Christmas Day worldwide - open presents December 245h, 25th, or in January?

Santa Claus is calling? When?

In the UK we used to say Father Christmas.

 In England, Christmas presents are opened on Christmas Day, December 25th. According to the Gregorian calendar. A neat number, although the day of the week varies. In 2025 Christmas Day is on a Thursday. 

German Christmas Traditions

The Germans open their presents on Christmas Eve. The British royal family stick to this tradition, which came from Queen Victoria's husband Albert.

But does Christmas eve start at sunset the day before?

Sunset Evening

Starting the next day at sunset is the way that it would have been for Jews at the time of Jesus, and how Orthodox Jews today still start and end the Sabbath.

But when does the next day start? According to modern thinking, at midnight. 

Midnight Mass - Europe and Roman Catholic

Another European tradition in Catholic countries and Cathedrals is Midnight mass. We went to Midnight mass one year in Prague. Midnight of course is the start of the next day.

When we went to live in Singapore, Christmas ended at midnight on December 25th. No Boxing Day.

Angela Lansbury happily holding the Singapore flag. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Taken in August, on Singapore National Day, circa 2022.

Christmas in Singapore and Asia

I had a Christmas message from Singapore from my friend Jaya, who is Indian with a Chinese wife. He called me at 9 am UK time which was 5 p.m. in Singapore. He told me that he is going to work on Boxing day which is a normal working day for him. His wife is a teacher in a European school so for her Christmas is a long holiday, extending over New Year, January 1st.

The Chinese who are the majority in Singapore will be having their big New Year celebration at the time of the Chinese New year, which other Asian countries call the lunar New Year, which varies according to the lunar calendar.

When I was a teenager my parents could avoid giving Christmas presents and the inconvenience of no public transport on Christmas Day by going for a beach holiday to Spain to enjoy warmer weather.

Those who want to celebrate twice could stay in the UK for a British Christmas, then hop across to Europe to a country where Christmas is celebrated on January 6th, known in England as 12th night, celebrated in the Christmas carol, the twelve days of Christmas. 

We are still sending or giving Xmas cards in the uk. Although whatsApp messages and gifs aee taking over.

Jif forwarded to me by an Indian friend in London.

What about the USA?

USA

American flag. Picture from Wikipedia.

The Americans say Happy Holidays, which covers Christmas and New Year, those who celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday as well as those who don't.

In restaurants and malls in the UK and other countries you hear English language carols, as well as the bilingual song, in Spanish and English, Feliz Navidad. Easy to recognize, like the words felicity, happiness, and nativity, birth, as well as to remember as the song keeps repeating the refrain.

So, to everybody, everywhere, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. and Happy Holidays.

Useful Website On Christmas and The Birth Of Jesus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_of_the_birth_of_Jesus#:~:text=Based%20on%20this%20winter%20solstice,held%20on%20the%20same%20date.

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St Patrick's Day green dress

 

Photo by Angela Lansbury.

I decided to wear green and orange for online meetings all through the month of March to celebrate St Patrick's day.  

The Flag of Eire

St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. His day fell on a Sunday this year, which is a great day since you can celebrate all day at the weekend.  But in the USA they start serving green drinks at pubs near universities before St Patrick's Day. 

I posed questions about St Patrick's Day at Toastmasters clubs in the UK and online to Asia. Many people in India have not heard of it, so I had a chance to enlighten them.

Green Colour

Why green? Ireland is known as the emerald Isle. The countryside is green. The same as other parts of the UK, notably Scotland, the lake district of England, where the water falling from the Westerlies, westerly winds, creates lakes.

St Patrick

St Patrick supposedly travelled from the mainland UK to Ireland to convert the Irish to Christianity. Now in Eire the majority are Roman Catholic, with the pope in the Vatican as the head of their church.

Snakes In Ireland

So the, story goes, had miraculous powers. He exterminated all the snakes in Ireland. Whilst it is true that there are no snakes in Ireland, and have been none since his time, researchers found that there were no snakes in Ireland earlier either. As they say, why let the truth get in the way of a good story. 

The Blarney Stone

Perhaps we should credit the famed Blarney stone. Legend says if you kiss it, it gives you the gift of the gab.

New York

The Irish Heritage Museum in New York has an exhibit about Irish dance dresses, which frequently have green, at least as a border.

The places to see Irish costumes next year include, pubs in the UK, pubs in Singapore and Malaysia, Japan and Korea,, The USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, especially Montreal, Moscow, 

If you want to stock up for next year, or buy second hand, look at Shein, Amazon, Temu and other places for green hats, ties, bow ties. You can also buy spectacle frames, scarves, stocks, bunting, and sleeves which look like tattoos.

Favourite motifs include shamrocks and leprechauns.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Day

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The Pilgrim's Way In Spain

The pilgrims' way in north-west Spain follows centuries of tradition. The story goes that the disciple of Jesus, James, went to Spain, but after a dream went back to Jerusalem where he was killed.

His body, or part of it was brought back. According to one legend, the body was lost at sea and later recovered covered in shells.

The place where he was laid to rest was called Santiago (Spanish for St James) di (of) Compostela (field of stars).

The pilgrimage route follows a marked path. Along the way are inexpensive hostels for religious pilgrims.

My friend who is Spanish did the walk. She told me and a room full of people about it at a Toastmaster International Club meeting in London, where she now lives. If you complete the walk, as she did, you can receive a small certificate in Spanish. If you are doing it as part of a religious and spiritual event, the Church will give you a grander certificate. But you need to have registered with the religious authorities at the start, in which case you are given a book which you can get stamped at every section along the way.

The symbol of the whole story is the shell. You can buy or be given a shell. In the middle ages, it served the practical purpose of being a scoop for drinking fresh water and also a plate.

The stops along the way are inexpensive hostels, which allocated firstly to registered pilgrims. The final stop is at a grand five star Parador by the cathedral.

If you want to know more about it, you can see details and photos in Wikipedia. If you can get a stay or a meal here, do so. I love the paradors. They are all converted historic buildings, after rescued fom ruins and restored, featuring local architecture, objects, and history plaques, and featuring regional food, designed to make tourists want to go around Spain spreading the tourism to benefit everybody.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

What to call your child? Names from places, months, birthdays, saints' days

Florence Nightingale was named after Florence in Italy, the bird, the Nightingale.

Placenames

Placenames include

Alexandria

Austin

Berlin (Isaiah Berlin)

Charlotte

Chelsea

Dallas

Florence (Florence Nightingale)

Helena

Israel

Jordan

Madison

Paris (Paris Hilton)

London (Jack London)

Problem
1 What to call your child?
2 What to call yourself if you want to translate your name to make it understandable to people who pick another language?

Answer
1 and 2 In Europe and Catholic countries such as in South America, or visiting a Catholic colleague in another country, pick a saint's name day.
Family dispute about the name? End of argument.

Story

Tip

Wikipedia has a list of the names in the Czech Republic. They leave out the national holidays. You can also check the

January

New Year's Day
Karina
Radmila
Diana
Dalimil
Tři králové
Vilma
Čestmír
Vladan
Břetislav
Bohdana
Pravoslav
Edita
Radovan
Alice
Ctirad
Drahoslav
Vladislav
Doubravka
Ilona
Běla
Slavomír
Zdeněk
Milena
Miloš
Zora
Ingrid
Otýlie
Zdislava
Robin
Marika

February
Hynek
Nela, Hromnice
Blažej
Jarmila
Dobromila
Vanda
Veronika
Milada
Apolena
Mojmír
Božena
Slavěna
Věnceslav
Valentýn
Jiřina
Ljuba
Miloslava
Gizela
Patrik
Oldřich
Lenka
Petr
Svatopluk
Matěj
Liliana
Dorota
Alexandr
Lumber
Horymír

March
Bedřich
Anežka
Kamil
Stela
Kazimír
Miroslav
Tomáš
Gabriela
Františka
Viktorie
Anděla
Řehoř
Růžena
Rút/Matylda
Ida
Elena/Herbert
Vlastimil
Eduard
Josef
Světlana
Radek
Leona
Ivona
Gabriel
Marián
Emanuel
Dita
Soňa
Taťána
Arnott
Kvido

April
Hugo
Erika
Richard
Ivana
Miroslava
Vendula
Heřman
Ema
Dušan
Darja
Izabela
Julius
Aleš
Vincenc
Anastázie
Irena
Rudolf
Valérie
Rostislav
Marcela
Alexandra
Evženie
Vojtěch
Jiří
Marek
Oto
Jaroslav
Vlastislav
Robert
Blahoslav

May
Labour Day
(May Day)
Zikmund
Alexej
Květoslav
Klaudie
Radoslav
Stanislav
National holiday
Ctibor
Blažena
Svatava
Pankrác
Servác
Bonifác
Žofie
Přemysl
Aneta
Nataša
Ivo
Zbyšek
Monika
Emil
Vladimír
Jana
Viola
Filip (English Philip)
Valdemar
Vilém
Maxmilián
Ferdinand
Kamila (English Camilla)

June
Laura
Jarmil
Tamara
Dalibor
Dobroslav
Norbert
Iveta
Medard
Stanislava
Gita
Bruno
Antonie (English Anthony or Antony)
Antonín
Roland
Vít
Zbyněk
Adolf
Milan
Leoš
Květa
Alois
Pavla
Zdeňka
Jan
Ivan
Adriana
Ladislav
Lubomír
Petr a Pavel
Šárka

July
Jaroslava
Patricie (English Patricia)
Radomír
Prokop
National holiday
National holiday
(Jan Hus, 1415)
Bohuslava
Nora
Drahoslava
Libuše/Amálie
Olga
Bořek
Markéta
Karolína (English Caroline or Carolyn)
Jindřich
Luboš
Martina
Drahomíra
Čeněk
Ilja
Vítězslav
Magdaléna
Libor
Kristýna (English Christina - short form Tina)
Jakub (English Jacob)
Anna
Věroslav
Viktor (English Victor)
Marta (English Martha)
Bořivoj
Ignác

August
Oskar (English Oscar)
Gustav
Millie
Dominik (English Dominic)
Cristián (English Christian)
Oldřiška
Lada
Soběslav
Roman
Vavřinec
Zuzana
Klára (English Clara)
Alena
Alan
Hana (English Hannah)
Jáchym
Petra
Helena
Ludvík
Bernard
Johana (English Johanna)
Bohuslav
Sandra
Bartoloměj
Radim
Luděk
Otakar
Augustýn
Evelína (English Evelyn)
Vladěna
Pavlína (English Pauline)

September
Linda/Samuel
Adéla
Bronislav/Bronislava
Jindřiška
Boris
Boleslav
Regina/Regína
Mariana
Daniela
Irma
Denisa (English Denise)
Marie (English Mary or Maria)
Lubor
Radka
Jolana
Ludmila
Naděžda
Kryštof
Zita
Oleg
Matouš
Darina
Berta
Jaromír
Zlata
Andrea
Jonáš
Václav
Michal (English Michael)
Jeroným

October
Igor
Olívie/Oliver
Bohumil
František
Eliška
Haunt
Justin (English Justin)
Věra
Štefan/Sára (English Stephen, Steven, Sarah)
Marina
Andrej (English Andrew)
Marcel
Renáta
Agáta
Tereza
Havel
Hedvika
Lukas (English Luke or Lucas)
Michaela (English Michael)
Vendelín
Brigita
Sabina
Teodor (English Theodore)
Nina
Beat
Erik (English Eric)
Šarlota/Zoe
National holiday
Silvie (English Sylvia)
Tadeáš
Štěpánka

November
Felix
All Souls' Day
Hubert
Karel
Miriam
Liběna
Saskie
Bohumír
Bohdan
Evžen
Martin
Benedikt (English Benedict)
Tibor
Sáva
Leopold (In English Leo for short)
Otmar
Mahulena
Romana
Alžběta
Nikola (In English Nicholas or Nicola)
Albert
Cecilia
Klement (English Clement)
Emílie
Kateřina (English Catherine or Katherine)
Artur (English Arthur)
Xenie
René
Zina
Ondřej

December
Iva
Blanka
Svatoslav
Barbora (English Barbara)
Jitka
Mikuláš
Ambrož
Květoslava
Vratislav
Julie
Dana
Simona (English Simon for a boy or Simone for a girl)
Lucie (In English more often Lucy or Lucia)
Lýdie
Radana
Albína
Daniel
Miloslav
Ester
Dagmar
Natálie
Šimon
Vlasta
Adam/Eva, Christmas Eve
1st Christmas Holiday
Štěpán (2nd Christmas Holiday) (English Stephen, Steven)
Žaneta
Bohumila
Judita (English Judith)
David
Sylvester

I have highlighted some of the names which are more common in English. Go to Wikipedia to see the days.
Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, speaker, language teacher.

Useful Websites

https://www.insider.com/baby-names-inspired-by-geography-cities-countries-travel-2017-7#1-florence-is-a-city-in-italy-but-also-comes-from-a-word-meaning-to-flourish-1

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