TT ITCHIG.AN f1T.V tionalWords Boring? 'rohliche Weihnachten Uban iiaRI oliday Customs BEATRICE TEODORO v Nell-meaning phrases of the ias season, such as "Merry nas and a Happy New are rapidly becoming trite, rn out. :ent attempt to inject life e annual greetings resulted Cool Yule -and a Frantic It was imaginative but ved. atest trend is toward more and sophisticated Christ- shes. In fact, it is preferable ecipient doesn't understand as bee nsaid. Readily filling nand for foreign phrases. Feliz Navidad .xample, try "Feliz Navidad pero Ano Nuevo" to your aanish speaking friends. Or uld , say "Boas Festas do to those who have never Portugal or Brazil. Meeting acquaintances who know nothing about German, say "Froh- liche Weihnachten" and "Gluck- liches Neujahr." Tell those who don't speak Italian "Io auguro un felice Natal." Joyeux Noel For very continental Christmas cards, try printing "Meilleurs Voeux pour un Joyeux Noel et une Heureuse Annee." The "season to be jolly" atmos- phere has even spread to the mys- terious, exotic Far East. If you know people who can't understand phonetic Chinese, try "shing- nyan-kwai-le" with the proper un-down intonation. And to the many, many people who don't understand Japanese, wish them a "Kurisumasu Ome- deto." American Christmas traditions are still preserved in the small towns and rural areas of the coun- try, exen though they have been greatly altered or completely for- gotten in the urban centers. Our founding fathers chopped down their own Christmas tree, decorated their homes with boughs of evergreen and bright ribbons, and then on Christmas Eve gath- ered in their meeting houses to celebrate the holiday. These cus- toms are often preserved in small communities today. Cut Down Tree On the day before Christmas' the American father in rural areas takes his axe in hand, accompan- ied by his young son, and trudges to the nearby wood lot to select the family Christmas tree. After cutting down the chosen tree, theyucarry it backhome to- gether where the rest of the fam- ily is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the tree, On Christmas Eve mother and daughter bring the ornaments. which have been stored since last' Christmas, down from the attic.' With mother carefully supervis- ing, the family members all join in the decorating of the tree. However, in the city, father (on the way home from the office) chooses a tree from the neighbor- hood lot or gas station, stuffs it in the trunk of the family car and brings it home. The urban family decorates their Christmas tree about a week be- fore the holidays, and in the days just before Christmas one may drive down the city streets and see the vari-colored lights of the trees shining through the win- dows. While cutting down the tree, father and son pick some mistle- toe if it is on hand, but since it usually isn't, they pick holly and hang it around the house. The father in the city goes to the neighborhood gift shop, and buys mistletoe. In the rural areas, contests are held to determine who has the most elaborate and original dec- orations. The Junior Chamber of Commerce awards prizes to the best decorations. Apartments Limit Decor Since many people in the city live in apartments. they cannot decorate the exterior of their home. They are limited to putting wreaths on their doors or Christ- mas lights in the window. In the suburban area, people elaborately decorate their lawns. The Nativity, Santa Claus sitting in his sleigh drawn by his eight flying reindeer and Rudolph or the three Wise Mean bearing their gifts from the Orient are often seen. In small, closely-knit communi- ties, many of the townsfolk gather together at the community cen- ter or recreation hall. At some of these social gatherings the peo- ple dance to music provided by lo- cal musicians; at others the peo- ple are entertained by local tal- ent. Quiet Evening Usually in the large cities, mem- bers of the immediate family spend a quiet evening at home watching, baking Christmas cook- ies and peeking cautiously at hid- den Christmas gifts. Parents throughout the country unsuccessfully attempt to send their children to bed early so that "Santa Claus" will have time to come. But the little ones, so ex- cited by the prospect of Santa's visit. find it impossible to fall asleep, even though their parents warn, "Santa won't come while you're awake." People in small towns plan far ahead for their annual Christmas shopping expedition to a neighbor- ing big city. Thgere in the large department stores they select gifts for all those on their Christmas shopping list. But those who live in large cities are more apt to search out the small Quainte Gifte Shoppes, hidden in the narrow side streets of the older sections of town. Here they fund unusual, exotic gifts for those who have everything and novelties for all those hard-to- please acquaintances to whom they owe presents. The holiday season does not end on December 25, but continues through New Year's Day. Some small town people come to the city to celebrate the coming of the new year. They come to see such things as Times Square in New York and visit the nightclubs in the cities. Attend Parties Others stay to attend parties with their neighbors and friends, City dwellers hold wild parties and visit many nightclubs care- fully avoiding tourist haunts. Wild hats and noisy horns add color to the festivities. With the New Year's Eve cele- bration the holiday season draws to a close and everyone returns to their normal routine. CHOP, CHOP-In the country the tree is personally chopped by the family. In the city it is chopped "while you wait" or "pre- chopped." 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