I'm not quite sure what happened to my Christmas this year, I, sort of, let it mostly pass by. Pre-occupation with finances and the business is mostly to blame. I like Christmas, now that Travis is here. After Janice's death all the joy had left what had always been a joyful time for me. I found that joy again after Travis was born.
This year though, for the most part, I just ignored it all and sat here in my "free" time, writing, reading and budgeting. And Christmas is fun here.
The Christmas season "officially" kicks off here (discounting, of course, the store displays that go up the day after Halloween) with the school concert. Each class from Kindergarten to High School performs, either singing or a skit, usually in inuktitut. Like so many things here, practically the whole community turns out, and it is literally standing room only in the gym. The next day the games begin.
Ah the games. Christmas here is defined by the games. Now I believe that this tradition evolved from inuit playing games in the dark season, when people tended to spend more times inside (they still hunted all through the dark season) and gathered together. It is also very much a community event, with everybody there at one time or another. Some people never miss them, some people only go on one or two nights. I love the idea of a community getting together to play. Each night is sponsored by one or two organizations/businesses and there are prized. The one down side (to my mind anyway) is that the vast majority of the games are for adults, I'd like to see the kids get to do more than watch most of the night.
The games are generally variations one two or three themes. There are elimination games, for instance, which can be as simple as everyone sitting in a circle rolling one of three or four dice going around. Roll, say, a one and you're out. Last man/woman standing, you win. Or a "hot potato" type game where a couple of brooms or balls are passed around. If you're holding it when the music stops you're out. There are so many versions, which can be pretty elaborate. Some for couples, passing a loop over yourselves before passing it on, to one of my favourites..the mitt game.
In the mitt game the women (usually, but sometimes the men) form an inner circle and the men form an outer circle. The women stand with their feet apart and wear one of their mitts on one hand, the other mitt gets thrown into a pile in the centre. While the music plays the men move in a circle around the perimetre. When the music stops the men dive through the spread legs of the women, grab a mitt and then search for the woman with the complimentary mitt on her hand. When he finds her, he dives back through her legs, and both sit down. Last to complete this are eliminated, and the games continues until there is only one couple left.
There is also kind of a scavenger hunt, which is also popular. Everyone participating goes in the centre, an item, say nail clippers, is called out and everyone runs into the audience until they come up with one, run back in and sit down. Last one back is eliminated.
The other basic theme of the games is a "complete the task" style of game. Everyone sits in a circle and rolls one of several dice moving around the circle. If you roll a predetermined number, you rush into the centre and work on whatever task is there. The tasks are such as untying a number of knots in a rope, or sawing through a beam, or threading macaroni onto a needle with your "bad" hand, or putting loops of plastic grocery bags over your head, or well you get the idea. Usually the person that finishes the task (unties the last knot etc.) wins. But sometimes the person with, say the most macaroni on their thread, or a predetermined amount of loops around their neck, wins.
There are also some traditional games of skill or strength, but not as many as I'd like to see. These are games such as the one leg high kick (standing on one foot, jumping up and kicking an object suspended from a string with the same foot and landing on that same foot. They reach incredible heights, well above their heads), the finger pull (sitting opposite your opponent middle fingers linked, other arms on each other shoulder and pulling until the other person gives up or you pull their finger loose from yours), the muskox push (on your hands and knees, with your head tucked under your opponents shoulder, then pushing until you push your opponent gives way. Incredibly hard on your neck) the airplane (where you lie on your stomach with your arms outstretched and three people lift you off the ground, one each at your hands and one at your feet, and then walk you as far as you can hold yourself outstretched. Greatest distance covered wins. A lot harder than it sounds, remind me to tell you about the fellow who won the one time I tried it), one handed juggling, kind of a Ukrainian dancing sort of thing (where you kick your legs out from underneath you until you fall over), four way tug of war, seal hop (ow! Holding yourself up on your toes and on your fists tucked in by your chest, and then hopping on your fists and toes up and down the length of the gym. Its a race). There are others also.
The games typically run from 6pm to 9pm, but often run later than that, and then are followed by a dance. Wow, this is getting to be a long post. Perhaps I'll continue tomorrow... Dance.
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