Christmas comes early here, a cultural lesson

I’m back in Minnesota for the holidays, and like most people, I was out running last-minute errands yesterday.  While at the cash register at The Container Store (so American – love it!), the man in line behind me complimented me on my earrings (see below).  I said, “thanks, they’re my Christmas earrings.”  Then I added, “I guess I’m wearing them a couple of days early, aren’t I?”  He replied, “well, Christmas is really a season, isn’t it?”  And there it was.    The difference between the holidays in France and the holidays in the US.  What I had been trying to explain to friends in France had been summed up by this stranger in 1 line.  

So there you have it.  And by the way, here are the earrings:

my Christmas earrings (photographed on my mom’s vibrant upholstery), bought at the Gent (Belgium) flea market for 1€

À bientôt,

k.