An International Merry Olde Christmas with quotes and pix

Vesele Vianoce a stastny Novy Rok

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in Slovakian

plate of traditional Slovak cookies

http://www.slovakcooking.com/

Well, it has been a bit of a rough week. Hence, no postings.

Sorry!

I hope you have all been busy decorating for a celebration

visiting friends and family

reaching out to neighbors

enjoying some special food and treats

and smiling a lot!

Santa Claus Academy trainees, 2011 Tokyo, Japan

photo credit Yoshikazu Tsuno

I find it so sad around holidays when people's tempers are short,

the driving is more aggressive

the kids whine more

the parents holler more

with lots of pushing and bustling and

well,

really,

doing everything OPPOSITE of what the season is all about!

vintage Christmas card

"It is not the magnitude of our actions

but the amount of love

that is put into them that matters."

- Mother Teresa

I'd like to share with you some photos of celebrations around the world.

Some celebrate Grandfather Frost,

some Father Christmas;

some celebrate Santa Claus,

some Kris Kringle.

Some will focus on Mary, the mother of Jesus,

and some will focus on the Christ child;

some will decorate with nativities and wise men,

and some will decorate with angels and harps.

There is glizty bling, and simple carved wood.

Candles, icicles, oranges, stockings and green trees -

no matter what your tradition or style,

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve mass

Surabaya, Indonesia

"Sharing and giving are the ways

of God."

- Sauk Indian proverb

Rodrigo de Freitas Lake, 2011  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

photo by Andre Durao

siblings checking out the new lawn decor

Brea, California, USA

photo courtesy of Mindy Schauer

"The Angel Blesses

Christmas Day

while little children

Play."

- vintage verse

Santa Claus in Jammu, India

nydailynews

French soldier, United Nations Interim Force in Deir Zifa, Lebanon

"Christmas waves a magic wand

over this world,

and behold,

everything is softer

and more beautiful."

- Norman Vincent Peale

Decorating at a shopping mall in Beijing, China

photo credit Andy Wong  2011

Harrods 26th parade with Father Christmas London, England 2011

photo credit Steve Finn

2010 Annual Half-naked Santa Run, Budapest, Hungary

photo credit Bernadett Szabo

"Like snowflakes,

my Christmas memories gather and dance -

each beautiful, unique

and too soon gone."

- Deborah Whipp, web designer

tree lighting in Tyn church, Old Town Square, Prague, Czechoslovakia

photo credit Michal Cizek  2011

Time for me to go do some things.

If you have a family tradition that you would like to share,

just leave a comment.

My comment section is easy to use, and you don't have to sign up for anything!

Upcoming -

how do the animals celebrate Christmas?

:0)

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

http://www.inkspiredmusings.blogspot.com/

A Closet Chatty Cathy...and Holiday Greetings from around the globe

Frohliche Weihnachten

und

ein gluckliches Neues Jahr!

(put those double .. above the 'u' in gluckliches)

(Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in German.)

traditional Christmas market in Frankfurt, Germany

photo courtesy of Frank Rumpenhorst

from a wonderful photo series put together by Lane Turner

2011

the town of Basel in the Black Forest, Switzerland

In Switzerland there are 4 languages officially spoken.

French

German

Italian

Romansh

The first three are becoming the more popular 'official' languages,

although there is still a small population that speaks Romansh.

Just thought that was interesting!

:0)

Joyeux Noel!

[again, put those double .. above the 'e' in Noel]

(Merry Christmas in French)

Santa feeding Humboldt penguins in Antibes, France

photo by Eric Gaillard

Buon Natale!

(Merry Christmas in Italian)

the start of the Italian Chievo at San Siro stadium,

Milan, Italy

photo by Alessandro Garofalo, 2011

Sumaj kausay kachun Navidad ch'sisipi

&

Mosoi Watapi sumaj kausaykachun!

Merry Christmas [and I suspect Happy New Year also] in Quechuan

 

Christmas display in Peru

Oh I am having so much fun learning about different Christmas traditions

from around the world!

This is where the Chatty Cathy title comes from.

I LOVE to share the fun things I learn,

and so I tend to write books.

Really.

I went back looking thru my blogs from August to present.

I talk a lot.

A LOT!

I do hope you're having fun with me!

:0)

So, about Peru:

Peruvian population is estimated at around 29.5 million,

 and it is very multi-ethnic;

they've got:

Amerindians (indiginous, or native peoples)

Europeans (gradual immigration from 1820's) 

Africans (arrived with the Spanish around 1620)

and Asians (Chinese arrived to replace slave workers in 1850's).

The main spoken language is Spanish

(thanks to those conquistadors that did their very best to wipe out

anything different than Spain at the time. But hey,

so did all the other 'explorers'....)

Spanish is the first language of 84% of Peruvians over age 5.

The Spanish language co-exists with several native languages,

the most common being Quechua at 13.2%.

Being as over 81% of the people describe themselves as Catholic,

the Christmas season includes mostly religious

and deeply traditional Catholic celebrations.

A nativity scene on Christmas Day in Iquitos, Peru

Well, I've covered Switzerland with its' three major languages of

German, French and Italian.

Then we have traveled across an ocean and a continent to arrive in Peru,

where they speak 2 languages and multiple indiginous languages.

Threw in some Peruvian facts,

and here we are!

So, if I am being sensible,

and NOT writing a book,

I should stop now!

:0)

Oh, okay, here is a lovely and simple scherensnitte pattern:

If you are careful and save your cut outs, you can have 2 lovely cuttings to frame.

See ya' soon, as I have way-more Merry Christmas-es to share!

tee hee

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

Hey you!

Yeah, YOU!

Leave me a little ol' comment already, will ya'?

Merry Christmas around the world

Joyeux Noel et Bonne Anne'e!

(Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in French)

Polar Bear Flocke celebrates his 4th Birthday

at the Marineland Aquatic Park

Antibes, France

photo by Eric Gaillard

So many wonderful traditions from so many different people groups.

Let's see a few celebrations of Christmas and the holiday time,

around the world.

1500 school children dressed as Santa Claus

Chennai, India

photo by Babu

Nave sal di mubaraka

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in Punjabi,

spoken in  India and Pakistan

Christmas decorations in the

Piazza Venezia, Rome, Italy

photo by Filippo Monteforte

Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in Italian.

North Bondi lifeguards on Bondi Beach

Sydney, Australia

photo courtesy of www.nydailynews.com

Merry Christmas, mate!

or

'ave a good one, mate!

Merry Christmas in Australian.

(We in the USA always knew they couldn't speak proper English!)

Santacon, 2011

Trafalgar Square, London, Britain

courtesy Luke MacGregor

Happy Christmas!

Merry Christmas said in Proper English by the British!

(Yeah, okay, the British always knew we couldn't say

Merry Christmas in proper English either!)

Malaysia Aquaria, 2011

Kuala Lampur, Malaysia

courtesy of Bazuki Muhammad

Selamat Hari Natal

Merry Christmas in Malay, the official language of Malaysia,

although they have 139 languages spoken there!

Snow in Saint Petersburg, Russia

2011

photo by Alexander Demianchuk

Pozdravlyau s prazdnikom Rozhdestvai

c Novym Godom

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in Russian.

a Palestinian nun during Christmas Morning Mass at

the Latin Church of Visitation,

West Bank, Israel

photo by Al-Zababdeh

This photo was a bit tricky to credit a language to, as the West Bank is still in the hands of the Fatah (a Palestinian group) but Israel is the occupying force.

I think.

It gets confusing!

Since I have already had an Arabic Merry Christmas,

how about one in Hebrew?

Mo'adim Lesimkha

Shana Tova

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Hebrew.

the main language of Israel,

although Arabic is a secondary official language.

That's a lot of Merry Christmas's!

- and plenty of Happy New Year's thrown in!

I would like to finish with a sweet Christmas Celebration coloring page.

Perhaps this is the best way to show a tradition that we have nothing to do with.

All of creation (including animals and birds) say

Merry Christmas

to their Creator -

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

http://www.inkspiredmusings.blogspot.com/

THANK YOU TO

http://www.thetoymaker.com/

FOR THE LOVELY HEART AND HOLLY SWAG ILLUSTRATION

Christmas paper dolls

Hello to all.
Catching a cold. Feel really punky.
short blog today!

'Party Decorations' original Collage Art doll made from all junk mail

for sale at -www.inkspired.etsy.com



Here is a nice set of Christmas morning paper dolls:

I have some more pages of clothes I can post later.

Here are some Christmas tags for you,

from Joan Walsh Anglund:

and I'll finish with a very pretty paper doll from Russia -

Wouldn't it be fun to swirl around the dance floor in that ball gown?

:0)

I will try my best to check in tomorrow -

I have Christmas recipes to share

and some cute, fast to make ornaments,

and more paperdolls

and more vintage art

and more....

oh, I'll just see you tomorrow!

inkspired

http://www.inkspiredmusings.blogspot.com

p.s.
Thanks so much to my reader Iana for correcting my paper doll title!

I thought she was from Turkey, but she let me know it was from Russia.
THANKS!!!

Santa Claus around the World

Sung Tan Chuk Ha

(Merry Christmas in Korean)

decorating the Cheonggyecheon stream,

Seoul, South Korea

http://www.nydailynews.com/

I have had a little fun this morning checking out pictures of Christmas

and Santa Claus from around the world.

I found a very nice picture stream at

http://www.nydailynews.com/

Here is another fun picture from Seoul, South Korea

with 2 divers in the Coex Aquarium having a bit of Santa Fun -

yep, those are Santa scuba diver outfits!

Here is a die-hard water ski fanatic,

Maryland National Harbor, Maryland, USA

nydailynews

Evidently some people cannot celebrate Christmas

without getting extremely cold and/or wet!

(I do not count myself in their group! Give me a nice warm fire....)

These popsicles are in the frozen Oranke Lake, Berlin, Germany.

They belong to an ice swim club "Seehunde Berlin".

and yes....that looks like a Mrs. Claus bikini to me!

Another waterlogged Santa:

feeding a sea turtle in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Although it IS nice to remember God's creatures on the special event

of God's gift to us - Jesus Christ.

"Woodland Santa"

A wonderful painting by one of my absolute faves -

Scott Gustafson.

You can find his incredible paintings at http://www.scottgustafson.com/

Why not try your hand at drawing Santa Claus?

Thanks to Dover Publications for sharing!

I'm sure you all know that 'Santa Claus' is called many different names

throughout the world.

In many Eastern European countries,

he is called "Grandfather Frost"

and is accompanied by the "Snow Maiden".

Grandfather Frost (Ded Moroz) and the Snow Maiden (Snegurochka)

Minsk, Belarus

a Russian Saint Nicholas

Here is a traditional (to the USA) Santa Claus,

enjoying some extreme skiing -

Tim Lawler dressed as Santa Claus

Crested Butte, Colorado, USA

That's close to my stomping grounds!

a Palestinian boy lights a candle at Christmas Eve mass,

Gaza City, Palestinian territories

It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas,

When it’s mighty Founder was a child Himself.”

--Charles Dickens

Jirasartwitthay elementary school -

Ayutthaya, Thailand

I have enjoyed this bit of international Santa Claus

and I have much more to share, later!

Have a great day,

and buy a small present for someone you don't usually give a gift to!

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

http://www.inkspiredmusings.blogspot.com/

A mahout with his elephant at

Some Holiday Paperdoll Joy

Chuc Mung Giang Sinh

Chuc Mung Tan Nien

(Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Vietnamese)

Today is cold, with the snow leftover from a few days ago.

Not much melting when it only gets to 21'F!

Tanner has been keeping warm curled up on the couch,

with his nose tucked in under his paws.

He has a big nose.

Good thing he has big paws!

Here are some wonderful Joan Walsh Anglund activity pages with paperdolls -

I had a friend in High School who drew little characters very similar to JWAnglund.

Whenever I see JWAnglund's, I think of her.

Nice memory.

Next is a wonderfully drawn Russian Santa Claus -

To finish today, here is a colored Santa from one of Dover's

many books for coloring, stained glass look, velvet look,

and more!

and one from Poland for you to color!

Have a fun day.

Don't forget to smile at someone who you normally wouldn't,

like the mailman, or the sweeper, or the newstand guy....

inkspired
http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/
http://www.inkspiredmusings.blogspot.com/