A Different New Year's Eve

View of Downtown VanCity

It's New Year's Eve and D and me have had a blast watching Team Canada beat the US at hockey tonight. 

Here in Canada, the New Year is received a little different.  The country closely follows the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championship right from Christmas Day all the way until the first days of the New Year.   This one is particularly sweet since it is taking place in Alberta, Canada and Team Canada is doing great.

The Championship is a great opportunity for young players to showcase their talent and that is one of the reasons why fans follow it so closely.  D and I are wondering which team has Canadian player Mark Stone; that kid is doing such a great job.  He's been putting the puck in the net like no one else there!

Ten teams make it to the Championship.  The usual big opponents for Team Canada are the USA, Russia, and Sweden.  This competition started in 1974 and Russia won the gold medal on that one.  If I am not mistaken Russia and Canada are tied in the number of gold medals.  They both have won the Championship 15 times and this year the final, it seems, is most likely going to be Canada vs Russia.  But let's not get too ahead of ourselves just yet.

Well, I have to go kiss this awesome year goodbye and receive 2012 with a big smile! Happy New Year to you all and GO CANADA GO!!!

For more about today's game click here.

With my nieces during our Christmas Party this year.  ~Notice my Canucks jersey~ It's always Hockey time around here :-D

Christmas in Canada - The most wonderful time of the year

Looks like Santa, a Timmies clad in a Canucks tuque.

This is the first Christmas I spend in Canada.  I keep wishing for snow on Christmas day but the weather forecast is not on my side.  It seems I am about to witness a green Christmas on my side of the country. 

Christmas is celebrated in Canada pretty much the same way it is celebrated in the United States.  There are a few differences though.  In the States  people open their presents the morning of Christmas day.  In Latin America we open the presents at midnight on Christmas Eve so this was different for me.  I hated the idea of not opening the presents on Christmas Eve after the big family dinner.  I asked my husband when does he use to open his presents and he told me sometimes on Christmas Eve, sometimes on Christmas morning, and some other times anytime during Christmas day.  I was very surprised by his answer so I decided to research a bit and even asked a few people and yes, the time of opening presents is pretty flexible here.  Well, it makes perfect sense.  Canadians are pretty laid back and they also have a mixture of the English and the French traditions.

In Quebec the focus is on Christmas Eve.  A lot of people go to mass and prepare the reveillon, the Christmas Eve banquet they enjoy with family and friends.  They also have a nativity scene under the tree and feast on a variety of dishes including a kind of meat pie, called la tourtiere.  They also have a chocolate cake in the shape of a log called the Yule log.   Presents there are opened during Christmas Eve. 

In most of the country, where the English traditions are more dominant,  the feast takes place on Christmas Day.  Presents are opened in the morning and some of the common foods , besides turkey and pie, are roasted goose and beef.
In BC, you could also find smoked salmon on the table.  Oh, I would love to have some smoked salmon for Christmas!  The only way to get it right now would be off some supermarket shelf and I doubt we will do that.  My husband used to be a fisherman long time ago and he refuses to buy salmon of the shelves.  Some of our relatives still fish so we get to enjoy fresh salmon from time to time. My mouth is watering right now!

If you want to to test your knowledge about Christmas in Canada and even learn more about it, click here.  It is a pretty interesting and fun little quiz.

You can feel the Christmas spirit everywhere here.  My local bus driver has the best Christmas spirit I have seen.  He decorated the small community bus like a reindeer, Christmas lights around the roof and shiny red nose included.  And he wishes everybody a Merry Christmas and leaves out a warm, loud laugh every time they get off the bus just in case he doesn't see them again before Christmas.  Oh and he also finishes every phrase with an eh!  Very cute and very Canadian.

So  Merry Christmas everybody, eh!  And if you don't celebrate Christmas Happy Holidays and enjoy the time off from work and the festive spirit on the streets!

I leave you with the famous Canadian Brothers.  Enjoy this Canadian version of a very famous Christmas Carol!

Bob and Doug McKenzie are famous and loved Canadian characters, that had their own show.  They are not cartoons though.  I will definitely blog about them soon because you have to know who they are if you plan to come here :-)