It’s not a Christmas in California…but a Christmas in France!
This Christmas looked a little bit different for me because it wasn’t a Christmas in California, but a Christmas in France!
I spent Christmas with my host family in Rennes, it was the most unforgettable Christmas of my life! I LOVE FRENCH CHRISTMAS! Here was my experience!
Let’s start on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve evening I attended Christmas mass with my family. This was a new experience for me because I am not religious, but I was very excited to attend and take part in their Christmas tradition. The mass was very gratifying and joyful, putting us all in the Christmas spirit! Once we got home, I was expecting to eat a normal dinner, but my host mom prepared a special and very elaborate Christmas Eve meal! The dining room table was beautifully decorated with candles, Christmas decorations, and glitter. We had mini apero snacks, a main course of roasted chicken, then cheese and salad, and lastly a traditional buche de noel cake for dessert.
On Christmas Day, I woke up with apprehension and no idea what to expect for the day; spending Christmas outside your own home is not something a book or person can explain. I nervously walked downstairs to joyful faces, all of my ease quickly went away. Underneath the Christmas tree was each family member’s shoe with a little pile of gifts! One of my host family’s traditions is that they open gifts from youngest to oldest, so we started off with my youngest host brother, watching him smile and enjoy his presents. Next it was my turn, and I was not expecting the load of gifts I received! It was really kind and thoughtful of my family to buy me gifts, them hosting me for Christmas and accepting me into their traditions is already a gift to me! Not only were my gifts unforeseen, but they were also gifts that I LOVE and have so much value to me because they all relate to my year abroad in France. My favorite gift is a blank color-in map of Rennes where I will color in all of the places I’ve visited throughout this year, so sweet!🥺Then my host sister opened her gifts, following my two older host brothers, then my host mom and dad!
After we all opened gifts, it was my turn to share some Christmas cheer. I gave each of my family members a gift from the Strasbourg Christmas Market! Even though my gifts were small, they were all so appreciative and shared their gratitude through a bisous. What’s a bisous? An affectionate way the French people greet or thank each other. You press cheeks on each side while making a kiss noise, but you don’t actually kiss😉. First my host dad bisoused me following the rest of my family. This surprised me because I’d never experienced a bisous before, let alone six bisous from my whole family! But I enjoyed the affectionate gesture and it really made me feel apart of the family.
For Christmas lunch, we drove 30 minutes away to my host mom’s parents’ house, or my host grandparents’ house!☺️ This was also a new experience for me because I’d never had a large homemade Christmas meal before, and if I do see my extended family for Christmas, it’s a total of around 6-8 people. In total there were 17 people at this extravagant Christmas lunch, including two tables, a kids table and an adults table. Now the meal…this was the most ENORMOUS meal I’ve ever eaten, also the longest lunch I’ve ever eaten in my life.😅6 hours, yes you read that right, s-i-x, a 6 hour lunch!😱 It just keeps getting better. We started with an apero snack with nuts, crackers, chips, mini tartines, a very yummy introduction. Then we moved on to the appetizer which I thought was the main course. I was flabbergasted when the full baked salmon meal was only an appetizer🤭, will my stomach be able to handle all this food? Onto the actual main plate now, roasted chicken with figs and stuffing, mhmmm. Just when you thought dessert was coming, another two hours of food! Next we had a simple but tasty vinaigrette salad, then the cheese! Cheese is special on Christmas because when there are usually 3 cheeses on a normal night, on Christmas there are 8! Hard cheese, soft cheese, creamy cheese, you got it all! Five hours later we made it to what everyone was waiting for…dessert! There were three types of cakes, a raspberry macaroon cake, a classic Christmas Buche de Noel, and a biscuit cake. Expecting to get a piece of one cake, my French family loved my reaction to getting a taste from all three cakes. For the finale there was coffee and tea at the end, but I did not partake in the drinks because my stomach would burst!
We did take lots of pauses after each course which made the eating experience enjoyable giving my stomach a break to comprehend this phenomenal meal. We did not get up though…so by body was not comfortable adhered to my chair for 6 hours straight. At the end of the meal, my host grandma, Mami, passed out little cards to all her grandkids with a proverb for each person. I felt really special and appreciated because she even included me😭❤️. We all read our proverbs out loud in order from youngest to oldest in age. Before the end of the Christmas luncheon, we took a group grandkids photo, where they also included and encouraged me into the photo. I’d never felt so warm, happy and acknowledged in a family; this is what I’d always longed for as an only child my whole life, this sense of bond and Christmas cheer.
By the time we finished the Christmas lunch it was already 6:30pm, Christmas evening. I bisoused every extended family member goodbye before my family I headed back home, stuffed and satisfied. This Christmas dinner was an experience I will never forget. I’m most grateful to my family for including me in their holiday traditions without leaving me out for any second of the day. Spending Christmas with my host family didn’t make me miss Christmas in California. It made me think about next year and how I will miss spending Christmas with my host family. Home really felt like France this Christmas and nowhere else. I celebrated Christmas with my family. They may not be my biological family I’ve spent Christmas with for the past 17 years of my life, but they are my host family in France who mean just as much to me. Joyeux Noel!🎄
