Its All About Christmas

It’s Christmas! Can you feel it HERE?

(Christmas in the Philippines)

-by: Bernadette L. Chiu

PS2A

“Christmas is the time of loving and sharing something to others.” – The most common statement heard from Filipinos when asked what Christmas is all about. It is so pleasing to hear but it also conveys a negative meaning subliminally. I believe we should love and share something to others even though we are not in the advent season. But, what is Christmas really all about?

Christmas is celebrated every 25th of December of the year. Moreover, it is considered the biggest holiday of the calendar. Also, Christmas season is the time believed by the Christians when Virgin Mary gave birth to the son of God named Jesus Christ when God sent the Holy Spirit and message through the Angel Gabriel.

Filipinos are known to be very religious for the reason that the Philippines is considered as one of the leading Christian countries globally. Thus, I can say that this nation has a distinctive way of celebrating Christmas. There are number of traditions and ways of how Christmas is celebrated in the Philippines in which these mores are uniquely found in our country.

First, the Philippines is known as the only country in the world that celebrates the advent season very long. Normally, when -ber months are about to begin, Filipinos start to put Christmas decorations in and out of their houses. The most famous and native is the parol which adds more beauty and life to the doors of their homes. Furthermore, Christmas carols and songs are being played for as early as September. Then this fruitful time of the year lasts up until Epiphany that usually falls on the 6th of January. Hence, Christmas of Filipinos is typically very long, particularly a 6-monthlong celebration.

Another distinctive tradition of Filipinos during advent is the Misa de Gallo or locally known as the Simbang gabi. Here, Filipino Christians wake up early in the morning to hear mass and to eat delicious puto bumbongs and bibingka afterwards. This Misa de Gallo is composed of 9 morning masses, in which Filipinos believe that if you have completed those nine, your wishes will somehow come true. This belief makes Filipinos go up from their comfortable couches to go to church in as early as 4:00 in the morning and complete the traditional Simbang gabi. In addition, some people attend the morning masses for the sake of worship, acquaintance, and just to eat the native delicacies.

One more famous Filipino Christmas activity is paghingi ng Aguinaldo or pangangaroling. Although it does not originally come from the Pilippines, pangangaroling was totally embraced by the Filipinos and it became part of the conventional doings during Christmas time. Almost every child had undergone this activity in their lives. I guess pangangaroling every Christmas time is already part of the childhood stage of a person. You would typically see children play tambourine made up of soft drink tanzans and hear them singing with wacky voices and wrong lyrics. Haha. Also, who would not know the famous “Sa may báhay ang áming báti: “Merry Christmas na maluwalháti!” Ang pag-íbig, pag siyàng naghári, Aràw-áraw ay mágiging Paskó lagí! Ang sanhî po ng pagparíto, Ay híhingi po ng áginaldo. Kung sakáli’t kami’y perhuwísyo, pasensya na kayó’t kamí’y namámasko!”? And the naughty “Thank you, thank you, ang babait ninyo, thank you” when you were given something by the owner of the house; and would change the lyrics into “Thank you, thank you, and babarat ninyo, thank you” if you were given nothing.

Those are just the most well-known among the many Filipino Christmas activities done specifically in this country. The others include: the Noche Buena that serves as an ultimate family bonding during Christmas Eve; Santa Claus which is not originally from the Philippines, yet creates a big impact on Filipino children; Christmas parties which has Kris Kringle, monitos and monitas to add twists in exchange gifts. Exchanging gifts has always been a part of Christmas holidays. It proves that Filipinos are really thoughtful and generous. It has been said that Philippines is a poor country in terms of financial aspects but when Christmas comes, it has been an ethic that Filipinos get to go malling to buy gifts for their loved-ones. Hence, despite of the financial problems we encounter, we still get to spend money for others and for Christmas sake.

Truly, Filipino culture is a very rich one. Moreover, traditional Christmas activities are also part of our culture, thus making the latter richer. Christmas is indeed the most wonderful time of the year. And in the Philippines, it is made MORE superb. Definitely, in as early as September, you can already feel the spirit of Christmas here that will last until early January and until all Christmas decorations have been removed.

I can say that overall, Christmas in the Philippines is really great. It is correlated with Jesus, Christians, family, and the society. Maybe here, we cannot experience a white Christmas but then again, I would still choose to celebrate the birth of our Jesus in this lovely country. However, the most important matter here is on how you can make everyday a Christmas day by doing constructive acts daily. In that way, we can be so good to others, then obtaining peace and harmony comes next. Let us all be positive and feel the spirit of Christmas everyday.

No nation in the world knows how to enjoy itself quite like Spain, so at Christmas, the celebrations are naturally long and spectacular.

The Christmas season in Spain is of course religiously centred, more so than in England where pagan traditions of gift-giving and tree-decorating have overshadowed the true meaning of Christmas and the celebration of the birth of the son of God.

The Spanish see Christmas Eve night as a time for family, feasting and spending time together in the home. Unlike other countries, you won’t find shops, bars and restaurants open on the night of Christmas Eve; however on Christmas Day it’s another matter, where everything is open and running, including buses and trains, all laid on so that families can visit each other without having to take the car!

During Advent, that is the four weeks leading up to Christmas, individual homes, villages and towns are decorated with Christmas trees (árboles de Navidad), wreaths (coronas de Navidad), tinsel (espumillón), holly (acebo), mistletoe (muérdago) and poinsettias (flores de Navidad) as well as innovative lighting wrapped around the branches of trees. But the most popular adornment, in-keeping with the religious tone of the season is the ‘belén’ – the nativity scene. Some towns construct very ornate scenes, and many don’t just stop at ‘Jesus in the manger’, with some depicting longer portions of the Christmas story, and in some places they don’t just use figurines – they use real actors! Some of these are a very popular tourist attraction. If you are lucky enough to see one, don’t be surprised if the traditional manger-side animals are joined by Spain’s national symbol – the bull!

Also during December many Spanish people take part in El Gordo, the most famous lottery draw in the world with massive cash prizes (El Gordo literally means ‘the fat one’). The Christmas Draw is on 22 December and the prizes total 2023 million Euros! That’s over £1.3billion! Find out more on www.elgordo.com.

The Spanish enjoy a long Christmas period, with the first major celebration taking place on 21 December, the winter solstice and shortest day of the year. Hogueras – meaning ‘bonfires’ – is a tradition older than Christmas itself and marks the beginning of winter. As well as bonfires being lit all over Spain, in some towns (particularly Jaén and Granada in Andalucia), you will see people jumping over fires, which is an act believed to protect against illness.

Christmas Eve – Nochebuena (meaning ‘good night’) – on 24 December sees families come together for a special meal late at night. This will usually consist of a first course of seafood, followed by many different types of meat, not just turkey although this is popular, especially stuffed with truffles (Pavo Trufado de Navidad). After the meal, the family will congregate around the Christmas tree and sing carols (villancicos) including the popular Catalan ‘Fum, Fum, Fum.’ At midnight, bells ring out throughout Spain to call the families to ‘La Misa del Gallo’ – literally, ‘the Rooster’s Mass’. Christmas Eve has no place for sleeping! There is an old Spanish saying:

Esta noche es Nochebuena, y no es noche de dormir

Tonight is the good night, not a night for sleeping

Christmas Day (El Día de Navidad), unlike other countries, is not a day for exchanging gifts. Father Christmas (or Papa Noel) is known in Spain, but is not very popular, so Spanish children cannot be bribed with the ‘if you’re not good Santa won’t bring you any presents this year’ line. There is a time for gift giving, but it isn’t Christmas Day.

Boxing Day (Día del Boxeo) is better known as the Feast of Saint Stephen (San Esteban) and is a public holiday in Spain.

28 December is ‘el día de los Santos Inocentes’, the Day of the Innocents. This is the Spanish version of April Fools Day and sees people involving themselves in practical jokes and crying ‘Inocente, inocente!’ (‘Innocent, innocent!’) when they are caught. Like in the UK, the newspapers are in on the tomfoolery as well.

31 December is of course New Years Eve – known as Nochevieja or ‘old night’ in Spain. The equivalent of the UK’s Trafalgar Square convergence is Madrid’s Puerta del Sol where tens of thousands of people assemble to celebrate seeing the New Year in. But wherever people are in Spain, they will be seeing in the New Year in the traditional way – with the ‘eating of the grapes’ (tomar las uvas). Everyone gathered around the clock has twelve grapes, and as each chime of midnight rings out, so they have to eat one grape. A good insider tip is to take the skins off the grapes first to help you eat them so quickly!

This tradition dates back to fairly recently – the beginning of the 20th century – and supposedly came about after a bizarrely large crop of grapes was harvested in Spain one unusually warm winter. Not knowing what to do with the unwanted crop, the grape growers came up with the idea of every person in Spain eating twelve grapes at midnight to see in the New Year.

El día de año nuevo, the first of January, is New Years Day and is a public holiday in Spain.

The next major event, and the most important of the Spanish Christmas season, is el día de Los Reyes Magos – the day of the Three Kings. This takes place over the 5 and 6 of January and is the time most looked forward to by children in Spain, as it’s the day they get their presents!

Balthasar, Gaspar and Melchior were the three kings who followed the Star of David until they reached the lowly manger in Bethlehem twelve days after Jesus was born. As everyone knows, they brought with them gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. So this is why in Spain, the gift giving is celebrated on this day. As children in other countries become excited at the thought of Father Christmas trundling down the chimney with a sack full of toys, so Spanish children look forward to the arrival of the Three Kings during the night, who arrive on their donkeys and leave gifts for all the niños.

In true Spanish fiesta style, this event is celebrated in carnival fashion with  ‘La Cabalgata’, the cavalcade on the 5th of January. The ‘three kings’ make a spectacular entrance into the town or village on brightly adorned floats, throwing sweets to rows and rows of bright-eyed children. After the parade the children return home and before bedtime, they fill their shoes with carrots and straw and put them by the window. This ritual is similar to the ‘glass of milk and cookies by the fireplace for Santa’, but the Spanish children are leaving food for the kings’ donkeys.

The next morning, January 6, sees the excited children up early to open the presents left by ‘the Three Kings’, and is the day when the entire family get together for a meal and to exchange gifts. Their meal will include a ‘Rosca de Reyes’, which is a large fruitcake with coins and other surprises hidden inside.

So if you are planning on spending Christmas in Spain, try and arrange it so you can be there for the celebration of the Three Kings on 5 and 6 January as this really is one of the best things to see.

And don’t forget to bring home some of those wonderful Spanish delights of the Christmas season – like Turrón – known to us as nougat – this comes in a variety of flavours, including almond, peanut and hazelnut. Mantecados and Polvorones are also popular traditional Christmas sweets made with almonds. Divine!

If Christmas really is the season of peace and goodwill why not start planning now to make it a truly ethical occasion for yourself and your loved ones?

Charitable gestures in this season of giving are so easy to make at a cost which would even have Scrooge smiling with approval.

Just what does the way you wish someone a happy Christmas say about you? Old traditions die hard and it seems that writing a few scrawled clichés on a Hallmark greetings card is still the favoured method of most Brits.

The Royal Mail delivers as many as 150 million cards per day in the pre-Christmas run up but it is a sobering thought that these cards can take up to 30 years to decompose.

So why not send an ecard (an email wishing someone well) instead? You can actually make them more personal than a shop-bought card by pasting in a scene from a famous Christmas film (what about Jimmy Stewart’s It’s A Wonderful Life?) and using PhotoShop to superimpose a speech bubble with your greeting.

Charity Christmas cards are a fine alternative if this idea doesn’t appeal.

Cards that you receive can be recycled by organisations such as the Woodland Trust.

A compost bin can be a good Yuletide investment which will help you recycle much of the waste that the festivities generate.

If you’re dreaming of a green Christmas it is best to buy presents which don’t harm the environment. Buying the adoption rights to an animal can prove to be a great gift and what better time of the year can it be for adopting a reindeer?

For just £32 a year you can adopt a Cairngorm Mountain reindeer and receive photos, souvenirs and newsletters. The money will be well-spent on food and welfare (in the form of medicine and vets’ fees) for these magnificent creatures.

Polar bears can be adopted even more cheaply. For as little as £3 per month the World Wildlife Fund will let you adopt one of these Arctic animals.

It doesn’t take much imagination to decorate your house without ruining the planet. Plastic trees are not environmentally-friendly so you could always grow your own holly tree instead of supporting the trade in holly branches. Put seeds, a compost pellet and a terracotta pot on your Christmas list and watch your green credentials grow!

If it’s too late to do this in time for the big day, you can always contact Oxfam and make a donation so that a tree can be planted in a developing country.

No decent Christmas is complete without the chance to gorge yourself on food before slumping in front of the Queen’s speech with a paper crown on your head. Buying your choice of dinner locally, perhaps at farmers’ markets, is a sure-fire way of ticking the right green boxes.

With time off work, Christmas is a time to reflect on those less fortunate than themselves. You can always bring some seasonal cheer by buying an Everyclick eVoucher to give to someone to donate to their favourite charity before the year is out.

Everyone is familiar with the festive fare that makes our Christmas dinner one of the most looked-forward to meals of the year. Roast turkey; Yorkshire puddings; Brussels Sprouts; Stuffing; Kilted Sausages; Roast Potatoes; all topped off with seasonal vegetables, lashings of gravy and a generous helping of cranberry sauce. But have you ever wondered what adorns the yuletide platters of our worldwide neighbours on Christmas day? It’s not all turkey you know… 

In Australia Christmas is celebrated at the height of summer, so there is no such thing to an Australian as a white Christmas! Whilst for many years our friends down under followed the English model of the turkey dinner, albeit served with the temperature gauge hitting more than 30 degrees, it has since become more practical with the Christmas picnic of seafood, cold meats, pastas, salads and ice cream taking over and of course, the Aussie outdoor favourite: the barbeque. 

In Brazil, again at the height of the summer season, a sizeable Christmas dinner is enjoyed consisting of turkey and ham, multi-coloured rice and vegetable and fruit dishes. 

Christmas dinner in Mexico varies throughout different states. In some areas Mexicans tuck into beef or pork stews called Pozole whilst others indulge in something with a bit more heat such as Hominy which is made with red chili sauce. In some states the favoured dish is one of fruits, vegetables and nuts. 

The United States seems to have adopted many of our Christmas cuisine customs with turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce the first choice for the Christmas table. However as turkey is the American favourite for Thanksgiving, beef or ham is sometimes the preference for the Christmas meal. 

Moving over to Europe, the French enjoy a traditional Yule log cake and this is served as part of an abundant Christmas meal, the focal point of which varies between provinces and could be anything from turkey stuffed with chestnuts in Burgundy to goose in Alsace or oysters in Paris. 

After some forty days of fasting, the people of Greece enjoy a substantial feast of pork and special handmade bread that is engraved with an image depicting the profession of the family who make it. 

In the Czech Republic, potato salad and fried carp make up the traditional Christmas meal. 

The Spanish people get stuck into their Christmas dinner on the night of Christmas Eve. It’s a feast of turkey stuffed with chestnuts, pork and other meats and lots of vegetables and potato dishes. Once they have had their fill, families sing carols around the Christmas tree before setting off for Midnight Mass.

In Holland, festive dinners are probably more different than anywhere else in the world. The Dutch ‘gourmet’ event, which probably originates from Indonesia, involves the party host preparing a selection of fish, shellfish, meat and vegetables for each of their guests to cook in their preferred way using their own personal frying pan and choice of seasoning. More traditional style Christmas dinners are also becoming popular too with ham, rabbit, duck, beef or pheasant being the meats of choice. 

Wherever you are in the world at Christmas, you are bound to enjoy a festive feast on Christmas day. But what will it be?

What do we envisage when we think of Christmas?  It is of course first and foremost a religious Christian celebration, marking the birth of Jesus Christ. For others without the religious penchant, Christmas brings a special time of sharing with family and friends.  One thing however is for sure; Christmas is a time for enjoying age old traditions such as decorating the tree and tucking into Christmas dinner. But where did these festive traditions come from? Here we explore some of the most popular seasonal customs: 

The Date

25th December: the day Jesus was born – allegedly. However, it is said that the real birth of Christ is more likely to have been in springtime. So why do we celebrate Christmas in mid- winter? One reason stems from the fourth century when Christians began celebrating Christmas in December because this was conveniently the time when pagans were observing the winter solstice, a time for new beginnings that evoked good spirit and family gatherings.  

Oh Christmas tree!

How we enjoy putting up the tree and adorning it with glittering decorations! The Christmas tree can be traced back to 16th century Germany from which point it spread across Europe. However in Britain it wasn’t until Queen Victoria and Prince Albert erected the first British Christmas tree at Windsor Castle in 1850 that it started to become a popular tradition.  

Father Christmas

Father Christmas is thought to be the ghost of Saint Nicholas who was said to spend the eve of Christmas day delivering gifts to the poor. The modern portrayal of Father Christmas as a rotund, red-cheeked man wearing a red suit trimmed with white fur became popular in America in the 19th century due to cartoon-style advertising campaigns featuring Santa Claus. Various myths are attached to our jovial friend such as the airborne reindeer-led sleigh; the down-the-chimney tale and of course the legend of the endless sack of presents. These stories vary between countries, each having its own take. 

Christmas Dinner

Henry the VIII was the first in England to tuck into a turkey Christmas dinner. However, even by the start of the Victorian era this bird was still considered too expensive for most everyday people to enjoy. In northern England the traditional choice for Christmas dinner was roast beef whilst in the south the favourite was goose, or rabbit for those who couldn’t afford it. Turkey had become an affordable choice by the end of the 19th century and the trimmings: Brussels sprouts, Yorkshire puddings, stuffing and roast potatoes; followed soon after to make up the Christmas dinner in which we indulge with paper hat and crackers today. 

Christmas is a time for bringing the family together; a time for indulging in traditions and the excitement that goes with them. The fact that the things we observe today go way back in history and the thought that generations of our ancestors were celebrating the very things we are enjoying today makes them even more poignant.

Christmas for some people is all about the music. Music evokes emotion and gets everyone into the spirit of the occasion and when it comes to Christmas songs there was never a truer word spoken; come late November every other song on the radio is a festive favourite. 

Ever since the number one singles chart began in 1952 we – and our parents and grandparents before us – have looked forward with great anticipation to the Christmas Number One being announced before the Queen’s speech on Christmas Day.

It has to be said that years ago it was far more exciting than it is now; there was a time when it really did go to the wire and no one knew who was going to be the lucky artist to whisk away the festive honour that year.

 Nowadays it’s a different story with our 25th December top spot being decided long before the Christmas cards have hit the shops thanks to shows like X-Factor. Just take a look at the number ones for the last three years and there’s the proof; it’s pretty much decided for us! Where did the challenge go? 

So what is the most popular type of Christmas number one? One with religious undertones? Something on the party theme? A novelty single? Or songs that have nothing to do with Christmas whatsoever? It’s quite astonishing that considering Christmas is after all first and foremost a religious festival, there have only been a total of four religion-themed Christmas number ones out of 56 to date. Can you name them? Answers at the end of this article for those who like a memory challenge! 

Songs on the party theme are far more in abundance however and are on the most part responsible for the Christmas classics that fill the yuletide compilations that are two-a-penny in the tinsel-framed retail displays these days. But don’t we love them! Timeless tunes like Merry Xmas Everybody; Lonely This Christmas; Merry Christmas Everyone and Mistletoe and Wine definitely have that neck-tingling effect that brings the blissful childhood memories of Christmas flooding back. Any idea what years these all time greats graced the Christmas number one spots? Answers below! 

Novelty hits; you can’t possibly love them, you can easily loathe them, but let’s face it, it’s likely you’ve had one stuck in your head for a long and painful twenty four hours, or less if you’re lucky. Benny Hill, Mr Blobby and Bob the Builder are probably the worst novelty Christmas number one offenders but others that were slightly more endearing included St Winifred’s School Choir (There’s no one quite like Grandma; 1980) and Rene and Renata (Save your Love; 1982).OK probably not strictly novelty, maybe just a little bit on the tacky side, but fun even so. 

All in all, the majority of Christmas number ones over the years have actually had nothing to do with Christmas whatsoever. Some of them were timeless anthems that will, nevertheless be constantly played for years to come. But others have been sanctioned to the never-to-be-aired-again one-hit-wonder file. 

So with Christmas drawing ever nearer thoughts turn to what melodic ditty may occupy the number one spot this 25th December. Let’s wait and see… 

Answers to questions posed above: 

The four religious themed Christmas number ones were:

1.    Mary’s Boy Child: Harry Belafonte; 1957

2.    When a Child is Born: Johnny Mathis; 1976

3.    Mary’s Boy Child-Oh My Lord: Boney M; 1978

4.    Saviour’s Day: Cliff Richard; 1990 

The Party theme hits number one years were:

1.    Merry Xmas Everybody: 1973

2.    Lonely This Christmas: 1974

3.    Merry Christmas Everyone: 1985

4.    Mistletoe and Wine: 1988