http://www.christmas.com
I thought I'd start with a quick quiz this month: What have Black Pete,
Julinisse, Basbouschka, and Befana got in common? No, it's not something you buy in
Amsterdam, it's the differing names countries call Santa Claus. Belgium and the
Netherlands, Denmark, Russia, and Italy, respectively.
And guess what my theme is going to be this month? Well if you didn't get the
first answer, you sure as hell will get the second! Yes, it's November and only a quick
trot to Christmas, so off I went to track down a Christmas web site and what better one to
try than: http://www.christmas.com.
This site appears to be the remnants of last year's event but is still packed
with goodies. I especially liked the sections devoted to the historical aspects, such as;
did you know that Saint Nicholas is the national saint of Russia and Greece and churches
named after him number in the thousands - with more than 400 in Great Britain alone? He is
also the patron saint of judges, murderers, pawnbrokers, thieves, merchants, paupers,
scholars, sailors, bakers, travellers, maidens, poor children and is known as the friend
and protector of all those in trouble (perhaps he can help me!).
Apparently Saint Nicholas was born in the Middle East, about 350 miles
north-west of Bethlehem in the fourth century - but enough of that historical waffling,
back to the web site.
Christmas Traditions
From the home page, you are presented with a map of the world where you can
click on a country and receive details of that country's Christmas traditions. I checked
out Finland, England, America, Hong Kong, Ireland and Iraq or was it Iran? A few Sherries
and they all sound the same!
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The technology
used in building the site is not rocket science, it is basic web design but gets the
information across nicely and is easily navigable - even for my kids.
There are also numerous newsgroups where you can chat with other enthusiasts
about any Christmas subject at all! Although when I entered I was all alone - no Christmas
spirit yet I'm afraid. You can download traditional Christmas carols (be prepared for a
long wait); view an image of a suburban house located in San Jose that displays 20,000
lights every Christmas; - well it is America! And read the Christmas story of little
Jessica from Mexico, the web site's 1997 Christmas winner.
Apparently she spends Christmas with her Parents and Grandparents and tells
how she came running down early Christmas morning to tear open her presents and play with
her dog, Rusty, and for Christmas dinner she eats Mexican food - because she's Mexican.
Just goes to show how much great information you can find on the net!
Colour Drawing On Line - But Not With a 28.8?!
There's so much to do and read at this site that there just isn’t
enough room in this article. For instance, you can even colour-in a Christmas book
on-line, this is a JAVA applet that took quite a while to download. I'm afraid I'm very
impatient and my 28.8 Kbps Modem is verging on the ancient now, so I gave up waiting and
carried on through the site.
The site is brimming with historical anecdotes and facts, and if you want to
get in the Christmas spirit it's well worth a visit. I'm definitely returning before
Christmas.
Hey, guess what? I'm buying another PC again. But not from Tiny this time,
though. I'm buying it from MESH, I would have bought DELL, but they didn't have an
interest free option. Another toy for the boy!
See you next month…Vince Chin |
