Y brings you the lowdown on the many ways Christmas is celebrated by different groups of expats living in Oman
Kate Ginn
Hometown: London, UK
With our global workplace scattering people in different directions, Christmas is often the only time of year when families are all together in the same place at the same time. Growing up in a family of six, Christmas was a wonderfully traditional affair. I would leave a biscuit for Father Christmas in my room along with a carrot for Rudolph. We would wake at 6am, too excited to sleep, to see a sack of presents left by the side of our bed. Memories are of shiny Christmas wrapping paper being ripped and finding five pence coins in mum’s homemade pudding.
As adults, everything followed a reassuring routine: Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, presents in the morning and a Christmas Day breakfast of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, mum in the kitchen peeling Brussels sprouts and my dad carving the turkey with a theatrical flourish. It was always turkey and all the trimmings. My mum insisted we watch the “Queen’s Speech”, after which we handed out the small presents around the tree and the dog was then taken for his annual Christmas Day walk with tinsel tied around his collar. Later, it was cold turkey sandwiches for supper, a seasonal singalong and all of us gathered together to watch a festive movie.
Variations of the same format will be simultaneously played out in millions of homes across Britain. This year, I’ll be spending Christmas with friends in Oman, but a little piece of my heart will be back in the cold of the UK.
Dany Saliba
Hometown: Chrine, Lebanon
From the first day of December, the Lebanese people start celebrating the festive season by decorating their homes.
We plant chickpeas, lentils and wheat on damp cotton wool 14 days before Christmas Day. Additionally, every house tends to have a garden filled with various fruits such as apricots, figs and raisins, which are then dried by the family in preparation for Christmas. Furthermore, walnuts and chestnuts are picked from the garden to be used in dishes.
Traditionally, the most famous Christmas scene revolves around a stable, however, most Lebanese households have a decorated cave instead of a stable placed underneath a beautiful Christmas tree. This serves as a focus for the family members and friends to gather around and sing traditional Christmas carols.
On Christmas Eve, we go to Mass, an event that brings the Christian community together to celebrate the occasion. This is followed by a festive dinner where everyone gathers at a designated venue and brings a dish to complete the Christmas feast.
We also have lunch on Christmas Day and the table often displays an eclectic mix of dishes, such as roasted turkey atop a bed of rice with mixed nuts and raisins, kibbeh pie, spiced rosti, tabbouleh, fattoush and mezze platters. We bring these traditions to Oman by decorating homes with Christmas stockings, wreaths and trees. We also attend Mass with the Christian community and visit each other’s homes to exchange cards and gifts.
Jaana Raisanen
Hometown: Helsinki, Finland
We celebrate the build up to Christmas and on the day itself. Finnish people take Christmas very seriously, after all Santa, or Joulupukki as the Finns prefer to call, him resides in northern Finland, in Lapland. Offices and schools hold Christmas parties, with festive delicacies, carols and presents. Families purchase the Christmas tree and children decorate it. The Christmas Eve dinner is the most important meal of the festivities. Traditionally, it consists of a baked meat, carrot and rice casserole, sweet potato casserole, liver and rice casserole and beetroot salad. A selection of different cold fish would also be offered. In northern
Finland, the festive fare would, of course, include sautéed reindeer with mashed potatoes. We’ve had our Christmas tree up since November and Jasmine, my daughter, is having a little Christmas party for her friends. Let’s see if Santa finds his way to our house on the night of December 24. The Finnish community in Oman is really small – only about 20 people – and most go for holidays outside Oman. The group normally gets together on December 6 (Finnish Independence Day) for lunch hosted by the lovely Riitta and her husband, who have lived in Oman for nearly 20 years.
Karen Wilmot
Hometown: Cape Town, South Africa
In South Africa, the weather is usually glorious in December and perfect for entertaining outside. Christmas in South Africa is all about getting family and friends together around tables that are groaning under the weight of the festive feast. Some people stick to the traditional roast turkey with all the trimmings, including crunchy roast potatoes and the dreaded Brussels sprouts. However, many people use Christmas as an excuse for a big old braai (a barbecue in all other countries). In this case it would be steak, chops and our traditional sausage called boerewors (because a braai just isnt a braai without it), accompanied by lots of fresh salads and crusty garlic bread. Dessert would be traditional steamed Christmas pudding or milk tart for those who go down the turkey route and malva pudding (a sweet, syrupy and spongy cake) for the braai-hards.
I will be travelling home for Christmas this year and having celebrated Thanksgiving with my American friends this year, I am all turkeyed out and rather hoping for the steak and chops option. As for dessert, well, I would never refuse the sticky sweetness of malva pudding.
Melanie Marian Crasta
Hometown: Karnataka, India
Christmas in the Sultanate has always been a magical time of the year for me. Not only is the weather pleasant, but also, Oman is filled with Christmas cheer. From the magnificent Christmas trees in malls to beautifully decorated homes, Christmas spreads joy across all walks of life and is a time that is filled with mystique. I find there is always a certain “jingle” in the air at this time of year.
In Oman, I celebrate Christmas in a variety of ways. Since it is the season of giving, I go about singing carols with my youth group and providing food and clothing to the poor and less fortunate people in Oman. These carols are also sung in churches and for me, epitomise the festivities of the season. If you’ve been good, you can expect Santa to arrive with a few treats, but of course it is also a time for family.
Christmas morning in my house is dedicated to preparing the Christmas dinner and the very delicious turkey that goes with it, while the evening involves my whole family taking part in the feast for a celebration of love, togetherness and prayer. We, the Christians in Oman, are immensely thankful to His Majesty the Sultan for giving us the freedom to enjoy our most favourite season of all. Here’s wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!
Erwin Ariño
Hometown: San Mateo, the Philippines
Christmas is a very special occasion in the Philippines. “Pasko” as we call it, for most of us, is a time when the whole family can be on the same table for once.
No matter how small or big the house you live in, people always find a way to make a house a home through Christmas lanterns, lights or homemade decorations.
What makes it even more special is that you can feel the changes around you; the cold weather, peaceful environment, busy malls and night markets. Even people change – everybody seems to become generous – and Christmas carols play everywhere.
Filipinos love to eat and Christmas is no exception. Traditionally, quezo de bola (round cheese), lechon baboy, baka and manok (grilled meat such as beef and chicken) and hot chocolate drinks are never far from the table. Christmas as an overseas Filipino worker is difficult, I had no Christmas last year because I was in Saudi Arabia. This year will be different, though, and with the help of my Filipino friends, I plan to make it as memorable as possible. I was astounded to see Christmas trees for sale in malls here as, honestly, I was not expecting that at all. This is my first Christmas in Oman and I will stay at a friend’s house where we will be cooking food, dancing and exchanging gifts.
Felicity Glover
Hometown: Sydney, Australia
The festive season means summertime in Australia, but when I was growing up, there weren’t many Australians who’d let the searing heat get in the way of a good Christmas lunch with all the trimmings.
But these days, the non-traditionalists rule. And by that, I mean the growing number of Aussies who have shrugged off the traditions of our colonial past and embrace a new way of doing things that sees families celebrate with seafood barbecues on the beach or by the swimming pool. It’s just so much cooler.
For a long time, we were one of those traditional families. But then my mother saw the light one extraordinarily hot Christmas Day and vowed to never again be cooped up in the kitchen cooking turkey for a family of seven on Christmas Day.
Our Christmas cards, proudly displayed all over the living room, always depicted snow-filled scenes, a world as foreign to us then as Mars still is today.
As kids, we knew Christmas was on the way when we heard the sound of cicadas croaking away in the heat of the late afternoon and the splash of somebody diving into the pool. Oh, and the aroma of mum’s homemade pudding wafting through the house as it boiled merrily away on the stove for hours. Christmas morning always started early with the unwrapping of gifts, not to mention getting ready to welcome family and friends into our home.
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