CCC Blog Hop: Day 8

Today you get to take a stroll to Indiana and visit Terri. We have known each other for a long time because I used to be a great customer of hers back when I had the quilt shop in Iceland. I have always loved her work. Now we both design fabric for Red Rooster Fabrics so our booths are always close together at quilt market. We have lots of fun at the shows, especially when her husband Tom is there too. Terri is giving you a free pattern of placemats today so go visit and make sure you add your comments.

The topic for today's story is the first Christmas on our own. When I started thinking about this one, I knew I had to tell you about the Christmas when I had just turned 16. Yes, I did say 16.....

When I was 15 years old, I first came to the USA, as an exchange student. I spent a year in Florida. I know, can you imagine the squeals when I realized that I would be going there out of all the states available.  This Christmas was very different for me. Not only did we have very different climate from what I was used to around Christmas time in Iceland, but there were a whole set of new customs and traditions.

I was used to Christmas being very formal, we always dress up for the dinner table on Christmas Eve so everyone just wearing shorts and short sleeve shirts was very different. But it was 85 degrees outside so you really couldn't wear anything else. Instead of opening gifts after dinner, we were prepping for the arrival of Santa the next morning which was all new to me, but very exciting. Waking up on Christmas morning was also very different for me, the little girls would run and find their presents and start tearing off the wrapping paper. I was used to one present being opened at a time so I had a hard time keeping up because I wanted to see what everyone else got. After all the presents had been opened we went over to "grandma & grandpa" and had a great brunch. The rest of the day was spent hanging out by the pool!! That was a very different experience for the Icelandic girl, but I really didn't mind it at all. Everything I experienced that year, I soaked in and cherished. I tried not to think about what I was missing out on in Iceland because I knew I only had this one year to have this unique experience.

After the fact I am so glad that I had that attitude from the get go because it is so easy to lose yourself in what you are missing out on and feel miserable.

Comments

[Susan Brooks]

Glad you were able to enjoy a different Christmas. I've always had a cold Christmas here in New England.

[TheaM]

What a nice story you have for us today - I've only spent a couple of Christmases in Florida - but you're right - it is very 'casual' there!

[Leslie]

my first Christmas with my husband we moved from WA to Los Angeles, CA. I always had cold & snow. What fun we had in the warm weather. Thank you for sharing your memories

[arlette]

We have the same weather as the people in Florida use to get, we don't have a white christmas at all, it's sunny and windy, hwew, I like it after 6 months of raining!, I lived 2 white christmas (by my own) in the USA, I enjoyed that and I miss that days...

[Ruby]

Wow, what an experience that must have been for you! Thank you for sharing.

[Patsy Sanford]

This Florida girl knows just what you're talking about. It was 80 degrees here today, but beautiful.

[Anne]

2 of my boys will do study abroad next Spring. Thanks for sharing.

[Melissa]

I love the blog hop with all the stories! What a fun/unique experience for you!

[YTS Mom]

We had a student from Denmark! I'm sure she wished she was going to Florida instead of Nebraska. She really became a member of our family. That was over 25 years ago.

[SewLindaAnn]

Thank you for sharing!

[Susan]

I am really enjoying your stories! When I moved from CA to WA the weather finally felt right for Christmas.

[marta]

Suena como una gran experiencia que vivio usted, gracias por contarnos.

[Darlis]

Thank you for sharing your Christmas memory.
This has been a wonderful blog hop.

[Anne Heidi]

Wow, that was my first Christmas away from home as well! How strange :-) I went to Florida (Merritt Island) as an exchange student at age 15, (from Norway) and we went swimming in the pool on Christmas day! We actually got into our pyjamas and opended all the presents Christmas Eve though... (had to be in pj's for the pictures LOL.)

[Julie in WA]

One Christmas I spent at work, working on a huge project. It was better than spending it with people who were not my family. Crazy, eh!

[Krist Van Os]

I live in AZ now (originally MN)so I can understand people wearing shorts at Christmas. (ha ha)

[Jay]

I think that if it has to be different from your tradition, REALLY different is easier to bear. What a great experience for your teenage self!

[Sandi]

Do you still keep in touch with your the family you stayed with? What a neat experience for you!!! Sometimes it's okay to be away when you know that you will return and have lots of wonderful stories and such to share with family!

[Linda]

What a wonderful opportunity and wouldn't it be great to be able to experience Christmas 'round the world???

[Penny Hoops]

Thank you to all of the designers etc for sharing your lives and patterns with us, this is so much fun!

Penny Hoops

[Jewel]

Oh that sounds like a great experience for you even if it was a little strange.

[Darlene]

I've really been enjoying getting to know you and the other designers. Fun hop!

[Linda P]

I've always loved the exchange programs, look how wonderful yours turned out! Thanlks for sharing!
Linda P in IL

[Debbie St.Germain]

We always open one at a time too. I love to see other's open them and that is what makes me happy at the holidays. Am enjoying reading the first christmases and seeing the pictures, sure takes me back.

Debbie

[Marianne]

Great attitude at such a young age!

[Cindy]

Even today, we open "one at a time" - going around the room. It's toughest on the grandkids - until they open their first toy.

[Jayne Honnold]

You really did have culture shock with this, didn't you? But you approached it correctly...don't think about what you are missing, just focus on the once-in-a-lifetime experience you were having!

[Jocelyn]

I'm a Florida girl, and I so love my warm winters here. We don't usually swim in the winter time, but one year our children did swim at a friend's house on New Years Day!

[Jenny]

Kaye, don't have Christmas in AZ or Fl. It doesn't feel like Christmas much! Neat post.

[lovetostitch]

Christmas by the pool is different, and even tho it usually is quite cold in Fl at Christmas, when we lived there, I had a brother and sister who would jump in. They did it just to say they did. Brrrrrrr!!!!
Thanks for sharing your memory!!

[margi]

Great story. I so love learning of the traditions of others. Too kewl.

[Darlene B]

I really loved your story today. My daughter (from Illinois) spent four months studying in Spain last spring. It was a great experience in a new culture. But I'm so glad it was only four months, and not a whole year!! I would have really had a hard time not seeing her for that long. It was great for her confidence to prove to herself that she could do that on her own.

[Diane]

I am loving you r stories! Thanks so much for sharing these memories. I can not imagine a Chirstmas by the pool myself.

[Kaye Bartolotti]

That surely was a most traumatic Christmas for you. I have never had a Christmas where it was HOT outside