★ ★ reindeer headbands are also popular.
✶ Food – Be careful with your menu choices. It might seem like a good idea to go for the traditional Christmas meal option (roast turkey dinner and Christmas pudding), but if you have at least one Christmas party then you will soon become tired of eating this.
✶ Drink – Pace yourself if you are drink- ing alcohol, and if you are sticking to the soft drinks, you can feel gleeful in the knowledge you will remember everything tomorrow and have the lat- est gossip to hand. Beware of Mulled Wine: it is tasty (wine brewed with spices and fruit), but surprisingly tricky to drink elegantly, as it is hot and usu- ally has a large amount of fruit debris floating in it.
✶ Crackers – British people love crack- ers and usually have them at any Christmas meal. In fact, Tom Smith, a Londoner, invented crackers in 1847. Tey look like brightly coloured pres- ents, which you pull with another per- son to crack them open. Do not be shocked if you hear a bang as they open, and the tradition is the person who pulls the largest part, gets to keep it, although in reality everybody gets a cracker in the end. Inside you will find a colourful paper hat in the shape of a crown (which must be worn during the meal), a useless little toy and a joke. Warning: the joke is not meant to be funny and usually relies on some play
on words, but we always like to giggle at them. If you are a non-native English speaker, it is also a great test of your English and I often use Christmas jokes with clients at advanced level to test their knowledge of idioms and double meanings.
✶ Party Fun – Some parties have danc- ing or karaoke, and it is fine to sit it out and chat instead, if it is not your type of fun. You get to observe the crazy dancing and funny events hap- pening around you instead.
✶ Senior people are expected to join in and stay until almost the end, making sure everybody is having a good time. It is an important part of team bond- ing and getting to know colleagues in a relaxed way.
✶ Christmas parties tend to be light- hearted and somebody may embarrass themselves in some way at the office party. As long as it’s a minor incident, it is usually laughed off the next day.
✶ When you get back to the office, then everybody will be expecting a fairly quiet and relaxed day. Te best recov- ery of course is eating lots of mince pies (do not be fooled: these do not contain meat but are sweet, highly calorific pies with lots of raisins) or heading to the pub for a team lunch. Te Christmas party organiser knows it is wise to schedule a Christmas work event for Tursday or Friday.
Christmas Music: non-stop hits throughout November and December
Now that you have survived the Christmas party, we are edging towards Christmas Day itself, and you will certainly hear the sweet tones of traditional Christmas carols. Head to Trafalgar Square to hear lovely carol singing throughout December around the huge Christmas tree given to us each year by Norway as a thank you for our role in World War II. Alternatively, most churches hold a carol service at this time and are open to everybody, regardless of their religion or no religion. In addition, you will also notice certain songs repeated time and time again out and about. Tis can only mean two things. First, it is al- most the X Factor final, a popular TV pro- gramme involving a singing competition, watched excitedly by millions throughout autumn until the final in early December. Tat and the Christmas number one is coming, which is the song that will be number one in the music charts on the
6 FOCUS The Magazine November/December 2018 ★
Friday before Christmas. Sometimes, these two coincide and the X Factor winner achieves the number one spot for Christmas. You will also hear a selection of modern classics played continuously in any shop or party. Listen out for ‘Te 12 Days of Christmas’, George Michael’s ‘Last Christmas’ and Band Aid’s ‘Do Tey Know it’s Christmas?’ to name but a few.
Christmas Panto: know how to participate
It is traditional at Christmas to go to the theatre to see a ballet, a Christmas produc- tion or the very British pantomime (panto). Te last is a type of theatre based on fairy tales such as Cinderella, Puss in Boots or Jack and the Beanstalk, contain- ing plenty of silly jokes, and audience par- ticipation is compulsory. You will see men dress up and play old women, women dress up and play boys, and two people dressed up as a horse or cow. Also, do ex- pect to sing along and shout out with everybody else at key points, including “look behind you!” when the villain is be- hind the hero, and “Oh, yes it is!” or “Oh, no it isn't!”. Te audience is always en-
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