Hi, my friends! The Chrismas season has already started and New Year is about to knock on our doors! It is one of the most desired holidays all over the world, it is time of miracles, magic, hopes and good memories and I'd like to share some of them with you now as I will be very busy later.
Well, I believe everybody knows what Christmas is but I'd like to tell you about the Cristmas spirit our people get to know in the early childhood and never forget. It is the spirit of goodness, forgiveness, a desire to do something good, to feed everyone who is hungry, to warm up everyone who feels cold, to give out gifts to strangers, to make no one feel alone. I wish this spirit lasted all year round all over the world!
I'll tell you about traditional Christmas in America. It is a family holiday, the members of a family usually gather at one place, have a traditional dinner that is a baked turkey and many other delicious things, but a turkey is a must! We decorate our houses and trees all around with a lot of light garlands and traditional American Christmas symbols.
They are poinsettia plants, we call them Christmas Stars, and so called Holly Tree's berries (trivia). Many people like to put on Santa's clothing. And Christmas carols sound everywhere!
But what is so very touching for me is that people hang the socks
for Santa's gifts over the fireplaces (it is well-known that Santa invisibly comes in through the flue and we leave him a glass of milk and some cookies for him to have a snack to be able to visit everyone on this planet) and those socks are always full in the morning independently on your age!
Dear friends! I am adding some music for you to feel the Christmas spirit, for you to remember all the best you have ever felt, for nobody to feel alone! St. Nick hasn't disappeared, it is us who lost the main.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEdwLRviJzw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpB_bstC24o
And this one is for ladies. In fact, my wife had me without even saing "Hello" (Big Smile!!!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dChnfK4T4OA
My friends, I hope you will tell how you celebrate Chrismas and what it means for you. Anyway, I wish you all and myself to live in a peaceful world full of pleasant surprises!
Merry upcoming Chistmas and Happy New Year!
Comments
Dear Adaline, thnks! I wish you the same. Merry Christmas!!
Dear Setareh! Thank you very much for your reply! Sure, I know that Christmas is the Christian holiday and I haven't expected any replies from your area. But I didn't mean anything wrong. I mean I have no idea to offend anyone. I just wanted to remind everyone of very important things we have to do in our lives. Unfortunatelly, we usually forget about them being very busy making our carriers. But when we get everythin' we want we start missing someting very important.
Anyway I love the spirit of helping people that you mentioned in your post. I hope we all come to the point that our happiness depends on eachother; we don't live in separate island from eachother. We all live in this beautiful planet. I wish a year full of joy and health for you and your family. Merry Christmas.
Dear Danny, It's nice and informative, and lovely pictures too.
Well done! Thanks for sharing.
This holiday season, May you and your family be blessed with Good health and happiness. Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!
Dear Eve, my friend! You are always so kind to me and other people! You, yourself is an embodiment of the Christmas spirit! I can only wish you to be yourself and never to lose the ability to be surprised, to wonder, to be inspired, to meet every next day as if were the first in your life, I wish you great love and all the best. Thank you, dear for being so good and human!
My dear friends! At last I have got some spare time to reply to your very nice comments.
Well, Expector Smith, it would be great to know how you celebrate Lunar New Year in China. Why not to tell about it posting pictures and describing your traditions? It is always good to know about the traditions of different nations. You are very welcomed!
Dear Grace! Thank you very much for your nice comment! I am so glad you know what I am talking about! The main idea of Christmas is goodness, kindness and love. If you listen to the song by Extreme band (the first link), you will surely know what I ment posting this blog.
Tanya, darling! What a great reply! Honestly, I have expected other members to tell us about their holidays as you did! Well, I've got your criticism, I will take it into account. But I'd like to add, Ukrainians like winter holidays as they call them. I felt that spirit in Kiev last year.
My dear, a very nice blog and, especially music! Such great songs chose you! But, between you and me, do you mean I didn't even say "Hi!" when we met for the first time? Ha-ha-ha! Sure, I do know what you mean and thanks for such a great compliment. But, you see, some people may think, I am so impolite that I didn't even greet you! Well, just take into account that most of people are learners here, OK? Anyway, I will start and tell about Ukrainian Christmas.
First of all, I have to say that Orthodoxes celebrate Christmas on January 7 according to the old Julian calendar. The Cristmas season officially starts on December 19, St. Nickolas Day and ends on January 19, Epiphany. Many of Ukrainian traditions are the same as in the rest of the Christian world. There open Santa (or Father Frost as we call him) towns everywhere. We decorate Christmas trees but we call them New Year trees as New Year preceds Christmas, we have champagne, fireworks, balls and a lot of fun on New Year Eve and a few days after it. However, Christmas is not so widely celebrated because of a few reasons, but Ukrainians have saved their traditions and I will tell you about some of them.
First of all, it is necessary to clear up everything in the house the day before Christmas, to wash all dirty linen and other stuffs, to decorate the house with national Ukrainian symbols like embroidered towels, table cloths, etc. When the home is clean, people start cooking traditional dinner. There should be 12 different dishes including famous Ukrainian borsch (tomato soup), varenyky (stuffed dumplings), fish, mushrooms, beans, cookies or so called Christmas cake and compote (fruit water) made of dried fruits. But the main dish is kutya, a kind of cooked cereals with honey, nuts, raisins, dried apricots, poppy seeds or anything else you like. Everything should be very sweet for people to have sweet times the next year. Families usually cook such dinner together and try to involve the kids. When the first star appears in the sky, it is time to light candles and to start celebrating. After dinner young people usually go out to knock on the doors, sing carols and collect gifts on Christmas. Unfortunately, there is no such Christmas spirit in Ukraine as in America, but the Christmas season is great everywhere. Ukrainians give presents to each other on such holidays, too, but they put them under the Christmas trees, they try to be charitable, forgiving, but they are indifferent, in fact. Anyway, I'd like you to hear Ukrainian carols as they come from the bottom of the hearts.
I would like to add some Ukrainian carols, but there is no possibility to do it here, I am so sorry! I will do it in "Sing a Song" group.
And I'd like to join my husband and to wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May all your dreams come true, be happy, thoughtful, smart and sensitive, well-secured and kind, self-confident and doubting, challenging and reliable, just be yourselves! May all the people live in peace and love all over the world!
Love reading this blog, it reminds me there is a lot of things we can do in christmas time, and all we do.. it is something special for people around us, we can have christmas dinner together with our family, friends and other. We can send the flower for our lover, we give the presents to the kids on the street. On christmas eve we gather together, enjoy our time in sharing, singing, praying, eating, dancing. I can say that I love christmas. Let people around us feel the joy and peace of christmas. Merry christmas Danny and family, merry christmas everyone....
I just could use some of the words to describe the Lunar New year - the two big holidays sound alike.
People here in China do celebrate Christmas in a similar way, but the Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) is what they're really looking forward to.
Thanks for sharing, and Merry Christmas!