Boxing Day

Wikipedia: "Boxing Day is a public holiday in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, as well as many other members of the Commonwealth of Nations and Greece. It is based on the tradition of giving gifts to the less fortunate members of society (...) It is usually celebrated on 26 December, the day after Christmas Day; however, its associated public holiday can be moved to the next weekday if 26 December is a Saturday or Sunday.

(...)

A Christmas box is, in English tradition, a clay box used in artisan shops. Apprentices, masters, visitors, customers, and others would put donations of money into the box, like a piggy bank, and then, after Christmas, the box would be shattered and all the contents shared among the workers of the shop. Thus, masters and customers could donate bonuses to the workers anonymously, and the employees could average their wages. The habit of breaking the Christmas box lent its name to Boxing Day. The term "Christmas box" now refers generally to a gift or pay bonus given to workers."

Christmas Messages

The first message comes from Her Royal Majesty:



If you are really interested in the British Royal Family, the following link might suit your needs better than the previous one:


But if what interests you is "real" messages, here is one, a cover of Ben E. King's classic "Stand By Me" sung and/or played by musicians around the world adding their part to the song as it travelled the globe:



Playing For Change: Song Around the World | Stand By Me from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

You can add further messages using "comments" below.

Christmas diet and New Year's Resolutions

To learn more about Britain and British traditions, it is worthwhile visiting the following link:


At Christmas, food and drink play an important role to make you feel at home. These are some elements to take into account in the UK:

Xmas Dinner Xmas Crackers Xmas Pudding

After all this food, it is not surprising that one of the most popular among New Year's Resolutions is "to lose weight".

Most Popular Goals

• Lose Weight
• Pay Off Debt/s
• Save Money
• Get a Better Job
• Get Fit
• Eat Right
• Get a Better Education
• Drink less Alcohol
• Quit Smoking
• Reduce Stress Overall
• Reduce Stress at Work
• Take a Trip
• Volunteer to Help Others
• reduce diabetes & improve quality of life

But, how can we really achieve our goals?

Adapted from The Guardian, Friday 29 December 2006:

Five tips to help keep resolutions:

1) The first is to make only one resolution: if you are an obese, misanthropic, SUV-driving smoker, Prof Wiseman recommends picking just one aspect of life to improve, to increase your chances of success.

2) Planning your resolution in advance, instead of waiting until New Year's Eve. The extra time will allow you to reflect on what you really want to achieve.

3) Another tip is to avoid repeating a previous resolution, or at least try a different technique to keep it. So if trying to lose half a stone did not work last year, plan to exercise more instead. "If people think they can do it they probably can, but if they've already tried and failed, their self-belief will be low," Prof Wiseman said.

The remaining tips include keeping resolutions specific (4) and rewarding yourself (5) by buying a new book or CD if you manage to lose a few pounds or cut down on smoking.


More interesting links to help you achieve your goals:




You can also use New Year's Resolutions with your students. Click here to find how:

20 HEALTHY NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS FOR KIDS

Having said that, I have already chosen my goal for 2009: "I will reduce stress"
(I must confess I also want to get fitter, learn Portuguese and five other things, but stress reduction is the main objective for 2009)

Which are your resolutions for 2009?

Express yourself (send your resolutions) and have a Happy Resolutive New Year.

To finish, a bit of grammar in use: remember the difference between a promise (I will....) and a plan (I'm going to...). Resolutions are like promises that we make to ourselves.

Happy Holidays!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

More superlatives and comparatives: El Gordo

We, Spanish citizens, were born and grew up listening to the children of San Ildefonso "singing" out the numbers of the National Christmas Lottery every year (I know, you also prefered pesetas to euros in the chant).

Our Christmas holidays are one of the longest in the world (I'm not sure this is a positive thing, though), and our lottery is the most generous. A lot of money in the draw, but we (Spaniards) know that the best thing about this Christmas lottery is that the whole amount is divided in such a way that we all have a chance to win something (and almost no chance of getting rich).

In the following site, Lottery Sindicate World, the Spanish El Gordo (The fat one) is presented as the biggest prize pot lottery, but do they know what we know? Click on the picture and check:



Along with the lottery goes the "official" advertising for it. This time, the bald man and the music we got familiar with in the last few years are gone. But there is something really interesting about the new chosen tune. It is a song written and sung by Lionel Neykov, a young New Yorker who has made himself known to the world using the internet. Having been chosen for the ad, we may say he got his share of "El Gordo" this year. I hope you get yours too.

This is the song, where you can - by the way- practise "comparatives" in English:



Freeze My Senses

Your eyes
Have more power
Than vampires
You bit my mouth
And then left me
On the floor shivering
And aching for more

Your smile is more
Dangerous
Than reptiles
You shot your poison
In my skin
And now
I can't get you
Out of my mind

Chorus:
Help me babe
I got a hole
In my heart
My head is spinning
I feel so high
Release me darling
From this pain
In my side
And please
Freeze my senses
With your kiss

Your lips
More addictive
Than sugar sticks
Make me dizzy
And so light
I could fly
I think my brain
Has melted down

(Chorus)

So there
Now that you know
That I care for you
Yeah
Be fair
Cos I'm a fool
In despair
And you
Got your hands
Round my neck

(Chorus 2x)

Christmas is getting closer: Advent Calendar

This picture, which might look like a Christmas present wrapper, has been taken from the Advent Calendar 2008 in The Big Picture section of The Boston Globe. The Advent Calendar uses images of the outer space taken by the Hubble Telescope. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did, still do and hope to do in the next days (I mean until the calendar is complete). Just click on the picture and relax:

Unit 2: Superlative Spain?

We are Spanish and live in Andalucia, the land of exaggeration and overstatements (sorry about the cliché) and the ideal place for superlatives. Seville, being the biggest town and its capital, is well known for that and for the superlatives that its inhabitants often use to describe it. But before going into superlatives, let's consider the other side of the story, that of those people who decided to come to our country as visitors (or even decided to stay among us).

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SOME ADVICE

Advice about traffic in Spain for British nationals from

Click on the picture, read the advice and then think about an answer for the question:
Do we seem to be the best drivers?

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HOLIDAYS IN SEVILLE

Worst vacation day ever: an American "tourist" tells about a bad experience in the province of Seville. Click on the picture and read the experience and the comments other people write.



What do you think? What was wrong from your point of view? How could you make it better next time (considering there is a next time)?


I definitely want to go back sometime: Fortunately, there are people in the same community of travellers, who were luckier when they visited Seville:

www.travbuddy.com

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MOVING TO SPAIN (AFTER A HOLIDAY?)

How can I move to Spain for a couple of years? Click here and read the full question, the basis on which Inatizzy (nickname) made his/her decisions and the advice received, especially that from Librarylis (nickname again). What do you think?

From Norwich to Gran Canaria. This is an excerpt from a BBC local radio programme in which a citizen from Norwich (Norfolk) tells his experience after living in Gran Canaria for 15 years. He made his decision after a holiday:

LISTEN HERE: It's not all sun, sea and sangria

Do you think he is considering the possibility of going back to the UK?

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FINALLY, THE SUPERLATIVES

For this purpose, I have chosen Ben Curtis, a British man who has lived in Spain and loves it, something he shows in his blog "Notes From Spain". Click on the picture to get there:


What do you think? What would you add?

It's nice to hear praise but let's go now to the negative superlatives. If you decide to click on the next link, be open-minded and consider what you might include in the list of

the 10 most annoying things about Spain

In his blog, you can also read about :
The 10 most annoying things about the UK
The 10 best things about the UK

Now you can compare both countries, but do not forget that those are personal opinions which might coincide or not with yours.

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SUPERLATIVE SEVILLE

Taking into account Ben's experience I will not go into negative features, in case someone might feel offended. So,

which do you think are the 10 best things about Seville?

Send your answers by clicking on "comments" below.