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5. Christmas Traditions Around the World
62 Plays3 months ago
Join us for a festive journey as we explore the unique and surprising Christmas traditions celebrated around the globe. From hiding brooms in Norway to roller skates in Venezuela, we'll dive into the quirky, heartfelt, and downright magical ways people ring in the season. We'll also share cherished memories from our own childhood homes, reflecting on the traditions that made the holidays special for us. Whether you're looking to learn about other cultures or simply soak up some holiday cheer, this episode is the perfect companion for the season. Grab your favorite hot drink, get cozy, and let's celebrate Christmas together! 🎄✨
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Transcript
Introduction and Purpose
00:00:00
Speaker
Cuida to modern English. or Sete Eme English. A podcast of two English teachers who became friends after moving to Chile. We share real life entertaining stories of our experiences in Chile in a conversational way so you can gain exposure to native pacing with the extra support you may not be able to get through the usual forms of media. So you can learn intermediate to advanced English from anywhere in the world. We also do a short vocabulary review at the end to help the new words stick.
00:00:32
Speaker
So grab your coffee, wine, or piscole, and let's get started.
Holiday Traditions and Memories
00:00:37
Speaker
Ladies and gentlemen, we are proudly presenting.
00:00:43
Speaker
get they pass i won to con do mar con toma con toma river through modern english Welcome to to our Christmas up that episode. Merry Christmas, Layla.
00:01:02
Speaker
Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy all the holidays. Is Christmas your favorite holiday or do you have another favorite holiday? That's a good question. I think probably Christmas is my favorite holiday. um I mean, growing up, I liked Christmas and Thanksgiving because I liked the Thanksgiving food and usually we would visit friends of the family or something um or family members for both. so Probably. yeah But obviously on Christmas, we would also get presents from Santa. So that was also always a bonus. What about you? Was it your favorite holiday too? Yeah, I think so. It used to be one of my favorites because I love giving gifts. I love being able like usually I like to make them and give them out.
00:01:57
Speaker
But the last like 10 years, I have been so poor. But this year is the first year that I actually think I've done pretty well.
Gift-Giving: Experiences and Challenges
00:02:10
Speaker
Nice. I got some awesome gifts for Jose's family. Oh, can you say what they are? So I got, well, I'll have to make sure that they don't listen to this until after Christmas.
00:02:23
Speaker
Yeah, just to say that they can't. We'll put a timestamp like they can't listen to this part of it. ah yeah Yeah. So I got his sister is always singing karaoke like in the house. Like they have a karaoke machine and they will just for hours. And so I bought this tiny little portable karaoke machine, all like which you can also use as a speaker.
00:02:51
Speaker
Um, and then I got his mom, I'm getting a picture of their family put onto a canvas so that she can hang it up. And then I got his dad, uh, whiskey glass that has a picture of him and his wife, like etched into it. That's a good gift. That's very dad coded. I feel like dad gifts are like whiskey.
00:03:19
Speaker
Nice. Right. Yeah. So there's that. And and then for Jose, I got um well, I got him a bunch of stuff, actually. I don't even remember everything that I got him, but I got him some beard oil because he's never had beard oil before. And his beard was like really coarse and was really digging into me. And I was like, oh, hell no.
00:03:50
Speaker
You're like, this is a gift for both of us. Right. For real.
Cultural Differences in Gift-Giving
00:03:55
Speaker
He opened it, of course, the very first thing he's like, is this a hint? And I'm like, yeah. But anyway, and then but I'm really excited about this one gift because, you know, he draws a lot and he loves drawing, but he doesn't get to do it as often now because he's so busy.
00:04:20
Speaker
And so I bought him a drafting table. Cool. That's a good gift. I like that. Yeah. um And then I also got like, we just recently watched the second season of this show that just got released. It was, it's called Arcane.
00:04:40
Speaker
Oh, I saw that, too. Did you? I love it. Yeah, it was. Yeah. Yeah. So I think one of his favorite characters is Jinx. So I got him this shirt that is has like Jinx graffiti all over it. Nice. I think that I really like Jinx. Yeah. Especially in the second season. Yeah, me too. Me too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was interesting. What else? I think.
00:05:10
Speaker
Those are good gifts, though. They're like yeah very kind of like personal. um Like well thought.
Family Traditions and Anecdotes
00:05:20
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Yeah. And then my mom, I just got a bunch of likes. This is it's so interesting because um this is like a cultural within your family type thing, I guess. But I.
00:05:34
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I guess I grew up always buying or making gifts that like people could actually use or that they needed or that they wanted. And it was like practical gifts, right? Yeah. and And then Jose, you know, I was like, what am I supposed to buy for your family? You know, like, give me some ideas. I don't know. And then I said, well, your mom needs one of these or something. And he was like, oh, we don't buy things that other people need like we buy things that they want and and i'm like oh that's weird well it's interesting because some people are like i don't want useless junk for christmas like some people are very much like resentful if you get them something that's just like
00:06:27
Speaker
for decoration or just like sentimental. And other people feel like it's boring if you get them something that's useful. So it's kind of weird. like You need to know your audience.
00:06:39
Speaker
Yeah, I'm like, I'm so poor. Like if somebody would buy me something that I need, it would be a relief. It would be like a joyous relief. Please and thank you.
Christmas Pageants and Music
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Like, so I guess that's where my philosophy lies. But whatever. So I ended up getting my mom a bunch of things to help her with her arthritis.
00:07:02
Speaker
like um this thing that goes on your knees that heats them up and like, I don't know, certain tools that you can use in the kitchen that make it easier for people with arthritis. And then I got my sister this picture that's paint or put onto like a 8 by 11 paper thing, whatever,
00:07:26
Speaker
And it says, just says sister and then it has her name on it and then, you know, a cheesy little like paragraph about sisters. I love that.
00:07:39
Speaker
And then my other sister loves chickens. She raises chickens and she had this shirt on one time that said, I speak foul language. because fowl is birds, so you know, makes sense. Is a fowl like a female bird? I don't remember specifically what is a fowl. That's a good question. I always thought fowl just meant like birds in general, but maybe you're right. Maybe you're right. I don't. I'm a city girl, so I am not sure. So you just pigeon. You just pigeon.
00:08:18
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and Exactly. please Everything is a pigeon. I speak a pigeon language. Right, right, right, right. Oh my god. And so, so I bought her this like metal sign thing off of Temu or whatever and it says, it's got a chicken and it says, I don't cluck around. No, that's good. I like that one.
00:08:41
Speaker
So you like the play on, you get her a lot of like chicken play on words things. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, cause that's what, I mean, she had the, she had the foul language and it gave me the idea like, Oh, like she likes that kind of stuff. So yeah, whatever. I'll get one of those. And then my other sister that used to live in Ukraine, I got her a like painting of Ukraine.
00:09:05
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I mean, a print, let's be honest. I'm broke, so not a real painting, but whatever. It's not the original. Yes, not the original Van Gogh. I'm just kidding. And then I'm going to get my niece, like a hoodie that has ah her favorite dragon on it or whatever. so Her favorite dragon? Yeah, she's obsessed with this series. It's like,
00:09:34
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Wings of Fire or something. Oh, okay. Yeah. It's like a kids series, but like, I mean, it's like a, I should say it's, it's pre-teen series basically. And she's seven. So okay. She's like reading level is very high. She's okay. It's a book series, not a TV series. Yeah. Yeah.
00:09:59
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So anyway, a favorite dragon. I love that. Yeah, you did. You're doing well this year, right? oh I know. I'm doing I'm going pretty simple. I don't know if I'm going to I think because of the long distance, too. I'm like, I haven't really. Oh, it's so hard. I don't think I'm even going to send.
Reimagining Christmas Songs
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Well, I mean, it's so I don't really plan on but giving or receiving anything long distance. But with Jorge, I I think I'm going to get him like a drawing tablet um because he has kind of like wanted one for a while and we would be able to animate things that he draws. So that's kind of, yeah, I hope I can find a good one. I need to look more on Mercado Libre before Christmas. We usually go pretty simple.
00:10:54
Speaker
Yeah. I was so excited when I found Mercado Libre. It's a great website. It's like the Amazon here. South America. yeah amazon im south a ri I'm thinking of like Christmas traditions that I used to have when I was younger. I think so one thing that is a little bit interesting is that in the United States, this comes a lot.
00:11:20
Speaker
This comes up a lot when talking to like Latin Americans because typically people in Latin America, like the kids open presents at midnight and then like play with their toys for a couple of hours and go to bed super late. Oh my god. Yeah, that would be up in here. And then like rest the next day. Yeah, in the US it was always like, I remember even you need to go to bed so that Santa can come while you're asleep and then you can open your toys in the next morning and I don't know if this is like a protestant fear god thing that they instilled in us but I also was scared if I got up and tried to like find Santa Claus that I would get coal so like I was like I have to be like
00:12:05
Speaker
protestant thing I was like, I have to be a good girl and sleep. So I'm not on the naughty list. That is hilarious. Yeah. So probably at some point my parents were like,
00:12:20
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You need to go to bed or Santa's not coming or some shit like that. yeah Yeah. But I also remember with my family, we would. So some people do secret Santa where they like are all assigned a different person. OK. I guess in their families. In my family,
Favorite Christmas Movies
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what we would do is a couple of weeks before Christmas, me, my parents and my two sisters would go to a shopping mall and we would split up into groups.
00:12:48
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And we would pick out presents for the other group. And it was kind of funny because we were like, I don't know, let's say I was with my mom and then my two other sisters were with my dad and I was with my mom in the Macy's picking out a shirt for my dad. And then we would leave the Macy's and see my dad and sisters entering the Macy's and we would try to run and hide and not let them know what we were buying.
00:13:12
Speaker
And so that was always our family shopping tradition. Like we would just go as a family. this is I've never met another family that's done it this way. We would go like a couple of weeks before Christmas to a mall and like split up in teams and like buy the other team presents and try to like not get caught.
00:13:31
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That's amazing. oh So yeah, what was your family traditions? Were you scared to see Santa? And did you do anything like secret Santa stuff? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we never believed in Santa. We were told from a very young age that Santa was the pagan
00:13:54
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Santa was pagan. That's so funny. and What? and What pagans are celebrating san Saint
00:14:07
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That's
Unusual Christmas Traditions
00:14:08
Speaker
so yeah funny. Yeah, and yet still we ended up giving gifts even though that is also pagan, but whatever. Um, so yeah, we would, the night before we would always open one present and then the next day we'd open the rest. But before we opened that one present, we always had to listen to Jesus's birth story in Luke. And we would sit down and then everybody would circle around the tree and then
00:14:42
Speaker
My dad would read the passage and then when it was over, we would like open a present or whatever. But yeah, that was it. Yay. Very, yeah.
00:14:54
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It's different when it's like actually religious. <unk> crush Oh, and also I forgot, also we would go to church. They always had a 6 p.m. service on Christmas Eve that we would have to go to and then we'd have to listen to the sermon for an hour and a half. And then we would go home and listen again to more of the Bible and then open the one present. And then open the one present. Yeah, so we definitely put our time in for that present.
00:15:29
Speaker
Yeah, you earned it. I actually kind of liked, I would have to go to New Year's Eve church service, but I liked it because it was later at night, maybe it was, I don't even remember, like 9pm or something. It felt like a party when you were a kid. Yeah, well also because they like, well, when you go in, they would give everyone like a candle, which was inside of like a punched like yeah plastic cup. Oh, ours were paper. It was like a plastic cup so the wax could like drip ah into the plastic and then we would like have someone at the end of the row light the candle and pass it down and so I just liked holding the fire. um
00:16:24
Speaker
I love that. And we always had a Christmas pageant. And it was funny because my mom would write the script for the Christmas pageant, but we would do really interesting themes that I'm pretty sure people that are really serious about church would find blasphemous. Wait a second. Don't laugh at me. What?
00:16:46
Speaker
What even really is a Christmas pageant? Oh my God. Okay. Cause it's so funny cause I was a church kid. Like I went to church every week until I was 18, but like you were such a different church kid. Okay.
Secret Santa Experiences
00:17:05
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So a Christmas pageant, but okay. My, the Christmas pageants in my church were really not traditional. So I'll tell you first,
00:17:12
Speaker
ah christmas pat a normal Christmas pageant. It's like basically all the children in the church act in a play, which is like and the play reenacts the birth of Jesus. so And some of the kids are angels. Some of the kids are shepherds. The like ah main character kids get to be Mary Joseph and the angel Gabriel.
00:17:34
Speaker
And it's like, Gabriel, it always is the same. Like, it's like, Mary is cleaning, and then Gabriel comes to her, and then it's like, you're pregnant, and then it, like, you just reenact everything leading up to Jesus's birth. And the kids have different parts in the play, and there's like a narrator, usually. Yeah, I feel like I feel like we had those. I don't know that we had them like every year, maybe we did, I don't remember, I don't remember that, so. We always had them, and I think in the past, they were just like the generic ones, but my mom um took over and started doing the like script writing, and we had themes, like one year it was Vegas themed, and so like- Oh my god, stop. So like the three, um or the two different like,
00:18:29
Speaker
places of lodging where Mary and Joseph tried to go before they were able to go to the manger were like casinos and we decorated all of the props. There was also but one year that we did, um there was one year that we did like a hip hop theme and this older man in my church was God and he was like the ah notorious G.O.D.
00:18:56
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Oh my God. This is incredible. They were so so elaborate and I would
Discovering Santa's Secret
00:19:04
Speaker
help her. I remember sometimes she would be there. My mom would like be sitting at the back table with a glass of Chardonnay and my god her laptop and be like, what should I, okay. So like what should the shepherds say in this scene and we would like be helping her with ideas and we would have like- Your experience was way different than mine. I think that this is, I think it was very different from anyone.
00:19:34
Speaker
because the Christmas pageants are very common but specifically my mom would write scripts for like very hilarious and they would be full of jokes it was like she should be a writer for some TV show it was hilarious I love that. That's cool. Yep. And I was yeah i every part. Every part, yeah. Like one year I was Joseph, one year I was Mary, one year I was Gabriel. like You have the whole thing memorized. Yes. Like crazy. Oh my god. That's so funny. Yeah, we usually ended up having to play music in the church orchestra or something. like
00:20:20
Speaker
Um, and then now it's hilarious because that's literally the only thing I do when like Christmas month is the craziest, most busiest month for musicians. And which is it, there's the negative part of it is like you have, you feel like you can't breathe. You need a day off, you know, like blah, blah, blah, whatever. But then at the end of it, you're like, man.
00:20:43
Speaker
Like there was one year I made $2,000 in one month just from gigs that didn't even even include my regular income. And I was like, Oh my God. I mean, I may or may not have made $2,000.
00:20:57
Speaker
yeah
00:21:00
Speaker
allegedly i Allegedly. I don't know what you're talking about. What are you? What are your favorite Christmas songs? Do you like the traditional Christmas songs or like the pop songs that come on the radio? Like what are your favorite Christmas songs in general?
00:21:24
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I like jazzy Christmas songs, like the 1920s or like Ella Fitzgerald versions of
Closing and Support Information
00:21:34
Speaker
songs. I like those. um i When I was a kid, I loved Oh Holy Night mainly because when I sang, I got to hit the really high note and I was like,
00:21:47
Speaker
one of the few kids that could hit it and hit it in tune which was awesome and I loved it but now it's all I mean I guess when again as a musician you've played these songs a billion freaking times you know like over and over and over again and it's like especially by the end of Christmas you're just like I never want to hear this again and that's normal That's like normal people level. And then there's the classical musician level, which is a totally different level. It's like the regular people that get sick of Christmas music times two.
00:22:30
Speaker
Yeah, cuz you're like it's not I wasn't just passively listening to this in the Walmart Like I also had to play it over and over again. So yeah I will say today at at work I put on well one of my co-workers is putting on like all of the contemporary Christian classical music and I just got Kind of annoyed with it after a while like it was okay at first because I'm used to it. I was like, whatever it's fine. I but then it just
00:23:01
Speaker
so cheesy and annoying after a while and so So I turned on bluegrass Christmas music and blasted it. And it was hilarious because my other coworker, like there's only four of us in the office and one of them is deaf. And so there's really only three of us that can listen to music. And ah the other one loves bluegrass as well. And so when the contemporary Christian guy started kind of complaining a little bit about it,
00:23:31
Speaker
I started laughing and I was like, two against one, bro. Two against one. That's so funny. So, you know, it's like, it's like. there never na name they no no never never But such a different vibe, yeah, from like the normal. Yeah, it's interesting. to you i Well, so I like a lot of variety.
00:23:58
Speaker
um I remember like the Bare Naked Ladies God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen God
00:24:28
Speaker
like when I was younger. I really liked it like and also my sisters and I would sing it like in a duet because it's like kind of fun that you can be like I really can't stay but baby it's cold outside like you can kind of go back and forth and then it's like I think during the moment you stuff and like hearing how creepy the lyrics are like she's I cannot stay. And he's like, you have to stay at my house. Yeah. He's like, she's like, hey, what's in this drink? And I'm like, oh, my God. Who wrote this? Exactly. Who wrote that? A rapist wrote that. Literally. And it's like unfortunate because i I used to find it so catchy. I know. And it's like, like kids singing this. Oh, my God.
00:25:20
Speaker
Yeah, I sang it when I like didn't really understand the lyrics, I think. um Yeah. Well, of course you're a kid, you know. Yeah. So I think that there are some songs like that that I'm like, that didn't really age well. That did not age well. Yeah. Someone should do like a cover and just change the lyrics, but keep the kind of general tune and everything. And I would dig that. Yeah. I think i if I were going to do it, I would do it like this.
00:25:51
Speaker
say what's in this drink and then he's like you know just ignoring it ignore it whatever and then she calls 911 and she's like I think this guy is trying to drug me I think he's trying to drug me please come and help me now ma'am what's the address I don't even know, but I know there's a me a crossroad.
00:26:26
Speaker
Mapleton and diversity. Stay on the line.
00:26:40
Speaker
Right, that would be, I would bring it back and I would take power. I would take power back from females. i That would be my new favorite Christmas song. Right? The Spirit of Christmas. You're crossing a line. There you go. That's a good one, yeah. It also plays on like, what's your cross street stay on the line. Yeah. You're crossing a line. There you go. I can see something happening here.
00:27:09
Speaker
And then he's like, I'd like to see you in this. And then you're like, I'd like to see you behind bars.
00:27:23
Speaker
That's good. I like that. Right? Yeah. And it's gonna be the new song, the new version. You're like shopping in Target. You're like, I'd like to see you behind bars. Right? Yeah. I imagine you in this. I imagine you in jail. And then and then it turns into a cabaret. i Yeah, I liked that note. Yeah, I think it would like change the vibe of the song. Yeah, that would probably be in some
00:27:59
Speaker
Christmas pageant that my mom would help write. Right. Right. Yeah. We need we need to collaborate. Collaborate. Yeah. That's hilarious. All right. What about movies? Speaking of. Oh, I am a sucker for love, actually. I hope it's a Christmas movie. Yeah. Because it's like happening during Christmas. Yeah. OK.
00:28:27
Speaker
I feel it also because the guy, um but the singer, the singer is like the singer in the movie that's like, I feel you it in my fingers. I've never seen it in my toes. And it's the original song that he sings is like, love is all around us. But then they are like trying to get this famous singer to change it to Christmas is all around us. So like, yeah.
00:28:56
Speaker
I would say that's one of my favorites. And also, is it White Christmas? It's like a super old movie. My mom. Oh, yeah. Yeah. am boy White Christmas. White Christmas. Yeah. It's a family favorite. And the Muppet Christmas Carol is also a family family favorite. I love that one is
00:29:23
Speaker
Yes. I loved Rizzo. And like the the two. Oh, wait, what are the two guys who are like more Marley and Marley? Yeah. OK, like the two old men. Yes, I am constantly comparing people to those two old men. I can never remember their freaking names, though.
00:29:48
Speaker
No, i I can't either. I don't remember their family or something original Muppet names, because in the yeah movie, it's like they're all called by the Christmas Carol names instead of their like original Muppet names. Yeah. um But that's an amazing movie. And I love that movie. OK, yeah. What are your what's your those? I would say are my three of like classics that I always watched with my family. Yeah, I i would say mine are like the Of course, a Christmas story. You'll shoot your eye out.
00:30:23
Speaker
um And then the Chevy Chase one. What is that Christmas vacation or something? I forget the title. I've been a long time since I've seen it. You haven't seen that one? to watch that one. OK, maybe this year. I'll watch Love, actually.
00:30:42
Speaker
Oh, yeah. OK, we'll do a a movie exchange. OK, I'm going to write it down. It's like a Christmas vacation or something instead of a Christmas story. Yeah. OK. Yeah. I think it's called Christmas vacation, but it's got Chevy Chase in it. I haven't seen it forever, so it might. I hope that it aged well. I'm not going to judge you if it didn't. Yeah. Thank you. I don't remember. Yeah. Yeah. That's funny.
00:31:11
Speaker
Yeah, I would say those two are really the biggest ones, other than the ones that you already mentioned. Yeah, were you ever the other ones, a lot of my students from all over the world, watch Home Alone a lot, and I was never Yeah, I guess in my family, it was never a family movie, like we never really watched I saw it a couple times just because like I feel like I've seen most Christmas movies at least once, but yeah, it was never a family movie. I have watched it more in my adulthood than I have in as a child, um yeah I Yeah, I feel like it's more popular outside of the US now still.
00:31:57
Speaker
for some reason. Yeah, like it kind of kept its popularity. I think it has a feeling of nostalgia maybe for a lot of people. And there's kind of like the New York during Christmas. Yeah, in Chicago, right? The one was in Chicago, I think. Like Home Alone 2, I think. oh It could be. I don't think I even saw Home Alone 2. Yeah, right. and I saw Home Alone 1. Yeah, good. Yeah. Nice.
00:32:24
Speaker
Leila has not read this article that I have here, which is about weird Christmas traditions from around the world. So I'm going to read a couple of these to you and see what you think about them. I didn't know about them, so I imagine they'll be surprising to you as well. Here is, forget the Christmas turkey. For many Japanese, traditional Christmas dinner is Kentucky Fried Chicken. Stop it.
00:32:51
Speaker
Due to a combination here yeah combination of tiny Japanese ovens and a clever marketing campaign convincing locals that fried chicken is a traditional American yuletide feast, reservations have to be made to eat at a KFC on Christmas Day. What? Are you serious?
00:33:14
Speaker
That is so funny. During the run up to Christmas, Colonel Sanders statues outside KFC's Japanese outlets wear Santa gear. The chicken is served in special holiday packaging.
00:33:29
Speaker
So yeah, what do you what do you think about Japanese people eating KFC on Christmas? I just that's so weird. Like I would never have guessed like if someone was like,
00:33:42
Speaker
What do you imagine Japanese people eat on Christmas? I would not think KFC. I don't know. but I will say when I first saw a KFC in Chile, I immediately was like, ugh. And my ex was like, what? And I was like, I can't get away from it. I was like, are you serious? They have KFC here? Ew. You're like, why do they have this everywhere? I know in no Popeyes. and i obviously more of a fan of Popeyes. Yeah. What in the world? Okay. All right. What's the next one? Okay. Here's another one. This is from Norway. It says, Norwegians believe that Christmas Eve coincides with the arrival of evil spirits and witches. It is only logical then that Norwegian householders hide all their brooms before they go to sleep.
00:34:36
Speaker
OK, that is not where I thought you were going. So they, like, hide their brooms. I thought you were going to talk about, like, burning the yule log. That would make more sense. Yeah. In this case, they just. Hide their brooms? They hide their brooms before going to sleep. Stop. That is so funny. Yeah. That's interesting. This is OK. This is one from Venezuela. So I'm I'm curious if it actually is like real and you'll have to ask Jose about it.
00:35:06
Speaker
In the week leading up to Christmas, Venezuelans attend a daily church service called Misa de Aguinaldo. Misa de what? Aguinaldo. Misa de Aguinaldo, which is early morning mass, I guess.
00:35:26
Speaker
um And so in the capital, Caracas, it is customary to travel to the church service on roller skates. Stop. So um it says, so widespread is the practice. Many roads in the capital area are closed until 8 a.m. to provide Christmas worshippers with a safe passage. Wait, they do that in Chile.
00:35:51
Speaker
Do they do that on roller skates? Yeah, but it's for it's not for Christmas. It's for something else. um Oh, my God. I know the name of this. It's like there's a pilgrimage where they have to come to Valparaiso from. Yeah. And it could be like biking. It's like you have to go to Valparaiso from Santiago and it could be like biking or walking or other and methods.
00:36:18
Speaker
Wait, wait, wait. Is it the same thing? The Saint just messaged me back. ah I said, is it tradition to go to Miso de Aguinaldo in Venezuela? And then I said, lol, on roller skates. And he said, what? ha ha But some people do, not us.
00:36:40
Speaker
And I was like, why are you so shocked? Yeah, he's like, it's like, actually, some people do. It's like, OK, so it's true. OK, confirmation. That's so funny. Yeah, there you go. um Locals in Catalonia create a character out of a log drawing faces on it and giving it a hat.
00:37:04
Speaker
Then they spend a fortnight feeding it fruit, nuts, and sweets. And feeding is in quotation marks. On Christmas Eve, the entire family beats the log with sticks and and sings a traditional song that translate to, if you don't crap well, I'll beat you with a stick.
00:37:25
Speaker
ah until the log excretes all its treats. It's hard to comprehend why this tradition hasn't caught on elsewhere. They also decorate their nativity scenes. They also decorate their nativity scenes with small pooping ceramic. Stop it. Are you serious? This is Catalonia, Spain. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Wow. I already forgot.
00:37:52
Speaker
Kaganer's figurines, usually well-known characters often drawn from that year's news, the figurines always have their pants around their ankles. Oh my god, what in the world? That's so funny. That's one of the more interesting ones so far.
00:38:11
Speaker
yeah there're Okay, there's one in Ukraine. Oh, I've heard this one before. In addition to the standard tinsel, fairy lights, and baubles, Ukrainians like to throw an artificial spider and web on the tree as well. The tradition has its origins in an old tale of a poor woman who couldn't afford to decorate her tree and woke on Christmas morning to discover a spider had covered it in a glorious sparkling web.
00:38:38
Speaker
It's for good luck. Oh, my God. That's kind of interesting. Yeah, I like that, actually. I was thinking like they must really like Halloween, but but that makes way more sense. That's kind of cute. I like that. Definitely. Yeah, I like that one. And also, well, the picture that I'm looking at has like a sparkly, like beautiful spider and web that looks like it is an ornament. It's not like OK.
00:39:08
Speaker
ugly dirty spider. Like it's like kind of looks like another ornament. So it's not a Aranyarinkon. No, it's not. That would be it another level. So I guess those are the different traditions that I wanted to share with you. That's cool. I think that's really interesting. I love learning about different traditions on Christmas because it's like always so surprising to imagine other people's reality on this holiday. Yeah, for real. Question. Yeah. What's the question? What does it mean for $500 to be a Scrooge on Christmas? Ooh, that's so good. I'm just kidding. I do not have $500.
00:39:58
Speaker
Okay, in that case, I'm not going to answer the question. I was um i would say that 500 pesos. chian clear Okay, I was gonna say it depends on what kind of pesos we're talking. Yeah. um ah So to be a Scrooge is a reference to A Christmas Carol. And I would say, I mean, if you don't know A Christmas Carol to anyone listening, it's kind of also like calling someone a Grinch in a way, like if that's that's kind of a similar reference, maybe. um But Scrooge specifically was a character who is like,
00:40:40
Speaker
very grumpy, very cheap, doesn't want to spend money is kind of like the opposite of a joyful person on Christmas. And people would come in and say like, Hello, Mr. Scrooge. Merry Christmas. And he always says, bah, bug, which is like I don't what what even does bah humbug mean? It's like, right? ah Like, that's a load of garbage, I would say. Yeah, yeah.
00:41:10
Speaker
It's like he doesn't even give enough effort to make a real word. Yeah, exactly. Like he really doesn't care. Mr. Scrooge is very grumpy, cranky. Pessado does not care ah about Christmas. So I would say if you call someone a Scrooge.
00:41:28
Speaker
That is definitely not a positive thing. You're saying that they're really cranky and grumpy on Christmas and like not in the Christmas spirit at all. Yeah. Yeah. It's like my oldest sister, when she would get up as a teenager, you know, she didn't have a coffee yet. She'd be like, and I'd be like, okay, Scrooge. Definitely. It's like, yeah, I would just say cranky, grumpy. Yeah.
00:41:57
Speaker
I'll ask you the next one. Have you been naughty or nice this year, Layla? I feel like I'm always on the naughty list, considering the fact that all of this karma just keeps coming at me. It has to be from a past life. I did not murder anybody, at least in this lifetime. But I will say, holy crap, I must be on the naughty list. You must be on the naughty list. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely.
00:42:32
Speaker
I don't know. I feel like this year, I mean if the question is like evaluating me this year, I feel like I've been nice this year. I've had my years, but I feel like I've been nice this year.
00:42:43
Speaker
Yeah, I think so too. maybe and your're I mean, maybe you have been nice, but you're getting cold anyway. Maybe that's what the situation is. Could be. I don't know, man. I do not know. But I have a feeling that it's coming to an end, and that boy am I grateful. Oof. That was a rough one. Yeah, definitely. I mean, the year is almost over. So it's like, new start, new start. Yep, exactly.
00:43:11
Speaker
Mm, have you ever done a Secret Santa or a white elephant? And ooh, what was the, if so, what was the coolest gift you ever got? Ooh, that's a good question. I'm trying to remember, because so I've done Secret Santa a lot more times than white elephant, like with just groups of friends, for the most part.
00:43:35
Speaker
um I'm trying to think of the coolest gift that I got. I think one of my friends um one of my friends got me a bunch of like really nice makeup one year, um which was a good present because I don't really like spend a bunch of money on makeup. So like receiving it for a Christmas present was super nice. I've also gotten a plaque kind of decoration for my room that had butterflies on it, which was cool.
00:44:06
Speaker
um Yeah, i don't i nothing in particular really jumps out, but I think I've always gotten like nice presents from Secret Santa. I did do a white elephant once with a group in college, which was my frisbee team, and it was the combination of like the women's and men's frisbee team, and to that,
00:44:28
Speaker
My gift that I brought was a kombucha scoby that no one wanted. Wait, a kombucha? What? Scoby? What is a scoby? It's like this ecosystem of microorganisms that you put inside of tea that ferments the tea. like I brought one as the like You know, like at White Elephant, you just see like a little wild card. um Yeah. I brought that also because I think we had a pretty low budget for the White Elephant. So I was like, I'm just going to break. Like it was kind of a big group. Yeah. So no one wanted it. I think I actually ended up taking it home myself. Yeah. um
00:45:14
Speaker
Yeah, so for the people that don't know, a white elephant gift is like something that you either grab from your house that you're re-gifting or just like something random, or you can go out and buy something. They usually give you like a $10, $20 limit. um and then But your your goal is to, usually is to get something really unique.
00:45:40
Speaker
Right. Yeah. Cause well, so everyone gets a secret Santa is like you specifically get a gift for a person, but a white elephant is like you bring something random.
00:45:54
Speaker
Everyone puts the presents in the middle and they're all wrapped and you go around the circle taking turns and you can either open a present or you can steal a present that someone else already opened. um And so it is kind of funny like people try to get a better gift than what they have. So yeah, I think I love white elephants.
00:46:16
Speaker
The one that we did the most popular gift that everyone wanted, there was like this really big pint. It wasn't a pint. It was more than a pint, but it was a huge beer glass shaped like a boot and everyone kept trying to steal it from each other. so That was the coolest gift. oh right What about you? Like what have you given or received in White Elephant or Secret Santa?
00:46:41
Speaker
Oh man, I don't know. It's like, I don't remember. I have a terrible memory, but I do remember doing a white elephant with the punk rock bar that I used to bartend at. And um I can't remember anything in particular, but I do remember the gifts were just so incredibly unique and hilarious. um I just remember laughing really hard at everybody.
00:47:08
Speaker
trying to steal each other's presents and They were some very like artistic. I know they were very artistic I wish I had a better memory But I just you know that saying about like people forget what you say, but they don't forget how you made them feel Well, that's pretty much my life story Yeah, like you remember the vibes of being there but not like what specifically you received. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah definitely Oh, my God. How did you find out Santa doesn't exist? I found out kind of I would say from a pretty ah like I was six or seven, but I was in school and I believed in Santa. But there was another boy in my class and he was like, you believe in Santa? Like you're such a baby. Like, why do you believe in Santa? And we were we were like six or seven. And I think he literally both was a victim.
00:48:07
Speaker
I don't remember clearly if I already had doubts about Santa or not. like I just don't remember. um But I do remember after that, I went home to my dad and I was like, dad, does Santa exist? And he is like not able to lie about anything. So he just looked at me and was like, no. um No. He's like, no.
00:48:31
Speaker
Yeah, i think I think like I kind of get that like it's kind of crazy to like maybe like lie to your kid's face like I don't know like it feels different to it feels different to just like tell them Santa exists versus to insist yeah when your kid is kind of like doubting it. Right. um So yeah, I found out pretty early on and I I think I didn't spoil it for anyone else. Like, I don't think I told my younger sister or anything. I just kind of was like, oh, damn. I did have I taught, you know, I taught a bunch of little kids music class in my house a long time ago and um it was like group music classes. And we had one about Christmas and
00:49:18
Speaker
one of the kids said something about Santa not being real and another kid was like violently <unk> defending Santa's existence and and it was I was like wow this kid is way too old to be believing in Santa that's crazy ah but I was like hey man go for it like with your childhood yeah right but the other kids were a lot younger and one of the kids was like what do you mean Santa's not real and then all the parents get this look on their face like oh crap you know and like I had to save it somehow and I was like what he means is that Santa you know and I made up some stupid way to get out of it or whatever but I just looked at the other kid and I was like
00:50:06
Speaker
Yeah, shut up, Daniel. Daniel.
00:50:13
Speaker
oh That's so funny. Pretty much. Pretty much. We wish you a merry Christmas. We wish you a merry Christmas. We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
00:50:31
Speaker
on that note On that note, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas from the bottom of our hearts and thank you for listening to our Christmas special.
00:50:49
Speaker
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00:51:17
Speaker
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