Christmas

In honor of Christmas I decided that I would look up some different interesting things about this lovely holiday. I found a website that told how you say "Merry Christmas" in many different languages. Here are a few of my favorite:

Frisian: Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!

Iroquois: Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay.

Ethiopian: (Amharic) Melkin Yelidet Beaal
(For Shelley and Alan)
Slovene: Vesele Bozicne Praznike Srecno Novo Leto or Vesel Bozic in srecno Novo leto.

Next, I looked up different traditions. This one from Greece I thought was kind of interesting.

St. Nicholas is important in Greece as the patron saint of sailors. According to Greek tradition, his clothes are drenched with brine, his beard drips with seawater, and his face is covered with perspiration because he has been working hard against the waves to reach sinking ships and rescue them from the angry sea. Greek ships never leave port without some sort of St. Nicholas icon on board.There is a tradition kallikantzeri, where the mischievous goblins appear from the earth during the 12 days of Christmas.

This one was also kind of interesting.In Bangladesh formerly known as East Pakistan, the Christian village men would cut down scores of banana trees and replant them in pairs along the paths to churches and outside their homes. They would then bend over the huge leaves of the banana trees to form an arch, they would then make small holes in the bamboo poles, fill them with oil and tie them across the arches. When the oil is lit, the way to the church is lit up bright enough for all to see.

I like looking up different traditions because it was one of my favorite things to do in elementary to learn about the different Christmas' around the world.