MERRY CHRISTMAS

1. Instituto Nacional de San Rafael
ENGLISH CLASS
STUDENT NAME:
TATIANA CARDOZA
SEPTEMBER 2015

3. CHRISTMAS DAY
CHRISTMAS IS:

4. Christmas or Christmas Day (Old English:
Crīstesmæsse, meaning "Christ's Mass") is
an annual festival commemorating the birth
of Jesus Christ, observed most commonly on
December 25 as a religious and cultural
celebration among billions of people around
the world.

5. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many
of the world's nations, is celebrated
culturally by a large number of
non-Christian people, and is an integral
part of the Christmas and holiday season.

6. The celebratory customs
associated in various
countries with Christmas
have a mix of pre-Christian,
and secular themes and
origins. Popular modern
customs of the holiday
include gift giving,
completing an Advent
calendar or Advent wreath,
Christmas music and
caroling, an exchange of
Christmas cards, church
services, a special meal, and

7. In addition, several closely
related and often
interchangeable figures,
known as Santa Claus,
Father Christmas, Saint
Nicholas, and Christ kind,
are associated with bringing
gifts to children during the
Christmas season and have
their own body of traditions
and lore.

8. As the years passed, Santa
Claus evolved in popular
culture into a large,
heavyset person. One of
the first artists to define
Santa Claus's modern image
was Thomas Nast, an
American cartoonist of the
19th century.
The story that Santa Claus
lives at the North Pole may
also have been a Nast
creation.
The idea of a wife for

9. Christmas traditions vary from country to
country. Elements common to many nations
include the installing and lighting of
Christmas trees, the hanging of Advent
wreaths, Christmas stockings, candy
canes, and the creation of Nativity scenes
depicting the birth of Jesus Christ.
Christmas carols may be sung and stories
told about such figures as the Baby
Jesus, St Nicholas, Santa Claus, Father
Christmas, Christkind or Grandfather
CHRISTMAS IN SOME
COUNTRIES

10. Christmas in California
Christmas is a widely celebrated
festive holiday in the United
States. The Christmas and holiday
season begins around the end of
November with a major shopping
kickoff on Black Friday, the day
after the U.S. holiday of
Thanksgiving, though Christmas
decorations and music playing in
stores sometimes extend into the
period between Halloween and
Thanksgiving.

11. EL SALVADOR
In El Salvador children celebrate
Christmas by playing with
firecrackers, fountains, such as the
small volcancitos ("little volcanos") and
sparklers, estrellitas ("little stars").
Teenagers and young adults display
bigger fireworks or Roman Candles.
Families also have parties in which
they dance and eat. Traditional
Salvadoran Christmas dishes are
sauteed turkey sandwiches in a
baguette with lettuce and radishes,