Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
The holiday season is almost upon us. Christmas is a time of giving and sharing, it is definitely my most favourite time of the year.
Over the years in Bahrain I have been lucky enough to have my family visit over this festive period or I have travelled home to England. But friends wander in disbelief why I would want to spend Christmas again in Bahrain, it cannot be festive can it with sunshine and Palm trees?
We don’t really have a chance of snow or even a frost, we can’t pick out the real not-fake Christmas tree, and we don’t have Oxford Street’s lavish department store window displays or Winter Wonderland and this year sadly, I won’t have any family here.
The key to being in the Middle East as an expat for Christmas is to surround yourself with the season and on the first day of December my tree will be up and decorated and the house will be filled with festive music.
Then there will be the endless amount of Christmas movies to be watched. Fairy lights are also an essential component to get in the spirit. You could decorate a washing machine with fairy lights and it would look magical and when you add twinkling lights to a palm tree the effects are beautiful.
Christmas knitwear is also key, you could sew a bauble or two yourself but it’s better to hit the shops or Amazon to make sure the terrible holiday jumper is purchased, thanks to Colin Firth in Bridget Jones’s Diary, starting the craze that has now consumed the UK and beyond.
The frenzy of festive fairs are also now upon us and it’s a good time to get lots of Christmas cheer, taste delicious food and bump into Santa and maybe an elf.
The hotels are all advertising their Christmas Tree Lightings and Gingerbread House-making activities which are hugely popular, as highlighted in GulfWeekly’s Leisure Guide on Pages 8 & 9.
The shops are all selling an abundant of Christmas food and decorations and last year when we ran out of batteries it was hugely satisfying to be able to go to the grocery store on Christmas Day itself, pick up vital batteries and an extra pack of Brussels sprouts.
We will definitely miss our family and friends this Christmas Day but modern technology means we can connect with loved ones easier than ever before. With the time difference between our two countries Grandma won’t be awake to see the grandchildren opening their presents but she will be able to see the children playing with their gifts.
