spending the holidays abroad

spending the holidays in Scotland was a wonderful and unique experience. but let me back up a little. 

when i was living in Glasgow, i remember being a bit homesick for my friends and family (and all things American) as November showed up on the calendar. for the average American, the holidays start with Halloween at the end of October...move into Thanksgiving towards the end of November...settle into Christmas at the end of December...and end with a bang at New Years.

THANKGIVING DAY:

over the years, i had never really cared much how i spent the Thanksgiving holiday. sometimes i was able to be with my family for a big turkey dinner and watch the Lions football game on TV. sometimes i spent it with my friends and their families and assimilated into whatever their traditions would be. sometimes i spent it alone watching the Macy's parade on TV and eating leftovers. i've even had to work on that day in the past when i worked certain retail jobs. so i didn't think that i'd miss it much when i found myself in Scotland and unable to travel "home" for the holiday.

until it hit me and i realized that Thanksgiving Day is an American holiday....not a British one. silly me. the 4th Thursday of November was just another day in Scotland....just another day for the rest of the world. all of a sudden it became very important to me. 

as i looked around for anything that would help me to connect with that warm and thankful atmosphere that emanates from every nook and cranny of the American lifestyle around the Thanksgiving holiday...i became more and more frustrated. there was no cornucopia of harvest yummies lining supermarket aisles with mounds of pumpkins and goards, squash and corn. there were no images of pilgrims or indians or turkeys or pumpkins adorning every shop window. there were no there were no charities giving turkey dinners to the homeless. there were no pumpkin pies being baked or cans of cranberry jelly to open. there were no high school bands and football teams gearing up for the big day. and there certainly was no parade down main street with fanfare and anticipation of the full holiday season to come.

the year before, a very dear uncle of mine had suddenly and tragically died in the early hours on Thanksgiving Day. and having moved to Glasgow an exact week after the devastating terrorist attacks of 9.11...i found myself 1/2 way around the world lonely for family and friends who knew the depth of my mourning, i couldn't help the longing in my heart to be 'understood'....as an American. thankful for the life and freedom that i have. 

i was lucky enough to live with some people who wanted to 'try' to understand. they chose to honor the American tradition and take the day off (from our ministry-leadership college lectures and work) to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal together in our flat. this blessed my heart and gave me something new to be thankful for. so together we planned and prepped and cooked and baked and took time out to sit down together and be thankful. 

we did our best to gather the ingredients that would go into a traditional American Thanksgiving meal. we invited others to join us  and we gave thanks. they had me speak a little about the history of the first Thanksgiving and we all gave thanks to God for the many blessings and provisions in our lives. we all spoke out thanks for our families and our friends (along with our new friends) and we spent the day in leisure together. 

it's a memory i will cherish forever. 

CHRISTMAS SEASON:

this is another big holiday time that i found myself missing "home" when i lived in Glasgow. Christmas is celebrated all over the world...but every country, every community, every family, every person has their own unique and special ways that they "keep Christmas". 

a friend of mine back in the States gave me some great counsel...she told me not to dwell too much on what my heart was missing back home...but to focus on the fact that i had a great opportunity to experience the season in a different country and learn about their customs and traditions . she encouraged me to make new memories and gain new insight on the holiday by what i opened my heart up to. 

i am grateful for that advice. so i made a conscious choice...though i would miss my family and friends and all the holiday activities back home in the States...i would do my best to come to Christmas in the UK, in Scotland, in Glasgow...like a child. 

Christmas in Glasgow seemed in many ways like Christmas in any other large metropolis city that I've lived in in the States. the decorations and the consumerism were everywhere. there was also the presence of Christmas trees and carolers and charities and Santa and musical cantatas at cathedrals and festive foods and parties and everyone bustling about shopping. so in many ways i wasn't lacking for what i might already experience back home.

i want to write about some new things i did experience while living in Glasgow at Christmas time. 

one of those things was getting the opportunity to join a group from the church i was serving with to do some street busking. what's that you ask? well, in many huge cities around the globe (doesn't matter the season) musicians and artists, actors and speakers have the ability to pull up a bit of sidewalk or stand on a soapbox and peddle their talents or thoughts to the crowds that flows around them in hopes of some spare change or to gain a follower. Glasgow is no exception. on any given weekend you can listen to a bagpiper, watch a juggling act, hear a preacher, or gaze at a human statue. 

we decided to things a bit "upside down kingdom" and instead of doing something FOR money or FOR gaining followers...we decided to GIVE AWAY something so others could gain. we chose a freezing cold evening in December. we had some of our musicians play some festive music...and we gave away free coffee and tea and biscuits to known homeless & drug addicts & really anyone who took a risk and approached us. no preaching. no sales pitch. no pressure. if someone chose to stop and talk to us, we listened. if someone asked us what we were there for, we smiled and let them know that God loved them and we were there to express that love to them by sharing a cup of coffee and a biscuit and some lovely music. that's all. no cost. no catch. no agenda. just love.

i also had the opportunity to do a bit of travel during the winter season. one day in particular i remember piling into a small car with 3 other friends and driving from Glasgow to St. Andrews on the east coast of Scotland. there we enjoyed a rainy day running on the famous beach, eating fish n chips, and sharing laughs together. 

CHRISTMAS EVE & CHRISTMAS DAY:

living in Glasgow gave me a wonderful chance to meet new people from all over the world (not just Scotland). it's a very large city that has several universities and attracts artists and musicians too. i lived with 7 others in a flat while i was attending a small ministry/leadership college together with them. we were able to get 2 weeks off during the winter holidays. those who were from Glasgow went home to stay with family. and the rest of us who were 'foreigners' decided it would be fun to hang out with friends and experience things in a new way. i stayed with a friend in her flat over the Christmas and New Years holiday that year. She too was not originally from Scotland but was from New Zealand. we enjoyed experiencing the holidays through fresh eyes together. 

she was working on Christmas Eve, but when she got off of work we met each other at the corner shop near her flat where they had one small lonely Charlie Brown real pine tree left. we purchased it for 8 pounds and then we also found a tree stand for 5 pounds. we carried our treasures back to her flat and set to decorating the tree with what meager decorations we had. it was beautiful! 

after our dinner we joined some other friends and went to a Christmas party at another friends' house, where we ate lots of yummy goodies and shared tons of laughter. later that evening all of us piled into a van and headed into city center...all the way we were singing Christmas carols at the top of our voices and laughing hysterically. they let my friend and i out at the footbridge by the river, as they all had other places to go. my friend and i enjoyed a lovely walk across the Clyde as we took in the city the lights and the stars gleaming in the sky. we had made it just in time to attend a midnight mass at the Catholic Cathedral that was right there at the rivers edge. it was a wonderful way to spend Christmas Eve.

the next day on Christmas Day we had a leisurely morning together while we exchanged gifts and spoke of our own families & friends and holiday traditions in our own countries. then we did a very Scottish tradition and set out for the day to visit friends and enjoy the day with others. i think we visited 3 different flats that day...enjoying new friends, delicious meals, exchanging gifts, drinking toasts, and playing games. i had such a great time. 

that evening we made our way back to my friends flat and then we enjoyed a traditional British Christmas meal together...cornish game hen, veg, roasted potatoes, wine and Christmas pudding. we topped our day off with some phonecalls to our family and friends back home. it was a wonderful way to spend Christmas.

NEW YEARS EVE:

New Years celebrations in Scotland is called "Hogmanay". That year I got to experience Hogmanay in downtown Glasgow...it was a wild all city street party! my friend and i had fun in the midst of the city revelers and then we kept with the tradition and went to visit some friends to ring in the new year.

Here is some info as to what Hogmanay is: (taken from an article at Wikipedia.com)

Scottish Gaelic Og-Mhadainn/h' og maidne ('new morning').

The roots of Hogmanay perhaps reach back to the celebration of the winter solstice among Norse, as well as incorporating customs from the Gaelic New Year's celebration of Samhain. In Europe, winter solstice evolved into the ancient celebration of Saturnalia, a great Roman winter festival, where people celebrated completely free of restraint and inhibition. The Vikings celebrated Yule, which later contributed to the Twelve Days of Christmas, or the "Daft Days" as they were sometimes called in Scotland. The winter festival went underground with the Protestant Reformation and ensuing years, but re-emerged near the end of the 17th century.

There are many customs, both national and local, associated with Hogmanay. The most widespread national custom is the practice of 'first-footing' which starts immediately after midnight. This involves being the first person to cross the threshold of a friend or neighbour and often involves the giving of symbolic gifts such as salt (less common today), coal, shortbread,whisky, and black bun (a rich fruit cake) intended to bring different kinds of luck to the householder. Food and drink (as the gifts) are then given to the guests. This may go on throughout the early hours of the morning and well into the next day (although modern days see people visiting houses until 3 January). The first-foot is supposed to set the luck for the rest of the year.

The Hogmanay custom of singing "Auld Lang Syne" has become common in many countries. "Auld Lang Syne" is a traditional poem reinterpreted by Robert Burns, which was later set to music. It is now common for this to be sung in a circle of linked arms that are crossed over one another as the clock strikes midnight for New Year's Day, although in Scotland the traditional practice is to cross arms only for the last verse.

So despite being away from home (my country, my community, my family, my friends, my traditions)... i did take the wise counsel of my friend back home and embrace the customs and celebrations of the holiday season in Scotland while i lived in Glasgow that year. i made new friends, enjoyed new experiences, and made some great memories. i enjoyed many of them that i do try to incorporate some into my American way of life even now. my memories of that holiday season in Scotland are near and dear to me and will always be held close to my heart.