by Ayan Mishra, Grade 6
Hello everybody. Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!!
My name is Ayan Mishra, and today I am going to talk about a topic near and dear to our hearts, Christmas.
- What is Christmas and why is it celebrated?
- Who was Santa Claus?
- My favorite part of Christmas :-)
Before I go on to my first point, I have a question for you. What do elves learn at school? The elf-abet
Christmas is celebrated to remember the birth of Jesus Christ. Christians all around the world celebrate Christmas in different ways. For example, in Sweden people have a huge parade following someone with a crown of candles. They wear long white robes and sing hymns from their Bible. In America, people put up their Christmas trees after Thanksgiving, and decorate their houses with lights in their front yard. The shops, malls, restaurants, etc. all are decorated and you can feel the holiday cheer everywhere. On Christmas Eve, Christians go to church late at night to pray and sing carols. On Christmas day, they invite family and friends for a lavish feast and enjoy the holiday.
Moving on to the next point, Santa Claus was a real person, Saint Nicholas. He wasn’t what we think of him today. He did not wear a red suit and live in the North Pole. Saint Nicholas was a bishop who discovered the joy of giving. At night he went to houses and gave gifts to people. Saint Nick wasn’t just fun and games, he only gave good kids gifts and he gave bad kids a lump of coal, sticks or stones. That’s how the legend of Santa Claus started and even lives today. Kids keep cookies, milk and a carrot for Santa Claus and his reindeer, believing he would eat them and leave presents.
Coming to my last point now, my favorite part of Christmas is, waking up in the morning and running to see the presents under the Christmas tree and in my stockings on the fireplace. The best moment is when I get to unwrap my presents and find some surprises as well. This year, when I came down the stairs, I saw a lot of gifts by our Christmas tree and the stockings. I hope you all got lots of presents too. To my surprise, I got an iPad as a Christmas present from my parents and quite a few other things like Legos, puzzles etc. from my cousins. I enjoyed un-wrapping them with my cousins over a Zoom call. I have also celebrated two Christmas mornings in India as well with my grandparents, where my gifts doubled in number! Let’s not forget, some other kids are not as fortunate as me, and do not receive gifts on Christmas. Being a part of Indian Society of Worcester and volunteering with them, I love what they do for these kids. Volunteers donate presents to be put under a Giving Tree which is put in the community center. ISW also celebrates Christmas where anyone can come and get a present. I LOVE being a part of this wonderful community!
What did we learn about today? Today, you read about; What is Christmas and why is it celebrated, who was Santa Claus and my favorite part of Christmas.
Hope you had a Merry Christmas and received many gifts! Thank you for reading!
