Showing posts with label boxing day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boxing day. Show all posts

December 26 - On the Second Day of Christmas...

 Posted on December 26, 2021

This is an update of my post published on December 26, 2010:



Whether it's 2 Juledag in Denmark or Svatek Vanocni 2 in the Czech Republic, many people around the world continue the Christmas holiday on the following day. In the Netherlands, many couples spend the day with the husband's family, say, if they spent Christmas Day with the wife's family, and vice versa.


In some countries, people who had to work on Christmas Day, such as servants, get the next day off as their Christmas holiday. (This is commonly called Boxing Day.) 

Some people celebrate this day as Saint Stephen's Day by distributing aid to those in need—things that St. Stephen was reputed to do during his life. (“The Feast of Stephen” is mentioned in the Christmas Carol “Good King Winceslas.”)

For more on Boxing Day, see last year's post


By the way, when you hear “the second day of Christmas,” you may think of the famous song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”:

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
Two turtledoves and a partridge in a pear tree.

 


Many people have come up with clever new versions of the lyrics. Try writing the entire song with the same rhythm and rhyming scheme, but all new gifts. It's fun!

To inspire you, here is a Shrek version. (For fun, try to find all the typos in the lyrics. There are a lot of them!)

This You Tube video doesn't do a parody of the song, but instead does a great mash-up. Check it out! 



December 26 - Boxing Day in Great Britain and many other nations

Posted on December 26, 2020
This is an update of my December 26, 2009, post:



Especially common in countries that were once part of the British Empire, this bank and public holiday originally came from the tradition of giving Christmas boxes to people of "lower class." For example, merchants would give gifts to tradespeople; alms boxes in churches would be opened, and the contents would be distributed to the poor; and masters would give servants the day off and a Christmas box (gift).

Nowadays, many people use the day to make yearly donations to charities, but the day has also become associated, for many people, with shopping and sales.

Boxing Day in the U.K. will NOT look like this, not this year!
Global pandemic makes this sort of mob scene dang

Various countries have taken Boxing Day and given it their own twist - although the celebrations will be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, this year: 

Annual Sports Day – Falkland Islands
The sports played on this day include horse racing, bull riding, and sheepdog trials.

Day of Goodwill – South Africa
In 1980 Boxing Day was changed to Day of Goodwill so that South Africans could continue the “spirit of Christmas” to everyone in the country.


Family Day – Namibia, Zimbabwe, and other African nations
On this day, families play games together, feast, and remember their ancestors.


Junkanoo – British Virgin Islands, the Bahamas
This is a street parade with music. It is named after an African slave master and trader named “John Canoe,” and the festival celebrated the slaves' freedom.




Contribute!

You could continue the tradition of giving to the less fortunate by gathering boxes of canned goods for a soup kitchen, used clothes and blankets for a homeless shelter, and new cleaning supplies for a family aid organization—just to give a few examples. 

Or how about honoring people who have served the community? Make up boxes (care packages) for our overseas troops, and make boxes of homemade goodies for fire fighters.


December 26 – Day of Goodwill in South Africa

Posted on December 26, 2018

Today's South African holiday is pretty much another day for Boxing Day, or the Second Day of Christmas. It's supposed to be a relaxing, reset sort of day. 

Given the fact that South Africa is in the Southern Hemisphere and therefore is enjoying summer right now, many families spend Day of Goodwill relaxing and resetting on the beach.




Here are some other places people might enjoy on their day off:

The Big Hole looks like one of those cool sinkholes or crater lakes, but it is entirely human made! Located in Kimberley, this is an open-pit mine, and it claims to be the deepest hole excavated by hand.

What prompted people to dig such a large, deep hole with just picks and shovels? Diamonds! The diamond "rush" started in 1871 and lasted 43 years, and the approximately 50 THOUSAND miners who dug this hole discovered about 6,000 pounds (2,720 kg) of diamonds, which is about 13.6 million carats!



Cape Town is pretty gorgeous, with its surrounding oceans and mountains, and there are botanical gardens and cool creatures to enjoy.



The Drakensberg (Dragon Mountain) is a beautiful place to bike, hike, rock climb, and raft.


Nature Reserves and National Parks in South Africa are pretty darned spectacular!




And of course there are gorgeous waterfalls. Like these:




Also on this date: