Some jokes
Some quotations
Christmas isn't a season. It's a feeling. -Edna Ferber
I once wanted to become an atheist, but I gave up - they have no holidays. -Henny Youngman
I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not included. -Bernard Manning
I wrapped my Christmas presents early this year, but I used the wrong paper. See, the paper I used said 'Happy Birthday' on it. I didn't want to waste it so I just wrote 'Jesus' on it. -Demetri Martin
Let's be naughty and save Santa the trip. -Gary Alla
When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs? -Gilbert K. Chesterton
Santa Claus has the right idea - visit people only once a year. -Victor Borge
There are some people who want to throw their arms round you simply because it is Christmas; there are other people who want to strangle you simply because it is Christmas. -Robert Staughton Lynd
Christmas is a time when you get homesick - even when you're home. ~Carol Nelson
Christmas is a time when kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it. Deficits are when adults tell the government what they want and their kids pay for it. ~Richard Lamm
I never believed in Santa Claus because I knew no white dude would come into my neighborhood after dark. ~Dick Gregory
From a commercial point of view, if Christmas did not exist it would be necessary to invent it. ~Katharine Whitehorn
Christmas is the season when you buy this year's gifts with next year's money. ~Author Unknown
Nothing's as mean as giving a little child something useful for Christmas. ~Kin Hubbard
Responsible consumerism
Some Songs
WHITE WINE
Some New Year's Resolutions
Something to read
Some traditions
New Year's Traditions
Auld Lang Syne
Every year, the streets ring with the same lilting song. Sweet, nostalgic, hopeful; "Auld Lang Syne" has become an absolute tradition in New Year's Eve celebrations.
And so, we sing. Or, at least, we sing the first couple of lines and politely mumble the rest into our champagne glasses. Despite its vast popularity, it's a song that very few people can actually recite the entirety of.
And so, we sing. Or, at least, we sing the first couple of lines and politely mumble the rest into our champagne glasses. Despite its vast popularity, it's a song that very few people can actually recite the entirety of.
The song, of course, derives from a 1788 Scots poem by Robert Burns; now set to the tune of a traditional folk song. Burns never intended his work to act as a farewell to the old year; it's a piece which partially reproduces, partially originally pens an older folk tune. He originally sent the piece to the Scots Musical Museum with a note, "The following song, an old song, of the olden times, and which has never been in print, nor even in manuscript until I took it down from an old man."
Auld Lang Syne in films
Dinner for oneA
German New Year's Tradition
German New Year's Tradition
- The same procedure as every year
It's a bit bizarre when you think about it. A short British cabaret sketch from the 1920s has become a German New Year's tradition. Yet, although "The 90th Birthday or Dinner for One" is a famous cult classic in Germany and several other European countries, it is virtually unknown in the English-speaking world, including Britain, its birthplace.
Although newer versions have been produced (including a Plattdeutsch radio version and CD versions in other dialects), every year around Silvester (New Year's Eve), German television broadcasts the classic, black-and-white English-language version filmed back in 1963 in Hamburg. All across Germany, from the 31st of December to January 1st, Germans know it's the beginning of a new year when they watch this annual event.
Some vocabulary
Games, Trivia, etc
BBC World Service | Quizzes | Quiznet | Christmas
Learning English - 6 Minute English - Festive feelings
http://www.insideout.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/NIO520-Christmas-quiz.pdf
http://www.insideout.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/NIO520G-Christmas-quiz.pdf
Some Christmas recipes
BBC - Food - Occasions : Christmas recipes and menus
Some links
BBC - Culture - 10 great but overlooked Christmas movies
Some adverts & traditions
he John Lewis & Partners Christmas advert is a television advertising campaign released by British department store chain John Lewis & Partners . Theylaunched their first Christmas advert in 2007. It has since become something of an annual tradition in British popular culture, and one of the signals that the countdown to Christmas has begun in the UK.[ The adverts tend to attract widespread media coverage and acclaim upon their release.[
The songs used in the advertising campaigns are (excluding 2018) covers of existing songs by different artists. They have often reached high positions on the UK Singles Chart, and the original versions often receive a sales boost.
Youtube parodies go viral every year.
The adverts have led to some fierce competition, most notably from Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer and Boots.