Christmas tree up, shopping done

So Christmas is just round the corner innit. I bought all my stuff online this year, no parcels heading to the Mother Land...hopefully a few heading this way, with the help of Santa and his reindeer.

Will post a picture of my crew fixing the decorations and Christmas tree. Ella is a bit too keen - every day she keeps asking if Christmas is here yet...

Blimey! Another thrilling episode in my tale of how I ended up in Israel!

You can tell Christmas is coming, eh? I'm about to unpack the tinsel and Christmas tree, but first had to get this episode off my chest: Episode 11 of How I ended up in the Holy Land. But I promise, not a mention of Christmas, not even once...

And an early Christmas present for all my readers - this is me, back then, looking moody and magnificent. Nowadays it's less of the magnificent and more of the moody!

Happy Christmas from the Holy Land!

Aye, so Happy Christmas to you and yours!

Have a great day, whatever it is you be doing...the kids are on holiday over here because of Hannukah, so not sure how relaxing and Christmassy it's going to be...but alcohol and mince pies are my intended domain, with a long distance call to Blighty somewhere around half cut o'clock.

Yesterday me and the missus hopped over to Jerusalem and toured the Old City, just to get a bit spiritual and seasonal, and touristy. I did my Barack Obama impression at the Western Wall and stuffed my prayer amongst those mighty cracks, while the missus was quietly (very) impressed with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre...it's been years since I last visited the Old City and I have to say, I loved it, despite the chilly, blustery wind. Very inspiring...if you can handle the cheeky little Arab kids in the Muslim Quarter...

It's Hannukah, so to Roladin off we go...

Donut (and yes, I know it should be doughnut) season again as Hannukah hits us once again...and the only place you can possibly buy donuts is, of course, Roladin. Last night, I took the kids for a donut splurge and bought 8 of the nasty little buggars, 50 shekels in total, but wow, what a box! I would have paid more just for the box, let alone have donuts inside...

So, here they are, in all their donut splendour - look away now if you're weak of heart or disposition...

And you see that far right one? Yummmmm. Butterscotch....the one on the left is with arak(!), that'll be tested tonight...

And on a more serious note, here's a pic of junior's homemade hanukkiah (candleabra), with a touch of Christmas (the green and red) thrown in (I made it with him in the kindergarten)...

Tis the season...innit?

Well, got my online Christmas shopping done, what a long, hard slog that was...or not...but I know that Christmas shopping in Blighty, if I ever get to do it, will never be the same for me, especially with the demise of Woolies. Ahhh, pick n mix, what a classic.

And the Christmas tree is up, with tinsel placed strategically round the house. But still waiting to hear my first Christmas song, would you adam'n'eve it. I've just been so busy, haven't had time to pull out the songs and get a listen in...

Last night I took the kids on a Christmas tree hunt in Tel Aviv. I was targeting the main streets of Yafo as I'd heard there were a few places selling trees, but the roadworks down that way and the heavy traffic put paid to any Christmas festivity. We ended up doing the ultimate Christmas thing in the Holy Land: eating felafel, made by Israeli Arabs, sat next to a hungry pack of street cats...the kids enjoyed themselves anyway!

And what do you say about this post about Christmas in the Holy Land? It's about time you met my baby, though please excuse the holes, still in progress innit...

Israelis love to occupy everything...

OK, the Christmas tree was put away a few days ago, but I thought you might like this shot. Spot anything unusual about the tree?

Crimboless

I find it hard here during Crimbo, without a doubt. Nobody's putting up trees, nobody's complaining about Christmas shopping (by the way, 700 shekels to send 7 very small parcels - I'm talking packets of Bamba - to England, would you Adam 'n Eve it!), no Christmas classics blare out from the radio...

I have a party lined up later today (Friday), with the same band that played at the party the other week, but it's not a seasonal Christmas party, not one of those classic Christmas office parties. Yep, I miss it all, badly, despite the blatant commercialism of it all.

Some of you are probably fed up to the back teeth with Do They Know It's Christmas banging out from the supermarket tannoy, but I'd love a splash of that right now. I challenge you to go one Christmas without any of the trimmings and then tell me you enjoyed yourself. It can't be done, I tell you, it just can't...believe me, hankerings for Blighty haven't half got strong this last couple of weeks...

Now, if someone could tell me where I can lay my hands on some bleedin' mince pies, the situation could improve drastically...

Buggar of a week...

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in...

What a week I have lined up. Thanks to the end of the teachers strike over here, my main teacher, who works for a high school, now has one hell of a backlog of hours piled up and can barely come over to teach at my place. That means I have to take over most of his hours, which totally screws up my day. Because I have to work at Open Spacey, of course. And, of course, they have one enormous release going out this week, meaning lots of last minute additions and changes. And with Christmas just round the corner, my planned shopping escapades, both online and bricks and mortar stylee, are going to be limited to about 35 seconds per day...this year mrs anglosaxy might have to be happy with a packet of 5 pitot and maybe some humus...

I was almost tempted to write something a few days ago about how the teachers strike was affecting me, because business is booming thanks to a few worried parents. And my teach is a good teach, I like him a lot, it's just that now I may have to let him go because the hours he can give me just ain't gonna cut it...fuck, was I pissed on Thursday when he told me his new schedule...

Here we go again...

Up and up and away

The Christmas tree went up.
And down.
And up again.
And down again.
And up...
I think you get the picture...
I'm thinking of setting up a barbed wire mini-fence to protect the tree from junior and juniorette, who are a little keen on all those dangly bits...

MixMatch

Tis the season...I rushed back from Open Spacey earlier this week, just in time to light the first Hanukkah candle, say a little prayer and stuff my face with a glazed, yet unoozing one. And then mrs. anglosaxy reeled off a couple of holiday songs, which Junior actually managed to sing along with (primed by his kindergarden I guess). And then she sighed and told me it was a little sad that I wasn't joining in with the singing. Never mind that if I knew the words I probably wouldn't have joined in...

I guess these are the woes of a "mixed" marriage, the holidays. With Christmas just around the corner, and me pining for it badly, my turn will come. OK, the missus enjoys Christmas, but she really has no idea about all the side dishes - the music, the food, the long build-up, the shopping, the alcohol what floweth, the decorations etc. For her, it usually means a fun afternoon in Tel Aviv (if she gets home early from work) or a trip to Blighty. And she probably doesn't really understand how I feel, especially when hearing Christmas choirs in the background when ancestors phone during their Christmas shopping splurge...

Now with the kids starting to understand what's what, especially Junior, I really want to show them what Christmas is all about. I can't really tell them about Hanukkah or Pessach or any other Jewish holiday, I think that task belongs to the missus. I'll celebrate with them of course, but won't be leading the chorus...I actually think the kids get the best deal out of it, they get double the holidays, double the presents from two sides of the family. Nothing wrong with that. I won't ever push religion down their throats, that's not my style, and when they're bigger they'll always have the right to choose not to celebrate any holiday they don't want to celebrate...

So this Christmas we might not be going home for Christmas but I'll be doing my best to make sure the anglosaxies have a great time and that Santa comes to visit...and - shhh, don't tell the littluns - after all these bleedin' Hanukkah doughnuts, I might be able to pull off a very fetching Santa...

Yep, I feckin' love Christmas...

Blighty, part iv

The last of my Blighty shots.

Ahhh, England, the land of kings...what can I say, I miss her, I miss my family, junior is missed by all (or probably not after the busy week he gave me and my parents)...but I have a strong feeling that the anglosaxies will be making their home there for a while. Not just yet, but as I see things panning out, it's a goer. Not for good, but for a couple of years or so. Mrs anglosaxy is up for it, I'm warming up to it, just need junior effing and blinding like his Dad and I'll be snapping up the tickets...

The first shot below is "typical England", taken on Christmas morning, I just isolated the green to make it look even more grayer than it was (but only just!). The three shots in the middle are from my sister's back garden, while the last pic is from Brighton, whose citizens probably deserve all the rota spikes thay can get (only joking, I love Brighton, really!).

Blighty, part iii

I think the best way to get over any reverse culture shock is to go and see a game of footie on Boxing Day, complete with hot steaming cup of coffee (x2) and a Kit Kat. Only my local boys, but they won an energetic derby 2-1.

Blighty, part ii

Fuck fuck fuck! Blogger managed to eat up my Boxing Day footie pics, so you'll just have to do with this lot.

Blighty, part i

I'll be honest, the first day or two in Blighty, I felt like a complete stranger, it no longer felt like "my country". All those funny accents, those strange coins, all that tinsel...but after that initial shock it all came good...there's just something about driving on the road to Brighton, with the rain beating down and "This is England" from the Clash blasting out on the stereo to knock some sense into you!

It was a great trip, junior was a little star, though he wore the crap out of me...at least he's got a few more words under his belt, all the important ones like cake, Santa, and Nanny. He also got to meet his cousins for the first time, which was nice, lots of flashing cameras of course...and I got lots of nice compliments, especially from cute Duty Free saleswomen, on how brave I was to be travelling alone with him...how right they were...

The weather wasn't too bad, just typically grey. I think the sun shone for about 2 hours in my 8 days there. Bleedin' cold and foggy the first couple of days. But, I can tell you that our house in smallsville is far far colder than any house in Blighty, I froze my brass monkeys off last night! They just have no idea of the "cosy" central heating concept over here.

Christmas. There just ain't nothing like it. You can keep your Rosh HaShannas and your Hanukkahs and your Pessachs, I'd be more than happy to have just the annual Christmas-fest as my holiday. OK, it's all gone commercial and the TV is crap (that was the crappiest Christmas Day schedule ever?), but all you Blighters that knock it, you have no idea just what you've got...I shall be coming back for more!







More pics to come.

"...and there's no need to be afraid..."

Right, that's it, I'm off to sunny England. Off for plenty of crisp, frosty (foggy?) mornings, beer, chocolate and plenty of shopping. Bring on those turkey sandwiches and pickled onions!

Happy Christmas to you and yours!

Soofy

You can call me Soofy (of course, short for sufganya - doughnut). My doughnut count stands at 6, which isn't bad after Thursday's soof-fest, but I feel a binge coming on...

And with Christmas coming next week, I really will return from Blighty a feckin' sufganya...

It's been...

...3 years since I was last in England. 3 bleedin' years. Can you believe it...that is a fecking long time, if you ask me. Will those pesky Brits still understand me? So, to check whether or not my accent still works, I'm going home at the end of this week for a spot of Christmas malarkings. Me and Junior only, a "lads weekender".

Need my Christmas fix badly - that's right ancestors, stuff me silly with turkey, chocolates and booze, play me soppy Christmas Carols, and shop me till I drop, I promise I won't whine...