Chinese Christmas Gifts And Ideas
Both the host / hostess and guests have a great opportunity to have some fun with the Cultural Christmas Gift Exchange. All participants will learn about each other's heredity, about cultural groups within your town or city, about countries and cultures that the group may know nothing about. There will be lots of gift swapping going on, and this is the best point about any gift exchange game! Encourage your guests to purchase gifts that multiple people will want, that are unusual or unique, and let the game begin and see how many times a gift can get swapped before the end of the game.
Alongside the cultural gifts that are exchanged, the group can also plan the food, music and decor around what different cultures and countries will be represented. Sometimes a potluck event works well, where everyone brings a dish to share, from hors d'oeuvres to appetizers, finger food to a full buffet meal. The host or hostess, or any of the guests for that matter, can create music playlists that can be played during the gathering, whether it's Christmas music that is often played in different cultures, or whether its folkloric or classical music from that country. People can research different kinds of decor used around the world and decorate your gathering space with this. You can look up different greetings and phrases in the language spoken from different countries and print these out to hang around the party space.
Remind your guests that every gift purchased should adhere to the price range and be wrapped in such a way that no one can guess what the gift is. There should also be no name tags indicating who the gift is from.
Here are some ideas of representative gifts from a variety of cultures and countries to get everyone thinking about the possibilities of what they could purchase for a Cultural Christmas Gift Exchange. We will list a number of countries and what the typical gifts are that are most treasured from that country.
Argentina: wines, tango music on a CD or USB stick, art cards or prints of Buenos Aires street graffiti, anything made out of leather, paper lanterns, fireworks.
Australia: stuffed toys, prints or note cards depicting kangaroos or koala bears, art prints of native birds like cockatoos, a boomerang, anything with a surfboard on it, logo t-shirts, a jar of the food spread Vegemite.
Canada: maple syrup, calendars with pictures of mountains, Prairies and Arctic, anything with a moose, bear or beaver image, hockey memorabilia, preserved smoked salmon.
Egypt: mini-Pyramids desk set, replica Papyrus scrolls, Scarab Beetle motif on paper, towels or jewellery, dried dates, woven textiles or scarves, batik fabric, Hibiscus tea leaves, statues or prints of Pharoahs.
Greece: leather goods, olive oil, honey, oregano, Saffron or Greek tea blends, Greek coffee beans and serving set, replica Greek art from throughout the ages, books on Greek mythology or history, Greek leaders in Philosophy and Politics.
Holland: packages of mini-waffles and sweets, cheeses, soccer club gear, Dutch boy and girl ceramic figurines, clogs, book on Anne Frank, liquorice, tulip bulbs, prints or cards of famous Dutch artists, map of the canal system.
India: art form prints or cards of Tanjore, eucalyptus oil, curry and masala spice blends, embroidered cushions, Ayurvedic products, CDs of Indian classical music, silk, colorful wooden or ceramic toys known as Kondapalli, puppets, terracotta jugs or urns.
Indonesia: wooden or leather puppets, batik cloth, paper masks, statues of cultural icons or symbols, woven bags or baskets, tribal hats, fabric throws or pillowcase covers with traditional designs.
Ireland: garden decor like small statues and flags based on Irish folklore, pottery for tea, linen hand towels, Irish Sea salt, screen printed bags of famous Irish sites or quotes, woven shawl.
Italy: prints or note cards of Italian artworks, olive oil, pesto or Panettone cake, Befano doll, decorative garden art of city symbols such as the lily or lion, books by Italian authors, small stove-top espresso machine.
Japan: Lucky charm statuettes, Tenugui or cotton towels, hand fans, "Furin", a outdoor glass and metal wind chime, chopstick and sushi pottery, paper lanterns, Kokeshi wooden dolls, a variety of wooden spinning tops, a Bento box.
Russia: wood, painted (or unpainted) nesting dolls, faux fur hats, lacquered wooden boxes, tea cups, printed cards or notepaper from the Hermitage Collection, books or CDs of Russian authors.
Spain: a language tape or dictionary, leather goods, a spice selection in beautiful glass jars, particularly Saffron, abanico fans, a book of Spanish Fairy Tales, soccer team shirts, flags, or scarves.
While this is just a sample list of items that may represent a country's culture, use it as a springboard for guests to find out what they think might represent the culture they are from, the country you have assigned them, or a culture that the host chooses for the whole group to buy within.
The Cultural Christmas Gift Exchange will definitely be the gathering that provides the most unique set of gifts to be unwrapped, offering insight into the cultures of other countries. Keep in mind that whatever a guest purchases, the gift should be considered to be of value to the most members of the group. A gift exchange is most fun when there is lots of swapping going on, and guests are wanting what someone else has opened. Add food and music from a variety of cultures and you've got the recipe for a fun social gathering, whether it's at Christmas or any other time of year.
