IGN:*Lucky*

Server:S387

UID:200000100111297

Christmas is built upon a beautiful and intentional paradox that the birth of the homeless should be celebrated in every home, that's why I should invite every family member and my closest friends to join me while enjoying a great moment after a year of pain, cooking some food we like and drinking soda then watching home alone to remember our childhood, then we should go out and start to share some food clothes etc with the homeless people.

ING: DrunkenPro, Server: S853, UID:300059867446914

Oh Oh Oh, season is back in action with full swing and best festival to spread happiness to all. My journey began growing up watching Naruo, had various deep connections in my life until date. The anime beautifully portrays multiple mixed emotions and helps to understand the importance of "Life" and no matter how difficult challenges we face in life "Never Give Up". Whist 2014, I had an fatal accident and was under coma for 3 days and was worrisome to the family and with the blessings of the almighty I had recovered. Suffering the pain and urge to recover, I used to think of Obito who was undergoing the same scenario to become strong by having "the will of fire" and finally I joined the Naruto OAS community.

The beginning in the game was difficult and as days passed by, I earned lot of active friends working together for daily events, understanding each other and also get to know them personally though various social media and became an "Family". After few years, servers merged and circle expanded bigger and bigger. Each X'mas, we had conduct simple fun events and award our group members with cps (Red Envelopes). The Joy of sharing such rewards to all group members gives us immense pleasure and satisfaction. At present, we have planned to share gifts in players across the globe as an sovereign and due to climate changes recently, nights are freezing cold, I have purchase 50 blankets & stationary items to the needy and we will continue to do the same in upcoming years ahead. I would like to end the message by saying the famous quote "No one has ever become poor by giving - Mother Teresa".

IGN: AyanaK

Server:S1372

UID: 200000091710673

For me, Christmas is the smell of freshly picked oranges, the smell of Sweet Bread made by my grandmother and my burning desire to eat it immediately soaked in wine. When I decorate the tree, and I wait excited for the gift to come under it. When we go to relatives on the 25th, to have a family meal and laugh, to exchange experiences and warm words. It's my grandmother's hug, and the strong smell of sweets in the house. It's the sound of wood burning in the fireplace, and the soundtrack of the movie Home Alone. It's the first Harry Potter movie with Cacao (It’s cocoa powder that you mix with milk – kind of different from Hot Chocolate). Christmas is the time when you wake in the middle of the night to go to the toilet and look out the window and see the city covered in snow, untouched by any car or human foot. And you stay at the window, good minutes, and look at the view and the untouched snow. You have a feeling of calm and happiness. What could be purer than that?

I believe that there are two types of people on Christmas: People who have been taking the Christmas spirit since November, when decorations have their place on the shelves of shops and the temperatures is getting lower. When people find themselves in hoodies and sweaters, with a cup of warm chocolate with marshmallows in their hand, browsing the TV and seeing the schedule of TV programs full of Christmas movies. And the second category is the people who leave any type of shopping related to Christmas in the last week, when they decide to decorate the tree, to buy candies so that they can receive carolers properly. I certainly belong to the first category. As a scorpion, I prefer to use the idea of my birthday to convince me that it is ok to buy so many new decorations every year, and I leave myself manipulated by the multitude of glitter and color. I and my family have the tradition of buying a new globe every year. Even If that year we couldn't afford to buy many things, yet in the symbol of tradition we had a new globe, regardless of the price. In other years we bought several globes when we had a better material situation regarding the money, but what I want to emphasize is that, even in times when we were struggling, we always had a new globe. Now that I work and decide what to do with the money, a large part of them go to Christmas Decorations in November.

One of my favorite traditions is decorating the Christmas tree. Dad takes the Christmas tree out of the attic, and then I try to think of 2 predominant colors of the globes I want. The tree is decorated with red-pink, red-silver or red-blue. I spend about 2 hours decorating it. After that I decorate the exterior, we have the installation on our house from last year so that’s done, and the only thing that's left it's to put tinsel on the columns of the house and on the staircase. I also have a Christmas Wreath that comes on the door. I really like to surprise my loved ones with gifts, and to spend time with my loved ones, so I look for the right gifts in time and I don't leave them on the last hundred meters. My mother usually wraps them up because I don't know how to do it.

One of the traditions I do with my friends is to get together on a Saturday at someone's house from my friend group, drink Cacao and watch Home Alone together. It is the film of our childhood, played on TV every year.We get together every year and do Secret Santa.

In the part where I live in Europe, we have many traditions that many people in the rest of the world can regard as barbaric. But they lead to the preparation of the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth like cutting the pig, setting the tire on fire. But I think it would be good to skip over them and move on to the beautiful traditions. Carolers is like Halloween for American children. But here too, adults participate and have their own thing. This is called "a merge cu capra" and they wear masks, costumes and dance and use certain tools to play music. They pass through villages, towns - even in town people come to the window, attach the money to a * and let it go to be able to pay the carolers. For adults, money is given, but for children, in some parts of the country people can give sweets, nuts or oranges instead of money. I love to hear something like that, it's like the snowdrops flower announcing the coming of spring, these carolers being the harbingers of Christmas. Every year, we open the door to carolers (young children) to listen to their poetry and give them pennies. The joy and happiness of children's faces is everything. My grandmother used to feed some children every Christmas. They knocked on her door every year, and she rewarded them with good food. ( see this if you wanna see a example of the "a merge cu capra" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53mzsSomI6Q)

Children and the elderly go to church a week before Christmas. People over the age of 7+ (those under they skip the confession and can go directly under the table and then to the other priest), go to a priest to confess their sins, and then are allowed to go under the table about 5 times and to leave a flower on it. Afterwards, (even babies a few months old) go to another priest to get wine from a silver s* that symbolizes the blood of Jesus, and pieces of bread that symbolize his body. After children grow up and become teenagers, they do not practice this tradition until they become parents. I miss the moments when I was a child, and I didn't have to participate in cooking. The moments when I was waiting at the kitchen door and looking fascinated over the tasty food prepared by my grandmother. I think I can still smell it now. Now my mother and I prepare food two days before Christmas. My parents and I, compared to traditional food, we eat baked chicken with raisins and dark beer every year because it is very good, and on New Year's Eve we are not allowed to eat chicken because tradition says "we would go back like chicken" and we would must "go before like the fish." Some of the traditional food my mom's make is: roast gammon, pork chops, polenta, cabbage rolls, sweet bread and honoring the pig.

On the evening of the 24th, Santa Claus distributes gifts to adults and children who have been kind. Many of the children try to stay awake so they can actually catch Santa. I remember when I was little that I lived with my grandparents and on holidays with my parents. My parents only had one bedroom, so I slept with my mom when I came to visit and my dad in the living room. I remember doing the Christmas tree in the living room and it was the only night a year I slept with my father. I was trying to catch Santa but I never made it. I can't even say that I slept with him the whole night, I woke up around 2-3 am every time, took the presents, the pillow and went back to my mother's room.

On the 25th, the priest comes in the morning, both to the city and to the village, to bless everyone’s house. It is the day when mothers wake up their children in the morning to prepare for the coming of the priest - my mother is no different. Waiting for the priest is very tiring, because you wake up and it takes a long time for the priest to get to your house. The priest go through all the houses with the “icoana” and the holy water. Afterwards, the families gather at the table and eat the food prepared a week before. My parents and I go to relatives every year on this day. They live about two hours away from us, so we don't see them very often. Christmas is an opportunity to spend time with them.This Christmas I'm going to make snowman-shaped muffins to bring them. And this year will be beautiful! I wish everyone a happy holiday and success in this contest.

UID：200000099141120; UK Server S363: Third Mizukage; In-Game Name: AsukaIshimaru

Whenever I see Christmas decoration and festive food, or hear Christmas themed songs in shops around late October/ early November already, I just want to facepalm and release my entire soul with the deepest sigh ever, then bury myself at home in my writing and reading nook instead of exposing myself to this festive preparation madness, and only emerge again on the 1st of December. As my family and I are not really religious (the last person who actively went to church at Christmas Midnight Mass was my late grandmother), this is just too much of a fuzz for us. To quote Shikamaru: “How troublesome!”

However, there are actually parts about the Christmas preparations and celebrations which I genuinely enjoy. But it is not until early December that I get started on them. Let me tell you about them!

Over here people put up advent wreaths and light one candle on each of the four Sundays of Advent before Christmas. So buying four candles and decorating the advent wreath is one of the first things I do to get myself into Christmas mood. And it’s nice to have some sort of weekly ‘Christmas Countdown’ paired with the atmosphere of candlelight. This year I chose black and golden candles and added matching baubles of varying sizes to the wreath, then set the whole thing up on the dinner table. Looks fancy, but I like it!

My husband likes sweets very much, so I set about preparing and filling an Advent Calendar for him next. Throughout December and up until the 24th he then can find some chocolate, candy or little messages from me behind its doors each day.

Sometimes he would play random traditional Christmas songs on his guitar, but other than that we don’t really listen to Christmas themed music unless we have to.

Making and/or finding presents for friends, neighbours and family takes more time and effort though, especially if I write stories or make some artworks to give. But I genuinely like thinking about the things they might enjoy and coming up with things to give them that hopefully make them smile. Wrapping them is not my forte, however, and some of the presents need to be sent by mail so they might receive them even if I can’t meet them in person. (Aside from the whole covid situation, I just can’t go travelling around the globe as much as I’d like to.)

This is the second year in our new home, and also the second Christmas during the pandemic, so everything needs to be more quiet and careful. Thus huge family get-togethers like we used to attend are not an option. Instead, we’ll just have dinner with my parents at our home on Christmas Eve, and visit the in-laws on Christmas Day for lunch, then some online parties and gaming sessions with friends come Boxing Day.

This is also the part I’m looking forward to the most: together with my mother I plan the menu for our Christmas dinner. Most people over here only have sausages and potato salad on Christmas Eve… but we don’t do that. We (both my parents, my husband and I) cook a full 4-5 course meal together on the 24th of December, then enjoy the feast together, and in between servings we exchange presents under the Christmas tree, and afterward play some parlor games when food coma ensues.

This year I got my husband interested in joining the ‘baking spree’ as well after he saw me prepare food for the NO Christmas Group Events on discord, and he seems to have taken a liking to it, so we ended up having 8 kinds of cookies stuffed into cookie jars by now. (Luckily, they won’t last long, as they turned out really well.)

Apropos of Christmas tree: usually around the 3rd weekend of Advent they sell trees on the village market square and the earnings go to charity, so we support that. Normally I’d go for a blue spruce, as they smell really nice and I don’t mind the needles being more prickly, but apparently this year was a bad year for growing spruces, so instead we bought a Nordmann fir, which-- sadly-- doesn’t smell at all but the needles are quite soft, so it’s easier to decorate. I still have a whole box with various baubles, fairly lights, garlands, candles and ribbons, which I inherited from my grandparents, but I also add bits and bobs to the decoration repertoire every now and then. Decorating the tree usually is my ultimate preparation for the celebrations to come and the last step I take before the get-together.

And then there are the NO community events, here on the forum and on discord, which help get me into Christmas mood as well – and get me to connect and make friends with more people playing this game outside of my server cluster, which is nice and fun, but also keeps me even more busy th4n usual. Thank you, everyone! It’s been a blast!

So, I guess, this year is kind of special in many ways… Anyway, I hope you enjoy the holidays, and see you next year!

In Game Name: Iris

UID: 200000090087544

My Server: S154 - Ninja Monkey

My Server Region: UK

For Orthodox Christians who follow the Julian calendar, Christmas falls on January 7. However, January 6 is also important and there are a number of customs associated with this day. It also has its own specific name - Badnjidan (from term *badnjak* which represents specific part of tree - usually oak, but it can be some other depending of region - which is cut in early morning of that day by head-male of household alongside sons/grandsons).

When he chooses the right tree, the host turns to the east, crosses himself three times, mentions God, Saint - protector of his home and tomorrow's holiday, takes an ax in his hands and starts with cutting. According to popular belief, *badnjak* must be cut with three strong *s. What the ax does not cut three times, it needs to be finished by breaking or twisting. *Badnjak* symbolically represents the tree that the shepherds brought and that the righteous Joseph pledged in the cold cave when Christ was born - tho today it's know that this has connection with Slavic paganism and beliefs too from time Slavs weren't Christians, but about it another time. When tree is cut, it's brought to home and put close to door until evening. Today, in big cities at least, closest bazaar works out pretty well too.

During all of that girl, woman, grandaugters and grandmothers would start preparating food for that and next day. January 6th is last fasting day (out of 40) and food which usually u can find on table that day are baked beans, fish, a lot of vegetables and torshi. Specific type of meat is prepared on that day too, for Christmas.

After dinner, it's time to for *pijukanje* - basically a custom in which kids are main participians. We would sit on the ground in circle of big hallway while adults would be behind us preparing for show and laugh. Smallest children would sit in lap of one adult which would basically do their work. Lights go off and main lady of household would grab big plastic bowl full of candies, welnuts, small chocolate bars etc and with hand throw it in middle of circle while calling for her "chickens". Kids are quacking like a chickens and grabing with hands as much sweets as they can in complete darkness. False accusations would always be made about someone cheating and having additional help of adults, especially if there is the one type of candy which all kids want, but whole event would always end up in laugh. In the end, this day is all about forgivness and making peace with everyone you ever had fight with. Grabbed sweets are for tomorrow, however, which means kids aren't allowed to eat any of it - on that way parents would teach children about patience. Not happy when i recall that part -_-

Česnica - specific type of bread which can, but doesn't have to be sweet, would be kneated on this evening too and it's first thing which will be tasted on Christmas morning, after specific custom being done tho. How it's gonna be made depends from region.

End of the evening ends with one more custom which is mix of paganism and christianity, beside making bread and oask tree itself - burning badnjak. In big cities (around 7-8pm usually), people who live around churches would go there and put their *badnjak* on same spot. It would be blessed by priest, sometimes wine and honey would be spread all over trees and set on fire. Kids, including me too, would poke it with smaller branches while saying specific words to wish for blessed year. Flame could lasts for hours, sometimes even up to 5am! In rural areas, neighbors sometimes would have competition who will have bigger flame xD

Several customs were skipped - for the sake of every reader who dared to pay attention to this big text. I described only ones which are staying strong in my memory and keep being cherished.

Oh, Christmas, a date beautiful, grand, and decorated , A remarkable and unforgettable date that celebrates a beautiful thing, Each year that passes Christmas becomes more grand and beautiful, Every Christmas that comes I always prepare days or even weeks before, decorating the Christmas tree and of course, Talking to my family about the date and how we would spend it, I mostly select clothes that have to do with the Christmas atmosphere, to be commemorative, For Christmas , I love spending most of my time always with my family, disconnecting a bit from today's technology, I take this date to spend with my family and friends, let go of what is not important and forget about the hurts , I do everything for everyone to spend Christmas with the maximum amount of positive energy, as it is a beautiful date that cannot be overlooked. Christmas is one of the most memorable things of the year, besides that, it is also one of the most memorable dates beautifuls of the year,

Christmas is something amazing, that's why it's one of my favorite dates of the year, apart from the food that my family and I prepare, something extremely delicious, and then there's dessert, which is even better. I always try to help when they prepare the food When the day turns to Christmas, we all thank each other, open presents and then go eat, then everyone talks, tidy things up and then we drive to some places, see the decorations and buy some things, and this is my Christmas, something that can be considered by many, too simple, but for me it's something amazing because it's a date where the whole family gets together and spends the whole date talking and having fun.

Merry Christmas!

Servidor:1860 - Warm winter|UK
Nickname:Liz
Uid:300013664336184

In-Game Name: Sukuna
Region: HK
Server: S26: Kisame
UID: 200000096368823

SUKUNA ==== This is the holiday season and Christmas fever is upon me. Windows are garlanded in green and red, yards are alight with reindeer decoration and milling crowds of shoppers and neighbors fill the streets, stores and malls. I put up my tree last week for a upcoming exquisite day. Had to assemble it first - then I threw an artificial yule log on the propane augmented fire and began to reminisce about Christmases past. This holidays tend to do that - and I found myself remembering another Christmas in another time ... like another place.

As I crumble in my own mind during chill of winter - while I sat down, hearing my family laughing and have a good time, something ticking inside my head. So, what is winter actually like? The answer is not that difficult, basically, it is cold and it is dark. The further my mind travelling to nowhere, the rain turns to sleet and snow, and the temperatures drop low enough to discourage much of the outdoor work and play - that human beings enjoy the rest of the year, and the days are shorter, with so many more hours of darkness.

My nerve getting numb, my mind is echoing. Later, that unsolved puzzle inside my head that leave no clue behind but only curiosity, lead me from nowhere to wander to people in the medieval eras. I see myself there - alone, sad, no roof to sheltered from snow. Its going deeper as I ask myself, what must it have been like for him, to have a family to be loved, a friends to be hold.

I felt bad seeing him, or reflection of me, sitting there alone, catch by a winter snow. I embrace myself, began to take a step, to get closer - closer - and closer. As I approaching him, something - a barrier, separate me from reaching myself. I become clueless - why is this happening as I try to help others? Then, a girl come across between him and I, she notice something different on this man. As her eyes look deeply into him - she can see, she can feel, she can ... do something to help those poor empty soul.

As her start asking him why he is sitting there alone, he lift up his face and looks directly into her eye, he said - I just want to ... [BLANK]

==== I just woke from my deep dreams from my family laughter. My family ask me to join they under a Christmas tree, sharing a stories and have some cookies. As I want turn their offer down - I realize that I have taking granted on others, on myself. I stood there, space out, thinking. What if I'm that man, alone with no family to be loved nor friend to be hold. Then, something telling me, the chill go through my spine - trigger back to that prior moment.

I remember, the words that the man want say, he said: I just want to be WITH MY FAMILY. Without noticing, I speak that sentences out loud, heard by family. They smile and we have an awkward hugs - as I try to hold my man tears.

Merry Christmas and have a great day with your families.

New Year is a magical time for every person, of any age. This holiday is eagerly awaited all year round. It is on this night that so many miracles happen that even the most inveterate critics begin to believe in New Year's magic. Hearts are filled with love, and the house is an incredible festive atmosphere.

With the onset of winter, everything ats to around becomes incredibly harsh and impregnable. Drifts of snow conceal unknown and unfathomable secrenyone, and sunlight strives to break through this snow cover. The surrounding snow-white shroud foreshadows everyone's favorite holidays. Everyone, without exception, is waiting for New Year and Christmas. These two holidays are put at the head of all celebrations.

New Year is usually held in every family according to certain traditions. For some, the place of celebration is not changeable year after year, for others the content of the table, and for the rest the composition. This holiday is considered a family one, because it is on this night that the whole family gathers at the table and they are united by the same celebration.

The New Year in my family goes like this ... Everyone gathers at our house. At least 10 people are sitting at the table. Mom and I are setting the table and cooking, while dad is shopping and organizing the Christmas tree and the holiday in general.

On New Year's Eve, there is a tradition of making a wish at 00:00, to the chimes. At this time, we light the sparklers and wish each other all the best, who wants what. Then we go to start up the fireworks, and the adults exchange gifts, and the children find their gifts from Santa Claus under the tree. Magic level at maximum. A joyful atmosphere after that reigns in the house for a long time.

I believe that the New Year should not be measured by age standards - it is a worldwide holiday. On this night, you can experience the incredible power of renewing everything. The year changes, people change, opinions and views on things change. Almost everything is amenable to change, our life becomes even more eventful and vibrant. We must find the strength to stay afloat every subsequent year. Our task is to sail on the wave set by the rookie year.

Ign: Siberia

Server: S1677

UID: 300018933369248

For the family, Christmas is a time of reunion and relaxation. After a year of dedication and work, the *tered family nucleus can finally meet and spend a few days together. No snow falls where I reside, and instead a strong summer interrupts the joy of the season. Even so, the intention is to beautify the home and the Christmas tree, to enjoy as a family the festivity that was borrowed from us; since it is not a native tradition here. For this, the siblings travel to the city where they were born, where their parents live, along with their partners, to visit them and spend Christmas and New Year's together. Among the activities, the family is used to prepare a local type of Olivier Salad and serve it as dinner. Before the 24th is over, we prepare our glasses of wine and chat in the living room about our experiences of the year. By the time midnight arrives, we give each other a warm hug and congratulate each other on the occasion as a family; while in the distance we hear the songs for dancing.

IGN: NarutoKun

Server: S1802

Region: NY

UID: 200000097755291

Region: HK

Server: S343 - Blade Dance

UID: 200000098175914

Ho Ho Ho! Tis’ the season to be ……. uh what was the word again?......Joll………. Jollibee?!?! (Fastfood chain in the Philippines, think of McDonald’s but with extra flavor ).

Ahh…… It’s that time of the year again…. a time where we remember and celebrate our relationship and bonds with the people we love. Where do I begin? Hmm…. I guess let’s start at the early months of September or October, where me and my family will start making or buying decorations and ornaments in preparation for Christmas. I know, sounds weird right? To a lot of people, they’ll usually say “Why are you celebrating Christmas on September?” or “It’s not even December yet!” but if you’re where I’m from, it’s completely normal . In my country, We’ll find any excuse to celebrate anything! And Christmas is one of the biggest traditional and important event for us Filipinos. This is due to the fact that the Philippines is highly Christianized back when it was under Spanish rule, then it was highly westernized by the United States when the Philippines became part of the United States back in the year 1898 where the United States overthrew the Spanish rule. So for the people in Philippines, we will usually start Christmas quite early, as early as September! After we have made or bought the decorations and ornaments, we will then proceed to put them on the gate, the outer walls of the second floor of the house, and the garden which will be illuminated by Christmas lights for everyone to see and feel the Christmas spirit! After we finish decorating the outside, we then start decorating the inside of the house. We bring out the Christmas tree from the storage that was bought long ago and clean it up and decorate it, then we *ter the Christmas lights onto the walls.

As months pass and December almost comes, we then go Christmas shopping to buy gifts for various people, whether it be for a business or a personal gift, and wrap them at home afterwards with a special note attached for the recipients. Back in the day, we used to go to a temple where me and other kids, usually my relatives and/or kids of the friends of my parents, play around and sometimes play some games with rewards at hand hosted by the temple. In my school days, we always had a Christmas party in our class every year and we had an exchange gift giving after where beforehand we had picked (without peeking of course!), usually a piece of paper, with a name of a classmate. We called it “bunot-bunot” or “bunutan” which means to pull or draw (imagine like a raffle or something ).

Today, me and my friends would celebrate Christmas usually by going out to a mall and watching a movie and afterwards eat dinner at some restaurant or we would go somewhere exciting and do some fun and incredible activities together like Bowling, Kart Racing, Sky Diving, and/or any other things we would come up with. Meanwhile, my family and I would plan out what food to make for the day and we would all chip in to help either buy the ingredients or help with the cooking, if someone couldn’t help in the making or preparation of the meals, they’d be stuck as the “dishwasher” role (which was me AHAHAHA , but I’ve grown and learned and know how to cook now! ) .

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

~Blitz

Whenever I see boys and girls.... (image you can hear )

Christmas time is the most joyful time of the year. In the Philippines, the holiday season starts at the beginning of September thus we call it the BER months. Prior to the BER months, people are sharing memes about Jose Mari Chan because apparently, his songs have become iconic and also meme material when approaching the holiday season! XD

During the Christmas season, you can .already feel the flair of the holiday spirit, especially in shopping malls. You can hear a bunch of Christmas songs played inside the establishments especially Jose Mari Chan’s and Mari Carey’s “All I want for Christmas is you”. Christmas decorations are heavily present from large Christmas trees, Santa Claus statues, reindeers, photo booths, snowman’s, Christmas lights, and artificial snow. Even though our country is tropical we still enjoy white Christmas inside malls and enjoy the strong air-conditioner of the building. People will also enjoy hanging around the cities, tourist spots, and markets because of the discount privileges present in the holiday season like the malls, amuse*ment parks, cinemas, toy stores, clothing stores, restaurants, e-commerce shops (looking at you 11.11/12.12 shopee) and etc.

Children or rather everyone are the most excited during Christmas because of the season because of gifts, candies, toys, parties, and carolings. Caroling is personally my favorite part of the season because I have the excuse to roam around the neighborhood and the whole town with my cousins during my childhood days. We often made instruments from tansan or flattened bottle caps to make a tambourine, or cans filled with tiny b@lls inside to make maracas or just use hands to clap. We sang a song from Christmas song verse along with a group of children from house to house in order to receive coins as prizes. It’s like trick-or-treat but instead of candies, they hand out pennies or bills. Afterwards, we children (at that time) savor our hard-earned money from caroling to buy ice cream, candies, small toys and fireworks at the roadside. It was a good time to bond with my cousins whenever they visit us from another province. Adults also enjoy Christmas caroling by bringing a guitar and performing a band with a dance number and singing a song which is a lovely sight to see.

Culturally we have a traditional lantern called parol (star lantern) that is hung outside the houses, schools, and other business establishments. Over time the parol has evolved or improvised/altered from bamboo to electric lanterns, recycled lanterns and so on. Schools often make parol making contests to showcase students’ creativity in making lanterns. Also, the school organize plays in stages especially the nativity to reenact the birth of Jesus. Christmas party are also prominent among schools and workplaces when students and employees are preparing for what food they eat, the venue, attire, and the most importantly the secret Santa exchange gifts. When the Christmas party approaches the people will enjoy it because of dancing, singing, raffle games with amazing prizes, and exchanging of gifts. But before anything else, during exchanging presents everyone will form a circle to perform the song “I love my Manito/Manita” as a Christmas party tradition in the country (my personal fave) because of the excitement and anticipation of who is going to give and receive.

Family Christmas reunions are a thing here because all family relatives gather in one place and celebrate together to approach Christmas day. Children of the whole neighboorhood hang around outside to interact, play and lit fireworks while adults play karaoke and prepare for Noche Buena. When it’s already 12 everyone will feast on the food and drinks accompanied with entertainment. It’s the same scenario during the new year but instead of the Noche Buena feast it's called Media Noche and also moooore louder and dangerous fireworks namely Goodbye Philippines, Judas belt, triangle and so on…Filipinos particularly have a belief that during the new year one should collect 12 different kinds of round fruits because it’s good luck for approaching the new year and people should leap and shout “Happy New Year” loudly to grow taller (already did this countless but still I am very short until now )

Although the Pandemic has changed the way Filipinos celebrate we still find a way to communicate with our Family and Friends through a digital approach. Bayanihan spirit is still present amongst Filipinos on how we help each other during calamities and gave change to the less fortunate to celebrate Christmas by donating through foundations like old clothes, toys, food, money, and so on. I believe that the essence of Christmas in the Philippines is not only gift-giving alone but to share the joy and pain of one another. Once again, Merry Christmas and Happy new year! (≧◡≦)

edit: grammar*

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IGN: Ella

Region: HK

Server: 474 - Shinobi World

UID: 300042138834033

IGN: Teds ᴾᴴ

Server : S1721

Region : HK

UID : 356622780734975

GIVING IS SHARING THAT'S MY CHRISTMAS WAY!

It's Christmas Season again,a time to celebrate with our family and friends including my special someone. We usually set about planning what to do on Christmas on the First of December. We all agreed on food to prepare and its menu, a minimum amount required for Family Exchange Gift and for Fireworks Display and Other important needs. We agreed on the amount of budget and the family members' contribution for all the plans we set on Christmas. I am sure that we will have a bountiful and a Merry Christmas this season. My excitement was torn apart when a tragedy happened in our neighboring Provinces. They were struck by Typhoon Rai, it was December 16, 2021 that I saw on the news how these people were devastated so much, their homes were gone, flash floods were all over the place, many trees were uprooted and some were totally cut out. There was no electricity and no water and no food for the affected families as the news continued.

My Father and Mother saw that news and they felt sadness on the issue. During that morning, My Mother called us via Video Call, she openly told us the current situation of our neighboring provinces and how bad their situation is in that area . She explained to us the importance of Christmas and the essence of it. She told us that they wanted to help them in any way. Although my mother does not obligate us to do so, I know there was something with her tone. I’ve suggested that what about if we will just do our simple celebration on Christmas and instead give the higher portion of our budget as a Donation by buying Rice, Canned Goods, Noodles, Blankets, Mats, Water and Emergency Kits and deliver it to the Armed Forces of the Philippines or Department of Social Welfare and Development for their Relief Distribution. When my Mother heard those suggestions, her eyes looked surprised and happy. I know that’s the thing she wanted to hear from us. And so we agreed on the very purpose that we will celebrate Christmas in a simple way and give the best portion to the victims of the Typhoon Rai. I talked to all of my friends and told them the news happening with the victims of Typhoon Rai. They have also promised to give their share on our Donation Drive.

So, by the Morning of December 18, we all go to groceries and buy the necessary items for the Donation, My Mother and Father was negotiating for their Rice Purchase, Me and my brother were in charge for buying CAnned goods, Noodles, Bottled Water while my Sisters were in charge of buying Blankets, Mats and Emergency Kits. After we all purchased the Items, we agreed to meet up in our Donation Drive Location and handed all of our goods and items to the Incharge.

It’s so tiresome doing it all day, but we are so happy that in our own little way, we help our fellow Filipinos in easing their frustrations in life. I know Christmas is not all about new and beautiful dresses, shoes and pants and delicious food on your tables but is all about how you’re willingly giving to others in dire need. I am so happy that I celebrated my Christmas this way!

To all of my Kababayans, we can do it! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!