- Hello, we're Joel and Lia!

- And welcome back to Vlogmas.

Today's video is how to have a British Christmas.

- We saw a video on YouTube that inspired us

which was all about having a British Christmas.

So we wanna talk about it a little bit,

add a few of our own ideas,

and just take you along the ride.

- Yes!

Also if there are kids watching under a certain age,

or if you still believe in Santa, he does exist,

but maybe stop watching this video.

- How could you have worded that better, Joel?

- Yeah, how could I word that better?

- If you're waiting for Santa to come--

- Yeah. - Then, don't watch this.

- Yeah.

- So we'll start off with stockings.

- Yeah, so stockings are, you guys know what stockings are.

We put them at the end of our beds

or, if you're me, my family, we put them on our door.

- Oh, on the door knob.

- So actually on the door knobs.

- Yeah, just to make it easier for mum and dad.

- Mum and dad can just get to it a lot easier.

- 'Cause that's the thing,

we used to have them at the end of our bed,

literally on our bed.

So I used to love waking up in the middle of the night

and feeling it, and seeing it was stuffed with presents,

and I was like, Santa's been!

But that must have been really hard for the parents.

For the parents.

My parents.

- The parents must have really struggled to do that.

Yeah, it must be like, do they dress up?

Do they put the Santa gear on and then--

- In case we wake up.

- Yeah, just in case.

And then they're like, ho ho ho,

just putting them presents in.

- Did you used to run up and feel the door knob,

then, in the middle of the night?

- No, 'cause I was a knockout.

I never wake up during the night.

- Oh wow.

- I know, I'm not one of those kids

who'd wake up to pee or anything.

So yeah, it was great, Tooth Fairy, Christmas,

like, I was just a dream.

- The best child.

- The best child.

- But anyway, back on track.

Apparently Americans put them above the fireplace.

- Instead of by their bed.

- Which makes sense 'cause when I think of American films,

it's always above the fireplace.

- Yeah you can just see them resting

there above the fireplace.

- And you're just like, is that safe?

Is their fire gonna set fire to them?

- Yeah, is it safe?

- But I've never thought it was weird.

I guess in my head I sort of thought both were normal.

- Also, if you're a kid say you've got loads of siblings

and loads of stockings by the fireplace,

do they all have to be labeled with your name

so you know whose is whose?

'Cause I would just be like, well,

they got a better stocking than me,

so mine's the middle one!

- But I think they do.

Even my mum got some stockings made

with our names on them, we never even used,

'cause we don't get stockings anymore.

Thanks, mum and dad.

- I'm not trying to be a spoiled brat,

but ours were quite small in size, parents.

So, you know, I've seen the American ones

that are literally that big.

- Yeah, really big ones.

In the UK, even we had football socks,

ours weren't even proper stockings,

like my dad's old football socks.

So they were like really, thin stretchy ones

that you just put presents in.

- That's cool, I like that.

- So this is a tradition I wasn't aware of,

'cause I don't have kids and

I can't remember when I was a child.

But writing to Santa, apparently it's a British tradition

that you chuck it on the fire,

and that sends it to the North Pole.

- Yeah.

- But in America they actually send it to the North Pole.

- How?

- Well they just post it.

- Yeah, but where does it,

what do they actually put a stamp on and then--

- I think there is an address

that you can get your kids to send it to.

- Wow, what a waste of a stamp.

- What happens, that'd be a good video.

What happens to--

- What happens to all the letters?

- Yeah, they get sent to Santa to the North Pole,

and the post office get it, and it's like,

Santa, North Pole, what do they do with it?

- Yeah, do they send it to like--

- I feel like they've gotta send it somewhere,

'cause I know for the Royal Mail,

I'm sure, which is our national postal service,

I'm pretty sure it would be illegal

for them to destroy it, 'cause it's someone's post

so you have to let it get to its destination,

but then, where do they send it?

- Where do they send it?

That's a really good opportunity for a video,

if anyone whose got a kids channel wants to make it,

no, that ruins kids' dreams.

- Yeah, that's true.

We can do it!

Joel and Lia, ruining kids dreams.

- Yeah, so in America they would send them like that

and over here we just throw it in the fire.

Whoo, to Santa it goes.

We call him Father Christmas.

- Oh yeah!

And that's another difference.

- That is another huge difference.

- We say Father Christmas.

- Father Christmas, Santa Claus.

Santa Claus we've taken from the US.

- Yeah, again, Santa Claus wouldn't be weird to us,

but apparently Father Christmas is weird for Americans.

- Yeah. - Which I didn't know.

- It's Father Christmas, isn't it.

It's your dad, your dad dressed up, it's Father Christmas.

So the next tradition is that, in the UK,

we would leave a little gift for Father Christmas in,

I would always leave it in the living room.

- Yeah, I'd leave mine by the fireplace.

- Yeah, by the fireplace, on a little table,

something like this, and it would have a mince pie

and a bit of brandy or something booze-y

for Father Christmas.

Or you could do milk, but that's an American thing.

- Yeah, 'cause Americans apparently tend to leave

cookies and milk for Father Christmas.

- Yeah.

- Which is interesting, I mean, I would like

both cookies and mince pie.

- Mince pie.

I think mum would come downstairs, bite it,

and then down whatever we've left,

and then we'd wake up in the morning

and go, Father Christmas has been, this is amazing!

- Aw, it's so magical, kids.

If you want to leave something out for

the reindeer, you'd leave

carrots. - Carrots!

- [Both] Carrots.

- Good one.

Carrots.

- Also, my parents would be gnawing the carrots

to make it look like the reindeer,

I'd leave them on the front doorstep.

So outdoors, on the front doorstep.

And the reason, little bit of facts,

maybe you don't wanna listen to this,

but I found out that Santa didn't exist

because every year Santa would leave

a note on our front door and the carrots

would be half-eaten from the reindeer.

And I took the note, and I was like,

dad, this looks like your handwriting.

- And that's how you found out?

- And that's how I found out.

I was like, that's dad's handwriting.

- I can't remember how I found out.

But you remember finding out.

- Yeah, and then I sat down with my mum,

and I was cuddlin' her, and then I was like mum?

She was like yeah?

And I was like, does Santa exist?

And she was like, no.

And I was like, I knew it.

- It was dad's handwriting!

- It was dad's handwriting.

- Oh my gosh.

- So that was that, I don't know what age I was.

- Imagine if you're a really mean parent

and you just wanted to, like, your kid had done something

to annoy you, and you just sort of went

Santa's not real!

- That would definitely be me if I had a child.

- That would be you, that would be you--

- Santa's not real!

- Guess what, you three year old, Santa's not real!

- Santa hates you.

- Santa hates you!

I would use Father Christmas or Santa as a continual

if you're not good, Santa Claus won't come this year.

Santa Claus will spank you?!

That is, they'd call Childline!

- So the next point is Christmas desserts

or puddings, as we would say.

- Pudding.

- Which very complicatedly, our Christmas puddings,

tend to be Christmas pudding.

- Yeah, so it's just called Christmas pudding.

That's what pudding is.

- It's a very dense, boiled dessert made of fruit.

So it's basically like a very dense fruitcake,

but with booze all over it and set on fire.

- I haven't got time for it.

I'll look at it, and I'll do a little Instagram story of it,

go follow our Instagrams, and I'll take a video

of the fire, but like, mum'll get the brandy

and flame it up, but I just, I don't eat it.

- No.

- However, if it's covered in custard--

- Oh yeah. - I'll give it a go.

- My dad fries it in brandy butter

and it's really good once it's fried in brandy butter.

- You know that emoji that's like the drool face?

- It's just made even more unhealthy.

- Oh yeah, anything fried in butter sounds amazing!

Brandy butter.

- Yeah, it's great.

But apparently Americans, and I didn't know this,

Americans tend to have pumpkin pie or pecan pie,

or do they say pecan?

- Pecan? - Pecan pie?

- No we've definitely just made that up.

Pecan pie. - Pecan.

- Yes, that sounds right!

- Okay, anyway, they have pecan pie or pumpkin pie

for dessert on Christmas Day,

which I thought was interesting

'cause I thought everyone had Christmas pudding

or Christmas cake, which is a bit like pudding

but not quite.

- Christmas cake, what's that again?

- It's-- - Ohhh yeah.

- It's like light fruitcake,

but with marzipan and icing on top.

- I hate, hate-- - I hate.

- Marzipan.

- She loves marzipan guys, don't listen to her.

- I hate--

- If you've been watching her for a long time,

you know this is a running thing.

- Hate marzipan.

Don't put it near me.

Joel's got this idea in his head