"Ugly" sweaters, mints and "Schedryk". Without what is there no Christmas in the USA?

“Oh, ugly Christmas sweater,” a colleague commented on my new purchase, featuring a charismatic penguin and a snowflake pattern. I was a little offended. Because I didn’t yet know about this special category of winter clothing - Ugly Christmas Sweater.

Ugly sweater winners !!! #FinchFalcons #UglySweaterDay pic.twitter.com/LQh7KFtLGP

- Finch Elementary (@FinchFalcons) December 14, 2017

These are sweaters in red and green colors, with deer, snowflakes, elves, Santa and everything that your imagination can create. This trend originated in the 80s and went through times of wild popularity, then ridicule and contempt, and then received a second wind thanks to hipsters.

Nowadays young people are holding themed parties - Ugly Christmas Sweater Parties with contests for the “ugliest” knitting artwork.

Good Morning and TGIF, It is National #UglySweaterDay ugly sweater as we celebrate! pic.twitter.com/tCCClLuTp1

- BVR Sports Podcast (@BvRsports) December 15, 2017

Velvet red cakes and ginger biscuits

Eating too much at the festive table is common not only among Ukrainians. At Christmas, Americans - usually not very generous when it comes to treating guests at parties - treat their families and friends to a large dinner.

Red and white peppermint canes (peppermint candy cane), red velvet cakes (red velvet cake), cupcakes, cupcakes (cupcake)baked turkey like for Thanksgiving. And this is only true American Christmas dishes.

There are even more delicious borrowings from all over the world. Mashed potatoes, which actually come from Britain, Chinese baked goose, English gingerbread men, or even whole gingerbread houses, German stollen.

Wash them down with a Scottish eggnog (eggnog) - it's like eggnog, only with milk or whipped cream. It can be alcoholic, like hot chocolate, with liqueur or brandy added. And at every party there will be German mulled wine (it’s called mulled wine or Glühwein) or Indian punch (punch).

Early preparations

You can feel the approach of Christmas in the USA since October. Many people remove pumpkins and cobwebs from their homes the day after Halloween - and immediately put up Christmas lights. And on Thanksgiving Day, which is celebrated on the last Thursday of November, you can safely wish everyone: Happy Holidays, that is, happy holidays.

Gifts are purchased in advance, and gift wrapping businesses generate annual revenue. For those who are overpriced, they buy wrapping paper and ribbons and wrap the boxes by hand. It seems that the ability to wrap a gift is one of the basic skills of Americans, without which it is impossible to survive in the country.

Фото: Depositphotos

Once, at the request of a colleague, she sent a parcel, and when she couldn’t collect and glue the cardboard box, which they sell there unfolded, for five minutes, postal workers and buyers looked at me as if they were a person from outside the civilized world.

Old school traditions

Christmas is a busy time for the post office, not only because Americans love to send Christmas gifts to family and friends across the country. Paper greeting cards are still popular here.

Thus, in the United States, not only advertisements and congratulations in the style of Kiev local deputies can be expected in the mailbox “to the addressee”. Every year, Americans buy 6,5 billion postcards, worth $ 7-8 billion.

The most popular seasonal cards are Christmas cards, selling for as much as $1,6 million. This tradition is gradually dying out, but for millions of families, signing cards and putting them in envelopes is still an integral symbol of Christmas.

Also, American Christmas includes fairs throughout the city, in every district. Christmas trees are lit everywhere, skating rinks are set up, church choirs sing, musicals and plays are shown, and old Christmas films are shown in cinemas (from Die Hard to A Christmas Carol). In general, there are so many events that there is no question of where to go in search of a festive atmosphere.

Old Christmas songs in various modern arrangements also create a fabulous winter mood. You go to work on Monday, there’s still a month until Christmas, and suddenly you hear an African-American saxophonist playing “Shchedryk” perfectly at the exit from the subway, and a festive mood is guaranteed.

The original column is published on the website. Ukrainian Service “Voices America. "

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