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.