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ofthetree.Thankstomymum’stendencytokeepprettymucheverythingmeandmybrotherevermadeinprimaryschool，weareblessedwithawealthofoptionsasfarastop—of-the—treedecorationsgo.Younameit—pape~cardboard，wire，ping—pongballs，yo—ghurtpots—we。veprobablygotastaroranangelmadeoutofit.Mostoften，though，weoptforthequiteoldandincreasinglyfragileangelwecallthe。’mousefairy”，becauseifthere’sonethingthat’sbetterthananangelontopofaChristmastree，it'sanangelthat’salsoacutemouseSadly,Idon’tgettohelpoutwiththedeco—rationssomuchanymore.SinceIdon’tliveathomethesedays，mybrotherhasusuallydonealltheworkalreadywhenIarrive.Thetreeitselfcomesfromverynearby.SomefriendsofoursinthevillagegrowpinetreesduringtheyeartosellatChristmastimeandtheyalwayspickoutanice—lookingoneforusandputitaside.Someyears，mymumhelpsthemtoselItheirtreeswhenshehassomefreetimeBeforeChristmas，thepresentswilIstartbuildingupunderthetree.You。renotsup—posedtounwrapthembeforeChristmasDay,butitcanbefuntofindtheonesforyou(thenamesoftherecipientandwhoit’sfromarewrittenonaIittlecardtagattachedtothegift)andattempttoguesswhattheyarebasedonwhattheyfeellike，howheavytheyareorwhatsoundtheymakewhenyoushakethem.Now,wherethistreeischangesfromyeartoyear—wealwayshaveoneathomebutwedon’talwaysendupstoringthepresentsthere.Sometimeswe’IIjuststayinourownhome，withorwithoutavisitingrelativeortwo，butoftenwe’IIgoandspendChrist—masatsomeoneelse’shome—usuallymygrandparents’，thoughsometimeswithmyauntsanduncles.Inthatcase，thevisitorsbringgiftsforthehostsandputthemunderthetreewiththeothers.Havingseveraldayswithmysteriouspackagessittinginplainviewthatyou’renotallowedtoopenaddsavaluablesenseofanticipationtoChristmas.OnChristmasEve，wegotoMidnightMass—theideaisthattheMasscelebratingthebirthofChriststartsonChristmasEveandcrossesovertoChristmasDayitself,thoughsometimesthe”MidnightMass”willactuallyfinishbeforemidnight.Thenwegohome，maybehavesomesherryandmincepies(thoughpeoplewillalsobehavingtheseattheslightestexcuseallthroughtheChrist—masseason)andgotobed.When1wasyounge6ourparentswouldsometimesletmeandmybrotheropenoneofourpres—entsatthistime，tostopusfromexplodingwithimpatience.Christmasmorning，particularlyiftherearechildreninthehouse，iswhenpresentsgetopened.IftherearepeoplecomingoverforChristmasdinner,though，youhavetowaituntilafterthattoopenthegifts，sothattheguestscanjoinintoo.Thelivingroomistyp—icallyawashintornwrappingpaperbytheendofthis，aspeopleexclaimhappywordsofthanksforpresentstheyreallylike，ortryandthinkofsomethingnicetosayaboutpresentsthataren’tsogreat.Mymumgotasetofjellymouldsshapedlikelobstersoneyear.Neverdidunderstandwhy,andIdon’tthinkshe。severusedthem.Christmasdinner,whichismoreofaIunch，really,aswetendtohaveitintheearlyaf-ternoon，takesalongtimetocook，partlybecausethere’ssomuchofit—turke~roastpotatoes，vegetables(includingtheall—im—portantBrusselssprouts)，’’pigsinblankets”，PanoramaYorkshirepuddingandsoon.Oncethemaincourseiseaten，dessertwillusuallybeChristmaspudding，akindofverydensefruitcakewithbrandyandcustard.Ifnot，orsometimesinaddition，theremaybeChrist—mascakeorapplepie.AcommontraditionintheUnitedKingdomistousetheturkey。swishbonetomakeawish.Twopeoplepullatthetwooppositeendsofthewishbone，andthepersonbreakingthelargerportionofthebonemakesawish.ThenwepullChristmascrackers，whichtypi—callycontainsomekindoftrinketsuchasakeyringorasmallmodelcarorwhatnot，apaperpartyhatandajokeonaslipofpaper.Wereadthisjokeoutforthebenefitofevery—oneatthetable.Itseemstobearulethatnocrackercanevercontainajokethatisfunny.Actually,IthinkIheardonefunnycrackerjokeoncebutIhaveforgottenwhatitwas.Afterdinner,everyonegoestothelivingroomandhascoffee，teaoralcoholicdrinkssuchassherryandbrandy.QuiteoftenwewillwatchTVtogether.TheQueengivesatelevisedspeechonChristmasday,whichwenormallymanagetomiss，buttherearealsolotsof亓ImsshownonTVatChrist—mastime.Forsomereason，BritishTVoftenshowsJamesBondmoviesontheafternoonofChristmasDay.No，Idon’tknowwhy.AfterChristmasit'softenabitdisappointingYouhavetoclearupthewrappingpaperandsaygoodbyetoyourrelatives.YouhavetotakedownalltheChristmasdecorations(it’ssupposedtobebadluckifyourChrist—mastreeanddecorationsarestilIupafterTwelfthNight).Luckily,there’sanotherbigcelebrationprettysoon，attheNewMear,SOyoudon’treallyhavetimetodwelI...onIt.49·BilingualTime靠一-