Saturday, January 31, 2009

The Christmas around world

This is my last 2008 article for déjà vu magazine. Hope you all enjoy, and if you do, please leave a comment.

The Christmas around world


By Anna Avalanche, Gisa Miles and Luiz Speedwell



The arrival of Christmas inspires people around the world. The people of many different continents come together in this period of confraternities, meetings of family, hot meals and of course, exchange gifts.


One of the most colorful celebrations of humanity is the greatest festival of Christianity. It is time when all the fantasy is permitted.

Christmas is a day on which commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. In antiquity, Christmas was celebrated in several different dates, because it is not known with accuracy the date of the birth of Jesus. It was only in the fourth century that Dec. 25 was established as the official date of celebration. In ancient Rome, the December 25 was the date on which the Romans celebrated the beginning of winter. Therefore, it is believed that there is a relationship between this fact with the official celebration of Christmas.



The Germans give the name of Stomach Fat to the day before Christmas. They believe that those who do not eat well that night will be tormented by demons in her sleep. Of ginger cookies and dishes made from pork, pasta and salads, plus marzipan for dessert, make up the German Christmas dinner.

Moreover the decorations of the Christmas markets in Germany misspend lights and colors, creating a world of dreams and the style and the spirit of the season. A cultural program completes the schedule of attractions


Austria - The Christmas tree decorated with ornaments and candy and the Nativity scene make a perfect pair. The December 25 and 26 are national holidays and people used to visit family and neighbors. These meetings are served cold dishes such as cheese and bread and the traditional cookies and biscuits for Christmas. The Christmas in Austria is famous for being the country of origin of Franz Gruber, the composer of "Silent Night", the most famous Christmas song.

Australia - The Australian supper consists basically of turkey, ham and pork with plum pudding. The Christmas tree of Australians is different from all others, because it is a native shrub with small red leaves.



The Chinese Christians celebrate their Christmas decorating their homes with colorful lanterns of paper. Even the Christmas trees which are called "trees of light ', are decorated with lanterns, flowers and other decorations of paper. As the American children, the Chinese also hang their stocking feet for the Santa put the presents there. But there his name is a bit trickier. The old man is called Dun He Ren dao, which means ''Old Christmas'.

Egypt – The Egypt Christians celebrate the Christmas for four weeks and each one of them lit a candle. They fast for 40 days and not missing Christmas dinner of bread, rice, garlic and ground beef.



France - The French homes have a special space reserved for the Nativity Scene, which is known for the quantity and richness of figures that compose. During the supper French can not miss the trunk of Christmas, a typical cake in the form of tree trunk.



Greece - On the day before of Christmas, the children walk the streets singing Kalandia - typical songs of the region - and as a reward receive candy and nuts. After 40 days of fasting, the Greeks eat pork, accompanied by Christopsomo, the bread of Christ. In the Greek celebration there isn’t Christmas tree. Instead, they use a container of wood suspended, filled with water, which is hung a sprig of basil wrapped around a wooden cross. Every day a person's family wet the cross and spray the house with her.



India - Exotic. This word describes well the Indian Christmas. Mango and banana trees are decorated in India during Christmas. Still, the Indians use the leaves of these trees to decorate their homes, and oil lamps in the edges of roofs and leaves of tropical plants and candles to decorate the churches. The Christmas in India is very strict in terms of respect for sacred rituals.


Brazil- as the Brazilian people is one of the most cheerful of the world; the celebration of Christmas here could not be different. Millions of Brazilians gathered in family to celebrate the arrival of December 25. Full of popular culture and traditions, the celebration of Christmas has different performances throughout the country, with regional events and highlighted differentiated mainly in the north and northeast. In general, Christmas in Brazil isn’t much different from natal North Americans and Europeans: the family is held in an exchange of gifts near the Christmas tree and table is always full of delicious meals. The only major difference is the weather, because we are in December at the height of summer and they are in the winter.

But No matter the language, ethnicity, economic condition, age or the climate. Color, joy, hope, love, gifts and music create the festive atmosphere of the time and each country follows a tradition, respecting the line of evolutionary time, the legends and customs produced by ancestors.


This article has been sponsored by AA Trade Company, Cleary (128,128,0) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cleary/128/128/0

For more pictures and information see:
English blog: http://annaavalanche.blogspot.com/
Portuguese blog: http://dejavu-intl-portuguese.blogspot.com/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/annaavalanche/

1 comment:

Unknown said...

i would like to thank the three of you for your hard work in crafting this very interesting and wide-ranging article.

even though the Christmas season is over for 2008, its spirit of love and peace endures, and it is this same love and peace that i would like to wish you, whether you be a reader of, or a contributor to, this blog.

:-)