One more year is coming to an end and the Lexiophiles Team wishes you the best for this 2012!

For this special season we would like to share with you our Christmas Article Collection, just click on the links and enjoy!

Unique Danish Christmas Traditions

Christmas Traditions: Brazil x Germany

Happy New Year!

New Year’s Eve in the Netherlands

Thank God it’s Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

See you again on January 2nd!

It’s well known that Mexicans have many celebrations (yes, we like to party!) and one of our favourites is definitely Christmas.

Christmas in Mexico is characterized by antique traditions such as:

- Posadas
- Piñatas
- New Year’s Grapes
- The Three Kings (also The Three Wise Men)
- King Cake

Posadas are a re-enactment of Mary and Joseph’s pilgrimage before Jesus was born. Traditionally, nine Posadas are organized by some members of Mexican neighbourhoods, beginning in December 16th and finalizing on December 24th before Christmas dinner with family. People from the neighbourhood are divided in 2 groups and they sing together the Posada chants. Some families live up their posada by giving away food and candies among their guests and some even include piñatas as part of the celebration.

In the next video, Donald Duck explains much better how Posadas are celebrated (including the piñata). Audio is in Spanish and I apologize, but it contains the original chants and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it:

Christmas and New Year’s dinner are more of a special family moment rather than partying and celebrating with friends. Turkey, fruit punch and grapes are the key season elements for any Mexican family. During New Year’s celebration, 12 grapes are consumed, one by one, exactly at midnight and they represent all the wishes and propositions of each person.

On the other hand, for children there’s no day more important and meaningful than January 6th which is the date when the Three Kings visit their homes and leave presents under the Christmas tree. Millions of children write a detailed letter with all their gifts preferences and one night before they place one of their shoes under the tree as a sign that they are waiting for the Three Kings to come. The best memory I have related to this night is that I used to go to bed early, but to be honest I was feeling such a great excitement that it was impossible to sleep and it always took me around 3 hours to finally fall asleep. It’s because of this excitement that most children are ready to open their presents and play at 4am.

The King Cake is also shared with family on January 6th. All cakes contain some plastic small dolls that represent baby Jesus and they are hidden in different parts of the cake. It’s a funny moment when a member of the family finds the doll in its cake and it usually means that they will be in charge of bringing the tamales during the “Día de la Candelaria”, a celebration that's not so popular anymore.

It doesn’t matter if you are a kid or a grown up, Christmas is a really special day for Mexican families and each and every one of the hugs you receive or give is full of good wishes and happiness. I hope that you truly enjoy the company of your family and all the traditions that make of this season one of the best all over the world.

[Español]

La navidad al estilo mexicano se caracteriza por:

- Posadas
- Piñatas
- Uvas en Año Nuevo
- Los Reyes Magos
- Rosca de Reyes

Las posadas son una representación del peregrinaje que María y José realizaron antes del nacimiento de Jesús. Tradicionalmente son 9, inician el 16 de diciembre y la última se organiza el 24 antes de la cena navideña con la familia. Los mexicanos se dividen en 2 grupos y entonan los cantos clásicos de las posadas. Algunas familias reparten comida y dulces entre sus invitados y hasta rompen las populares piñatas. Para explicarme mejor, encontré este video con el pato Donald y explican de manera divertida cómo se desarrolla una posada:

La cena navideña y de año nuevo son tradicionalmente eventos familiares en donde el pavo, el ponche y las 12 uvas, en año nuevo, son el principal elemento para la celebración de las familias mexicanas. Las 12 uvas, por cierto, se comen justo a media noche y representan los deseos y propósitos de las personas.

Por otro lado, para los niños no hay mejor día que el 6 de enero porque es el día en que los reyes magos visitan su casa y les dejan regalos debajo del árbol de Navidad. Antes de ésta fecha, los niños escriben una carta en la que escriben todos aquellos juguetes o regalos que desean y la noche del 5 de enero colocan uno de sus zapatos debajo del árbol para indicar a los reyes magos que los están esperando. Recuerdo que cada año solía irme a dormir muy temprano, pero en realidad, es tanta la emoción que se siente que me tardaba hasta 3 horas en conciliar el sueño. No resulta extraño que a las 4am muchos niños ya están despiertos y listos para abrir sus regalos.

El 6 de enero también se parte la rosca de reyes con toda la familia y aquel que encuentre el muñequito de plástico escondido en su porción de rosca, será el encargado de los tamales para celebrar el Día de la Candelaria. Ésta última celebración ya no es muy popular pero siempre es divertido saber quién tiene el muñequito de plástico que representa al niño Jesús.

Para grandes y pequeños, Navidad es una fecha muy especial y cada uno de los abrazos recibidos durante ésta época estan llenos de buenos deseos y felicidad. Espero este año disfruten de la compañía de toda su familia y de todas las tradiciones navideñas de su país.

[English]

Når det kommer til juletraditioner har danskerne nogle unikke skikke, og som den eneste dansker hos bab.la har jeg taget det på min kappe at introducere dem for jer læsere.

I Danmark fejrer vi jul d. 24. december, og en af de ting vi går mest op i i løbet af julemåneden, er, at tælle dagene indtil vi endelig får lov at spise lækker julemad og pakke gaver op. De to vigtigste ting når vi tæller dagene er et Kalenderlys og en julekalender. Julekalenderen med dens 24 låger er også et udbredt fænomen i de engelsk- og tysktalende lande, men kalenderlyset er en ret unik dansk tradition. Hver aften tænder vi lyset og betragter det, mens dagene indtil jul smelter væk.

En anden måde at tælle dagene på er fjernsynets julekalender. Hver aften fra d. 1. til d. 24. december bliver der vist et nyt afsnit af en Tv-serie med juletema, der kan handle om alt fra Jesu barndom til hvor nisserne egentlig kommer fra. Sædvanligvis har de to største danske kanaler, DR1 og TV2, hver deres julekalender, og en gang imellem viser en eller begge kanaler tillige en ”voksen-julekalender”. Min personlige yndlingsjulekalender er Skibet i Skilteskoven fra 1992, der dybest set er historien om en gammel sømand (baggårdspumaen Otto Brandenburg) der bor med sin talende papegøje på et skib i en granskov, og som prøver at forhindre den ”onde” duftfabrikant Viggo Velva (Axel Strøbye) i at brænde skoven af og sælge den som ”Jul på Dåse”. Sømandens nærmeste allierede er et pigebarn med et lommelaboratorium, en dame med tandbørster i håret, og tre nisser (Linie 3), som dagligt går i fælles skumbad. Og så synger de også en hel del.

Når det så endelig bliver juleaften fokuserer vi danskere på to ting: 1. mad og 2. juletræet og gaverne under det. Traditionel dansk julemad består af masser af gris/fjerkræ, kål, kartofler og sovs. Som dessert spiser man traditionelt ”risalamande” – kold risengrød med flødeskum, hakkede mandler og kirsebærsovs. Efter maden og inden pakkerne åbnes, er det tid til at udføre et sidste unikt juleritual: Dansen omkring juletræet. Alle tager hinanden i hænderne og danner en cirkel omkring træet; hvis ens familie ikke er stor nok, er det tilladt at alliere sig med diverse pels- eller kæledyr for at kunne nå hele vejen rundt. Mens vi danser omkring træet synger vi traditionelle danske julesange indtil lysene på træet brænder ud, eller den yngste til stede får et hysterisk anfald.

Glædelig jul!

[English]

When it comes to Christmas Traditions the Danes have a few unique customs, and being the only Dane at bab.la I feel it is my duty to introduce them to you all.

In Denmark we celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December, and counting the days until we finally get to eat a delicious Christmas meal and open up all our presents is one of the things we do best. The two most important things when counting the days are the Calendar Candle and the Advent Calendar. The Advent Calendar is a widespread phenomenon in German and English speaking countries as well, but the Calendar Candle is a pretty unique Danish tradition. Every evening we light the candle and watch the days until Christmas melt away.

Another way of counting the days is the Julekalender – a “made for Christmas” TV series in 24 episode, one airing every night. Usually the two biggest television networks in Denmark, DR1 and TV2, show one each, and since these shows are usually targeted towards children, if you are lucky, some years there is also a “voksen-julekalender” – a Julekalender for adults. A personal favourite of mine is Skibet i Skilteskoven (literally: the ship in the signpost forest) from 1992, which is basically about an old sailor living with his talking parrot on his ship in a pine forest and trying to keep an “evil” fragrance manufacturer from turning all the trees into Christmas-in-a-can. His closest allies are a girl with a chemistry set, a lady with toothbrushes in her hair, and three “nisser”, who frequently indulge in taking bubble baths together. And they sing a lot, too.

Then, when Christmas Eve finally arrives, focus is on two things: 1. food, and 2. the tree and the presents underneath it. Traditional Danish Christmas food involves lots of pork and/or poultry, cabbage, potatoes and gravy. For pudding the traditional dish is “risalamande” – cold rice porridge with whipped cream, chopped almonds and cherry sauce. After eating and before opening the presents, another unique Christmas ritual has to be followed: Dancing around the tree. Everyone joins hands in a circle around the tree; if one’s family isn’t big enough to reach all the way around then it’s ok to bring in teddy bears or dolls to complete the circle.

Walking around the tree, we sing traditional Christmas songs until the candles on the tree burn out, or the youngest child present throws a hissy fit.

Happy Christmas!

[Dansk]

One of the most popular Mexican traditions is “The Day of the Dead” celebrated on November 2nd. It was celebrated even before the Spanish came to America and today the essence of the tradition is still remembered by many people in the country. However, celebrating Halloween has become popular and although it is an American festivity, thousands of Mexicans and people from many other countries include it as part of their national celebrations.

During “The day of the Dead”, Mexican families remember their beloved by building special altars at their home and hanging orange or black decorations. Altars include photographs, Mexican dishes, sweets and drinks that their beloved used to enjoy while they were alive. They also contain a flower called Cempazúchitl because its orange intense colour represents the light of the sun. This tradition has been changing through the years and these altars are now smaller than they used to be.

Many Mexican families still go to the cemeteries during this day. They gather with the rest of the family members and sometimes build the altar at the grave to honour the memory of the beloved one. Sugar or chocolate skulls along with bread, also known as bread of the dead, are especially baked for this occasion. The bread is decorated with bone-like figures called “tears”; some families still keep the recipe and bake homemade bread every year.

Mexican humour can’t be left out and it’s represented through “Calaveras”. A “calavera” is a rhyme that describes a “funny” moment related with dead and it is dedicated to different people and sometimes they include drawings of a skeleton wearing a black cloak.

On the other hand, United States celebrates Halloween on the 31st of October. It’s a festivity that has become popular not only in Mexico, but in many countries from Europe and Latin-America. In USA, it’s common to see children wearing customs and shouting “trick or treat”, young people partying, pumpkins decorating every American home, jokes and horror stories.

Halloween has also a background story where people had the belief that spirits came down to earth during this day, but it is mainly popular because of the American film industry and the advertising surrounding this celebration.

Nowadays, Halloween’s popularity is increasing rapidly and it is not strange to see young people outside USA organizing big parties and children asking for sweets on the streets. For some families it is annoying because they strongly believe it’s not a Mexican tradition but some others have already given up and share the moment with their children.

To avoid losing this tradition, many Mexican organizations design altar expositions every year in different parts of the country and Mexico City. Tourists are also invited and they are always impressed by the culture and tradition. Halloween is only related to party or customs because the origins of this American celebration are not well known, the number of people who truly knows the origin of the word or “trick or treat” is really small.

Hopefully in 20 years, the “Day of the Dead” will still be alive as one of the purely Mexican traditions and a unique way of remembering those who are not with us any more.

Has your culture lost any tradition? Which is the oldest belief of your country?

[Español]

Una de las tradiciones más populares de México es la celebración del Día de Muertos el 2 de Noviembre. Se dice que ésta celebración surgió mucho antes de que los españoles llegarán al continente americano y hoy todavía se mantiene la esencia de ésta tradición. Sin embargo, en los últimos años se ha adoptado la costumbre de celebrar Halloween y aunque es una fiesta americana, es muy común que miles de mexicanos y personas de otros países la incluyan como parte de sus festividades.

Durante el día de muertos, las familias mexicanas recuerdan a aquellos seres queridos que ya han muerto y colocan ofrendas y adornos de color naranja y negro en sus hogares. Las ofrendas son altares que contienen fotografías, comida, dulces o bebidas que los difuntos solían disfrutar, además de adornos hechos con la flor llamada Cempazuchitl también conocida como “la flor de los muertos” y de la cual se creía que el color naranja representaba la luz del sol. Ésta tradición se ha ido modificando con los años y las ofrendas que se colocan ahora suelen ser más pequeñas de lo que normalmente se acostumbraba años atrás.

Muchas familias mexicanas aún visitan los cementerios el 2 de Noviembre. Se reúnen con otros familiares y “acompañan” la tumba de sus difuntos, en algunas ocasiones las ofrendas se colocan en los cementerios para honrar la memoria de los seres queridos.

Las calaveritas de azúcar o chocolate junto con el pan de muerto son preparados únicamente en éstas fechas. El pan de muerto tiene en la superficie lo que se conocen como “lágrimas” y aún existen familias que lo hornean en casa y lo comparten con todos los miembros de la misma.

El humor mexicano se hace presente a través de las “calaveras”, rimas que expresan situaciones divertidas con la muerte y cualquier persona a la que se desee dedicar el texto. Muchas veces se incluyen dibujos de “la muerte”, es decir, un esqueleto que generalmente está cubierto con un manto negro.

Por otro lado, Estados Unidos celebra Halloween el 31 de octubre de cada año. Es una fiesta que se ha popularizado no sólo con su vecino inmediato (México), también ha llegado a Europa y otros países latinoamericanos. Lo que predomina en ésta celebración son los niños disfrazados que van de casa en casa gritando el famoso “truco o trato” mientras los jóvenes se divierten en fiestas de disfraces, calabazas que adornan los hogares americanos, bromas e historias de terror.

Halloween tiene toda una historia en la que también se incluía la creencia de que los muertos visitaban la tierra, pero se ha vuelto popular principalmente por la industria del cine americano y la publicidad alrededor de la festividad.

En la actualidad, la celebración de Halloween en México está expandiéndose rápidamente. Miles de jóvenes organizan fiestas y se pueden ver muchos niños pidiendo dulces en las calles. Para algunas familias puede resultar molesto y argumentan que no es una tradición mexicana pero algunas otras se han dado por vencidas y acceden a repartir dulces o acompañar a sus hijos por unas horas.

Para no perder por completo la celebración del día de muertos, existen muchas organizaciones que diseñan grandes exposiciones de ofrendas en diferentes sitios del país y la ciudad de México. Se está tratando de preservar las tradiciones a través de éstas exposiciones anuales a las que también asisten cientos de turistas que son maravillados por la cultura y tradición de éstas fechas.

Halloween se relaciona más con fiesta y diversión, acompañada por supuesto de bebidas y disfraces, pero la historia y las creencias de ésta celebración americana no son muy conocidas y pocas personas saben los orígenes de la palabra o el por qué de la famosa frase “truco o trato”.

Esperemos que en 20 años aún se conserve ésta tradición de recordar a los seres queridos porque forma parte de las tradiciones 100% mexicanas y que definen de cierta manera a éste país.

¿Tu cultura ha pérdido alguna tradición? ¿Cuál es la más antigua creencia de tu país?

[English]

In part 1 you could read about the tradition and history of Sinterklaas. In this part you will read more about the various customs related to the Dutch Sinterklaas celebration.

Presents
You can give presents nicely wrapped in special Sinterklaas wrapping paper, but there is also another way of giving the gifts. It is similar to the tradition of Secret Santa and in Dutch it is called ´lootjes trekken´. You do it with a group of people and you give a present anonymously to one of the people of the group. If you have lots of time and creativity you can decide to make a surprise. A surprise should be indeed a surprise, but a special one. You hide the presents in a homemade piece of handicraft work (the surprise) which has something to do with the person you are giving the presents to. For example, if someone loves football, you could make a football from paper and hide the gifts inside.

Poems
Sinterklaas is not only about giving presents, but also about making fun of one another. Therefore the tradition of giving presents is combined with writing a poem for the person you are giving a present to. The poem is called a Sinterklaasgedicht and is not about grand literature or poetry, but about fun. In the poem you can say nice things about the person, their hobbies, their interests and (funny) things that happened to him or her in the past year. The poem is a great opportunity to make fun of the person, but in a nice way!

Songs
Children only get sweets and presents when they behave nicely... at least, so tells the tradition. And in order to be nice children sing special Sinterklaas songs. There are several songs, varying from traditional to modern. So singing the songs is a way to receive small presents or sweets. A popular custom for children is to place their shoe in front of the fire place or near the front door. They sing a song in the evening and during the night they hope that they will find something nice in their shoe the next morning. If Sinterklaas (their parents of course…) heard their singing, he (they) will put something in the shoe.

Sweets
The sweets and treats which are eaten during Sinterklaas are just delicious. First of all there is strooigoed, the sweets you can strew. Strooigoed contains gingerbread nuts, little meringues and confectionery and looks like the picture. Besides that there is gingerbread in many different forms, like small cookies or a large gingerbread man. And the most important delicacy: the chocolate letter (see the picture). Everyone, no matter whether you are a child or grown-up, gets the first letter of his or her name in chocolate. The tradition of giving edible letters started in the nineteenth century. First the letters were made of dough and later on, around 1900, chocolate letters became more popular.

[Nederlands]

In deel 1 kun je lezen over de traditie en geschiedenis van Sinterklaas. In dit deel lees je meer over de verschillende gebruiken die met de Nederlandse viering van Sinterklaas verbonden zijn.

Cadeautjes
Je kunt cadeautjes geven die mooi ingepakt zijn in speciaal Sinterklaasinpakpapier, maar er is ook een andere manier om je geschenken te overhandigen. Het komt overeen met de traditie van Secret Santa en in het Nederlands heet het ´lootjes trekken´. Je doet dat met een groep mensen en geeft anoniem een cadeau aan één van hen. Wanneer je veel tijd en creativiteit hebt, kun je besluiten een surprise te maken. Een surprise moet inderdaad een speciale verassing zijn. Je verstopt de cadeautjes in een zelfgemaakt knutselwerk (de surprise) dat iets te maken heeft met de persoon aan wie je de cadeautjes geeft. Bijvoorbeeld wanneer iemand van voetbal houdt, kun je een voetbal van papier knutselen en daarin de geschenken verstoppen.

Gedichten
Sinterklaas gaat niet alleen over het geven van cadeaus, maar ook over het grapjes uithalen met elkaar. Daarom wordt de traditie van het geschenken geven gecombineerd met het schrijven van een gedicht voor de persoon aan wie je het cadeau geeft. Het Sinterklaasgedicht heeft niets te maken met grote literatuur of poëzie, maar met iets grappigs. In het gedicht kun je aardige dingen zeggen over de persoon, zoals zijn hobby´s, interesses en (grappige) dingen die hem of haar overkomen zijn in het afgelopen jaar. Het gedicht is een perfecte mogelijkheid om de persoon een beetje te plagen, maar op een leuke manier!

Liedjes
Kinderen krijgen alleen snoepgoed en cadeautjes wanneer ze lief zijn... tenminste, zo gaat de traditie. En om aardig gevonden te worden zingen ze speciale Sinterklaasliedjes. Er zijn verschillende liedjes, variërend van traditioneel tot modern. Het zingen van liedjes is dus een manier om kleine geschenken en snoepgoed te krijgen. Een populaire gewoonte voor kinderen is het zetten van hun schoen voor de open haard of in de buurt van de voordeur. ´s Avonds zingen ze een lied en ´s nachts hopen ze dat ze de volgende morgen iets leuks in hun schoen vinden. Als Sinterklaas (hun ouders natuurlijk...) hen horen zingen, stopt hij (zij) zeker iets in hun schoen.

Snoepgoed
Het snoepgoed en de lekkernijen die met Sinterklaas worden gegeten, zijn echt heerlijk. Allereerst is er strooigoed, dat je kunt strooien. Strooigoed bestaat uit pepernoten, schuimpjes en suikerwerk en ziet eruit zoals op de afbeelding. Daarnaast is er speculaas in alle mogelijke vormen, zoals kleine koekjes of een speculaaspop. En de belangrijkste lekkernij: de chocoladeletter (zie de afbeelding). Iedereen, of je nu kind of volwassene bent, krijgt de eerste letter van zijn of haar naam in chocolade. De traditie van het geven van eetbare letters komt uit de negentiende eeuw. Eerst waren de letters van deeg en later, rond 1900, werden chocoladeletters populairder.

[English]

On December 6th, it is Saint Nicholas Day. This day is the beginning of the Christmas and festive activities in several countries in Europe. This day is celebrated because it is the date when Saint Nicholas died in 354; he is one of the most popular saints in Christianity – and also arguably linked to Father Christmas or Santa Claus.

According to the story, Saint Nicholas was a bishop of the city of Myra in Asia Minor, who was persecuted by the Romans in the fourth century and was released under the command of the Emperor Constantine I. Among the acts of kindness that he is known for is the fact that he defended the holy child, saved three girls from prostitution, saved sailors from the storm and gave generous gifts to poor people. According to the legend this is why he is known as the saint patron of children, sailors, unmarried girls and others.

In Germany, children celebrate by putting shoes, wooden shoes or socks on the bedroom door or in front of the chimney of their house so that Saint Nicholas can insert gifts, candies or fruit inside them. Young adults also receive presents. In countries like Switzerland, Holland and parts of Austria it’s also celebrated and children go to church to recite the catechism before being rewarded with apples, nuts and gifts.

In the rest of the world the celebration of Saint Nicholas has been transformed and now has an American touch. The Saint will not travel around the world to deliver gifts to children until Christmas Eve.

How is the feast of Saint Nicholas celebrated in your country?

[Español]