Brace yourselves, Christmas is coming! – a post by Ala Gibki

‘Christmas is too sparkly’… Said no one ever!  I see Christmas stuff everywhere I look, yet I still can’t get enough of it. I simply love all those lights. They not only look beautiful at night, they also mean a lot to me. I tell you, I have tons of childhood memories connected with them!

Have you ever wondered how other countries celebrate Christmas? A lot of them have similar customs as we do, but some have their own national traditions as well. I came across one of them like two years ago when I was studying Spanish at my previous high school. I’d love to show you a video about Lotería de Navidad, which is organized in Spain every year in December, because when I saw it for the first time, it broke my heart and fixed it all at the same time. It’s like an advertisement of Allegro, but from Spain. It moves me the same way.

The famous Spanish lottery is always held on December 22 and the biggest prize is called ‘el gordo’ which literally means ‘the big one’ or ‘the fat one’. Spanish people even created some phrases to talk about it, such as ‘tocarle el gordo a alguien’, which means ‘to win el gordo’.

El Gordo has a value of 4,000,000€ per whole ticket. After people get to know the results, in the morning all of the newspapers’ headlines tell the world who actually won. As there are thousands of losers, hope is the last thing to be lost, and the most heard line in the afternoon of December 22nd is always ‘oh well, at least we have our good health’.

As it’s just a few days left until Christmas, I wish you all the best and I hope you’ll enjoy your Christmas break. I believe that when you only want what you can’t really buy, that’s when you’re a mature person, so I wish you lots of happiness and joy. I hope you’ll spend this time with your family and you all will prepare yourselves for a new year, which, I hope, will make you meet new people and will bring you new memories and adventures!

8 Responses to Brace yourselves, Christmas is coming! – a post by Ala Gibki

  1. Holiday season is always a good moment to think about being a better person. And it’s so precious that people can find so many beautiful ideas to spread joy, hope and to show pure kindness. Maybe it’s just the Christmas vibes, but at least once a year people try to make the world warmer and fill it with love.

  2. I like your description of Christmas lights I have a similar experience and feelings considering this holiday. Christmas has always been important to me with its atmosphere and customs. Christmas always brings some kind of magic. I, like you, have very good memories about my childhood Christmas. It’s very interesting how Christmas is celebrated in Spain. The commercial you included in your post is nice too. I wish you a merry Xmas, just like the ones you used to have in your childhood.

  3. Very interesting traditions!
    I have spent my Christmas for many years with my family in Germany. There are very similar traditions to Polish, but for example, German children don’t have to wait for 1 star to open presents. Presents aren’t under the Christmas tree like in Poland, they are only put on the table. I was very surprised by this tradition. Germany’s favorite dish on Christmas is a roasted goose, they don’t like the favorite Polish carp.
    Merry Christmas everyone!

  4. I love Christmas time! I always feel this special atmosphere and the Christmas magic at the beginning of December. Baking cakes and decorating a Christmas Tree are my favourite activities.
    I think your article is great, because I have never heard about this Spanish tradition. It is really interesting. To tell you the truth, I have never thought about the Christmas traditions in other countries. How good it is sometimes to learn something more.
    In four days Christmas will start. Let’s prepare for it well and let’s spend it with our families. I wish you all the best for this Christmas time. Merry Christmas everyone!!

  5. I didn’t know about this lottery. Really interesting thing and this movie is worth watching. Definitely lottery is a better tradition than killing and eating carp. Poor fish 🙁

  6. Patryk Giżyński

    I’m thinking about Christmas. What we associate with Christmas? Christmas lights, Christmas tree, gifts and much more. These things are so deeply rooted in our culture. They create in us a feeling that everything is the same everywhere, but is not. On the example presented in this post Spanish people celebrate lottery. I didnt know about that and i’m glad you show us that. Thank you and happy Christmas!

  7. Christmas is great time i love spend it with family. We cook cakes and decorate a Christmas tree. I like look at colorful decorations on the houses. While christmas time i’m thinking about me and i try to be a better person and improve relationships with my family.

  8. I love Christmas and I always spend it with my family. We decorate the Christmas tree together and bake cookies. Spending family time in Christmas is great. We always have fun together.

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