Day 12: 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World"

You know the drill. Happy Holidays from Ms. Q!

Merry Christmas! Joyeaux Noel! Boldog Karacsonyt!



I don't think there's anything more odd than those nativity figurines with Santa kneeling before Baby Jesus. It's one "tradition" I think modern society can do without.

That's all.

Have a good one!

Day 11: 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World"

You know the drill. Happy Holidays from Ms. Q!

Day 11: A Flammable Christmas



Yes those are real candles on that Christmas tree.

We miss something in America by using strings of electric lights, or worse, a pre-lit tree (really, how lazy can you be?) at Christmastime.

Namely, we miss the possibility of our homes burning down.

Not to mention the amount of ice that would be the result of the fire department trying to put out aforementioned house fire.

Nothing but the spring thaw will take care of that is all I'm saying.

This photo was taken in the Old Country one long-ago Christmas, when the light bulb was just a twinkle in Edison's eye.

So that's not true.

Really, this photo was taken in Bratislava in 2005.

The straw ornaments are traditional to many European countries, and the candles are a throwback.

TIP: Never leave the tree unattended.
TIP: Keep a pail of water handy in the same room in case anything catches fire.

Day 10: 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World"

I've been blessed to have traveled extensively throughout Europe while stationed as a missionary in Eastern Europe. To share a bit of that past, I bring to you The 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World." Each day I will chose a country I visited, tell a personal story, and share a Christmas tradition from that country. Please add your own family traditions in the comments section of these posts, or share your own international experiences if you've been blessed enough to travel.

Happy Holidays from Ms. Q!

Christmas in Croatia


Winter getting you down?

Sick of bundling up every time you head outdoors?

Need a bit of warm-weather cheer?

That's what you've got me for - to bring you delightfully sunny cityscapes from Trogir, Croatia.

Granted, this isn't a picture of Christmas in Croatia (it's Easter), but then that wasn't part of the deal was it?

I'm simply bringing you Christmas traditions from places I've visited around the world.

So there.

Here's your dang tradition, get off my back.


Many Croatian families decorate their Christmas trees with Licitar hearts - a special dough (that's edible, yet usually not eaten), shaped into hearts, and painted red. Colorful designs and artwork are added to each heart for a festive ornament.

These hearts have spread across other Central European countries, and larger versions are often given as gifts or tokens of appreciation and gratitude.

Croatians also practice the tradition of a yule log, which also, incidentally, is a Christmas tradition across the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia (read: parts of Slovenia, Serbia, and Croatia).

How do I know that?

Why, because I did a research paper in 4th grade on Christmas traditions in Yugoslavia. Little did I know how irrelevant that work would be so soon after I completed the project.

This was, of course, the early 90's and my word processing software (read: typewriter) did not yet have the "Find and Replace" function. So, unfortunately, the paper still reads "Yugoslavia" when mere months after it's publication it should have read "the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia."

Bygones. Back to the yule log.

The yule log is cut on Christmas Eve morning, left on the hearth all day, and burned at night throughout Christmas day. The burning of the log is accompanied by prayers to welcome in blessings for the new year.

In Serbia, it's customary that the first visitors to the home on Christmas day strike the burning log with a poker to release sparks and then bestow a blessing on the household.

I hope this all takes place in the safe confines of an enclosed fire place.

It seems that several of my 12 Christmas traditions from around the world include some sort of fire hazard. I promise that wasn't intentional.

Day 9: 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World"

I've been blessed to have traveled extensively throughout Europe while stationed as a missionary in Eastern Europe. To share a bit of that past, I bring to you The 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World." Each day I will chose a country I visited, tell a personal story, and share a Christmas tradition from that country. Please add your own family traditions in the comments section of these posts, or share your own international experiences if you've been blessed enough to travel.

Happy Holidays from Ms. Q!

Angels


Or are they...?


These are students from my 12D class, and I won't ruin the nice scene this photo portrays by telling you how they were in class.

Just kidding.

Sort of.

You can't help but think of angels when you think of Christmas for, Hark! You can even hear them singing.

Sh....listen...

Okay, so maybe it's just Rosemary Clooney on your iPod, but you know what I'm saying.

I don't think I need to explain in detail the importance of angels at Christmas - they held Academy Award winning supporting roles in the birth of Jesus, and they now hold prominent places in our households at the tops of our Christmas trees.

My sister played an angel in our church's Nativity play when we were kids.

I was one of the three kings.

While she got to wear a long, flowing, white robe with pretty wings and a halo, I had to wear an ugly smock and fluffy hat and walk down the aisle carrying a glass bottle of "frankincense" while some guy sang "We Three Kings" in an, admittedly, rich baritone.

It was much too masculine for my Barbie-loving ways.

I wanted to be an angel.

Or Mary. Mary was a plum role, too.

I attribute this childhood disappointment to my tomboy ways of '94-'97.

Moving on...

Boldog Karácsonyt

Hungary has two traditions that are a little bit different than what you might be used to at Christmas.

First, Baby Jesus brings the presents, not a fat, jolly elf/Saint who lives at the North Pole.

Second, most homes include an Advent wreath with their usual holiday decorations. The flower shops (an explanation of the importance of flowers in Hungary here) carry a variety of fresh wreaths decorated with all manner of ribbons, trinkets, and colors. Like the pastor does at church, you can light a candle for each week of Advent in the comfort of your own home.

Just make sure you have a fire extinguisher handy and/or don't have anything flammable near the candles. More on this in our Day 12 post...

Day 8: 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World"

I've been blessed to have traveled extensively throughout Europe while stationed as a missionary in Eastern Europe. To share a bit of that past, I bring to you The 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World." Each day I will chose a country I visited, tell a personal story, and share a Christmas tradition from that country. Please add your own family traditions in the comments section of these posts, or share your own international experiences if you've been blessed enough to travel.

Happy Holidays from Ms. Q!

In A Word? Ireland.


A few years ago I had the pleasure (read: misfortune) of visiting Ireland the week between Christmas and New Years.

I say misfortune mostly because I was sick - more sick than I've ever been in my life barring surgery. But it was also an unfortunate time to visit because nothing happens in Ireland during this week (and I don't mean in a Las Vegas kind of way).

Sure, they have Boxing Day and St. Stephen's Day, but what good is that to a tourist? It just means the shops, museums, and tourist-y places are likely closed.

The highlights of this trip were kissing the Blarney stone (after which my friend promptly became ill), drinking Guinness in an Irish pub, and..., um..., yep, that's it.

I suppose the tour of the Jameson whiskey factory wasn't all that bad...

After my Irish "vacation" I spent the next 20 or so hours traveling back to Hungary when I really should have been in a hospital. I pretty much spent the plane ride from Dublin to Vienna in tears as I fully expected my head to explode from the painful pressure in my ears.

The next day I went to the doctor in Sopron (socialized medicine = not bad at all, you heard it here first). He and his otoscope got within in 3 feet of me when he began writing a prescription and scolded me for not seeing a doctor sooner.

Yeah, buddy. I was kind of between countries!

Tradition As Fire Hazard

In Ireland, one little tradition they have at Christmastime is to keep a lighted candle in the window on Christmas Eve.

The purpose of this is so that Mary and Joseph can feel welcomed and know there is shelter to be had at your abode.

One can only wonder what's supposed to be done about the donkey.

Perhaps it's enough to hope the Irish have flame-retardant curtains.

Until tomorrow, Nollaig Shona Daoibh.

Day 7: 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World"

I've been blessed to have traveled extensively throughout Europe while stationed as a missionary in Eastern Europe. To share a bit of that past, I bring to you The 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World." Each day I will chose a country I visited, tell a personal story, and share a Christmas tradition from that country. Please add your own family traditions in the comments section of these posts, or share your own international experiences if you've been blessed enough to travel.

Happy Holidays from Ms. Q!

Karacsonyi Vasar


Consider this Christmas Markets Take 2, Hungarian style.

What makes Christmas markets different in Hungary than they are in Austria, you ask?

Go ahead. I'll wait.

Well, I'm glad you asked, because you'll be delighted to know there is no difference beyond geography.

This photo was snapped at Sopron's little version in Fő Tér.

Folk music is played live by local bands, attendees can enjoy some lángos or forralt bor, and local artisans sell their handmade wares.

It's delightful, and all the more so for being close enough for a midday stroll in between class periods at BDEG.

Day 6: 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World"

I've been blessed to have traveled extensively throughout Europe while stationed as a missionary in Eastern Europe. To share a bit of that past, I bring to you The 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World." Each day I will chose a country I visited, tell a personal story, and share a Christmas tradition from that country. Please add your own family traditions in the comments section of these posts, or share your own international experiences if you've been blessed enough to travel.

Happy Holidays from Ms. Q!

Day 6: Csendes Éj


I was living in Hungary when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.

All I could tell from the news reports (in Hungarian or German) was that New Orleans suffered a tremendous storm and, from the video, it looked like the entire city was destroyed.

Sidenote: This year marked the 5th year anniversary of Katrina and I finally was able to see a lot of the original reporting thanks to CNN, NatGeo, Discovery, and The History Channel.

To bring awareness of, and raise funds for, the plight of stranded and now homeless citizens, a gospel choir from NOLA made a world tour. Sopron was one of their stops.

Pictured is the crowd in the Lutheran church.

The show took place in December, and the best part of the evening (in my estimation) was when the band encouraged everyone to join in and sing along with Silent Night.

All were welcomed to sing in their language of choice.

In a show of musical solidarity, I heard many versions of this hymn as all sang out as one. The most prominent languages I heard were Hungarian (of course), German (Sopron is 3 km from the Austrian border), and English (yours truly).

Hungarian:
CSENDES ÉJ

Csendes éj! Szentséges éj!
Mindenek nyugta mély;
Nincs fenn más, csak a Szent szülepár,
Drága kisdedük álmainál,
Szent Fiú, aludjál, szent Fiú aludjál!

Csendes éj! Szentséges éj!
Angyalok hangja kél;
Halld a mennyei halleluját,
Szerte zengi e drága szavát,
Krisztus megszabadit, Krisztus megszabadit!

Csendes éj! Szentséges éj!
Sziv örülj, higyj, remélj!
Isten Szent Fia hinti reád,
Ajka vigyszt adó mosolyát,
Krisztus megszületett, Krisztus megszületett!

German:
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Alles schläft; einsam wacht
Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Hirten erst kundgemacht
Durch der Engel Halleluja,
Tönt es laut von fern und nah:
Christ, der Retter ist da!
Christ, der Retter ist da!

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Gottes Sohn, o wie lacht
Lieb' aus deinem göttlichen Mund,
Da uns schlägt die rettende Stund'.
Christ, in deiner Geburt!
Christ, in deiner Geburt!

English:
Silent night, holy night
All is calm all is bright
'Round yon virgin Mother and Child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night,
Shepherds quake at the sight.
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heav'nly hosts sing Alleluia;
Christ the Savior is born
Christ the Savior is born

Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love's pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

Day 5: 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World"

I've been blessed to have traveled extensively throughout Europe while stationed as a missionary in Eastern Europe. To share a bit of that past, I bring to you The 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World." Each day I will chose a country I visited, tell a personal story, and share a Christmas tradition from that country. Please add your own family traditions in the comments section of these posts, or share your own international experiences if you've been blessed enough to travel.

Happy Holidays from Ms. Q!

Day 5: Stary Smokovec Gets in Your Eyes


Okay, so that was a poor excuse for a reference to The Platters' "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes." Deal with it.

What does get in your eyes, however, when you're in Stary Smokovec, Slovakia, is this magical view every morning you wake up and look out your hotel room window.

FACT: In 2004, the Tatras Mountains (where Stary Smokovec is located) experienced a devastating windstorm that decimated the landscape and hardwood forests.

Evidence of the storm could still be seen when I visited in 2006, because, quite simply, the Slovaks couldn't clean up and process the lumber from the fallen trees fast enough.

The local ecology is still recovering.

But enough of this downer. Let's move on to one of my favorite Christmas traditions...Slovak Style.

Booze: A Slovak Tradition
Hriatuo is a hot brandy drink devised from honey, butter, and slivovice. A curiously strong spin on a hot-buttered rum.

Hriatuo is drunk at weddings, christenings, and on Christmas Eve. It's also considered good medicine for your common cold or cough. Y'right...

I like this particular boozy tradition because it reminds me of my own family gatherings of Christmas Eve's past.

Every year my mom's side of the family gathers at my aunt and uncle's house (a picturesque log cabin) located near the family homestead.

My aunt bakes cookies, my uncle makes meatballs, and we all descend on Christmas Eve to drink hot-buttered rums, Tom & Jerry's, mulled wine, and any other wonderfully seasonal, hot, boozy beverage.

Predictably we all get kind of sloshed.

Another of my aunts plays the piano, two of my cousins play their flutes, and we all join in singing ridiculously bad versions of Christmas carols.

I refuse to bring my violin for fear of drunken injury.

The best part is when yet another aunt (yes, I have several) takes to eating all of the raisins off the gingerbread men and women the aforementioned hostess spent hours baking.

She leaves the cookies intact, but for the little raisin eyes, you see.

Poor, blind, gingerbread folk left to fend for themselves...

Day 4: 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World"

I've been blessed to have traveled extensively throughout Europe while stationed as a missionary in Eastern Europe. To share a bit of that past, I bring to you The 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World." Each day I will chose a country I visited, tell a personal story, and share a Christmas tradition from that country. Please add your own family traditions in the comments section of these posts, or share your own international experiences if you've been blessed enough to travel.

Happy Holidays from Ms. Q!

Day 4: The Christmas Market


Boy, don't you just love a good Christmas Market?

This shot was snapped at the Rathausplatz Christkindlmarkt in Wien, Austria (Vienna to you American folk).

Each window in the townhall is dressed in blue and acts as one day on the Advent calendar. Each day another window is opened to depict a lovely Christmas scene.

Sadly, no giant pieces of chocolate are hidden in this Advent calendar...

Truly the best thing about a European Christmas Market is the rum punch.

It comes in a variety of flavors - favorites include raspberry and strawberry - and it costs approximately 5 Euros.

You get at least 2 Euros back if you return the mug.

If you don't return the mug, you retain a lovely keepsake as each Christmas market has it's own mug design.

Nothing beats the frigid cold of winter than bundling up, visiting several Christmas markets in one day (there are hundreds in Vienna), and acquiring a small collection of mugs along with a rather sizable buzz.

Day 3: 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World"

I've been blessed to have traveled extensively throughout Europe while stationed as a missionary in Eastern Europe. To share a bit of that past, I bring to you The 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World." Each day I will chose a country I visited, tell a personal story, and share a Christmas tradition from that country. Please add your own family traditions in the comments section of these posts, or share your own international experiences if you've been blessed enough to travel.

Happy Holidays from Ms. Q!

Day 3: Surly Babushka Greetings



I picked up this card at the Museum of Communism in Prague, and it's relevant to our Christmas countdown because I found the cutest Babushka Doll (Matroyshka) cards at World Market this year, and sent them to my family as their holiday greeting.

Like traditional nesting dolls, the card looks like a large Russian doll, and opens up to a paper pullout of four dolls in descending size.

It's a fun one.

Czech, Czech, Czech out this Christmas Tradition...
One Christmas tradition I'm particularly interested in relates to the foretelling of marriage.

Apparently, an unmarried lady is supposed to throw a shoe over her shoulder toward the front door of her family home. If the shoe lands with the toe pointing toward the door, she's "booted" out into the cold with no money or prospects to fend for herself until the first thaw of spring.

Harsh, right?

Well, it's not true. Did I have you going there?

The true tradition is that if the toe points toward the door, the lucky lady will be married within a year.

I say, that if her shoe hits a smug married entering the house for the family Christmas party, the unmarried girl will have 7 years of good luck.

Day 2: 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World"

I've been blessed to have traveled extensively throughout Europe while stationed as a missionary in Eastern Europe. To share a bit of that past, I bring to you The 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World." Each day I will chose a country I visited, tell a personal story, and share a Christmas tradition from that country. Please add your own family traditions in the comments section of these posts, or share your own international experiences if you've been blessed enough to travel.

Happy Holidays from Ms. Q!

Day 2: Christmas Greetings from Poland


Sending Christmas cards isn't just an American tradition. It began in 1843 in England by a man named Sir Henry Cole.

Every year I look forward to choosing either the most ridiculous or most creative card to send to my family and friends - sometimes the ridiculous and creative go hand in hand.

I also enjoy receiving cards for two reasons. One, Christmas cards aren't bills. Two, Christmas cards make for great decoration (hang a piece of garland or pretty ribbon on the wall and use paper clips, clothespins, or small alligator clips to attach them to the ribbon).

This card has greetings written in Hungarian, English, and German, respectively, but was sent by a friend in Poland.

Day 1: 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World"

I've been blessed to have traveled extensively throughout Europe while stationed as a missionary in Eastern Europe. To share a bit of that past, I bring to you The 12 Days of "Christmas Around the World." Each day I will chose a country I visited, tell a personal story, and share a Christmas tradition from that country. Please add your own family traditions in the comments section of these posts, or share your own international experiences if you've been blessed enough to travel.

Happy Holidays from Ms. Q!

Day 1: Bérzsenyi Daniel Evangélikus Gimnázium (BDEG)


In Hungary, each grade level of secondary school students is broken up into a number of "classes" (consortiums, if you will). Each consortium attends the same schedule of classes under the direction of a form teacher.

During their senior year, each consortium performs a variety of tasks throughout the year, one of which being leading the school in a candle lighting ceremony during one week of the Advent season.

The consortium usually plans a skit, a song or poetry performance, or a Bible reading (BDEG is a parochial school). They then light the candle, lead attendees through a prayer, and dismiss students to their next class...all taking place during the 15-minute morning (read: snack) break.

Snowpocalypse

This is why I couldn't make it back to Milwaukee:

5 Best Christmas Movies

Last week, I started A Quarter Century's Christmas Countdown with list of the 5 Best Christmas Albums (in my estimation, anyway, which is the only one that counts in this corner of the interwebs).

Part promotion of my favorite Christmas music, part well-intentioned ploy to increase my playlist with your comments, it was a fun rundown of good tunes.

In this week's installment of our newly-created Yuletide countdown, I offer you films instead.

Without further ado...

5 Best Christmas Films

5. Love Actually

Some wouldn't consider this a Christmas film so much as a film about relationships, love, etc, but as it takes place at Christmas time, includes a killer Christmas soundtrack, and offers lovely set design, we're going to count it.

What I love best about this film is that the underlying message in all of the storylines is that, simply because it's Christmas, there's no more perfect time to take a chance on love.

In a day and age when the suicide rate increases during the holiday season, it's a message that's worth repeating.

Bill Nighy as Billy Mack may also have something to do with my love of the film.

"If you believe in Christmas, children, like your Uncle Billy does, then buy my festering turd of a record."

The only thing I really don't like about the movie is the storyline and scenes between the two adult film actors. In general, I'm not one to appreciate such things - call me old school, but I really also have a simple intolerance for anything that's so obviously gratuitious in films...whether it be sex, nudity, vomit, violence, or bloodshed.

Just because the ratings commission says you can show it doesn't mean you have to, or that you should. Oftentimes, I find that less is more, and my overactive imagination is much better at eliciting the proper emotions than anything they can put on screen.

4. Miracle on 34th Street

You can take your 2000 version of this film and throw it out the window.

There's nothing better than Edmund Gwenn's rendition of Kris Kringle, nor Maureen O'Hara's or Natalie Wood's performances.

FACT: The parade sequence in this 1947 film was the actual parade...no one knew that Fox was filming it for the movie.

FACT: Edmund Gwenn won an Oscar for his perfomance as Santa in this film

FACT: The 2000 version isn't awful; it's just not in the same ballpark as the original.

3. Elf

There's something that's just so hilarious about this film.

Probably Will Ferrell's performance.

I really love the scene where James Caan takes him to the doctor's for a DNA test, and not only does Buddy delightfully eat cotton balls, but he acts like such an ADD toddler that we cannot help but fall out of our chairs laughing.

And who can't appreciate the nod to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in the way the North Pole is styled once Buddy begins his journey to New York City?

While I'm not sure it should get "classic" status just yet, I love the way this film reminds us of the kid we all have inside us.

2. Home Alone

I know a boy who loves this film.

Last year he got a long, toboggen-shaped sled for Christmas.

One day, his mother was working upstairs in her office, and small boy asks if he can sit on his sled (to dream of powdery snow, giggle-inducing sled runs, and face plant landings, I'm sure we can all assume).

Mom said yes.

A few minutes later she heard the tell-tale, rapid-succession "thump, thump, wump, thump" of a sled being driven down her carpeted staircase by aforementioned small boy.

This ill-fated run was followed up by a quick smack into the wall at the bottom of the stairs, tears, and a small boy scared crapless.

Lesson learned? I'm pretty sure that's a yes. (Note: no small children were harmed in the making of this blogging episode)

Needless to say, sometimes those warnings of "Don't try this at home" are quite helpful.

Personally, I love this John Hughes film for its set decoration. The entire house is outfitted in green and red down to the very wallpaper.

Additionally, the soundtrack is quite tremendous.

And you won't find a better rendition of this franchise without the lovable polka playing John Candy or the hopelessly klutzy Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is a good one, but I don't think any of the sequels live up to the original.

1. White Christmas

I can't help it.

I love this film so much that I don't consider my Christmas season started until I watch it.

The musical number, Mandy (pictured at right), that is my namesake (if you say something often enough it becomes true, right?) may have something to do with it.

Strictly speaking, there's not much Christmas in the film - the themes mainly run toward giving, romance, and Irving Berlin's genious. However, the end scene where the entire audience joins the four leads in singing White Christmas and the shed doors open to show a beautiful pastoral scene of winter always...ALWAYS...bring a tear to my eye.

Honourable Mentions: I'm keeping this list to 5 for reasons even unknown to me, but there are a few other films I love during the holiday season. In no particular order:

It's a Wonderful Life
Not expected to be a hit, this film was released in July. Most were surprised at the reaction it received, and it stayed in theaters for over 5 months. As I've said before, Jimmy Stewart is my favorite Hollywood actor of all time, and I love his George Bailey.

A Charlie Brown Christmas
I mainly didn't include this one on the list, because it debuted as a television special and I already had a limited number of spots for "Best Films." Best part about this little gem? The soundtrack.

What are your favorites? Leave a comment and help me increase my DVD collection!

I Actually Love The Walking Dead

I really like:



In part because of this guy:



Though, to be fair, in a zombie apocalypse, poster board decorated with emotionally compromising messages wouldn't be a very effective weapon.




Sidenote: Did anyone else catch that the Walking Dead's Director effectively fired the entire writing crew yesterday? The writing crew happens to include the man who penned the comic book on which the series is based. Egads.

Welcome, December.

Glad to have you back; we've missed you so.

Personally speaking, I've missed your Yuletide charms and wintry, snow-covered vistas.

I haven't missed the shoveling though. Can you put in a good word to Santa for me? I could use a snow blower...

Anyway, I just wanted to say, "Hi," and welcome you back via my own little corner of The Internets.

I'm so happy to see you brought your best friend, Snow, with you. And for that, I present you with one of our most cherished songs of snow: