Offtopics

Tobbe

Avery Here in Sweden we also have "Black Friday", but no Thanksgiving holiday and this Thursday all works.
But many stores cheat and raise prices in August, so they can lower to the regular price on Black Friday! Therefore, it is important to look out and keep track of the price, if it is more expensive things to buy.

youdontknowme

Avery So my question is do other countries have something similar? If so is it the same day as in the US? Perhaps not since I think this is only a good day since it follows Thanksgiving and folks are off work and ready to shop.

We have multiple thursday holidays in Germany, and while the day after is popular choice for PTO ("Brückentag", literally bridge day), those are not major shopping days. Mainly because none of those holidays fall into the Christmas season. We do have harvest festivals (i.e. Thanksgiving equivalents), mostly in rural communities or churches, but they are usually held on sundays so any thanking God can take place during regular sunday service. They do not have the status of a big family get-together or something, that is done on Christmas which is a 3-day celebration from the evening of the 24th to the end of the 26th.

Black Friday itself has become a sort of sales event, mostly due to US-based multinationals like Amazon pioneering it, but it is neither ingrained in our culture nor the biggest sale of the year.

Avery

I'd like to thank everybody for their responses. Didn't respond individually because it can crowd the thread with excess posts. Also interested in Christmas because I understand from the popular felifromgermany postings on instagram and youtube that Germans don't put up the tree until 24 December. I mention this because Friday while out running in the neighborhood I could see in one house they had already put up their tree, on 26 November, and this weekend I saw cars coming home with the tree tied to the roof.

Angelina

Avery I understand from the popular felifromgermany postings on instagram and youtube that Germans don't put up the tree until 24 December

so i always do it on the 22nd or 23rd of december. not this year because i'm on holiday, but otherwise it would be too much stress for me because i concentrate a lot on the food on christmas days. but there are also people who have already decorated the whole house and yes some have the tree in the living room by mid december at the latest. 😉

carg

Avery

In the Netherlands we also have Black Friday. I've been aware of it for about 5 years, but it might have been here longer. It is one of the many things that some people decided was a good thing to take over from the US, probably mostly driven by commerce. Personally I dislike it, esp. the scenes where people's greed makes them behave rather undignified, to put it kindly. Because of Corona it was canceled last year, and this year spread over 5 days.

Christmas decorations are often put up here just after December, 5th: that is a separate celebration here called Sinterklaas The name is quite similar to Santa Claus, and it was the traditional time for the children to get gifts. But the background is different; Sinterklaas is supposed to be a saint from Spain, who comes over once a year on his steamboat to bring all the good children gifts. Christmas used to be just the celebration of Jesus's birth, without gifts. But of course nowadays that has changed. I guess most families either do a little bit of both, or choose one for the gifts. So once the Sinterklaas celebrations are over, people start decorating/preparing for Christmas. And the stores/supermarkets swap their assortment of treats, decorations, etc.

Max9

Avery Germans don't put up the tree until 24 December.

yes, we put up the tree and decorate it at the 24th in the morning or afternoon, just like the "Krippen"... that are miniature sheds that demonstrate Jesus birth and the arrival of the holy 3 kings - Kaspar, Melchior and Balthasar (that actually did happen on holy 3 kings day in jannuary)... in general germany you usually put away the Christmas tree about the day before new years or so, in Bavaria it's actually an old tradition (the way I know it) to keep the Christmas decoration till holy 3 kings day.
At Christmas eve you usually go to church in the evening, afterward you come home and have dinner. In Bavaria you usually eat "Krenfleisch", that's meat with horseradish sauce and bread or alternatively the bavarian white "Wollwürst" with white rolls and sour pickles; in Germany, you usually eat hot dog sausages with potato salad.
After that, you sing Christmas carols, and open the presents. In Bavaria, they are being brought to you by the "Christkind" (Christmas Child) in the shape of a white female angel with long blond hair in a special white dress, in Germany, it's the "Weihnachtsman" (Christmas man or Santa Claus"... and you eat special Christmas cookies and drink wassail or children's punch ... In Bavaria the figure of Santa Claus comes at the 6th of December as the saint Nikolaus, who fills the cleaned boots you put in front of the door with tangerines, nuts, and Saint Nikolaus figures made of chocolate - or, if you have been naughty, he brings your parents a birch to hit whip you on your butt (what hasn't practiced anymore due to child rights) And before that the Advent preseason begins with Saint Martins day at the 11.11. where you eat a stuffed goose and where the children go around town in groups with decorated lanterns and sing Saint Martins day songs (sort of like at Halloween in the us)

Vanessa

Avery

We've it in France too,but,generally,there is good promotions on many products during the week before the Black Friday.Then,the next Monday,it is Cyber Monday(similar to the offers on Black Friday,but more focused on high tech stuff),and it often last several days too.

In France,we've the French Days,too,twice a year,similar to Black Friday,and mainly done by websites,like FNAC,Amazon,Cdiscount,etc...even if physical shops can join it too.

Joh

Similar in France.

Avery

For Christmas tree and decorating the house,I don't know for sure,but I think it is mainly done during the first half of December in France.

It's the case in my family,at least.

Avery no one seems to go out around the neighborhood and sing.

Not common in France too...

Avery

Max9 At Christmas eve you usually go to church in the evening,

This is all very interesting stuff. There do seem to be more family style customs than we have here, In our town we do have a special day before Christmas mass for families which is held in the high school gym with kids getting dressed up as angels and the three wise men and shepherds. It's nice. The original reason for going to the high school gym is that so many people showed up for mass on Christmas and crowded the churches that the fire brigade objected they were over the church capacity for people and they feared a tragedy if there ever was a fire. It's worked out very well, plenty of space and plenty of parking.

Max9

Avery mass for families which is held in the high school gym with kids getting dressed up as angels and the three wise men and shepherds.

Yeah, the "Krippenspiel" we also have that at our schools, but only st elementary school.

But we also do have mass events before chirstmas. We have the christmas markets, the modt famous one is in Nürnberg, northern bavaria. Thetr do people sell stuff like smsll wpdden figures for the Krippen (christmas models) or "Bratwurst" (special saussages in a bun) and Glühwein: childrens punch with wine (without for the children) ... a huge christmas tree is being set up in front of the huge church and yeah .... also pretty populsr in munich, where we also have a pop-up ice running place at the Stachus ( big place in munich)

Tge market starts ad first of advent and lasts till 24th of december. Also, at avery advent we light a candle on thetraditional advent circle, one for each advent sunday.
https://ibb.co/TbsyQMn

The family get together is always on the 25th of december, the day after christmas holy eve and one of the 2 and a half holy days (24th since afternoon, 25th, 26th) of christmas. We meet for lunch and coffa with cake in the afternoon.

We aslo have a bit different carols for advent and for christmas itself... becsuse we stress the fact that advent is the time when we hope for christs birth is not the same as the holydays of is arrival on earch itself.

Oh, and we also have wooden bows and big figures with lights that we put in the windows
https://ibb.co/bXCq2Sw
https://ibb.co/2sQSFSD
We also havw the tealight houses where we put a small tealight candle inside
https://ibb.co/YdKPNjG

And that's whst a Krippe looks like for example:
https://www.brigitte-salzburg.at/mam/celum/celum_assets/BH15HK1_0268031FS040_641712_jpg_1_local_l_rd_local_l_rd.jpg?1

Some of them are very old and very expensive. You keep them in family for generations. They all look different depending on where you live because they are usually orientated at the local building style of houses.

Avery

Max9 We aslo have a bit different carols for advent and for christmas itself... becsuse we stress the fact that advent is the time when we hope for christs birth is not the same as the holydays of is arrival on earch itself.

Caroling (spelled with one "l" here and two evidently in the UK) seems to have gone out of favor here. Groups still give performances but no one seems to go out around the neighborhood and sing.

Max9 Some of them are very old and very expensive. You keep them in family for generations. They all look different depending on where you live because they are usually orientated at the local building style of houses.

That's what happens here too as far as passing them down but I'd say they look the same across the country but hard to know.

Max9

Avery go out around the neighborhood and sing

yeah, that also doesn't happen here. We only sing in church or at home..m or maybe there are groups that singe at the christmas markets.
Only on holy 3 kings day in jannuary small groups of 3 altar boys go round the houses, dessed as the holy 3 kings (a.k.a. Sternsänger - star singer - in thus scene), and they sing carols and give you incense and paint 20*C+M+B +22 (always the current year) above the door on the doorframe (ususlly with chalk) to bring the message of christs birth to the houses and bring the ones eho enter the (front house-) door luck. Then you donate some money to them and they move on. After that you burn the incense and carry it on a shovel or platr through every single room in the house to spread the smoke of the incense and conscerate the rooms.

Avery

Vanessa We've it in France too,but,generally,there is good promotions on many products during the week before the Black Friday.Then,the next Monday,it is Cyber Monday(similar to the offers on Black Friday,but more focused on high tech stuff),and it often last several days too.

We do the same here. The sale days seem to spread out but not this year for some reason. No stores opening at 12:01AM the day after Thanksgiving to beat the laws about working on holidays.

Angelina

Vanessa For Christmas tree and decorating the house,I don't know for sure,but I think it is mainly done during the first half of December in France.

the christmas tree too? that's very early, i'm surprised

Vanessa

Angelina

Yes,Christmas tree and decorating the house.

Angelina

Vanessa Yes,Christmas tree and decorating the house.

very early, but certainly a beautiful sight 🙂

Vanessa

Angelina

Yes,I like when the hosue is decorated,too!🙂

Angelina

Vanessa Yes,I like when the hosue is decorated,too!🙂

yes, i don't know how i'll do it yet because we're not at home for christmas, but i'll decorate a little bit this week, it looks stupid without any. 🙂

Vanessa

Angelina

Yes,even if not at home,decorating it is better.

And you can enjoy the decorated house until you leave for Christmas.

Max9

Did you know that about in the middle age the christmas tree was hanging down from the ceiling with the stem upside? Later it was put up in the house the other way round, like it is still done today

Angelina

Max9

no i didn't know that, interesting information. the star at the top was hanging over the ground, or how can i imagine that? 😂

Avery

Avery while out running in the neighborhood I could see in one house they had already put up their tree, on 26 November, and this weekend I saw cars coming home with the tree tied to the roof.

These people were evidently smart. There is now a Christmas tree shortage at least near where I live.

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