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Oi gente!!! Tudo bem?
How will you all spend Christmas?
In Brazil as a multi-ethnic country, people tend to put high premium on spending the time with family. So there is a custom of family gatherings for birthday parties, Christmas parties, and other celebrations. As for the family, not only parents and siblings, but also aunts, uncles, cousins, and sometimes even dogs.
At the Christmas party, at least 10 people gather, so it is very lively. Four years ago, when I spent Christmas in Brazil, about 30 people gathered. My children were overwhelmed by the number of people and kept their mouths open😅.
I think there are many families in Japan that have Christmas parties (especially those with small children) and eat chicken and cake, but the size of the party is relatively smaller. I don't think it's easy to have a party at home for 20 or 30 people in Japan.
When you hear about a house party for 20 or 30 people, you might think that preparing food is a heavy burden. But in Brazil, most of food are brought by participants as a potluck style, and host family don't make each and every meal by themselves unlike in Japan. Brazilian style is much easier than Japan's one.
In order to avoid duplicates, we usually assign the family member to bring different foods or drinks like turkey, fruits, nuts, beer, wine, salads and desserts, etc..
Japanese cuisine is very common in Japanese immigrants. Sashimi and seaweed rolls are very standard.
Oddly enough, I often see vermicelli salad at Japanese immigrant's events. My mother also used to make and bring it as the potluck. Since I came to Japan, I've been making it on a regular basis, and it's highly rated by my Japanese friends (I want everyone to eat it someday💕). Dropping a little lime juice changes the flavor to western style.
Vermicelli salad
There is also a difference in the attitude of the hosts between Japan and Brazil. For example, when inviting someone in Japan, I think host starts with cleaning and tidying up the party room. And then thinking about the menu, shopping, preparing food, etc..... The Japanese spirit of "Omotenashi" (hospitality) is great, but I feel it's a big burden. Brazil, on the other hand, doesn't care much. "It's Easy!" One of the joys of Christmas is exchanging gifts. In Brazil, it is common for everyone to exchange gifts. “AMIGO SECRETO” is so common as a Christmas tradition in Brazil. “AMIGO SECRETO” means "Secret Friend" in English. This is a lottery to decide who to exchange gifts with in attendance. My family member also do this tradition even in Japan😊. I'm going to take a video this year and upload it later.
In Brazil, everyone dresses up at Christmas which is held even at home. Some even buy new clothes for family Christmas parties. The host will also change clothes and welcome everyone. I rarely see the host with apron style that I sometime see in Japan😅.
And at midnight on the 25th, everyone celebrates by hugging and saying "FELIZ NATAL!!!" → "Merry Christmas!" in many families.
Thank you for reading!!
Obrigada!!!
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