German Blown Glass Christmas Ornaments.

Mine

If you have been following my Christmas Around the World Installments, I have a fun connection to Installment 2. I'd mentioned how handblown glass ornaments are very popular in Germany. I received a present tonight from three lovely little girls, and in my box, I found a GORGEOUS handblown glass ornament. My mother's family is German, and receiving MY first ornament prompted me to do a little research on these unique decorations. 

A History: The handblown glass ornaments were first created 60 miles north of Nuerenberg in the German village named Lauscha. Then, it was a cottage industry craft--the ornaments were blown and finished in a workshop attached to someone's home. All members of the family helped paint and finish them. A normal work day was 15-16 hours, six days a week. Depending on size and complexity, 300-600 balls a week can be produced. In the 1820s, Lauscha came upon economic ruin. Some glass blowers began to refine the craft and make it into Christmas balls, called Kugeln. The first written record of the Christmas tree balls was in 1848. This became Lauscha's economic salvation. 

This is a tradition that my own family follows. Every year, a glass pickle is hidden in the Christmas tree, and the first child to find the pickle receives a special present. As the children get older, the pickles get smaller. 

Installment 3 of Christmas Around the World: L-R (minus K & O)

Latvia: Children sometimes earn their presents by reciting a poem or song. Claims to be the home of the first Christmas tree, first used in 1510. Merry Christmas = Priecigus Ziemassvotkus. The special Latvian Christmas Day meal is cooked brown/grey peas with bacon (pork) sauce, small pies, cabbage & sausage, bacon rolls and gingerbread.

Madagascar: Even though it is warm, Madagascar is still decorated with holly, robins, and snow. Merry Christmas =Mirary Krismasy sambatra sy Taona vaovao tonga lafatra ho anao. Santa Claus is called 'Dadabe Noely'. The meal is normally Chicken or Pork with rice followed by a special cake. Poinsettias also grow as large outdoor shrubs in Madagascar and don't just flower at Christmas! They are also the national emblem of Madagascar.

A Nisse is another name for Elf

Norway: a sheaf of wheat is often left out for the birds to eat over Christmas. Also a type of rice porridge is sometimes left for the 'Nisse' who is believed to guard the farm animals. Another tradition in parts of Norway is that families light a candle every night from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day. The tree is given as a present to say 'thank you' for the help that the people of the UK gave to Norway during World War II. The tree stands in Trafalgar Square in the middle of London and often hundreds of people come to watch when the lights are turned on. Happy/Merry Christmas is 'God Jul' or 'Glædelig Jul'. Here's a recipe for Norwegian Hole Cake

Parol

Phillipines: Christmas carols start in September. Misa de Gallo are the early masses held the nine days before Christmas. The parol is a bamboo pole with a lighted star lantern on it that represents the start that guided the Wise Men. Noche Buena includes:  lechon (roasted pig), ham, fruit salad, rice cakes (bibingka and puto bumbong are traditional Christmas foods) and other sweets, steamed rice, and many different types of drinks. Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Maligayang Pasko'

Russia: The Russian Orthodox church uses the Julian Calendar, so Christmas falls on January 7th. Advent for them starts November 28th and goes to January 6th--talk about the 40 days of Christmas! Christmas greeting is 'S Rozhdestvom!'. Sauerkraut is main dish in the Christmas Eve meal. It can be served with cranberries, cumin, shredded carrot and onion rings. Babushka means Grand Mother in Russian. It tells the story of an old women who met the Wise men on their way to see Jesus created by an American poet and writer called Edith Matilda Thomas in 1907.

Installment 2 of Christmas Around the World: F - J

France: Use Nativity cribs to decorate the house with clay figures. Merry Christmas = Joyeux Noel. Yule logs made out of Cherry Wood are burned in their homes. Santa Claus is called Pere Noel (Father Christmas). The main Christmas meal is called Reveillon: roast turkey with chestnuts or roast goose, oysters, foie gras, lobster, venison and cheeses. For dessert, a chocolate sponge cake log called a bûche de Noël is normally eaten.

Germany: Advent is very important to the German Christmas. Christmas trees have been used here since the Middle Ages. They are traditionally brought in on Christmas Eve and surrounded by songs of O Tannenbaum, Ihr Kinderlein Kommet, and Silent Night. Merry Christmas = Frohe Weihnachten. The most famous decoration is the hand blown glass ornament. Children’s letters to the “Christkind’ are decorated with sugar glued to the envelope, which are left on their windowsills at the beginning of Advent. On the eve of December 6th, Saint Nick stops in and leaves little treats in the children’s shoes. Stollen is a popular fruited yeast bread that is served at Christmas.  Here is a recipe for Stollen

Beigli 

Hungary: Christmas Eve is called ‘Szent-este’ which means Holy Evening. The evening is spent with family decorating the tree. The main meal consists of fish and cabbage and a special poppy bread/cake called ‘Beigli.’ Midnight Mass Service is very popular. They also recognize St. Nicholas day on December 6th. Santa is known as “Mikulas.” 

Wren Boys Procession

Ireland: Christmas lasts from Christmas Eve to Epiphany on January 6th. Santa is known as San Nioclas. Merry Christmas = Nollaig Shona Dhuit. The Wren Boys Procession takes place on St. Stephen’s Day--people dress up and go around to neighbor houses singing rhymes about a wren bird. “The wren, the wren, the king of all birds, on St. Stephen’s Day was caught in the furze.” On the Feast of the Epiphany, women have the day off and men do the house work and cooking. 

Jamaica: Lots of people paint their houses and hang new curtains and decorations. The meal for Christmas day is prepared on Christmas Eve: fresh fruits, sorrel and rum punch and meat. The Christmas Day breakfast includes ackee and saltfish, breadfruit, fried plantains, boiled bananas, freshly squeezed fruit juice and tea. Dinner is usually served in the late afternoon and this may include chicken, curry goat, stewed oxtail, rice and peas.

Installment 1 of Christmas Around the World: A-E

Australia: Celebrated during the Australian summer. Australians decorate with Christmas trees and lights, but a unique decoration is the Christmas Bush, a native Australian tree with small green leaves and cream colored flowers that turn red by the week of Christmas. State capitols and local towns hold Carols by Candlelight services with famous and/or small town bands. Australians also recognize Boxing Day where they visit friends and have Barbeques on the beach. Christmas dinners usually include seafood and “traditional english” food. 

Brazil: Santa’s name is Papai Noel. Many customs are similar to US and UK. A traditional Christmas meal includes: chicken, turkey, ham, rice, salad, pork, and fresh and dried fruits. The Celebrations start on Christmas even with fireworks and a barbeque (churrasco). Children sometimes leave their socks on windows, hoping that if Papai Noel finds it, he will exchange it for a present. 

Czech Republic: They celebrate Saint Nicholas day, where children are expected to recite a poem or song and in exchange receive a small, stocking sized present from St. Nick. Merry Christmas = Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce. 

Seeing a Golden Pig before dinner is seen as a good luck sign. Christmas dinner takes place on Christmas eve and consists of fish soup and fried carp with potato salad. Jezisek or “Little Jesus” leaves presents during Christmas dinner and rings a bell before he leaves. 

Denmark: Christmas Eve: Church service, dinner, dancing around the Christmas tree, then opening presents. Ris a la mande is rice pudding that chops up almonds except for  one, which is kept whole. The person who finds the whole almond gets a present. 

Julemanden “Christmas man” travels with a sleigh & reindeer, lives in Greenland, likes rice pudding, and is helped by Nisser (like elves). 

Merry Christmas = Glaedelig Jul.

Ethiopia: This country is still on the Julian Calendar, so they celebrate Christmas on January 7th. They fast the night before and dress in white for the Ganna service early the next morning. Traditional Christmas foods in Ethiopia include wat which is a thick and spicy stew that contains meat, vegetables and sometimes eggs (sounds yummy!). Wat is eaten on a 'plate of injera' - a flat bread. Pieces of the injera are used as an edible spoon to scoop up the wat.

Take Care of Your Computer

So a few months back, I was working on my book, and all of a sudden, my screen flashed white. I took it to my dad when the screen didn't come back on after a few minutes, and he regretted to tell me that my hard drive was "dead as a doornail." At the time, I was under a lot of stress. A fundraiser I was organizing was happening the next day; I had an exam coming up; and my cousins were in town. My mind did not process how much I lost. For those of you that are as dependent on your laptop as I am, I am giving you fair warning before this happens to you and you lose everything, BACK UP YOUR HARD DRIVE! Get an external drive; store your work on all these new online storage devices. Do whatever you have to do to save the life you share with your computer.
Let me just give you an idea of what I lost:
ALL 2,000 songs in my music library
My first book, my second book, and the beginning of my third book
All of my short stories
All the pictures that I had before Facebook and that were not shared on my parents' computer
All of my personal work and online quotes that I had found
All of my usernames and passwords.
When I eventually slowed my mind down enough to realize what I had lost, I was blown away and horrified all at the same time. I had just spent an entire fall break making great strides in editing my book. All gone. That was the knife to the gut. I had edited at the minimum-five chapters, and now I had to go back to chapter two. But it wasn't that easy. When Apple recovered my computer and put in a new hard drive, I had to update my software, and the pages that I downloaded was not compatible with plain old word. So after I would go to my "editor elf," and she would send the new copy to me, I couldn't open it on my computer to work on it until I would see her again. My computer crashed October 18. I did not find a compatible pages software until today, December 21--that's over two months not being able to work on my book on my own time. I feel like I have had a dragon-sized weight lifted off my shoulders. So...moral of the horror story...ALWAYS back up your computer. Don't be like me--don't learn the hard way. The hard was is no fun. (But to be fair, the hard drive was six years old...if that says anything of how strong Macs are...)

Taking a weekend

Life is hard. School is a lot of work. And there is never enough time. For some reason at this point in my senior year, I am absolutely drained of energy. I feel like even when I get a good night's sleep, it's just not good enough. I've had a few people point out to me that sometimes, you just have to take a weekend. Say no to anything your friends are doing. Tell your parents your checking out for the weekend. No matter what, spend the weekend taking care of yourself. Do whatever it is that you do to recuperate and rejuvenate. I sadly have not gotten a whole weekend yet, just bits of a couple. But I must say, I do feel a bit better and a bit more prepared to face the vicious holiday season.

Here's a few simple steps to some much needed R&R.

1. SLEEP IN! Go to bed early and wake up naturally. There is no better feeling than your eyes opening simply because they are ready to. Not because the alarm goes off or the dogs are barking.
2. Read in bed. Don't get up just yet. Bundle under the covers and grab your current read (I'm working on The Dark Between by Sonia Gensler) to burrow in for an hour or so.
3. Make yourself a cup of hot tea with a bit of honey. Honey has relaxing properties and tea just makes you feel like your living in an English Shire.
4. Paint your nails. I know it sounds silly, but it's fun to sit, watch a movie, and paint your nails a fun color!
5. Make yourself a spa day. Use store bought or home remedy treatments to make your skin glow and your hair shine! Apply a face mask, scrub your rough hands and feet, take a scented bubble bath with candles.
6. Take a walk. Not a work-out walk, just a nice leisurely walk down the street, admiring the leaves (or lack thereof) and the sounds of nature. It might sound cheesy, but it helps.
7. Choose a line-up of movies to watch. I always make mine themed like...Southern (Fried Green Tomatoes, Steel Magnolias, & The Help), Greek (My Big Fat Greek Wedding & My Life in Ruins), Teen Masterminds (Catch Me If You Can & Ferris Bueller's Day Off), Or a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan Double Features (You've Got Mail & Sleepless in Seattle).
8. Jump into your pajamas early, or better yet, stay in them all day.
9. You choose your dinner, most likely comfort food: pizza, mac & cheese, Chinese-whatever makes your tummy happy!
10. Jump into bed with your book and read until your eyes start to fall like curtains. That's when you know it's time to go to bed!

So remember, you deserve a weekend. And these steps can help you achieve the much needed and deserved R&R.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Story of The Night Circus: 

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Opinion:

I love books. No one can doubt that. I want to write, and I read at every spare moment, even if it is just that. Of all the books I have read, only a few come close to the magic and magnitude of The Night Circus. Erin Morgenstern, in a burst of pure genius, has created the most magical story of the decade. The complex web of deception intermixed with the condemning pull of love is cause for an inevitable horrible ending...or is it? Starting in the past and jumping to the future, Morgenstern works her way up to making two different time eras meet together in a fantastic reunion. The pages flew past my eyes as I devoured the book in three days. I cannot give this book enough praise, but if you don't believe me, find out for yourself. 

Facts about the circus:

• The circus is over 2000 years old.
  
  
• It is harder to get into the Ringling Brother's Clown School than Harvard Law School.
• Some performers keep a hair from an elephant tail in their pocket for good luck.
• Whistling backstage is considered bad luck.
• The circus began using trained animals in 1829
• When the Ringling Bros. bought the Barnum & Bailey's "The Greatest Show on Earth," the combined and made "The Big Show." Ringling Bros Barnum & Bailey Commercial