It's Christmas -Anyone There?

Yesterday was the last day of school before the Christmas holiday break.  No skimpy one week vacation here - it's a full two-week asta manana, see ya later hiatus.  It's not just the schools either. Basically everything is winding down and, according to the BBC anyway, the whole country had its Christmas party yesterday, or will do so this weekend.  The upcoming week will be the final shopping frenzy, which we will respectfully decline.  Perhaps we'll pay a visit to the Norwegian Christmas tree at Trafalgar Square or the reindeer at Covent Garden, but we intend to coast gently into the new year.  Unlike my workaholic compatriots, this joint (meaning the whole country and continent) will basically shut down between Christmas and New Year's.  It starts with Boxing Day (nothing pugilistic about it) the day after Christmas,  and continues through New Year's Day (and in Scotland, Hogmanay, the day after).  So if you have any urgent business to conduct, forget about it until at least January 2 or even the 3rd.  Just go ahead and get pissed like everyone else. When the New Year finally rings in, we'll be first!