Hi all. Just returned from Christmas shopping. Tesco full of rude, miserable people, their trolleys overful with enough food to feed an army. At the same time the Band Aid song playing its lyrics about third world countries and the shortage of food! Also why do stores at xmas charge £2 plus for individual cards saying Son, Daughter, Husband etc. We end up spending £20 plus on these cards feeling forced into joining in as to not to offend anyone. Were on the last hurdle before making a final decision. Please tell us is this the same Christmas picture in Canada?

So presumably you'll do exactly the same in Canada then so 'as not to offend anyone'?!? I've never bought one of those cards but usually make my own with the kids for family, total cost for entire family approx £3 and needless to say all the grandparents/great-grandparents/uncles/aunts etc love getting personal cards from their 'little darlings'.

Commercial Christmas is the same in most countries in the world, but you can easily change it, and make it more family orientated and less expensive, if you choose to - regardless of where you are in the world.

It certainly was for the last four Christmasses that I was there........except it wasn't Tesco but any other large store I can think of! Don't be fooled into thinking Canada is Utopia, cos it ain't......it's the same old same old, but colder/hotter, depending on the time of year, and of course a tad bigger. Thank god I'm back home!

Well this suits the title but slight off the subject!! I have just been walking around the plus 15 walk-way system in Calgary - this is a public walkway which links most of the downtown by overhead passes - great when it’s -20. Anyway I am always amazed at how lovely they make them look at this time of year. They are decorated beautifully and I am so amazed at how many poinsettias there are just placed around – thousands of them – and not one has been trashed/had the heads pulled off/thrown across the walkway – so far as I can tell. They are all still there on the 3 / 4 Jan when we go back to work There are some security type guards around and I guess most are locked at night but they are used in between by all from the homeless to top executives. Anyway I am always impressed

Of course it can all be awful if you let it.....

Although...Here in Calgary I am always really impressed with the amount of volunteering that goes on....Also the Food Bank campaigns etc.

My five yr old is going to a friend's b/day party on Sunday and the little girl has asked that we bring a boy or girl present and she and her family are bringing them all to the Women's Shelter. His school has also had a number of 'toy drives' . I can honestly say I see more active charity - by which I mean people really involving themselves and their families in volunteering or raising money- here in Calgary than anywhere else I have lived.

I know what you mean about the cards though...I have stopped buying then and the kids make them for those people that really matter...Otherwise I buy cards in the Chapter's sale at 50-70% off!!!!

Lisa

A few years ago my family all agreed that if we really feel the need to buy specific cards for Daughter/Son/Mum & Dad etc - we would get them from the loonie store at $1 a pop, and put another loonie in the Sally Army kettle. And we're still ahead, because those cards can cost at least $3.50 or much more if you get them Hallmark or Carlton cards.

I gave up on the Christmas card thing last year. We sent an e-card from www.smilebox.com and made a donation to charity. EVERYONE that received one said how much they enjoyed the different approach. Smilebox is good as you can personalise with pictures and music.

Hi yojo,
I think you're going to find the exact same expense, if not more, when buying your "individual" Christmas cards here. My family always used to send Mum & Dad/Grandma & Grandad, Sister & Husband/Auntie & Uncle/Cousins personal cards but I learned the hard way on that score!! Average costs per individual card is $3.50-$4.00 and they are mostly Hallmark or Carlton cards. We're not fortunate over here in having bargain priced card stores like the Card Warehouse/Card Factory...and ones you buy from dollar stores are cheapo crap! I used to handcraft my own a couple of years ago, but because you stick your own decorations on the cards, it bulks them out and then the damned card doesn't go through the slot guide at the postal outlet, turning a letter into the small package category -hence more expensive in postage!! You just can't win!! This year, in stamps alone, I have spent over $40!! I bought a box of 40 beautiful cards from Costco for $17 and have told family that I can only afford to send them one of them this year (money damned tight)

As for the supermarkets, I think depending on where you're heading, you're going to find the same trollies piled high with goodies galore - us Brits are not alone in the world for Christmas gluttony!! Where I am in Red Deer, our Superstore is full of pig-ignorant people year-round who leave their carts in the middle of the aisles and give you snotty looks when you politely ask to get past....grocery shopping is a maddening experience for me, honestly!! Of course that's not to say it's the same Canada-wide, in my experiences, the bigger the city, the bigger the ignorance!

And don't forget in some provinces........such as Ontario where I used to live, you have the pleasure of not one, but TWO taxes! Oh joy!

Dont really do Named Cards etc, however if they want them, then my 6 year old & 4 year old , will get the card and colouring pens out and make them one !

This way it is hand made for the person in question, and as it was made from one(or more) of the Kids, it should mean that little bit more to them.

I think that Christmas can be as comercialised as you allow it to be. People here are certainly more into hand-crafted ideas. I also agree with another poster that charity and volunteering is extremely popular here all year round.

My orgnization's Christmas party this year will take place tomorrow at a local firehall. Volunteer firemen serve the booze, ladies auxilliary will serve the roast beef dinner and there is also a DJ. All proceeds to charity except the DJs. Every local firehall here is fully booked up!

Re supermarkets - Maybe it's just NS (but I suspect not) but I have never come across anyone rude in the supermarkets here. In fact, quite the opposite. Back in the UK I have actually witnessed 2 women physically getting aggressive over the last loaf of bread back..................... crumbs

Best of all, here our shopping is all packed for us and will even be put into our car for us using parcel pick-up too. I am glad to forget loading the shopping trolley, unloading at the checkout and repacking it all again myself

I think I'll avoid the mad shopping rush by ordering online from Tesco I really can't be bothered with the crowds.

My OH is fed up with all the nonsense that goes on around Christmas so he is making donations to Charity this yeart. I hope my sister isn't too disappointed when she get a Worldvision card telling her we bought a Llama on her behalf.

I told my mum a few days ago that i would sent an xmas card but she wouldnt get it until after xmas as im sure i have missed the deadline for the post .. I was looking in shoppers drugmart and got confused as i couldnt see the sign that told you the price of the xmas cards for the code on the back of it .. Hubby pointed out that the price was on the back $4.25 for a MUM card .. well sod that, mum has told me to email cards online so not adding to the tons and tons of cards that will be thrown away after xmas .. Smart woman.

I havent even started to worry about xmas yet, dont even have a tree.

This year will be cheap and cheerful i think.

I started doing this years ago and have "bought" various animals ranging for baby orang-utans and tigers to donkies! I think it's a fabulous idea, but my Canadian friends weren't too impressed last year; it doesn't seem to go down as well over there. The local Waitrose gives each customer a token after they've paid for their shopping; these are then deposited in one of three bins, each one representing a diferent charity. The one with the most tokens gets whatever the cash donation is...another good idea

Canada also has rude self-centered me-me-me showoff miserablist consumer-debt-retail-suck-pigs. But a far lesser % than in the UK, I'd wager.

Anyway, you have to take responsibility to change Christmas and make it what you want it to be.

So what are you going to do to change it?

R.