tilt on the decorations, music, and shopping. The whole thing seems like Christmas overload to us, and, as if we needed another reason to love Thanksgiving, it serves the valuable purpose in the US of delaying the Christmas shopping madness a full month compared with here.
We spent yesterday (Saturday) in the Birmingham city center doing a little bit of shopping, and immediately felt like we were back in the States fighting through crowded malls. The only real difference is that the shopping center we went to, the Bullring, began in 1154 as a cattle and food market. This was just a few years before the King of Prussia mall had its first customer. We posted some pictures of the Bullring, an Arup-designed building completed in 2003 on our photo album here. Most of these photos were actually taken when we came out for Nick’s interview in early December, 2005, but everything looks about the same as last year. They give a good feel for the Birmingham city centre, and the small suburb of Solihull where Nick works.
Another Brum (Birmingham) Christmas tradition is the German market. There are rides, and stalls selling traditional German crafts and kitsch, and plenty of sausages and beer stands that line the city’s main thoroughfare. We feasted on fried cheese and warm pretzels last night, so good! This sort of outdoor market wouldn’t work as well in the snowy States, but the weather here is perfect – just cold enough to make you appreciate the crowds of people pushing against you.
The flower shop across the street from us has been selling Christmas trees for weeks now, and as convenient as this is, we’re glad we won’t be needing one. It’s been culturally interesting to see all this build-up, but we really just can’t wait to get on a plane and come back to America for the holidays. Just 13 days!
2 comments:
That picture of Lauren with the Santa is hilarious! I can't wait to see you guys over the holidays!
i love reading about your time in brum. love that pic with santa....
thx for sharing all your adventures :-)
sistahe(blogspot.com)
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