Xmas tag!!! 11 random facts about Christmas!!!

This time by Christina Chorianopoulou!!!
I have met Christina through the 30 Goals challenge and I think she is a wonderful educator! I hope to meet her in person some time soon! Maybe during the TESOL Greece Convention in March?

1. What’s the last thing you do before starting a lesson? Check on my notes and get coffee!!!
2. What’s the most difficult thing you’ve ever had to do? Attend my parents funerals. I don't think there is a worse thing than losing your own ...
3. Do you have a favourite quote? Which?

4. Which is your favourite city? My hometown Thessaloniki. Although I love traveling around other cities, I think my own town has a lot to offer!
5. How do you keep up-to-date with technology? Thank God we've got Shelly to inform us of what's new!
6. Dark or white chocolate? No chocolate at all! I am allergic to it!!!!
7. Who’s your favorite author(s)? I love Herman Hesse! His writing style is unique!
8. Which do you prefer, typing or handwriting? Why? My handwriting is illegible, so I'll go with typing!
9. Have you ever tried an extreme sport? No but I'd love to try bungee jumping one day!
10. What’s your first ever memory from your childhood? Meeting my dad for the first time in the age of 3 (he had been traveling because of his job). For me he was a strange man with a long beard! That's what happens is you have to be away from your kid for so long!!!! But I got used to the beard in no time!!! ha ha!
11. What do you wish for 2014? Health and personal fulfillment

And since it's Christmas today, I thought I should share 11 Xmas facts as well!!

1. Santa Claus in Greece is not St Nick. He is Saint Vasilios and we celebrate his name on January the 1st 
   
2. Children sing carols on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve in the morning! It's a custom that they get money for that (in the past people used to give them sweets and fruits instead)
   
3. Christmas morning mass begins at 6 or in some places at 5 am.
4. Some children also sing Carols before the Epiphany
5. On the Epiphany day, a cross is being thrown into the water, to bless it purify it. A lot of people dive into the frozen sea to get the cross. It is considered good luck if they catch it! 
   
6. Traditional Xmas sweets are Melomakarona and Kourabiedes 
   
7. According to tradition, during the Greek 12 days of Christmas (December 25 to January 6), goblins come out to tease people and eat their food. This tradition is based on the legend that the "waters aren't christened" since Christ has not yet been baptized. The goblins are renowned for their ugliness and their impishness. They are not very intelligent and can't really hurt anybody. It is said that they enter houses through chimneys, and this is the reason people, especially in villages, keep the fireplace lit during the 12 days of Christmas.
   
8.  Christopsomo is the bread that is made on Christmas Eve, which has a cross carved into the top crust before it is baked. On Christmas Day, the head of the household makes the sign of the cross above the loaf of bread, cuts it and gives a piece to each person at the dining table.
   
9.  Vasilopita is a cake that is eaten on New Year's Day. Before the cake is baked, a coin covered in foil is placed in it. The New Year is written on top of the cake with almonds. The person who cuts the cake makes the sign of the cross three times above it and then starts serving the pieces, one to each person, the house, Christ, The Virgin Mary and Saint Vasileios. Whoever has the coin in his piece of cake will have luck for the rest of the year.
   
   
   
   
   
10. The Christmas tree is an imported tradition. Traditionally Greeks would decorate a Christmas boat due to Greece's long marine history.
    
11. Merry Christmas in Greek is "Kala Christoygenna"
    

Take Care everybody and have a wonderful Christmas holiday