[Living Abroad] Christmas On The Other Side Of The World

How is it December 2017?  O tempo está VOANDO! (Time is flying!)  This will be my fourth Christmas in Brazil.  And while I enjoy spending the holidays by the beach, it always feels a bit weird.  Being Canadian, I associate Christmas with cold, snow, family gatherings, and a full schedule of potlucks, parades and parties.  Being far away from loved ones it can be lonely(my first Christmas here there were a lot of tears) and I find it tricky to get into the “Christmas Spirit”.  I’ve polled a few experienced expat friends on the matter: Sarah Reimer, a Canadian living in Thailand, Kathryn Cross, a Canadian living in Australia, and Kristen Wruck Hammer, an American living in Brazil.  These are some things we do to make it feel more Christmasy even when we’re sweating.

• Crank the Christmas tunes.  In Canada you can’t escape the bad Christmas music – the same annoying songs(although some good ones) are played on the radio and at the supermarket for at least a month.  Here in Brazil I have yet to experience this, which is kind of nice, as not to get sick of the songs, but also not nice because it can be easy to forget that Christmas is coming and it’s up to YOU to put on the tunes at home!  Now you can skip all the crap and just listen to the good stuff. I always start with the Good Lovelies, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald.  I also have a Christmas playlist on YouTube: (click image below to open)

• Canadians, four words: Vinyl Café Christmas Tour.  Go, right now, subscribe to the Vinyl Cafe podcast so that the Christmas ones will appear in a couple of weeks.  If that doesn’t get you in the spirit, nothing else will.  Take care though, you may end up feeling nostalgic and homesick!  For Stuart McLean newbies, he’s a fabulous storyteller and every year he does a Christmas tour around Canada with a band, so it’s a great combination of tunes and heart warming stories.  I recommend this podcast to everyone, Canadian or not.

Stuart is great any time of year…

• Watch at least one Christmas film.  I’m sure we all have a favourite.  It’s not Christmas time for me until I’ve watched Love Actually.  It’s not just my favourite Christmas movie, it’s my all time favourite movie.  Just in case you wanted to know.

• Throw or partake in some Christmas parties.  Last year the kids and I threw a birthday party for Jesus – we had cake, cookies, and other goodies, colouring sheets and snowflakes, and we read the story of Jesus’ birth in the Jesus Storybook Bible.  It was a big hit.  You could also host or attend a potluck for other expats, especially if you’re far away from family and friends!

• Make your house smell delightful.  Every year, Kristen makes an aromatic pine spray, and also diffuses an essential oil blend of clove, cinnamon, orange, and nutmeg.  Last year Sarah’s expat friend gave her a ziplock bag with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom, with instructions to simmer it on the stove if she missed that “Christmas-y” feeling.  

Sarah’s spice mix

• Coooookiiiiiieeeees!  Kristen makes gingerbread cookies every year and this year she and I are planning a cookie exchange where each person brings a plate of cookies and everyone goes home with different kinds.

• Books and Activities for Kids.  Being involved with children can help a lot with getting into the Christmas spirit.  Last year I read the Christmas stories in the Jesus Storybook Bible for my boys(aged 1 and 3) every morning at breakfast.  Get your hands on a Christmas story you like(or ten!!) and read the heck out of them!

Some more thoughts:

Sarah:

Though I truly love living abroad, I find one of the major challenges is being away from home/family during holiday times.  Being in Thailand, I have felt especially removed from bustle of the Christmas season that I’ve known for so many years.  As Christmas music has begun already in early November at home in Canada, I am over here lathering on sunscreen and heading out the door in flip flops.  When I don’t own anything warmer than a jean jacket, I definitely have to use my imagination to get in the Christmas spirit!  Aside from listening to Christmas music at home, and watching “Home Alone” (one of my faves), here’s a couple things that really help bring back that Christmas-y feeling:

I always look forward to Christmas Skype calls with family at home.  Last year I skyped them from a beach in the south of Thailand!  My husband and I also made sure to whip out our Santa Hats and wish others that we saw on the beach a Merry Christmas 🙂

Sarah and her husband Zack spending Christmas in Koh Lanta, Thailand

Kathryn:

I get out the Christmas stuff/music earlier than I would if I was in Canada…having it around and set up longer helps.  

Keeping some traditions I grew up with helps it feel “real,” like opening Christmas jammies on Christmas eve, and having a large fake Christmas tree.

Planning to celebrate a meal with friends so you get that “family feel”

Don’t try and cook a traditional Christmas meal… it’s too much effort, and at least for me I don’t feel like eating heavy food when it’s 40 degrees out or having the stove on for hours…

Try and embrace some local traditions (going to the beach, eating salads and bbq seafood, playing cricket – or not….etc)

Doing some kind of Advent Calendar if you have kids helps build the anticipation!  We like “Truth in the Tinsel” 

Kathryn and her family keeping cool in Perth, Australia

Kristen: 

My husband comes from a family where Christmas was not celebrated, and so it can be a lonely time of the year for me as it lacks all of the things that make it “Christmas”! So one thing I do is buy little presents from the States during the year and hide them. Then when Christmas rolls around, I’ve forgotten about them, and it makes it feel more normal to open things on Christmas Day. Sometimes you have to get creative!

View from Kristen’s home in Florianopolis, Brazil

Here’s a fun Christmas diddy to get you started!

Have you spent Christmas abroad?  What did you think?

Expat friends, Christmas 2015

[Food] Vegan Gringas

Portuguese translation by Kristen Wruck Hammer.

Before this year I hadn’t given veganism much thought.  While I’m not a huge meat eater,  I consume quite a lot of milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs, and honey – animal products that are essentially forbidden if you adopt a vegan diet.  I especially love milk.  Growing up, we always, ALWAYS had a four litre jug of 1% milk in the house.  It goes so well with cereal, with cookies, with coffee… it is an essential part of my diet.  For that fact alone, going vegan was never an option I considered.

Antes deste ano, eu não dei veganismo muita atenção. Enquanto eu não estou a fim de comer muito carne, eu consumo muito leite, queijo, iogurte, ovos, e mel – produtos de origem animal que são essencialmente proibidos se adotar uma dieta vegana.  Principalmente, adoro leite. Desde jovem, sempre SEMPRE tivemos uma jarra de 4 litros de leite “1%”em casa. Sai tão bem com cereal, com biscoitos, com café… é uma parte essencial da minha dieta. Só por aquele fato, tornar-se vegana nunca era uma opção que considerei.

In February I met Brittany, a university exchange student from California.  She is vegan, and she taught me how to make nut milk, which was surprisingly easy and delicious.  We had a number of conversations about veganism and I started to think about it.

Em fevereiro eu conheci a Brittany, uma estudante de intercâmbio da Califórnia. Ela é vegana, e ela me ensinou como fazer leite de castanha, que foi surpreendentemente fácil e deliciosa. Tivemos varias conversas sobre veganismo e comecei a pensar sobre isso.

A couple of months later I heard a podcast about Esther the Wonder Pig, a pet “micro-pig” that turned out to be a full sized (650 lbs) commercial pet pig.  She has an instagram account and her “parents” wrote a book about their experience with Esther and opening an animal sanctuary.  It is just wonderful and I highly recommend it.

Pouco meses depois, ouvi um podcast sobre “Esther the Wonder Pig” , um animal de estimação “micro-porco”, que depois que cresceu, acabou tendo 650 libras, que é o tamanho de um porco comercial. Ela tem uma conta Instagram, e seus “pais” escreverem um livro sobre sua experiência com a Esther e sobre a sua abertura de um santuário animal. É simplesmente maravilhoso e eu recomendo dar uma olhada.

Derek, Steve, and Esther

Steve and Derek were not vegans or vegetarians before they adopted Esther.  But loving her as a pet completely turned them off eating pork, and gradually other animals and animal products.  I laughed out loud when I read this part, in which Steve talks about the decision to go vegan:

“If I can’t eat meat, what will I eat?  I hate salad.  I hate weird vegetables, which to me is most of them.  What was left?  Was I going to be stuck with seeds and nuts?  Would Derek come home one day to find I had morphed into a bird?”

O Steve e o Derek não eram veganos, nem vegetarianos antes que adotavam a Esther. Mas, amando-la como um animal de estimação, os deixou totalmente contra comer porco, e gradualmente incluiu outros animais e produtos de origem animal. Eu ri alto quando li este parte, onde o Steve fala sobre a decisão de se tornar vegano:

“Se eu não posso comer carne, o que vou comer? Odeio salada. Odeio verduras esquisitas, que para mim é quase todas. E agora?  O que resta? Eu acabaria sendo preso em comer só sementes e castanhas? Será que o Derek volta para casa um dia para encontrar que eu tinha se transformado em um passarinho?”

But at this point, things started sinking in.

“I’d always pictured milking a cow as happening on some beautiful farm on a lovely green pasture among rolling hills.  Some sweet little girl with pigtails heads out with a bucket to milk ‘ol Bessie.  Poor ‘ol Bessie probably wants to be milked.  She’s happy to provide milk for the family, and they love her for it.  That’s the story of milk, right?”

Neste ponto, começou a cair a ficha.

“Eu sempre imaginei que ordenha uma vaca aconteceria em uma linda fazendinha num belo pasto verde..entre os morros ondulantes….uma menina muito doce, com tranças, saindo com um balde de leite para ordenhar a velinha, se chama a Bessie… Tadinha da Bessie provavelmente QUER ser ordenhada., né? Ela deve estar feliz para fornecer o leite para a família, e eles adoram-la por isso. Essa é a história do leite, certo?”

*Sigh*.  Maybe that was the story of milk for some people, at some point in time.  But I don’t think it is today.  It made me think about the animal product industries and what I want to support/not support.

*Suspiro*.  Talvez era a história do leite para algumas pessoas, em algum ponto no tempo. Mas eu não acredito que é assim hoje em dia. Isto me fez pensar sobre as indústrias de produtos de origem animal, e sobre o que eu quero apoiar/não apoiar.

Vegan Gringas

In June I met Erna through a Facebook Group for Expats; she is from Kosovo and has lived in Brazil for the past four years.  She and I have been spending lots of time together, talking about our interests and passions – namely, vegan cooking and baking!  Erna makes amazing hummus, and I love to experiment in vegan baking.  When we decided to start selling our products, “Vegan Gringas” was born. (Gringa is a term for a female foreigner in Brazil)  Although Erna and I are not 100% vegan, we embrace the philosophy of veganism – to promote ecological and kind environmental and animal practices.

Em junho eu conheci a Erna através de um grupo para Expats no Facebook; ela é de Kosovo e mora no Brasil faz quatro anos. Ela e eu estamos passando muito tempo juntas, conversando sobre os nossos interesses e paixões – ou seja, culinária vegana e “baking” (assar)! A Erna faz incrível húmus, e eu gosto de experimentar assando comidas veganas. Quando decidimos começar a vender nossos produtos , “Vegan Gringas” nasceu. Embora Erna e eu não somos 100% veganas, nós abraçamos a filosofia de veganismo, que é promover práticas ambientais e ecológicas.

Erna (and Sombra)

We’ve started selling our goodies at different feiras(markets) which has been a lot of fun.  It’s a wonderful way to build community and meet interesting people!

A gente começou a vender nossos guloseimas em varias feirinhas, que tem sido muito divertido. É um ótimo jeito de construir a comunidade e conhecer pessoas interessantes!

To me, being a vegan isn’t about giving up every animal product forever. To me it’s a philosophy; a school of thought that says “By not eating animal products I am fighting for a healthier, kinder world.” If we all moved towards a more vegan lifestyle, we would be helping the environment and saying no to unfair living conditions for animals raised for meat/milk/eggs etc.  Each time I choose a vegan meal or recipe, I feel like I’m helping the world if only by a tiny amount. I’m also helping myself to stay healthy by eating more plant based foods.

Para mim, ser vegana não é sobre abrindo a mão aos todos os produtos de origem animal para sempre. Para mim é uma filosofia; uma escola de pensamento que diz “Em não comer produtos de origem animal, eu estou lutando por um mundo mais saudável, e mais amoroso.” Se todos nós começamos adotar um estilo de vida mais vegano, estaríamos ajudando o ambiente e dizendo um grande NÃO às condições injustas para os animais criados para carne / leite / ovos etc. Cada vez que eu escolho uma refeição vegana ou faço uma receita vegana, me sinto que estou ajudando o mundo, mesmo que seja apenas uma gota de ajudo. Eu também estou me ajudando a me manter mais saudável em comer mais alimentos à base de plantas.

Our goal with “Vegan Gringas” is to spread this message. We make and sell yummy vegan food in the hopes of raising awareness, starting conversations and forming community based on this idea.  We would also love to sell natural homemade home and body products like soap, shampoo, detergents, etc.

Nosso objetivo com “Vegan Gringas” é espalhar esta mensagem. Nós produzimos e vendemos alimentos veganos muito gostosos na esperança de aumentar a consciência, iniciar conversas, e criar uma comunidade baseada nesta ideia. Nós também gostaríamos de vender produtos naturais e caseiras, para a casa e para o corpo. Items como sabonete, xampu, detergentes, etc.

We encourage others to join us. If you want to make and sell things at the Feirinhas with us, do it! (You don’t have to be a vegan or a gringa)  Liking and sharing our posts on Facebook/Instagram is also helpful.

This is about doing something we love(baking, cooking, creating) and sharing it with others in a positive, collective way, in the hope that we can make our world a better place.

Nós encorajamos outros a se juntar a nós. Se você quer fazer e vender produtos nas feirinhas com a gente, seja bem-vindos! (Você não tem que ser vegano, nem gringa) Curtir e compartilhar nossos posts no Facebook / Instagram também ajuda.

Isto é sobre fazer algo que amamos (cozinhar, assar, criar) e compartilhar com os outros de uma forma positiva, coletiva, na esperança de que podemos tornar o nosso mundo um lugar melhor.

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” – Steve Jobs

Be a part of our journey by following us on:

Facebook

Instagram 

You can find Kristen Wruck Hammer who did our Portuguese translation at www.highersoulhealing.net and www.downtoearthenglish.com

Guest Post: Starting Over, Again by Jamie Searle Romanelli

Today I’m sharing an honest and courageous guest post by my good friend and fellow expat, Jamie, about her experience with culture shock upon moving from England to Brazil. I admire her transparency about the challenges she has faced, and I’m sure anyone who has lived abroad will be able to relate. I know you will enjoy this beautifully written essay.

A photo I took of Jamie last year for her translating business.

“There are no foreign lands, it is the traveller only who is foreign.”
Robert Louis Stevenson

Two years and three months ago, I made the decision to move to Brasil. It was a decision which was quickly made, recklessly even, for I gave very little thought to the true magnitude of the immense transition which lay before me. As is often the case when life-changing decisions are made so swiftly, mine was motivated by love. I fell hard and fast, in a way I hadn’t known before, and for once (being a cautious, studious type who usually researches everything to infinity before acting) I decided to trust my gut. I remember my now-husband asking me back then whether I felt I could live long-term in a country which wasn’t my native one. At that time, I had been ‘on the road’ with my translation work for the majority of the preceding year, in London, Berlin, then Buenos Aires. I had been flirting with the location independent lifestyle, which certainly has many benefits, but after a year of moving from one housesit to the next almost every couple of weeks, I was already longing to feel a little more settled. Having always loved the idea of living abroad, and feeling a swift connection to Brasil, I assured him that it would be (and I quote): ”No problem at all.” I knew I would miss people; my family, my friends. But I felt sure I wouldn’t feel homesick for England.

Oh, how naive I was.

Read the rest of Jamie’s amazing post here on her blog, Portuguese and Papagaios

You may also enjoy:

   

How To Make Friends in Foreign Lands

This post is written specifically about Florianópolis, Brazil, but most points can be applied to any new country or city.

When my husband and I decided to move from Canada to Florianópolis, Brazil, I knew that my number one priority for the first year would be to make friends.  For me it was even more important than learning Portuguese.  Moving to a country with a new language and culture can be exciting, but it can also be very lonely if you don’t have a good support network/circle of friends.

So how does one go about making friends in a new country/culture/language?  Here’s what worked for me:

•  Facebook Groups: Even before we arrived in Brazil, I searched for Expat groups on Facebook.  I found one called “Gringos Floripa” and posted a message saying I was moving to Floripa soon and would anyone be interested in meeting for coffee?  I made two wonderful friends thanks to that approach.

My first friend in Floripa, thanks to the Gringos Floripa Facebook page!

• In researching for this blog post I discovered another Facebook group called “English Hour” that meets at a bar every Friday night.  I went for the first time recently and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  It was a great place to meet other international people and Brazilians as well.

• Other Websites: Internations, OkCupid.com, Meetup.com

I signed up for a three month trial with Internations but didn’t continue because I couldn’t find anyone in Florianópolis, although I did speak with a Canadian expat who was very helpful answering my questions about living abroad.

When a friend of mine visited us for a month and a half, she used the dating site OkCupid to meet someone who just wanted to hang out as friends.  She met an awesome local who showed her around the island, and I know they had a lot of fun together!

Meetup.com is another website where you can find people in your city who are doing things you want to get involved in.

• Language Classes: This is one I haven’t done, but I’m sure it would be helpful!

• Playground: This is obviously pointed at parents, but I met another great friend at a playground!  She was there with her two kids, and my son ran up to me, saying, “Mommy, they speak English!”  We exchanged numbers and that was that.  I have also met a lot of lovely Brazilian moms and dads at playgrounds.

My awesome foreigner mommy friend

•  Church: Don’t skip this one!  When my atheist friend and I moved to a new town in Canada together, we both attended church regularly, and I didn’t even have to force her to go with me!  She wanted to go because she knew she’d meet a lot of awesome people and get to know the community.  Here in Brazil I attend the Florianopolis House of Prayer(FHOP) which has a LOT of English speaking Brazilians and foreigners.  Most of the service is bilingual, so it’s also an awesome way to learn the language.  It’s the place I have made the highest number of friends in Floripa(and I meet new people there almost every week).

• Meeting friends of friends.  Floripa is my husband’s hometown so I already had lots of people to hang out with before I started meeting people on my own.

•  Quiz Night (in English) at the Black Swan Pub in Lagoa: So much fun, even if you’re not a trivia buff.  I really enjoyed being in an atmosphere where I felt like I “belonged”.

After being here for a year, I’m happy to say I’ve made a lot of friends, both Brazilian and international.  Admittedly I am a very social person who loves meeting people, so it wasn’t too hard for me.  If you are someone who struggles with this, I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and meet as many people as you can at the beginning of your time in a new place.  It will keep the loneliness at bay and you will feel much more “at home” in your new home.

Have you lived abroad?  What did you do to meet people and make friends?