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Post by YesterdayOnceMore on Dec 21, 2009 16:11:30 GMT -5
Christmas seemed to have rolled around most quickly this year - one day it was the end of summer - the next I knew - it was 4 days before Christmas 2009. A solemn Christmas for me this year. I've been given many wonderful things to be grateful for - and have also been given much to contemplate about this year. Sometiimes our gifts come in strange packaging, don't they? I find that to be true for me, this time around, especially. I want to with each of YOU here on the forum a wonderful Christmas. May the love of the Christ child fill your minds and hearts with the love and joy and peace of the season. I wish each of you a beautiful Christmas, and health, happiness and prosperity for the coming New Year. "...we're apart, that's true but, I can dream and in my dreams I'm Christmasing with you..." MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!
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Post by wisejester7 on Dec 21, 2009 22:23:49 GMT -5
Warmest wishes to everyone for a Merry Christmas!
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Post by Rick Henry on Dec 21, 2009 23:40:43 GMT -5
Merry Christmas to my friends here at Carpenters Avenue. Thank you for your friendship. I also wish a Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends, a Happy Kwanzaa and Happy Holidays to all. I wish not to leave anybody out during this time of festivities.
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Post by beaner on Dec 22, 2009 8:10:31 GMT -5
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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Post by ps11932 on Dec 22, 2009 17:37:58 GMT -5
Best wishes and prayer for a joyous season to all. May there be a respite of peace that permeates the challenges of the new year.
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Post by Rick Henry on Dec 23, 2009 11:35:58 GMT -5
To my friends in Mexico and South America... I wish you a Feliz Navidad. I want to share with all some of the festivities which take place in Mexico during and prior to the Christmas Season. Las Posadas (Spanish for "the inns") is a nine-day celebration with origins in Spain beginning December 16 and ending December 24. It is a yearly tradition for many Catholic Mexicans and some other Latin Americans and symbolizes the trials which Mary and Joseph endured before finding a place to stay where Jesus could be born, based on the passage in the New Testament, the Gospel of Luke (2:1-9). Typically, each family in a neighborhood will schedule a night for the Posada to be held at their home, starting on the 16th of December and finishing on the 24th. Every home has a nativity scene and the hosts of the Posada act as the innkeepers. The neighborhood children and adults are the pilgrims (peregrinos), who have to request lodging by going house to house singing a traditional song about the pilgrims. All the pilgrims carry small lit candles in their hands, and four people carry small statues of Joseph leading a donkey, on which Mary is riding. The head of the procession will have a candle inside a paper lamp shade. At each house, the resident responds by refusing lodging (also in song), until the weary travelers reach the designated site for the party, where Mary and Joseph are finally recognized and allowed to enter. Once the "innkeepers" let them in, the group of guests come into the home and kneel around the Nativity scene to pray (typically, the Rosary). Latin American countries have continued to celebrate this holiday to this day, with very few changes to the tradition. In some places, the final location may be a church instead of a home. Individuals may actually play the various parts of Mary (María) and Joseph with the expectant mother riding a real donkey (burro), with attendants such as angels and shepherds acquired along the way, or the pilgrims may carry images of the holy personages instead. At the end of the long journey, there will be Christmas carols (villancicos), children will break open piñatas by striking these colorful papier-maché objects with bats while blindfolded to obtain candy hidden inside, and there will be a feast. Traditionally, it is expected to meet all the invitees in a previous procession.
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Dave
Ultra Emissary
"sleeping in the arms of the cosmos..."
Posts: 1,515
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Post by Dave on Dec 23, 2009 19:57:48 GMT -5
I like Feliz Navidad myself, being a Corona man. No matter what language you say it in, or what you celebrate (once you get past 50, you celebrate things like waking up on this side of the grass!), enjoy the season.
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Post by BethMosior on Dec 23, 2009 23:08:35 GMT -5
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Post by Rick Henry on Dec 24, 2009 1:41:53 GMT -5
I am always fascinated to learn of other cultures in the world. As it is our unique views and different ways of doing things that makes the world develop and grow. Each culture in the world is important to the other. We all need each other to get along. I want to share how Christmas is celebrated in Kenya. I love the Kenyan people. I have always been fascinated with Africa. My sister visited many parts of Africa about five years ago and she came back with a waelth of experience and knowledge. she said she'd like to go back again. I would like to somehow help with the poverty they have in parts of Africa. Christmas in Kenya Christmas in Kenya is celebrated with the entire family coming together and making merry. Almost half of the population in Kenya are non-Christians, even then this festivity is celebrated with much fan fare here. There are a large number of people staying in the rural areas of Kenya and therefore around Christmas, all relatives and family members from all parts of the country head towards their homes in the villages to be with their families and enjoy. Christmas in Kenya is called ‘Krismasi’ and the religious fervor is very predominant in all corners of the country. Churches and Cathedrals are decorated for Christmas and these decorations often include balloons, ribbons, green plants and trees to pose as the Christmas trees. The trees are adorned with candles, bells and also small presents. As it is a holiday on Christmas in Kenya, people plan several activities, ahead of this day. On Christmas Eve, traditional people sing Carols and hymns and little children dressed gaily in skirts made of leaves visit several homes singing and performing dances. At the end of the performances, they are generally given gifts and goodies often in the form of money. People visit churches and attend the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, 24th of December. Some even continue praying for the rest of the night and attend special services and prayers in the churches. The rest, after the mass return home to feast on the Christmas Dinner – Pilau, often consisting of chicken, meat, beef, rice and also the Christmas cakes and puddings. Exchange of Christmas cards though not traditionally common are practiced now days owing to the fact that there has been heavy commercialization of the festival, here too. People also buy new clothes for the children and often go ahead and pamper themselves by purchasing a new set for themselves too. On Christmas, dressed in their best, they visit the Church for prayers and then go to visit friends and relatives. The day following the Christmas in Kenya is a holiday too as it is observed as the Boxing Day. Although it is difficult to trace the origins of this day, it is commonly believed that Boxing Day means to box up the remaining gifts to be exchanged in the stores and box the leftover food to be given away to the poor and the needy.
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Post by Rick Henry on Dec 24, 2009 10:12:04 GMT -5
Christmas In Japan Christmas in Japan is quite different from the Chrismas celebrated in most countries in which the population has a large percentage of Christians or a Christian heritage. Only 1/2 of 1% of the Japanese population is estimated to be Christian, with the majority of Japanese being tolerant of all faiths: Buddhism, Christianity, Shinto, etc. In spite of this, the Japanese are great lovers of festivals and celebrations, including Christmas. December 25th is not a national holiday in Japan, although December 23rd, which is the birthdate of the present emperor, is. Although it is not an official holiday the Japanese tend to celebrate Christmas, especially in a commercial way. The Japanese celebrate Christmas Eve by eating a 'Christmas Cake' which the father of the family purchases on his way home from work (or his wife does in the case where he has to work on Christmas Eve). Stores all over carry versions of this Christmas cake and drop the price of it drastically on December 25th in order to sell everything out by the 26th. This has resulted in a rather interesting expression in which young girls are referred to as a 'Christmas cakes': marriageable until their 25th birthday and requiring heavy discounts to get married after their 25th birthdays. In recent years, thanks to the marketing prowess of the folks at Kentucky Fried Chicken, the Christmas Chicken Dinner has become quite popular. Many Japanese even make reservations for their "Christmas Chicken" ahead of time. People line up at their outlets to pick up their orders. As a result of KFC's brilliant advertising campaign, most Japanese now believe that Westerners celebrate Christmas with a chicken dinner instead of the more common ham or turkey. Christmas Eve has been hyped by the T.V. media as being a time for romantic miracles. It is seen as a time to be spent with one's boyfriend or girlfriend in a romantic setting, so fancy restaurants and hotels are often booked solid at this time. It is often also a time when girls get to reveal their affections to boys and vice versa. Because of this, extending a girl an invitation to be together on Christmas Eve has very deep, romantic implications. Christmas presents are exchanged between people with romantic commitments as well as close friends. The presents tend to be 'cute' presents and often include Teddy Bears, flowers, scarves, rings and other jewelry. Christmas cards are also given to close friends. Christmas presents tend to be things which are cute and sometimes slightly expensive because of the relationship to the person to which they are given to. More obligatory year-end presents are given during this season as well to people who have done you a favor during the year, however, in contrast to Christmas presents, they are given between companies, to bosses, to teachers, and family friends. These presents are known as 'Oseibo' and are generally things which are perishable or which wear out quickly for which the price can readily be checked because of the system of 'on' and 'giri' (loosely translated obligation and reciprocity). These presents are usually purchased at department stores so that the recipient can check the price and return something which relates to the scale of reciprocity. For the more elderly couples, many hotels host dinner shows featuring major singers, actors, and actresses. Tickets to these shows, due to the season, are very pricy. The Christmas season comes during the month of the year-end parties. Company groups, hobby groups, sports groups, etc. often book a section of a restaurant to have drinking parties, known as 'bonenkai' [forget the old year parties]. This phenomena leads to streets, subways, and trains full of people in varied states of intoxication during this season. Christmas lighting and displays are often up at the end of October and this year many stores have displays featuring Teddy Bears. There is also a trend developing for make-it-yourself presents. The New Year's holidays, which constitute the main holiday season for the Japanese, come closer to the American-European idea of assembling family and friends. Christmas seems to be closer to the Western concept of St.Valentine's Day.
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Post by cinscorp on Dec 24, 2009 14:40:08 GMT -5
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!
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Post by enigma on Dec 25, 2009 10:55:25 GMT -5
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