This year I spent the first, and probably not the last, Christmas in my wife-to-be’s home country of Estonia. Not the first Christmas I’ve spent in another country, but certainly the first I’ve spent with a family from a country other than my own.

I found it quite interesting how the traditions vary from that which I’d been brought up on. For instance in Estonia Christmas is typically celebrated on the 24th of December rather than the 25th as it is in the UK. I’m lead to believe that this goes back to the Soviet occupation, where it was prohibited to celebrate any religious events, and in order to throw the sent off any scrutiny, the Estonians moved it to the previous day.

Another tradition is the reciting of a poem in order to prove your worthiness to Santa before receiving your presents. Luckily I was able to abstain from this as Kristi had forgot to inform me prior to giving out the gifts, and thought it was a little harsh for me to have to think on the spot.

The food though is one difference I’m not sure I will get used to. In the UK we all expect our turkey, stuffing, roast potatoes with mince pies and Christmas pudding. However in Estonia the typical food eaten at Christmas are Verivorst, or blood sausages, with sauerkraut, followed by mandarins and plenty of Piparkook (pronounced ‘pipper-cork’), a kind of gingerbread. While I’m not too fond of the first two the Piparkook is very nice, and something I can certainly get used to.

The break was pretty exhausting, what with major fog causing delays at Gatwick, and then the constant get-togethers with various family and friends, stuffing ourselves with food all the way. But in all it was still very enjoyable and allowed me to further my foreign language skills, now being able to count to seven (that eight’s a tricky one) amongst other random words.