Christmas Around the World Wiki

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Permalink Reply by Laura Gibbs on November 8, 2007 at 7:54pm

hi Craig, is the wiki available now? I would be glad to contribute a page about the history of Latin Christmas carols, both traditional medieval carols and modern favorites (like Rudolph) translated into Latin. I don't know if that is the kind of thing that would be appropriate, but if a page of Latin carols would be suitable, let me know and I will add it! (I didn't see an address here in your post...?)

The Latin Christmas Carol project is something I did last year during December, and it was a lot of fun; you can see the materials I piled up in a blog here - I could pick some of the "greatest hits" from this list to make a page at your wiki, if you would like!
http://christmas.bestlatin.net

:-)

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Permalink Reply by Craig Scribner on November 8, 2007 at 8:45pm

It is a hyperlink connected to the words, "Christmas Around the World" Wiki. There is also a Voicethread located at Voicethread

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Permalink Reply by suziea on November 8, 2007 at 7:55pm

Where is the link to the wiki or am I being blind? :-) Here is a link to the page on my website that has Christmas links.
http://suzieslinks.com/curriculum/social/identity/chris/mas.html

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Permalink Reply by Craig Scribner on November 8, 2007 at 8:45pm

It is a hyperlink connected to the words, "Christmas Around the World" Wiki. There is also a Voicethread located at Voicethread

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Permalink Reply by Marielle Lange on November 9, 2007 at 3:28am

One of my weirder Christmas experience was in Australia. Christmas on the beach! In the southern hemisphere, seasons are inverted (December = mid summer). You wander into shops full of christmas trees and christmas decorations... in a light t-shirt, shorts, and sandals. Somehow, this doesn't seem right. Christmas father must be real hot with all its attire and 35°C at midday ;-).

On other traditions. In Belgium, where I come from, we do celebrate Christmas but Christmas is somehow more a family reunion. Kids receive their gifts at Saint Nicolas (Saint Nicholas if spelt the english way). That's on December 6. He is dressed in red, with an abundant white beard but his hat is somehow like the one of the pope. His dress is also slightly different, with more decorations and no black belt. He comes on a Donkey rather than a sledge or reindeers ;-). He is accompanied by Père Fouettard, a guy who is supposed to punish kids if they haven't been nice enough over the last year (the french verb fouetter means to whip... he is supposed to have a bunch of sticks and -- gently -- whip misbehaving kids). This event is shared between many countries in central europe. The origins of this traditions are also very different to Christmas. One legend has that a nasty butcher did slaughter kids and put them into the oven. Saint Nicholas who was luckily passing by witnessed that and somehow resurrected the kids. Another, that certainly has to do with the fact that chocolate coins are traditionally distributed on St Nicolas' day, that he helped the poor by making anonymous donations of bag of golds, each year, on a specific day.

There is a page on wikipedia.

Website you may be interested in: Christmas Traditions Around the World

Not in a position to publish a voice thread... working in a shared office with 5 co-workers.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Scribner on December 12, 2007 at 8:44pm

Marielle,
I would love to have you record your story on the voicethread. This will allow us to hear your voice and see where you are from. Thanks for responding to this message. Have a great holiday season! Craig

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Permalink Reply by Marielle Lange on December 13, 2007 at 2:24pm

I have just moved to New Zealand. Access to the internet via dial up for a few more weeks.

I am back to Christmas in the summer ;-). Pines are not that difficult to find here but it appears that they have another local christmas tree, the Pohutukawa tree.

Happy holidays!

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Permalink Reply by Brian on December 13, 2007 at 4:22pm

Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia (US) has some distinctive celebrations and decorations that can be seen on their website at http://www.history.org. Many people love to spend time in the historic district and be transported back to the colonial days.

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