Merry Christmas, for those celebrating today - or will be --- or those who couldn't wait and began Christmas eve. As well, for the Greeks who celebrate St. Spyridon (Ἅγιος Σπυρίδων) --- Χρόνια πολλά
It's the first Christmas eve. The first because we celebrate Christmas on old (Eastern-Oriental) Christmas (January 7th, like some of the Greeks, MidEast & Russians). With the old Christmas, the old (no longer celebrated) twelve days of Christmas, is still celebrated. The season begins on the first of December, with a change in the ancient (Byzantine) Greek chats sung in church - that include a celebration of St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) & The feast of the Maccabees (Hanukkah). We still celebrate new (European) Christmas, because a number of our family are European Christians, while we are Eastern-Oriental Christians. To mend some of the rift we all celebrate in one host house every year. The European Christians have the shorter (often just celebrating the day) European Christmas and New Years, while we (the Eastern-Oriental Christians) celebrate the longer Eastern-Oriental Christmas.
The struggle to make a place your own - whether you are just visiting or a new home - can be a daunting challenge. Yet --- strangely, bizarrely --- something that tickles your curiosity. If you are visiting, gifts for the host are a must (especially for the children). If you are young enough to be considered a child (pre-teen, teen, student) it's a little easier - because you know what kids want (or would like). The challenge is your limited budget (student size). So for me, it's usually something homemade. Baking brownies is a big hit with everyone — and no one say no to a gingerbread men.
