Chrismas

On December the 25th, many Australians will celebrate the feast of Christmas.



Christmas Day is closely connected with the birth of Jesus Christ, who is revered as Son of God by the Christians all over the world. Lord Jesus was born in a barn in the little town of Bethlehem. He is hailed as the savior of mankind. Jesus Christ came in this world on the twenty-fifth day of December in the year that is counted as the beginning of our present day calendar. Twenty- fifth December is therefore celebrated as the Christmas Day by the faithful each year.

Remembering the Lord and his deeds, a pledge to follow his shown path and, remembering his sermons – this is the way Christmas Day is being celebrated from time immemorial.


The favorite Christmas image for many kids, is the sight of a gift laden Santa climbing down a chimney. It is believed that, he climbs down chimneys in the house of all good kids, and leaves nice present for them on Christmas Eve. Children keep out cookies and milk, so that Santa and his helpers can have them when they come to their homes.



A traditional English and British Chrismas dinner includeds roast turkey or goose, brussels sprouts, roast potatoes, cranberry sauce, rich nutty stuffing, tiny sausages, wrapped in bacon (pigs in a blanket) and lashings of hot gravy.

Every year more than 400 million people celebrate Christmas traditions around the world.
There are lots of Christmas traditions that are practiced by a number of countries all over the world during the holiday season. These traditions can be as diverse as the culture and religious practices of each and every country in the world.



Christmas trees are part of a long tradition of greenery being taken into the home at Christmas to brighten the dreary winter. Mistletoe was popular with Druid priests because it remained green throughout winter. Holly placed over the doorway was believed to drive away evil. Placing branches from trees in the home was first recorded in 1494, and by the beginning of the 1600s there are records of fir trees being decorated with apples.

The story of Santa Claus has its origins in the legends surrounding the humble generosity of Saint Nicholas, whose feast day is celebrated on 6th December. Saint Nicholas was a 4th century Christian Bishop from Myra (in modern-day Turkey) who became the Patron Saint of Children. In Germany and Poland, boys dressed up as bishops begging alms for the poor. Later, the Christ child 'Christkindlein' was said to have accompanied Nicholas-like figures on their travels. The 1822 poem 'Twas the Night before Christmas forged the link and Saint Nicholas (Father Christmas, Pere Noel, Christ Kind, Kriss Kringle or Sinter Klass) became known as Santa Claus.

Christians in China celebrate by lighting their houses with beautiful paper lanterns and decorating their Christmas trees, which they call "Trees of Light," with paper chains, paper flowers, and paper lanterns. Chinese Children hang muslin stockings and await a visit from Santa Claus, whom they call Dun Che Lao Ren (dwyn-chuh-lau-oh-run) which means "Christmas Old Man.".

We've got Chinese new year festival in China. The Chinese New Year Festival is the most significant holiday for Chinese people around the world, regardless of the origin of their ancestors. It is also known as the Lunar New Year Festival because it is based on the lunar calendar as opposed to the Gregorian calendar. The holiday is a very jubilant occasion mainly because it is the time when people take a break from work to get together with family and friends.

My goal

My goal is to have my own business. It is not a dream anymore, I've got a plan going already.

Firstly, I am going to start a new course next year for tourism...

Then I might work in a travel agent for a while!

Lastly, I will open my own business.

Excursion

Last Tuesday we had an great excursion with some classmates at TAFE. First we went to St George Family Support Service. The manager told us lots of useful information.

Then we went to the Kogarah Storehouse in Uniting Church. There a lady told us about the the uses of the storehouse and how to apply to become a member.

Later we followed our teacher to the Kogarah Library. There are more fun in the library because there are more space. We've found more information about council and library.

At last we went to Carss bush park to have lunch. This is my favour park.

I have always enjoyed my studying here in TAFF and I appreciate having had very good time with teacher and all classmates. I have also improved my English alot.

It's the time to say goodbye. Even though I will miss Marion and all my classmates, I am looking forward to get a new challenge and to starting a new course next year. I hope that all of you will have a geart holiday and a happy new year.

Halloween

Halloween (or Hallowe'en) is an annual holiday observed on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Saints' Day, but is today largely a secular celebration.

Common Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, ghost tours, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, committing pranks, telling ghost stories or other frightening tales, and watching horror films.

The history of Halloween goes back more than 2,000 years. The earliest celebrations of Halloween were among the Celtic people who lived in the areas which are now Great Britain and Northern France.

Halloween is not celebrated In China. But there is one on 15 seventh month in lunar carlindar. Children will hold lotus lamps and play together on Ghost Night.

Food

I really like to eat Chinese food because there are so many different kinds of food in China. Spicy, not so spicy, sweet and not so sweet. For example, we use a little amount of sugar in all of our foods. We do stir-frying, steam, boil and cool agitation...

But I still think I like to try any food I've never eaten. Now I like pizzas, hamburgers, salads and sandwiches...

I've tasted lots of Australian food such as kangaroo's meat, Anzac biscuits, lamington, pavlova and Vegemite. I'm not quite sure if meat pie is an Australian food as well but it is my favourite food here.

Royal National Park

Last Tuesday my friend May, her daughter, my son and I went to the Royal National Park. We took the free bus from Rockdale Migrant Resource Centre to get there.

The Royal National Park is large and is the second largest national park in the world. We were walking on the coast and viewing the magnificent views including beautiful beaches, rainforests and open woodlands.

On the day we went to Burning Palms, it took nearly one hour to get there. It is one of the most beautiful beaches in Australia. The kids were very excited playing on the beach. They were laughing, chasing each other and building sand castles. I took lots of photos there. And we also saw two teenagers surfing in the high waves. Bravo!

Later Max, an Aboriginal person did the welcome ceremony for us. He told us about some Aboriginal history and culture as well. Then he took us bush walking... We didn't follow him because the kids didn't want to leave the beach. So May and I had sat down on a rock and talked for a hour. We were so happy and relaxed! She told me how stupid I was not bringing water. That reminded me of the time when we were climbing a mountain in China, (and we forgot to bring water). We have to drink water in a dirty pond and then we kept running to the toilet. But there was no any toilet around the mountain. We were so embarrass to look for a toilet.

After two hours we moved to a park to have lunch and watched the Australian animals chatter and play.

We were on the way home after 3 o'clock and the all kids were asleep on the bus. It was a very tiring day, but interesting!

Picnic in Father's Day