Merry Christmas

Dear [[firstname]]

Last Friday we held our Christmas Squash Social Night, along with great food and music, we also held a quiz. Below this email is the Christmas Customs round, 10 True or False questions that you and your family can have some fun with over the festive season. If you would like the answers please email me back and I will send them to you, but why not have a go at them first......!

Don't forget to sign up for club sports day next Monday 27th December on My Courts; https://wltsc.mycourts.co.uk/activity_details.asp?activityID=254953

So on behalf of the Squash & Racketball Committee I would like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2022.

Mike Harris

Head of Squash & Racketball

Christmas Customs - True or False

1. In Venezuela there is a custom that people roller skate to church on Christmas morning. It is thought that this is because it is hot in Venezuela, and it doesn’t snow so they roller skate instead of sledging to church.

2. In Iceland there is a custom called the Jolabokaflod, people give each other books on Christmas eve and sit around reading them

3. In Japan it has become traditional to eat KFC for Christmas Dinner. The servers dress up in Santa outfits and the fried chicken comes in specially decorated packaging.

4. In Brazil many people like to celebrate Christmas by playing water polo while dressed as Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, and the Wise Men or as Santa and his elves. This has become so popular that on Christmas day the national TV stations all show Christmas themed water polo matches featuring popular celebrities.

5. In the Seychelles, where it is always sunny and hot at Christmas, the army turn their largest aircraft hangar into a winter wonderland and create an enormous bank of snow so that all the local schools can come and try sledging and skiing. On Christmas Eve there is a special church service in the hanger with carol singing, mulled wine and chestnuts roasting on an open fire…………………This tradition was started by homesick American servicemen during the Second World War.

6. Norwegians believe that Christmas Eve coincides with the arrival of evil spirits and witches. It is only logical then, that Norwegian householders hide all their brooms before they go to sleep.

7. In Catalonia, a region of Spain, the local people create a character out of a log, drawing a face on it and giving it a hat. Then they spend a fortnight 'feeding' it fruit, nuts and sweets. On Christmas Eve, the entire family beats the log with sticks and sings a traditional song that translates to 'if you don’t poop well, I'll beat you with a stick' until the log ‘poops out’ all the treats that the family have been feeding it.

8. In some parts of Russia children are in charge on Christmas Day and the grown-ups must do what they say. Usually, the children make the grown-ups play silly games or sing funny songs but sometimes things turn nasty and the children make the grown-ups set fire to the furniture or play dangerous tricks on each other. Every year there are some serious injuries and even fatalities associated with this tradition. Regional authorities have run campaigns to stop this tradition, but the people carry on doing it.

9. In Austria, St Nicholas has an evil counterpart called Krampus. He is the bad cop to St Nick’s good cop, a demon-like creature with one task: to punish bad children before Christmas. Men dressed in devil costumes roam the streets, carrying chains and a basket for abducting especially bad children and hauling them to hell.

10. In Namibia, Christmas is called ‘The Secret Festival’, it is not mentioned on the television, on the radio or in schools. Families pretend that nothing special is happening, not even speaking about the festival to friends or neighbors.

On Christmas Day every family decorates their home, gives gifts and shares a special meal together – there are even special songs about ‘The Secret Festival’ but if you were a visitor to the country, you would probably never know it was happening at all.

It is thought this tradition derives from a time when Christianity was persecuted throughout parts of Southern Africa, and it was necessary to practice the religion in secret.

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23/12/2021

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