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Comment by balabaster | Hacker News Reader

I moved from the UK to Canada 20 years ago this September. Back in High School and University, I worked retail for about 5 years or so. By the time I left, I haaaaaated Christmas music. Couldn't stand it.

Now after 20 years in Canada, I really miss it. Nothing here is the same as it is in the UK when it comes to Christmas traditions. There's no carolers, the smells aren't the same, the shops aren't the same. Everything that made Christmas Christmas to me is missing. For everything I love about living in Canada, that's been the hardest thing about living here instead of where I grew up.

I actually have a Christmas playlist made up entirely of Christmas songs from when I was a kid to try and kick start my Christmas mood when the season rolls around :D

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My children are in a primary school level 'English as a second language' program in Australia right now, and my son got a 'Spot's first Christmas' book to take home to read yesterday. So then I had to explain what 'Christmas carolers' are, and why they would be at Spot's door if they're only a thing on the other side of the world? And also - snow? In December, at the height of summer? So that quickly devolved into a long story on colonialism, British world dominance of yore, and what a 'pommy' is . Ah that Spot.

In December I took a trip to southern California, and it struck me as really bizarre to have these songs on local radio repeatedly mentioning snow when it was a relaxed 70°F (≈21°C) on Christmas Day.

Most of those stations transmit up into Big Bear where there is snow. But yeah, most snow in LA is added by movie magic.

>There's no carolers, the smells aren't the same, the shops aren't the same

Growing up in Canada, I thought carolers and olde-timey Christmas themes only happened in movies these days. Are these traditions still alive in the UK?

Canadian here and these happen in my neighborhood. YMMY elsewhere, as OP has mentioned.

Canada is a big place, which city are you in?

One of my family members would go with a group caroling in Winnipeg.

Well, obviously I've been gone for 20 years, so I can't speak to whether they still happen but growing up in the village I did, they happened every year without fail. Some years we'd go with them, other years we'd stay home and have hot mulled wine to offer them when they came around.

Another thing I struggled to find this year in my local area was midnight mass. This just doesn't seem to be a big thing here either. The best I could find was a 10pm mass, which just doesn't seem to cut the mustard... plus what's with the singing carols to the wrong tunes?

Not only in the UK. Carolers are a thing in other places of Europe, for instance Greece.

In Portugal we have "singing the kings" in the first days of January, and traditionally people shared the Christmas food and drinks with them.

https://youtu.be/JlBnLlKPPGA?t=11

U.S here. I know carolers who get together and go through hospitals and retirement communities. Definitely a nice way for children and teenagers (who come with) to learn about giving back to a community.

Lived in the UK for a few decades. Have never seen a carolers. Thought they were a weird USA thing.

I can't say they're common, but they definitely happen. We usually get 1 or 2 small groups each year.

Carolling largely follows a bimodal distribution based on social class. It's still reasonably common among lower-working-class kids looking for a bit of extra pocket money before Christmas; for similar reasons, they're the last stalwarts of the penny-for-the-guy tradition. It's very common for those at the upper reaches of the middle class, who have a real penchant for old-fashioned community activities like choirs, fetes and street parties. It's all but dead for the majority in the middle.

Speaking more broadly, there has been an effort in many rural areas to maintain and revive particular local cultural traditions. Perhaps the most spectacular such tradition is the tar barrels in Ottery St Mary[1], but I'm also rather fond of the Royal Ashborne Shrovetide Football game[2] and the multitude of mumming and wassailing traditions[3].

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8-0wQmPeMg

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uV1zrZFzZo

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEDaRQO5Utk

How on earth did the Tar Barrels become a tradition?! :o

and the Shrovetide Football with only 1 rule?! :'D That's insane!

Only in England! I miss you guys :D

> no carolers

Grab a couple of neighbors and go caroling yourself. In my experience it can snowball quite rapidly if somebody actually gets it rolling...

Nice! I may try that next year. I could be amusing to do that around our village.

Carolers aren't common in Canada but they aren't unheard of. Different places will have different Christmas traditions so you're unlikely to ever get the same smells and shops. If you miss carolers I'd suggest you try getting a small group together and go out caroling.

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