Tag Archives: Christmas

6 Things To Get You In The Mood For Christmas

With Christmas just around the corner, there is no doubt that the preparations have already begun. Still, there are some of us who may not feel up to celebrating in the traditional holiday spirit. Let us take a brief look at six ways to bring the cheer back into your life in the coming weeks.
1. Christmas Cards and More

Why not give the gift of giving? Christmas cards are excellent ways to reconnect with friends while allowing you to feel that you are making a difference in the life of someone else. Another excellent option is to take a trip to your local homeless shelter and bring along a few clothing items or even an uncooked turkey. You will be amazed to see the smiles of those who are less fortunate.

2. Oh, Christmas Tree

One of the best aspects of Christmas is gathering with friends and family while adorning a tree with ornaments. It is likely that your feelings of nostalgia will far outweigh any negativity that you might feel. For an ever more profound experience, turn the lights down and enjoy your favourite holiday music.

3. Take a Break from Capitalism

One of the biggest sources of seasonal depression can be found in the throngs of gift-centred crowds and endless queues. Should these situations affect you adversely, it is better to avoid them altogether. Spend some time at home and if possible, try to order your gifts online.

4. Getting into the Spirit

There is no better way to rekindle your Christmas passion than through adorning your home with a few well-placed holiday decorations. As these are completely subjective, feel free to experiment and choose those which reflect your individual tastes. You will not be disappointed with the ambiance that they can provide!

5. The Power of Music

Christmas music has the ability to take us all back to a simpler time. In fact, there is no better way to relive such ethereal memories than to listen to the holiday music that you have grown up with.

6. Memorable Movies

We can all recall those iconic Christmas movies when we were children. From Babes in Toyland to A Christmas Carol, such seasonally specific films are sure to warm your heart. Anyone looking for a more modern feel-good movie could always select recent films such as “Elf” starring Will Ferrell.

Have Yourself a Very Welsh Christmas – Past Celebrations of Christmas in Wales

In Wales on Christmas morning, it was traditional for men to go to church very early to sing in harmony and welcome in the dawn with a service that would go on for 3 hours. They would then go home and begin the day of feasting and drinking. This tradition called Plygain is being revived in some parts of Wales and can now be enjoyed by both women and men. Families would wait up together for Plygain and whilst waiting would make taffy – a special kind of toffee. This is called Noson Gyflaith.

Many Welsh traditions actually pre-date Christmas itself. A well known one of these is Mari Lwyd, which is Welsh for Grey Mare. In December or on New Year’s Day, a horse’s skull is decorated with bells and ribbons plus false ears. A sheet is used to represent the body of the mare. People then take the Mari Lwyd around the neighbourhood calling on local households. The residents are challenged to a battle of wits using Welsh verse. After the battle, which is called pwnco in Welsh, the visitors are then invited in to refresh themselves with drinks. This led to the tradition being associated with drunkenness, which led to the tradition dying out in some areas during more austere periods. Mari Lwyd is still celebrated though in some parts of Wales, in particular in Llangynwyd on each New Year’s Day.

A very popular New Year’s custom in Wales was to give a gift, called a Calennig. Much like modern day trick or treating, children would go from door to door with symbols of good luck such as skewered apples plus evergreen twigs and a cup of water from the local well. They use the twigs to splash people with the water and are given the calennig as a present. This would often be small coins. This tradition has mostly died out but in some places children still call door to door to be given gifts of money.

Celebrating Christmas in China

Christmas in China is a rather uncommon occurrence, with only less than 1% of the huge population being Christian, the majority of people know very little about the Holiday Traditions of Christmas. In Major cities, it is much more common to see things such as Christmas Trees on display than it is in the more rural areas. This is also true the further West you head, into cities such as Xinjiang where the population is made up of many more Muslims and devout Buddhists, so the tradition of Christmas is Celebrated very little.

It is quite common for places such as Schools, Offices and shops to remain open on Christmas Day throughout most of China, but due to the strong British and Portuguese influences in Hong Kong and Macau, Christmas in these areas are Official Public Holidays.

What do the Chinese do at Christmas?

The Holiday of Christmas is treated a little bit like how Valentine’s Day is treated in the West, except without the flowers and chocolate that come with it. It’s very much a social time for Chinese people, with many young people getting together for social gatherings and parties – in houses, karaoke cafe’s, and even McDonalds.

A frequent occurrence and a somewhat ‘Traditional’ Chinese Christmas activity is the giving of Apples. This is mainly done because the Mandarin word for Apple (苹果/píngguǒ) is very similar to the word for Christmas Eve (平安夜/pingān yè, which can also be read as Peaceful Evening, from the Translation of the carol Silent Night). The apple that is given is no long called It is Typical in many shops and stores for these ‘Christmas Apples’ to be wrapped up in colourful paper, and are usually adorned with Santa’s face and the words ‘Merry X-mas’. And if you receive such a special apple, be sure to return with the gift of a Christmas orange!

5 Strange Christmas Traditions From Around The World

Whatever your thoughts are on Christmas it can’t be ignored and is all about celebrating with family and friends, giving and receiving gifts. Whilst Christmas is a Christian festival, you will find some extremely bizarre international customs. Here are 5 Strange Christmas Traditions From Around The World.

 

The Ukrainian spider tradition

If you are Ukrainian, seeing a spider on the morning of Christmas is considered lucky. As a result, instead of tinsel on Christmas trees in Ukraine, they are covered with cobwebs and artificial spiders. This is certainly not the best place to be for arachnophobia sufferers.

The KFC Japanese Christmas

This started off as just a marketing campaign for the Colonel about 40 years ago. Since the initial promotion in Japan, Christmas celebrations would not be complete without visiting a KFC fast food store. These days during the festive celebrations almost a quarter of a million barrels of chicken will be consumed.

The Remembrance Christmas

On a more sombre note, if you live in Finland, then this is a time of year to visit the graves of family ancestors, and light candles in their memory. Christmas eve sees cemeteries all over Finland lit up with candles, which is an unforgettable sight.

The Italian Befana

The Italians have Santa Claus but also cling on to a much older tradition called the Befana. The Befana is a good, but ugly witch, that delivers candy and small toys to well behaved children, who leave their stockings out to be filled. Watch out, however, if you have been bad, because she will fill up your socks with coal, and leave you crying.

The Spanish ‘pooping’ log

In the Catalonian region of Spain, the Caga Tio is a long established traditional method of giving gifts to children. The Caga Tio, which is a hollow log with a smiling face, quite literally means ‘pooping log.’ From December 8, the log is placed by the warm fireplace, covered in a blanket and treated like a family pet. It rewards the family by ‘pooping-out’ gifts.

A Merry Chinese Christmas

Most Chinese don’t celebrate Christmas for the same reasons as those of us in the UK, but they do make sure the day is enjoyed as a family with plenty of good food, gifts and symbols of good luck.

A Chinese Christmas involves and centres around food – and lots of it! The Chinese believe that running out of food while eating is bad luck, so it’s always in abundance.

The meal starts with appetizers, generally three or four dishes which often include sesame prawn toast or mixed vegetable soup, along with dumplings and spring rolls.

The main course is made up of several dishes such as Peking duck with different sauces, beef or chicken in oyster sauce and chicken chow mein.

After so many dishes, desserts are fairly simple and include fruit cocktails or sesame balls. Koi shaped jelly is also popular as Koi is a symbol of good luck.

The Traditional Christmas Pickle

Christmas time is all about traditions. The time spent decorating the Christmas tree, the family gathering around for the switching on of the lights and the lavish food. It is these small traditions that ensure that Christmas is the happiest time of year.
One of the oddest traditions is the Christmas pickle. In times long gone, somewhere on the well decorated Christmas tree, a real pickle was hidden for a lucky person to find. The real pickle has since been updated to a glass bauble style, but the tradition still stands.

On Christmas morning the first person who finds the pickle is rewarded with an extra present from Santa or is told they will have extra luck in the new year.

Either way, this tradition is a great way to add a little extra excitement to Christmas morning and to delay the inevitable rush of children hurrying to rip into their Christmas presents.