J'ai passe ou je passais

Question

The first sentence uses J'ai passe' for "I have passed." To me, this should be je passais (imparfait). The writer is not describing a unique instance of an event in the past but rather he is making a general description of his actions in the past. He is describing multiple instances.

Accepted Answer

Hi Carl,
The writer is reminiscing over past holidays he/she spent and they are much over and done with.
If you change the verb to faire 
J'ai  fait beaucoup de bêtises dans ma vie...= I did a lot of stupid things in my life...
But -
Quand j'étais petit, je faisais beaucoup de bêtises = When I was young , I used to do many stupid things
You are zooming into a part of his youth by using the imparfait.
Hope this is helpful!