My question is mostly related to Christian doctrine and dogma: should Advent be a joyous event as it is in the United States or should it be somber and reflective? I am not very religious per se. But my family and I do celebrate Christmas, so I will interested in the answer to this question too. (BTW, my question is about religious doctrine, but I welcome personal viewpoints added too 
.)
Thank you in advance to all who reply
I tend to go for the more traditional, sombre view. It makes the whole joy of the Nativity more pronounced. There’s another thread here that you may find interesting.
Joyous. I have all of lent to be somber.
I’m not sure how you are using somber in your statement. I was raised to think of it as pentitential, but in the sense of preparation, not in the sense of sorrow.
The readings include John the Baptist crying “Repent. Make straight the way of the Lord.” not the proclamations of doom and everlasting sorrow.
The analogy that we were given as kids was to the housecleaning preparatory to a party. It requires effort and is not “fun,” but it is done with a spirit of anticipation of the celebration.
I personally think it should be reflective, such as Lent. I’m not sure it should be quite as somber as Lent, because the season doesn’t have a Holy Week. Obviously, the third Sunday should be celebrated with Joy.
In Orthodoxy, it’s a sombre period, but not nearly as much as Lent. It’s one of the four great fasts, but the fasting is more of preparation than repentence. It’s a fairly relaxed fast – no meat or dairy, but fish is allowed on weekends and most Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Liturgically, it’s nowhere near the big deal that it is in the West. It’s forty days long, rather than four weeks. The liturgical color is dark blood-red rather than the purple and black of Lent. Weekday services do follow some of the Lenten variants, with certain psalms being replaced with other psalm verses interspersed with “Alleluia”, and the two Sundays before Christmas are dedicated to the ancestors and forerunners of Christ, but other than that it’s services as normal.
tomndebb, can I use this with my Sunday School class? I think it’s a really good image that my second and third graders could really latch onto.
Of course. I have no copyright on something that was passed to me 40 years ago.
This GQ topic on Advent in Anglican churches may be of some interest too.