Here is what our students have written about Christmas in Serbia..

Christmas 

6th January, the Yule Log Day (Christmas Eve) 

The sun in Belgrade rises at 7.15 a.m. and sets at 6.13 p.m. Among all the holidays during the year, as well as so beautiful and diverse habits that follow them, the Yule Log Day is separated by the kind of celebration, picturesque events and the meanings it has. The Yule Log Day seems like an ancient holiday, an escape from pestilence, as a real celebration of the fight for life. In the icy surrounding, chained by winter and ice, with the dead and faded nature, in the days that got so short that it seemed the boundless night darkness would prevail, with the sun light becoming farther and farther and it’s distinguished and not reaching warmth, an impression of the end of the world and inevitable death was imposed on the man of ancient times. The prevalence of the powers of darkness and the underground world in these days is obvious, so it seems the last days have come. And, as the real optimism begins with despair and in a hopeless situation, a stimulus of hope sparkles, so a revolutionary fight appears, in the winter solstice, with the help of a human acting. By cutting off a Yule log, which has the roots in the underground, to a man not inclined world, by its sacrificing, burning on the heath, the purifying power and the life giving effects are strengthened, as a sort of help to the sun, with the wish to be as many lives as there are sparkles from the log. The Yule log, actually, presents a fight against destruction, which is pictured in Serbian customs and rituals around it. Burning off the Yule log presents the ritual of burning up the deity of fertility, which is at the same time embodied in the new deity as Christmas. Because of that it was believed that the remains and ashes of the Yule log, as of the burned deity, keep miraculous power. It is particularly important that for this holiday all family members must be together, which makes family stronger, as an integral, educational and social function of a family. The Yule Log Day (Christmas Eve) is always on 6^th January. Its celebration starts with cutting off a Yule log, which is, by the rule, cut off in dawn of the very holiday, before the sunrise. Usually, oak or cerise branches are cut for the Yule log. It’s not hard to recognize the remains of the old Slavic worship of trees in the way they treat the Yule log when they cut it: When they approach the tree they’re going to cut the Yule log from, they always say: “Good morning Yule log and an honest Christmas to you.” Then it is strewed by the wheat brought from home in a glove and somewhere a special cake was brought to the Yule log. Obviously, the Yule log is a personification of a live and divine creature. The Yule log is cut from the east side and people would always take care that the cut part fell on the east side, which is achieved by making the last axle hit from the west side. If you have in mind the significance and the symbolism of the sides of the world in the life of our nation, than it’s clear that the Yule log symbolizes the deity of sun and the life giving fire. A very important role in the Yule Log Day custom has the hay taken into the house. After going around the house with the hay, followed by the children from the house that would cheep as chicks after him expressing that way the desire to be as many chicks as possible in the yard, the one which brings the hay spreads it on the floor. Since all the chairs are taken out of the house on the Yule Log Day, everybody will sit on a rug put over the hay, without their shoes on. When a part of the meal, dedicated to the ancestor is taken out from the meal, and when the nuts are thrown into the corners, The Yule log dinner which is, understandably, without any fat, can begin. During the Yule log night, roast-suckling pig is prepared, dedicated to the next day- Christmas. During the night, everybody watches when the Yule log will start burning. The one who notices that gets a prize from the host, and the very moment of beginning of burning is announced by shooting from a weapon by the host. 

7^th January, Christmas Day 

In spite of being strictly holiday days, the days of Christmas were considered to be very good for beginning new work, because it was believed they would be successful. Everybody in his/her work – workers in fields, craftsmen and women – attempted in their own way to begin or indicate their work in a symbolic way, in order to make them successful. In the morning on Christmas day, from a spring, which was sprinkled with corn and decorated with sweet basil, so called not begun water was taken and used for chesnitsa (a sort of bread without yeast). A coin and other signs of different activities are put into it, and after everybody breaks a piece of bread, according to the thing he gets, his luck or success are judged. Some people also put a little branch of sweet basil in it, and the one who gets it into his/her piece of bread is believed to be healthy that year. Whereas on Christmas Eve you don’t give anything to anybody or don’t take anything out of the house, nor you visit anybody – for this is a solemn day for every family and they should be together – on Christmas day the most important person is the first visitor of the home. This visitor, called polozainik, is welcomed, according to the belief, as the God’s messenger and is treated extremely carefully for it’s believed the luck and prosperity of the home depend on him. It’s usually the youngest male child in the family or neighbourhood. The polozainik himself wishes merry Christmas, by stirring the fire with an oak branch wishing as much success and fertility as there are sparkles. The polozainik is given a lot of gifts, as the one who brings happiness deserves. 

8^th January 

In church, the second day of Christmas is dedicated to the God’s mother, as a sign of thanking her for giving birth to the God and Saviour, and beside that about twenty saints and miraculous events are celebrated on that day. On that day, the young would gather on the town squares and dance. One of the most beautiful Christmas customs is the way people greet each other. With the intention to keep peace, prevent hatred and stop fighting among people, we greet each other with the words: God’s peace, Christ was born and reply: Really was born kissing each other and shaking hands.  And of course, Father Christmas comes through chimneys and brings gifts to the youngest memebers of families. 

Greetings from students of the SPEAK UP from Serbia  

 Here is what we got from our friends from La Puente Multilingual Academy, La Puente, California. If you're interested how Halloween is celebrated in Mexico, you're at the right spot :)

In Mexico, we celebrate Dia De Los Muertos instead of Halloween.  This day
is special because we celebrate the loved ones who have died.  It is also
celebrated sometimes in the parts of the USA and parts of Central America.
We decorate the church and we have festivals in the streets.  We go to the
cemetary, clean the grave, and pray to the dead.  After that, we give them
something that they would like.  When children come knocking at the door, we
give them money and candies.

We celebrate Halloween on October 31.  This is a big day.  We wear costumes
that could be a bee, a bear, scary, funny, cow, clown, witch, Barbie,
pirate, pumpkin, little Red Riding Hood ... anything!  On Halloween night,
we go to houses where they give us candy.  Some people have parties.

People celebrate Halloween because it is a tradition to dress up.  It's a
scary day sometimes.  In the evening all the kids go to the houses and ask
for candies.

Some people make altars. (see Dia De Los Muertos above)  Some people make a
decoration from a pumpkin and they put candles inside of the pumpkin and
light them.

Halloween parties are very cool because people dress up with costumes, and
they look very funny. The kids ask for candies at the houses because it's a
tradition in the United States, and the kids collect a lot of candies.
Students come dressed up in costumes to school and they look scary and
funny.

We have parties where we decorate with scary things.  We put up spider webs
and scary monsters.  Some of the candies that we give are lollipops,
chocolates, gummies, etc.  Everyone has to wear a costume and say "Trick or
Treat" to get candies.

People have costume parties and have costume contests.  The Day of the Dead
is like Halloween, but it is celebrated for two days - November 1 and 2.
The first day is for the angels, or dead children, and the second day is the
day for the adults.  We have candies made from sweet potatoes or pumpkin.
We take flowers to the graves.

Some people throw eggs at windows and passing cars.

For the Day of the Dead there are toys and candies made into skull shapes.
We make traditional foods from each town in Mexico and Guatemala.

Our friends from the state of Washington wrote about Veteran's Day.

Veteran’s Day takes place the 11th of November every year in the USA. The holiday is celebrated all over the country. The date November 11th was chosen because it is the date that World War I ended in 1918. Actually the holiday honors all veterans that have served in the military for the United States.

Best Regards,
Ms. Molthan and students

Christmas in the United States of America 

Christmas in the USA is officially celebrated on December 25^th.  Many families begin their celebrations on Christmas Eve, December 24^th.  For most families, Christmas is a religious holiday in which we celebrate the birth of the Christ child.  As such, most families attend church services either on Christmas Eve or Christmas day.  The vast majority of Americans are either Catholic or Protestant (Baptist, Methodist, and so on).  So religion plays an important part of the holiday celebrations.  We usually take 1 to 2 weeks off from school to celebrate this holiday.

Many families begin to decorate their homes for Christmas right after our Thanksgiving Holiday which is in late November.  A traditionally decorated home will include a wreath made from evergreen branches hanging on the front door.  We also put a Christmas tree in our homes.  Some people chop down real trees, and others use plastic trees.  We hang ornaments on our tree in remembrance of the early days in America when gifts were left hanging on trees outside the home.  The tree usually has either a star or an angel on the top.  Families with children often hang “stockings” by the fireplace for small treats from Santa. There are usually candles in red or green placed about the home.  Many families set up a Nativity, which is a small scene showing the day Christ was born.  It includes a Christ Child, Mary, Joseph, the three Wise Men, and shepherds. Some people add snowmen, angels, and other “wintery” decorations to their homes as well.

Families of some religions have an Advent Wreath in their homes.  Advent is the four weeks prior to Christmas. The Advent Wreath symbolizes the impending arrival of the Christ Child.  It has three pink candles and one purple candle.  On the fourth, third, and second weeks before Christmas, families light one of the pink candles.  Then on Christmas, we light the purple candle so signify Christ’s birth.

On Christmas Eve, children look forward to a visit from Santa Claus, or Saint Nicholas as some call him.  They often write letters to him in the months before Christmas to tell him if they have been good or not, and to ask if they may receive gifts at Christmas.  Then, on Christmas Eve, it’s early to bed for the children, who hope Santa Claus will visit.   He is believed to travel in a sleigh which is pulled by eight magical reindeer.  He comes to us all the way from his home at the North Pole.   We often leave a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for him.  The children awaken early on Christmas Day and run to the Christmas tree to see if Santa came and to see what he left. 

Christmas is very much about families being together.  Schools and businesses close, and most people do not work on Christmas Day.  The day is for spending time with your family.  Many people travel to visit relatives on Christmas Day.  We also celebrate with food.  Traditional Christmas Dinners may include a ham, or roasted duck or lamb.  There is usually “dressing” (a spicy bread casserole).  There are lots of vegetables and fruits.  There is also a good bit of desserts such as pumpkin pie, Christmas cookies, fruit cake, and chocolates.  Because our country is a “melting pot” of many nations, Christmas dinners may be Italian, French, Spanish, or any other nationality you can think of.

You may be wondering about Americans who are not religious, or are not Christians.  They usually celebrate too.  Those who are not religious usually celebrate much the same as Christians, only they do not observe the religious aspects of the holidays, nor do they attend the church services.  There are a number of Jewish citizens in America that do not celebrate Christmas at all.  They celebrate the holiday of Hanukah instead.  Hanukah is celebrated for 8 days in December, usually just before the Christmas holiday.  Americans who originated from Africa usually celebrate Christmas and a holiday they call Kwanzaa.  Kwanzaa is a celebration of the family, the community, and the African American culture.

Written by Charlene Hallman and 2nd grade students at Paine Primary School in Trusville, Alabama, USA

In the USA the 4th Thursday of November is a holiday called Thanksgiving. Today, the holiday is a day to spend with family to give thanks for all the good that is currently happening in our lives. A large meal consisting of turkey or ham (some families serve both) is served. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, bread stuffing, rolls, and pumpkin pie are also served.
The history of Thanksgiving dates back to 1621 with the Pilgrims (some of the first settlers in the country). The Plymouth colonists, in Massachusetts, shared an autumn harvest feast with the Wampanoag Indians. This celebration was a three-day event that happened sometime between September 21 and November 11. The holiday was based on the English harvest festival.
The items on the menu for the first Thanksgiving feast included some of the following: cod, eel, clams, lobster, wild turkey, goose, duck, Indian corn, pumpkin, peas, plums, grapes, walnuts, chestnuts, and acorns. Most of the traditional foods today weren’t on the menu.
The Continental Congress first suggested Thanksgiving as a yearly national holiday during the American Revolution. In 1817, New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. However, it wasn’t until 1863 when President Lincoln appointed Thanksgiving as the last Thursday in November. This date correlated with the November 21, 1621 anchoring of the Mayflower (the boat the Pilgrims sailed on) in Massachusetts. Finally, in 1941 the US Congress and President Franklin Roosevelt set the date for Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday in November.
Do you have any similar holidays in your country?

DETINCI, MATERICE AND OCEVI

These three children’s holidays are celebrated a month before Christmas. All of them are celebrated on Sundays.

Detinci is a holiday when children should give a small gift to their parents to make them happy.

A week after Detinci comes a big children’s holiday Materice. Mother will earlier provide some gifts for her children. Children, with a piece of rope, loosely tie their mother’s feet. She will “untie herself” by giving them the gifts and some sweets. The sweets are the main characteristic of the holiday: usually there are some figs, chestnuts, candies and a red apple with a coin stuck into the apple. Nowadays, mothers add some crisps, chocolate bars and other fruits. The children also visit their older relatives, doing the same things with their aunts and grandmothers.

On the third Sunday, before Christmas, children celebrate Ocevi or Oci. It’s the day when fathers, uncles and grandfathers are supposed to “untie themselves” in the same way as the female side of the family on Materice

SANTA CLAUS OR SAINT NICOLAS        

Christian Orthodox church doesn’t know ABOUT  Santa Claus. There are Saint Nicolas and Father Christmas. However, the institution of giving gifts for Christmas has roots in the antique rituals of celebrating Saturn from the 17^th to 25^th December when relatives gave each other candles or clay dolls. By taking Christianity, the institution of gifting was assigned to Saint Nicolas who lived in the 4^th century.

When in 336 celebrating of Christmas was officially introduced in Rome, in Europe there was a set of customs connected with the appearing of the new sun and renewing of the nature. Here’s the origin of decorating the Christmas tree, which was an oak tree with the Slavs.

Here we come to three legends of Saint Nicolas. While he was a bishop in Little Asia, he heard of a nobleman so poor that his daughters couldn’t get married. He felt sorry for the man and he was going three nights in a row to throw little bags full of gold coins through the man’s window. That’s why on some icons he was presented with three bags and is considered to be a protector of a family. According to the second legend, he’s considered to be the protector of children. Dropping in an inn, he found out that the owner of the inn killed children, baked them and served their flesh to the guests. He went to the kitchen, made a cross across their dead bodies in order to bring them back to life and he punished the owner. According to the third one, he was considered the protector of sailors. While sailing to the Holy land, the ship was caught in a storm, threatening to get the boat drowned. Saint Nicolas prayed, made a cross across the sea, and the storm disappeared.

Orthodox Father Christmas isn’t a Santa Claus that has his visualization. He isn’t an actor or a character from fiction stories. He’s the Christ himself,  Christmas itself The custom of giving gifts to children for Christmas can be connected with the gifts that were given to Christ by the wise men.

Santa Claus came to Serbia with partisans, after the Second World War. Beside the fact that he doesn’t have any religious meaning, he doesn’t have any particular time when he gives gifts to children. He comes both before and at the very New Year night.