Christmas+in+Canada!!

**__ Christmas in Canada EH! __**

We live in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. We are the only bilingual Province in Canada. We are a grade 1-2 split classroom. There are 30 wonderfully bright students in my class ages 6-8. We speak English in our classroom however we also have French immersion classrooms throughout the school. We are very lucky to live in a country with so many different cultures and languages.

**__ Traditional Christmas greeting: __** Merry Christmas! EH! Happy Holidays! EH! Joyeux Noel! EH! Canadians are known for ending any sentence with EH!

**__ What the weather is typically like: __**
 * __ Summer: __** The weather in the summer is normally warm to hot.
 * __ Fall: __** This is a beautiful time of year in Canada because it is warm and the leaves turn colors (red, orange, yellow, auburn)
 * __ Winter __** : Winter is long and cold…in my opinion however we have many winter activities that people participate in (skiing, sledding, snowmobiling, snow shoeing, skating, ice sculptures, snow forts…
 * __ Spring: __** wacky weather…rain…sun…snow…rain… but it is so beautiful to see a flower pop up through the last bits of snow

**__ Foods we eat at Christmas: __** -Turkey, potatoes, vegetables, stuffing, apple pie, pumpkin pie, Christmas cookies, ham, coleslaw and gravy are all tasty treats we traditionally eat for Christmas dinner. -In Southwestern Nova Scotia, many families eat lobster, a shellfish caught off the shores of Nova Scotia in the North Atlantic Ocean, for their Christmas dinner instead of the traditional turkey or ham.

**__ Traditions or Customs: __** -The Eastern Canadian province of Nova Scotia is known all over the world for its fir and pine [|Christmas Trees], so most families in Canada have a fir or pine Christmas Tree. One Canadian tradition is to send the biggest, best fir tree (grown in Nova Scotia) to Boston, [|U.S.A.] because of the assistance given during the great disaster known worldwide as the Halifax Explosion. This tradition has been carried on for many years. Bostonians always love and appreciate the Nova Scotian Christmas tree. They place this tree in the city and then light it during a ceremony to begin the Christmas season. -Many Canadian families have cookie-baking parties. They bring a recipe for Christmas cookies, bake them and then exchange them with the members of their family. Each family, at the end of the party goes home with a variety of different cookies to enjoy over the Christmas season. -Canadian children also believe in [|Santa Claus]. Canadians are especially proud to say that their country is the home of Santa Claus. -At Christmas Canadian eats sweets called Barley Candy and Chicken Bones! They are really sweets made by local candy companies. Barley Candy is usually on a stick and is shaped like Santa, reindeer, snowmen, a tree and other symbols of Christmas. Chicken Bones a pink candy that tastes like cinnamon. You melt them in your mouth and once melted, they reveal a creamy milk chocolate center.

-Many families of French descent have a huge feast on Christmas Eve that lasts well into the early hours of Christmas morning after taking part in Christmas Eve Mass. -Many Canadians open their gifts on Christmas Eve. Some only open their stocking on Christmas Eve. Others choose one gift to open then save the rest until Christmas Day. -People in Canada send [|Christmas Cards] to friends and family. -Most people decorate their houses with colorful Christmas lights. In fact there are subdivisions of houses that put up a spectacular display and streams of cars will come from all over the city just to see their displays. -Each year we have a Christmas tree lighting in the center of town. Singing, caroling from house to house and of course drinking hot cocoa is a much loved tradition. -We always have a Santa Clause parade. Different businesses and organizations dress up their large truck with lights and music to parade down through the center of town.