In just two days time it will be the first of December. That means for myself, and many others Christmas is drawing near! I thought I would start a topic about this festive time of year. You can talk about Christmas in your country (assuming you celebrate it) You can say what you hope to give or receive or anything else. I have posted this nice and early, so that it gives us almost a month to discuss all about Christmas. (PS I really hope my parents give me a new Laptop for Christmas, so I can post on this forum away from home!)
Actually, in Holland there is a tradition of celebrating the birthday of St. Nicholas (december 6th) with presents being given on december 5th, instead of at Christmas, which over here is chiefly a feast of warmth and togetherness. So what's that about being right on time?
Thank you Roel for exposing the ignorance of we English people. At least I gave you a few days to talk of your festivities.
For me, Christmas used to have no special meaning. Altough I was raised as a christian, Christmas was just some celebration where the whole family is together(and everyone asks you how you do at school :angry: ), and where you get some presents. But that changed in 1998. That year I was in Chile with scouts. We made a trip to the Atacama desert, and stayed in a small Indio village there called San Pedro. Came the christmas eve, and we went to mass in the holy night. The small spanish colonial style church of the village was completely full. Suddenly I noticed that the people, women children and men of San Pedro were crying.They did not cry because of sadness, but of joy, joy that the son of God was born. That was rather impressing and extremely catching. Later after the mass, they invited us to come with them into their homes. We had to visit nearly every house in the village. Altough they were really poor, they insisted we should eat with them. They also insisted to offer us presents.At the beginning we were some bit embarassed because we noticed that this people were very poor and offered us the few they had. I have rarely seen such happy people as these poor indios during the holy night. I think that during that night I understood the meaning of christmas. So, well that was my little Christmas story.
Very nice story, Castelot... I Slovakia we also celebrate the St. Nicholas' day, especially children. The parents are giving them some sweets (sorry, not them., but St. Nicholas"). It happens that the kids must clean their shoes in the evening 5th December (remember! the cleaner your shoes are, the more sweets you get... :lol: ), put them at the window (St. Nicholas is an old man so we must save him from a hard work) and they receive sweets for their good deeds and a piece of coal for the bad ones...
St Nicholas as is celebrated in holland would not be tolerated. As the helpers of Nicholas is black peter, where white people black themselves up. Every do gooder in Britain would be jumping up and down shouting racism. But the Dutch do enjoy themselves.
Yeah, well remember, the celebration stems from the Middle Ages when the church would give donations to the poor on December 6th. Right now, however, what Moonchild described is very much what happens here in Holland, except that kids are supposed to put their shoes in front of the fireplace (yes, this is where Santa Claus originated). And they get a lot of presents often, too, instead of just candy. Christmas in the US is very much a combination of Dutch St.Nicholas and Christian Christmas, with some local cultural touches. The Dutch popularly call St. Nicholas "Sinterklaas", which shows the origins of the name "Santa Claus".
We have no Santa Claus in Slovkia, though the Americnistion is trying to invade :-? On Christmas it is "Little Jesus" who brings the gifts.
[/quote] Yes, in France too, altough"Santa Claus" is becoming more and more popular. In Spain and certain regions of southern France it's the three oriental kings that bring the presents on january 6th.
Yes, and when in cold december days the sun is going down and the sky gets all red that means that St Nicholas is baking cookies in his big oven in the sky and that his day is nearing....
Yes, in France too, altough"Santa Claus" is becoming more and more popular. In Spain and certain regions of southern France it's the three oriental kings that bring the presents on january 6th.[/quote] We have also a free day on January 6th. In some regions there is still a tradition that boys are going from house to house dressed as the Three Kings and singing songs.
I haven't celebrated Christmas since I was 8 years old. We used to put Christmas trees in the house but after one grows up those lights aren't that fasicanating anymore. And my mom has since stopped buying me Christmas presents... Do non-Christians celebrate Christmas where you guys come from? Apparently its a pretty big event in most western nations.
Oh yeah, it's a madhouse. But most of that is Americanization. People replace the Christian devotion they no longer feel with an incredible hunger for consumption.
True. Although (bound to be a controversial point, I'm sure) Christmas actually has bog-all to do with Christianity. It is a mish-mash of 'pagan'* rituals overlaid with a Christian theme in an attempt to convert as many people as possible as quickly as possible. You may guess that I don't tend to 'do' Christmas! *'pagan' simply means "those in opposition" - in this case non-Christians. Obviously the common idea of what this word means has changed somewhat over the years...
Well, Rick, what about the whole "baby in a manger" thing? Are you saying that the celebrating the Birth of our chosen diety is against what the Bible teaches us as Christians?