DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

     In the Czech Republic , preparations for Christmas begins right from around mid-November. Houses are thoroughly cleaned, carpets washed and furniture dusted. Gift shops and departmental stores are seen to be decked for the occassion. The festive spirit is apparent with buyers turning up at the stores every evening to purchase gifts, new apparels and various items of decoration. Also bought are sweets like Linzer cookies and Vanilla roll or food items such as " Vanoka", traditional Christmas loaves. These are either bought or even baked at home.    The Advent period begins here four Sundays before Christmas Eve. During this time, a wreath is made of several evergreen branches fastened together, decorated with ribbons, pinecones and other trinkets and four candles placed around it, each representing one of the four weeks of the Advent period. Children are gifted beautiful Advent calendars to count the days to December 25. Every day they open one of the 24

   In Finland, Christmas is celebrated from 24th to 26th of December. Preparations for the festival begin from approximately a month ago with many Finnish people buying the Christmas tree , decorative items and gifts and goodies for the season. Houses are cleaned and special treats like gingerbread cookies and prune tarts prepared for the oncoming festive season.  In Finland, Santa might also be known as Joulupukki!    The first Sunday in December (also called the First Advent) starts the Finnish Christmas season. Christmas lights begin to appear in the stores along with gifts, goods and goodies for the festival. Children count the days to the festival making their own Christmas calendar with some great pictures related to the Christmas theme or even some chocolate caramel.      In Finland the Christmas tree is set up on Christmas Eve. Fir trees are felled, tied onto sleds, and taken home to be decorated beautifully with candies, paper flags, cotton, tin

Besides all the popular winter holidays, there are lots of other reasons to celebrate throughout the month of December. Check them out.          December 1: Special Kids Day - If you have any special kids in your life, make this a day for them to remember. December 2: International Day for the Abolition of Slavery - You may have thought that slavery was abolished long ago, but it still goes on. December 3: International Day of Disabled Persons - Spend the day like a disabled person would. I bet you will appreciate everything you are able to do that other people might not be able to. December 4: National Cookie Day - What else would you do on National Cookie Day? December 5: Bathtub Party Day - A party in the bathtub? That just sounds wrong. December 6: St. Nicholas Day - It's like having a Christmas before Christmas. December 7: National Cotton Candy Day - Try to not get sick from eating too much sugar. December 8: W