I won't say EVERYONE goes shopping on Black Friday, but it sure feels like it. I, for one, avoid it as much as I can, even though I live right near a mall. Traffic headache!
Let's see. Christmas celebrations can vary wildly from area to area, as the US really is a melting pot. But the public ones... Most cities around here start putting up decorations a week or so before Thanksgiving, putting lighted decorations and banners on the street lights in town. The really big light displays, where there's a whole fairground or town with lights, go up between mid-November and the first of December.
McAdenville, NC is an example of a really big one around here. Thanksgiving weekend also starts the marathon of Christmas shows and movies, ranging from the popular movies and shows (Charlie Brown, Garfield, Shrek the Halls, The Santa Clause, It's A Wonderful Life, White Christmas) to the smaller made-for-tv movies shown on Lifetime and Hallmark. On Christmas morning, there's a parade at DisneyWorld and DisneyLand that airs on tv.
Personal celebrations can differ from family to family. Some people go to church either on Christmas Eve, some don't. Some open all of their presents on Christmas Day, some open one or more on Christmas Eve. It's *always* a day spent with family, when possible, though some people prefer the immediate family than the extended family.
My own celebrations vary from year to year. Growing up, at first we were to far away from any family to visit, so it was just my parents, my brother, and me. Later on, as we began to move around and closer to family, we'd spend part of the day with various relations, depending on where we were. The last few years, Christmas Eve would be spent at my aunt's Open House with my dad's parents, Christmas morning at home opening presents, and Christmas dinner back at my aunt's house. Once I moved out on my own, I'd spend every other Christmas with my dad (a tradition I'd like to get back to, but our jobs won't allow it right now), and the other Christmases at home with the husband's family. My mother-in-law usually has her own Open House, and we open presents from her and the hubby's family then. In the morning (or whenever we can, as hubby's had to work most Christmases in recent years), we open the rest of the presents.
Stockings! I almost forgot about those. Traditionally, the family hangs stockings by the fireplace (if they have one, or if they get a fake one, or just on the wall). It used to be actual socks, but now decorative sock-shaped bags are used. The night of Christmas Eve, Santa will come down the chimney (if you have one, or just the front door) and leave presents under the tree, and fill the stockings with little gifts and candy. The tradition continues even after the kids have stopped believing in Santa Claus. In my family, the stocking usually holds inexpensive gifts like pens and batteries, sometimes a stuffed animal, silly putty. One year we all got cars! Sure, they were toy matchbox cars, but it was fun to joke about it.
Really, if you see any American Christmas movies, you can get a good feel of what our Christmases are like.
