“Mark,
I have chocolate. Find it!
Rabbit.”
This is how I set up the scene.
I was pretty proud of myself.
Mark picked up rabbit.
“Huh?”
“There is chocolate to find…”
“In the house?”
“Yes!”
“Now?”
“YES!”
Gee. You’d think he had never—… wait. He had never done the Easter egg hunt.
Up to this year, I had never bothered to celebrate Easter because I’m not religious and Feng didn’t grow up with the tradition. Usually, we buy discounted chocolate right after the holiday, that’s it.
Besides, I wasn’t quite sure how to do Easter in Canada. I found the rabbit thing confusing because in France, chocolate is brought by bells. Yes, bells. According to the tradition, church bells are silent for a day before Easter. It’s a sign of mourning but it is explained by saying the bells flew to Rome and return on Easter morning bringing chocolate. I know how strange it sounds but hey, associating chocolate eggs to a rabbit is weird too.
Now that Mark is older, we can embrace yet another tradition. Besides, since we celebrated my birthday, he has been counting down the days to his own birthday which is in October, i.e. a long time from now. “There is cool stuff happening before your birthday,” I comforted him one night. “Like… chocolate day!”
Even if we didn’t celebrate Easter before, I’d always stock up on chocolate in April. Easter and Christmas are the only two times of the year when I can find chocolate I like in stores. As a grownup, I should have developed a taste for healthier, sophisticated, bitter dark chocolate by now, but I’m still stuck at the milk chocolate stage. I’m partial to two brands: Kinder Chocolate and Lindt. Kinder eggs and chocolate bars reminds me of my childhood and I find there is a good chocolate/hazelnut taste ratio. Lindt chocolate is delicious: once the outer layer melts, there is a creamy, slightly colder heart.
I’d sell my own mother for Lindt or Kinder—but she would probably sell me first because chocolate addiction runs in the family.
Unfortunately, I find chocolate sold in Canada is awful. It’s just sugar with a vague cocoa taste, it doesn’t have the rich, milky, chocolaty texture of European confectionery products. Take Cadbury, for instance. Thanks but not thanks (although Cadbury in the UK tastes much better!). Same “meh, just sugar” with Hershey’s. And “chocolate” bars like Coffee Crisp, Caramilk, Aero, etc., just taste like a giant candy.
So I stocked up on Lindt and Kinder mini-eggs and I bought Mark a few bigger surprises as well.
Thirty minutes after the hunt officially started, Mark had found all the treats.
Glad he didn’t stumble upon my own stash, in the basement…
I’ve never done an egg hunt either. And even if Easter is a religious tradition, the symbolism of the egg and the rabbit comes from the goddess Eostre/Ostara/Easter, a celtic/teutonic spring goddess. So religious, yes, christian, not at all.
It is interesting to see how christianity has highjacked (hijacked? high-jacked? Hi, Jack! Ed!) the seasonal celebration of pagan cults.
In France, it is common to ask someone during the time if the trip to Rome was good, but the French pun on « cloche » is lost in translation.
Wether it is white, milk or dark chocolate, I don’t care, but I don’t expect the same thing from them. A sugary white chocolate doesn’t bother me, but I like my dark chocolate bitter (eventually with mint).
Isn’t there some Lindt available in your area? I’m pretty sure we can find some even at Walmart. But I can’t say if it has the same composition than in Europe.
We have two Lindt stores in Ottawa and as far as I know, the chocolate is the same as in Europe (my mum regularly sends me some!). I don’t mind white chocolate, I used to love Galak (spell.?). Lindt with sea salf is awesome as well. It’s just the texture and after-taste of North American chocolate I can’t stand… it’s chalky.
For me, Easter is a celebration of chocolate. I don’t do the religious side of it.
Yes, I think it is Galak. But this one was not the best. I lived close to Belgium, and my parents went regularly there for groceries the week-end. So, grat access to Belgian chocolate and ice cream. Verdoncke comes in mind. Mmmmh, miam miam.
It’s funny, I always associate Switzerland to chocolate (and money laundering…) but never Belgium!
Aaargh ! Belgian chocolate is the best one in the world ! (I am partial, of course ! I am Belgian.). But anyway, I was growned up with Côte d’Or, Galler, Jacques and other delicious friends of them…so that’s why I don’t like Kinder chocolate (except Kinder Bueno). The enormous advantage to be Belgian is that every bakery make its own chocolate. Prices are ok and taste is wonderful (We receive a few samples this WE). The chocolate you can buy in supermaket is also good (if you choose the right one). Easter and “Saint-Nicolas” (6th of december) are two wonderful days in the children’s (and adults) life for chocolate !
Je reviens tout de suite, vais faire un aller-retour en Belgique 😀
Je connais peu ce pays, finalement (j’y suis allée il y a longtemps). Je garde un très bon souvenir de la Belgique et du Nord de la France, malgré les stéréotypes TRÈS lourds en France. C’est juste pas un coin du monde que j’ai pu approfondir…
Ahh, Yes ! Côte d’Or !
C’était pas le chocolat où y’avait des grandes images cartonnées d’animaux au dos?
Ça ne me rappelle rien. Leur image, c’est un éléphant.
C’était au dos de la plaquette, à l’intérieur, des images d’animaux à collectionner je crois.
Kinder and Lindt – my kryptonite. And galaxy. And Cadbury wispas. And kitkat chunkies. Definitely agree with you about Canadian chocolate too. Don’t get me wrong – I will eat a wunderbar if it is wafted beneath my nose but it isn’t my first choice. Glad Mark had fun!
If we ever meet, we shall eat Kinder and Lindt together 🙂
I find Cadbury in the UK was great, can’t stand it in Canada. Did you notice it too?
I went to Catholic School when I was in elementary school, I did the egg hunter too! It was fun even though it wasn’t chocolate. Lindt with sea-salt is may favorite too, although it’s quite expensive over here (approx CAD 6 per bar)
Yes, Lindt is expensive here too, although a bit cheaper at about $3.5 to $6 per bar.
Funny you went to Catholic School! May I ask why?
When I was 1st grade, my parents just moved from another city in another island to the capital city (you may google the city “Pekanbaru”).
Our neighborhood was in west jakarta and it was a new area in early 80’s. There no (public and Islamic) school around that area, that met my parents standard.
Catholic school was (or may be always) famous for their high-standard discipline as well as the quality of the education compare to public school (even though, school fee is slightly expenses). To note, only recently public school is fee in my country.
for example, I-my self- has to pay approx CAD 220/month for my children school fee 😀 and believe me, there are several schools that cost higher.
…….To note, only recently public school is free in my country.
That’s a good news! More kids could benefit from the free education system. I heard that it was quite a financial burden for some modest families to send their children to school.
I agree with you! A good, free education system is awesome. The whole country benefits from that.
A good change, I guess, making education more easily accessible 🙂
That’s very interesting! In France as well, catholic schools generally have a good reputation, both in terms of academic level and discipline. Was your religion an issue? Was it strange for you to be immersed in an environment “promoting” Catholicism?
The fee for your kids’ school sounds high! What would be the average monthly wage for someone like you? (Not asking your own salary, just an estimate!)
Let’s say that in France, they fire students who look unable to get the Brevet or their Bac, so, naturally, they have better results than normal schools.
That too.
Middle class like me, school fee probably occupies 10%-15% of their salary. Sort of. For me Living cost in capital city and ariund is quite high and I could rambling all day about that but probably grocery and utility fee are quite cheaper compare to some big cities in the world.:-)
Back to when I was a kid, going to catholic school, it was ‘t an issue at all. There were like 6 others who were also a Muslim.
We got along well. i was always a top 10 of the class . Probably when We were kids, we had no issue with skin color, race, religion, etc. The adults create them
But honestly, sadly speaking, recently in Jakarta, the religion seems a huge issue. Gee, i could also rambling about this all day.
Mjakarta just had new Governor today, and the religion thing has been blow up since
Last year (the incumbent is Catholic, to give you a picture). i even uninstalled the FACEBOOK application from my phone because these politics issue really make old friends fighting in FB thru status, news, etc. Crazyyyyyy!!!!
If you have time, you can read the Jakarta Post, the portal is in English.
I’m adding the Jakarta Post to my list of news 🙂
From an outsider eye, I found Malaysia and Singapore absolutely fascinating in terms of diversity, various religions and groups seem to coexist very peacefully. Now I’m aware I didn’t have the full picture…
I find religious issues are VERY blown up everywhere in the world. In Canada too, a small minority is very vocal but the fact is, most people don’t care much about what religion their friend/neighbour etc. belongs to.
There are more chocolate rabbits in my grocery store than bell now. Every year the same wrapping.
Really? Funny, it must have changed since I was a kid.
C’est drôle je suis comme toi : je me dis que je devrais aimer le très bon chocolat. Genre parfois on m’offre du chocolat de chocolaterie en me disant “il est tellement fin” mais mon palais n’aime rien comme un bon Kinder 😉 moi mon chocolat préféré c’est le Milka, on m’en apporte régulièrement de France, c’est la commande obligatoire !! Chasse aux œufs de notre côté aussi, fructueuse! La fille de nos amis était terrifiée par le lapin qui avait mis les œufs dans le jardin … Ahem
Ah c’est marrant, Milka n’a jamais été ma drogue. J’ai l’impression que ce chocolat n’était pas super populaire dans mon coin de France… J’arrive à trouver du Milka ici, si ça t’intéresse 🙂 Dans les épiceries italiennes! Et du Milka de fou, genre des LU enrobés de Milka en tablette!
Tu me fais rêver ! Cher ? Nous on trouve beaucoup de Lindt!
Ben je t’en envoie, si tu veux 🙂 Sérieux!
Hein quoi! Du Milka? Impossible d’en trouver ici, mon homme adore! Et Côte d’Or ! Miam
(je m’incruste totalement, mais l’idee de trouver du milka au Canada…. 😉 )
Et sinon pareil, j’aime le chocolat au lait!
Et chez moi (en Lorraine) ce sont les lapins qui apportaient le chocolat (chez les autres, jamais chez nous) pas les cloches
Pareil, si tu veux, je peux t’en envoyer!