Youth Are Awesome, commonly referred to as YAA, is a blog written by youth for youth.
YAA provides the youth of Calgary a place to amplify their voices and perspectives on what is happening around them.
Youth Are Awesome is a program of Youth Central.
Any views or opinions expressed on this blog belong solely to the author and do not represent those of people or organizations that the blog may be associated with, unless explicitly stated. All content is for informational purposes only.
It has become clear that one of the main characters associated with Christmas is Santa Claus. However, the jolly man that brings smiles and happiness to all the children of the world did not always look that way. The history behind the modern Santa Claus we have today is one which is very interesting and has a deep and layered past…
Santa Claus has roots and is based on Saint Nicholas, a saint who had a reputation for giving gifts and bringing joy to children. The oldest interpretation of Santa Claus can go all the way back to the 4th century where Saint Nicholas was depicted as a Greek saint. However, after the religious reformation in Europe, many countries stopped following the tale of Saint Nicholas apart from the Netherlands.
The North American interpretation of Santa Claus is derived from Dutch settlers in New York City bringing the image of Sinterklaas to many Americans following the revolutionary war. This was the first connection North American settlers had with Santa Claus. However, the modernization of the image of Santa Claus did not occur until 1863 when cartoonist Thomas Nast published cartoons of Santa in a very popular magazine of the time, Harper’s Weekly. Thomas Nast continued building on his first cartoon and over the years gave us a more refined look of the modernized Santa we know and love to this day. So the next time you see Santa on a TV commercial or in a magazine ad, just know that there is a rich history behind how that image came to be.
The garden was white with frost, magical beyond words. The house was full of melodies and jingles, worth more than breakfast. There was a big gleaming tree, arranged with lustrous nuance Under which lay a mountain of presents.
We would all go to church, where there was a big feast, Turkey legs, fruits, hams and sweets. Exchanging presents, seeing the joy on everyone’s faces As if the worries didn’t exist, It was Christmas. My thoughts go back to when I was five, We’d all dress up in hideous sweaters and pyjamas; With the sweet smell of that amazing stew and bread We could hardly wait. Finally, the night came, we opened our presents with glee, embracing each other Thankful to the Lord for the blessings. Now that I’m older, everyone is busy, Yet December comes and brings a light of joy Diminishing the stress of school and work and embracing the time that flew by. I guess the little girl that awaited Christmas with restless enthusiasm, still lives inside of me as I end this poem, and reflect upon Christmas time;
2018 has been a jam-packed year for everyone, and there is no doubt that there were many major events this year. So here’s a list of one major event for each month of 2018!
January 3: First bionic hand with a sense of touch is unveiled in Rome.
February 9- 25: Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics.
March 11: Xi Jinping becomes President of China for life.
April 6: Canadian Humboldt Broncos bus crash kills 16 and injures 13. Rest In Peace.
May 7: Vladimir Putin is sworn in as President of Russia for another 6 years.
June 12: Summit Meeting in Singapore between North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un and U.S. President Donald Trump.
July 9: US President Donald Trump names Brett Kavanaugh as his Supreme Court nominee.
August 7: First Hollywood movie with an All-Asian cast premieres: “Crazy Rich Asians”.
September: Amazon becomes America’s second company valued at over 1 trillion dollars, after Apple.
October 2: For only the 3rd time in history and the 1st time in 55 years, a woman wins the Nobel Prize in Physics (Donna Strickland).
November 6: In the U.S. midterm elections, Republicans hold the Senate, while Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives.
December 11: Time Magazine Person of the Year 2018 is announced: “the Guardians” journalists targeted for their work, including Jamal Khashoggi.
It’s nearly that time again. In only a few days time the ball will drop around the world. It will signal the start of something new; something exciting. The new year always spawns new hope in all of us. It creates an atmosphere of excitement for the future, where new and old aspirations alike are met with the ambition and the drive to achieve them. I love creating new year’s resolutions with my family and friends. Sharing mine, listening to theirs, and reflecting on our previous year’s resolutions has always been an annual tradition of mine along with others all around the globe.
The idea is simple enough; make a goal, set out a specific plan to achieve it, and finally look back at the progress you made in the span of a year. This is exactly what we’re going to do. My new year’s resolution is to create more time for myself. Mental and physical wellness is not usually a priority for many young people, and unfortunately, I’ve found myself doing just that. Finding time in your busy schedule to rejuvenate and recharge your mind and body should always be a daily goal. A small break can go a long way.
This is how I’m going to create more time for myself. The following list is a grouping of daily steps that I intend to take in order to achieve my goal in promoting my own mental and physical wellness; a goal I hope everyone (including you!) are striving to accomplish as well.
Plan out each day.
This one may seem simple enough, however, I’d bet most people are doing this incorrectly. Plan out your day completely. It may seem like a stretch but the more thorough you are, the better. Almost every minute should be scheduled, including time you’ve set aside for yourself. This step will require some serious self-discipline. For this to work you can NOT stray from your schedule.
Find or revive a hobby.
What’s the point in setting time aside for yourself if you’re not looking forward to it? If you have an old hobby that you’ve stopped participating in, the new year will be the perfect time to pick up where you left off. For me that’ll be playing video games. Picking up my controller, with the knowledge that the next hour is only for me and my PS4 is a moment I’ve been looking forward to for a while. If you’re in the market for a new hobby I would advise you to look for something that does not require a lot of commitment. Remember, you want to relax and rejuvenate so make sure your choice in hobbies reflects that.
Sleep early, wake up early.
This is certainly the most difficult step to take. Always make room for sleep. Prioritize it by any means possible. A healthy sleep cycle is extremely important to everyone, especially teens. Going to bed a few hours earlier in order to obtain a full 8.5-9 hours of sleep is well worth it in the long run. Planning out your day goes hand in hand with this step. Be proactive, enjoy a good night’s rest and promote both your physical and mental wellness.
A twist on the classic paper snowflakes, these trihexaflexagons will leave you mesmerized by their multiple sides and kaleidoscopic effect.
Hexaflexagons are polygons with multiple faces, discovered by Arthur Stone in 1939. They can be made out of paper, then pinched and turned out to reveal the other sides. Being hexagons, they can easily be made into a variation of paper snowflakes.
Materials
Paper
Glue
Scissors
You can follow this tutorial from the beginning, or use a template and skip steps 1-6.
Take a strip of paper. The ratio of the short edge to the long edge should be approximately 1:7.
Take one edge of the strip and lightly bend it to resemble one side of an equilateral triangle, a triangle with three sides of equal length.
Flip the paper over, and line up the edges of the bend with the straight edge of the strip and the fold. This should form an equilateral triangle.
Fold this triangle back. Line up the newly folded edge from the previous step with the other edge of the paper strip. This creates another equilateral triangle.
Keep folding the triangles back until the end of the paper, forming a sort of triangular spring.
Unravel the spring and count out ten triangles. Cut off the extra.
Count three triangles from the end. Fold the rest of the tail back.
Count the two visible triangles nearest to the fold. Bring the rest of the tail behind this part, but leave it in front of the first end. This should form a hexagon plus an extra triangle.
Flip the hexaflexagon over. Glue the extra end to the triangle it folds over. This should form a hexagon cinched in a spiral. This is a completed hexaflexagon.
Fold into thirds and cut off small pieces from the paper, as with a regular paper snowflake. Make sure not to cut off an entire edge.
Unfold to reveal the snowflake.
Three of the edges have two layers. Push these edges up.
Turn out the snowflake to reveal the second side.
Push the two-layered edges up and turn out again to reveal the third side.
Everyone has their own holiday traditions – whether it’s something like watching a holiday movie everyday in December or having a huge family gathering once a year. Each tradition usually comes with a special significance. In this post, I decided to talk about the two traditions my family has done over the past few years since we’ve been in Calgary.
Family of three? Perfect
This is a tradition my family has done ever since I could remember. Since I’m an only child, there’s only three of us in one household and you know what else has three items? A three course meal. Every year my family stays home on Christmas Eve and we have dinner together. But here’s the twist, we each take responsibility for one part of the meal and try to cook it at the same time. To choose from we have the starters, the main course, and dessert. Even though this makes the kitchen an absolute war zone, it’s given us great memories we can laugh at.
Going through old stuff and giving them away!
A lot of people do this every year and it’s a great way to not only de-clutter but to give back. After Christmas my family starts the long process of going through all our stuff – from furniture to clothes. By the end of it we always end up with huge piles of things that we’re simply taking up space in the house. Afterwards we take the stuff to a nearby donation center and part ways with our old stuff. If this is a tradition you’re interested in, here’s a list of places that would be more than happy to accept your donations! For more information on each center, click the link attached to it!
The holidays are a fantastic time to practice giving. This year, I want to focus on giving the gift of empathy and understanding this holiday season, and I think you should too! Below is a list of holiday phrases in different languages, and I encourage you to use these with people you know who’s first language isn’t english.
Happy Holidays!
Happy holidays is a great way to include everyone in the December season! For Canadians, it is always great to know some French as we are a bilingual country. Happy holidays in French is joyeuses fêtes.
In the Middle East, Arabic is a popular language with over 420 million speakers. Happy holidays in Arabic isاجازة سعيدة (‘iijazat saeida) [read from right to left].
Japanese was originally written in Chinese characters and dates back to the 8th century. This phrase in Japanese is あなたに良い知らせ (Anata ni yoi shirasemasu).
Bonus: Happy Holidays and Happy New Year in American Sign Language (ASL). It is thought to have originated in 1817 at the American School for the Deaf.
Although we tried to make these translations as accurate as possible, some of the cultural context and meaning was lost in translation or didn’t exist in some of these languages. Many of these translations may be incorrect, so feel free to add your understanding in the comments or any other phrases and languages you know. Happy New Years is a very common phrase across the globe, so that translation is likely correct across all of these languages. Personally, my favourite language to learn was ASL, and I hope this holiday season we can do our part to make sure everyone feels included!
Featured Image: https://www.dailyrindblog.com/happy-holidays-from-the-orchard-2016/
K-Pop has taken over the world like a storm and has impacted the music industry tremendously. Some popular bands right now are BTS, Black Pink, SEVENTEEN and EXO. Most of these bands started their careers around 2011-2012 and K-Pop singers are mainly in female, male or mixed gender bands.
1. The Music Videos
K-Pop is currently known to have the most colourful and well thought out music videos, where they dance and sing based on a theme. The Korean music industry spends time on the costumes, choreography, makeup and effects instead of just focusing on the song itself. By incorporating all of these elements, the singers accomplish their goal of grabbing their viewers’ attention.
2. Collaborations Across The World
After K-Pop started trending, it made several Korean bands become famous instantly. Soon American artists started to release songs with some Korean verses in them and had certain bands feature in them. A prime example is when Dua Lipa, the singer of the song New Rules released a song called Kiss and Make Up featuring Black Pink.
3. Ability
Unlike many American singers who can only sing or only dance, K-Pop singers are able to do both quite well. Each idol does training for upcoming performances and are trained by professionals. Most K-Pop bands join about a few years before becoming public as they are being trained on how to be an idol and how they can perform better at concerts.
4. The English Involved
K-Pop stands for Korean-Pop so most people think it only has Korean lyrics but Korean singers usually always add in a few words of English into the song. This makes people who don’t understand even a word of Korean at least perceive a few words.
5. Increasing Popularity
K-Pop is growing in its popularity quite fast and are causing a question of “Should K-Pop be considered its own genre?” Spotify, a music streaming platform, has K-Pop in its own genre. Each band has several fans and on several social media platforms it has become apparent that K-Pop is going to stay for a while. One example of K-Pop increasing their popularity is EXO as it is made up of two groups – EXO M and EXO K. One sings in Korean while the other group sings the same lyrics in Mandarin. This increases the bands potential audience greatly.
The holidays are a great time for getting together with family and friends. Almost all of us have had great memories made from the gatherings that happen around this time of year! Hosting a holiday get-together comes with a lot of stress. Nonetheless, it is totally worth the work. Having a hard time thinking of activities to keep your guests entertained? Trying to find a fun holiday activity? Here’s a list I’ve compiled of awesome holiday party ideas!
White Elephant : Gift Exchange!
For those of you not familiar with a “white elephant” gift exchange, everyone brings a “white elephant” to the party. There are different variations of the gift exchange. However, the way I have always played has been to bring something you own that you are willing to part with. For example, maybe some jewelry you don’t wear often or a good book! Obviously you’ll have to decide what to bring based on the group of people you’re going to be with. The difference between the White Elephant exchange from a normal Secret Santa is that you don’t know who your gift is going to. Everyone puts their gifts in one place and then everyone picks a new gift from the pile. Up to you if you want to allow exchanges after the first pick!
2. Secret Santa
Secret santa cartoon icon vector illustration graphic design
By far one of the most classic party ideas. In Secret Santa everyone has already chosen, prior to the party, someone to buy a gift for. Make sure to set a gift price maximum! Once the party is started everyone can open their own gifts and either guess who bought it for them or have the person reveal themselves!
3. Cookie / Gingerbread House Decorating!
Get all your friends and/or family together ,put on some holiday music, and start decorating! This is a great party idea with low maintenance. Just provide the gingerbread houses and/or cookies with decorations (ie. icing, sprinkles, etc) or you could always ask your guests to bring their own!
No matter what, I always pull it together by the end of the year to write this big, long, extremely important post. (I’m not kidding. Here, read my post from 2017: The Best Memes of 2017) I mean, where would we be without memes? I know I for one would be completely and utterly lost without their presence in my life.
Last year, I remember thinking to myself that 2017 was a great year for memes. But nope, this year definitely tops it.
So, sit back, relax, and enjoy this walk down memory lane.
JANUARY
1. Tide Pods
Oh, god. This was the first meme we kicked off 2018 with- and it was undoubtedly the stupidest. Basically, people started a “Tide Pod Challenge” and started making videos of themselves eating those gosh darn Tide Pods. This resulted in memes that, I admit, were funny, but also deaths. So, um.
2.What’s Your Child Texting About?
This meme is basically a parody of news reports trying to inform parents of the abbreviations teenagers use.
3. FBI Agent
This meme was created when people started speculating that an FBI agent watches all of us through the webcams in our computers or front cameras of our phones. Rather than being worried, naturally, everyone made memes.
4. Ugandan Knuckles
Man, I hated this one. Mostly because the kids at my school caught on and you couldn’t go anywhere were someone wasn’t saying “Do you know de wae?”.
FEBRUARY
1. Mine – Bazzi
This song, the one that starts with “You so f**king precious when you smile” started off the trend that is now known as wholesome memes, or love memes. Take a look for yourself.
Warning: this video has explicit language! I would use one that’s clean, but I scoured YouTube and literally could not find a good one.
MARCH
1. Evil Patrick
You know what I’m talking about. Basically, this clip from Spongebob (below) became a meme and people started using “evil Patrick” as a reaction image.
2. Krusty Krab vs. Chum Bucket
Another Spongebob meme? Yes. March actually had a couple of quality Spongebob memes, and honestly, I enjoyed them all. This meme basically compares two things to the two fictional restaurants, the Krusty Krab and the Chum Bucket, with the better of the two things bearing a likeness to the Krusty Krab.
3. Exhausted Spongebob
Another Spongebob meme. Ironically, this meme originated from the same episode that Evil Patrick came from- literally only a few seconds before.
4. Fortnite
There’s no way you didn’t see this one coming. Fortnite took over 2018, and as much as I hate that, it’s just the truth. If by chance you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’ll fill you in. Fortnite is a PVP video game released by Epic Games that shot to fame this year. In all honesty, it’s not that bad of a game- but like many popular artists/games, etc., the fanbase ruined the game for many people. As soon as children as young as five years old began playing the game, older gamers stopped playing and instead, made memes making fun of it.
golden scars are a type of gun in the game
APRIL
1. Yodelling Walmart Boy
Honestly, one of the better memes of 2018. I’m almost disappointed it died.
2. Mark Zuckerberg’s Congressional Hearing
This meme originated from Mark Zuckerberg’s hearing after Facebook was found to be collecting user data. The memes either suggest Zuckerberg is a robot, or just makes cracks at the stolen data.
MAY
1. Is this a pigeon?
This originated from an old anime, where a character mistakes a butterfly for a pigeon. It’s used to express confusion.
And this, right here is a top tier meme that only a few will understand. If it clicks then I applaud you.
2. Yanny or Laurel?
When this video surfaced, the internet almost broke loose trying to figure out what exactly is said. Some hear yanny, others hear laurel, and some, like me, can hear whichever one they choose. Don’t believe me? Take a look for yourself.
There’s not many memes on this one but enjoy this (real!!) tweet from the US Air Force about it:
3. Mr. Stark, I don’t feel so good
Have you seen Avengers: Infinity War? I won’t be cruel, so to those of you that haven’t watched it: when a certain character dies in this film, they end up disintegrating piece by piece after saying his final words, “Mr. Stark, I don’t feel so good.” It’s probably not hard to guess which character this is and you’ve probably already had the movie spoiled for you if you’ve went this long without watching it, but again: I’m not cruel. These memes are based on that mentioned scene.
JUNE
1. Young Thug on the computer
I love Young Thug, and I love this meme. It’s pretty self explanatory.
JULY
1. Polite Cat
What a great way to kick off summer 2018.
2. Celebrity Full Names
Basically, people made a meme about googling celebrities’ full names and making up hilarious answers. Take a look for yourself.
3. Do y’all hear sumn?
This meme was made using cartoon characters, most often from Spongebob (what a surprise, am I right), pretending as though they didn’t hear a statement. The sentence on the pictures is often “Do y’all hear sumn?”, meaning something along the lines of “Do you guys hear something? Because I don’t.”
AUGUST
1. Cardi B as a child
When Cardi B posted a picture of her at 5 years old, naturally, fans took to making memes.
2. Johnny, Johnny? Yes Papa
In August, a Youtube channel posted a video, where the nursery “Johnny Johnny yes papa” is remixed with the song “Baby Shark”. The video has since been taken down due to copyright, but here’s a small snippet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPOwwaLkk7I
3. Lil Xan Sniffing Noah Cyrus
At the MTV VMA’s, a picture was taken of Lil Xan and Noah Cyrus (who were dating at the time) on the red carpet and it was the perfect opportunity for a meme.
SEPTEMBER
1. Bongo Cat
It’s basically just a cat playing a bongo.
OCTOBER
1. Moths
This meme is based on the moth’s strong attraction to lamps.
2. Presidential Alerts
In October, Donald Trump rolled out “presidential alerts”, where he can send alerts to citizen’s phones. After the first test run, memes were made.
NOVEMBER
1. Surprised Pikachu
2. They did surgery on a grape
Honestly, even I don’t fully understand this one. Basically, a hospital demonstrated minimally invasive surgery on a grape. Them, people took it and ran with it.
And that’s all, folks! I know I’ve missed a couple, believe me, I do, but a post can only be so long. Now it’s now time to start hoping the memes of 2019 will be just as hilarious and absurd as this year’s.
What is Christmas without Christmas movies? I mean, how else are you supposed to spend those snowy days? So grab a friend, make some hot chocolate and curl up with your cozy blankets because I’ve compiled the ultimate Christmas movies list for you!
Home Alone 1&2
Who could leave out easily one of the most iconic Christmas movies? Let Kevin steal our hearts once again as his family forgets him during the holidays! Both Home Alones are a must watch, and honestly, they’ll never go out of style. Catch people in 2052 still watching Marv and Harry get tricked by Kevin.
For all you romantic comedy lovers out there; this holiday-themed movie is one to look for! Starring Reese Witherspoon alongside Vince Vaughn, the two play a married couple who go on to spend the holidays at four different places: one with each of their divorced parents. This has got to be one of my favourite Christmas movies, even if it’s not considered an iconic one. It’s absolutely hilarious and light-hearted, feel-good type of movie, perfect for watching with friends, significant others or even just yourself!
Young Thomas-Brodie Sangster? Who could argue with that? Love Actually definitely earned a solid spot on this list. I love those movies where it shows 5 different stories that somehow ties with each other in the end and that’s exactly what Love Actually is! Follow nine different stories of love (actually) through an all-star cast of drastically different characters. Although it’s not super Christmasy, it’s festive enough to earn the right to be watched as a holiday movie.
Classic (we’re talking 1940’s), black and white and incredibly touching, It’s A Wonderful Life has got to be on this list! A man low on happiness during the holidays is shown by a guardian angel how much he really impacted the town in which he lives in. It’s got a moving storyline plus that vintage movie magic that you all know I love, it’s no doubt that this film is 100% worth the watch.
One of the cutest Christmas movies to ever exist, even if it’s super short! I’ll admit it, I’m always a sucker for Snoopy. Follow Charlie Brown and his friends to find some Christmas spirit! It’s simply such a feel-good film with a touch of nostalgia. So get in touch with your childhood by watching A Charlie Brown Christmas this holiday!
This one’s for all of you who have Halloween as your favourite holiday but Christmas as a close second. This unforgettable film is the perfect combination of the best of both worlds! Is it a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie? You can argue that another time, but for now, if you’ve got the time, give The Nightmare Before Christmas a little love! You can’t go wrong with this holiday horror-fantasy-musical!
Hands down one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. Meant for more mature audiences (I’d say at least 14A), this comedy movie is about exactly what the title suggests: an office Christmas party. Typically, the office place is rather dull or serious, but in this, it’s grounds for a wild Christmas rager. In hopes of saving their company, employees must throw an epic holiday party to impress a potential client, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. If you’re in the mood for a good laugh, Office Christmas Party is the movie to watch. Trust me, this is like 21 Jump Street funny.
Whether it’s the old one or the new one, it doesn’t matter because the Grinch is iconic nonetheless! How could you have Christmas with this green guy? I know everyone’s probably already watched this before, but I couldn’t leave out the essentials! What I suggest this year, since the new Grinch was recently released, is to watch the older one first at home then go out to see the 2018 one for the ultimate Grinch experience! Don’t forget: “maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store, maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!”
Note: An ‘anecdote’ is a short, real and amusing story about an incident or person.
Anecdote #1: I was six, and it was Thanksgiving and I was so excited! My mom invited her friends over and said that I can as well. I invited two of my closest friends, I was so excited that I started jumping! I noticed glasses on the floor, but didn’t pay to much attention to them. I accidentally jumped on them, and I got glass all over my face, hands and legs. -Kim, Alberta
Anecdote #2: It was Christmas and I believe I was 6. My grandma gave me a present, but I can’t quite remember what it was. But I didn’t like it, therefore I had a tantrum. Now that I look back at that day, I should’ve been grateful that I even got a present. – Anonymous
Anecdote #3: It was Christmas break, so I decided to go by my cousins. We were merrily playing a game until my little cousin picked up a broomstick and chased us around the house. It was all fun and games, but she started hitting us with it. There is a nearby pond so my other cousin and I ran down there. We realized that we were trapped. We started to scream. People thought we were being attacked by crocodiles. Two men bolted to rescue us, only to realize that we were being chased by our little cousin…with a broomstick. They looked at us with disdain and returned from whence they came. I got sent home, and I couldn’t see them until the next day. – Anonymous
Anecdote #4: “One summer, my family and I went to Disney World and my parents thought that they lost my sister in a crowd. They started panicking and calling her name only to realize that she was sitting on my dad’s shoulders.” – @mklafavers on Twitter
Anecdote #5: Once, my mother and I were baking chocolate fudge cookies for Thanksgiving. We read the instructions and said to ourselves “Ten minutes in the oven!?” After 10 minutes we decided that they were way to soft, so we put them back in for another 10 minutes. When we took them out, they were rock-solid. Moral of the Story: Follow the recipe, especially if you aren’t a chef. – Kassidy, Alberta
Anecdote #6: For Christmas I was making a cake, I reached for the ‘sugar’, and dumped a lot in. Later on, while tasting the completed cake, I realized that something was off. It was way to salty! Oops! I put salt instead of sugar.- Anonymous
The time of year, the Muslims of the world unite to celebrate the end of Ramadan! Ramadan is a monthly commemoration of the first disclosure of the (Holy Book) Quran to Muhammad (Prophet). This is seen as one of the Five Pillars of Islam. In the month of Ramadan Muslims around the world, fast (Fasting is the conservation food for an extensive period of time at their own will) for 29 to 30 days. Many people celebrate this holiday (celebration) in different ways because of the various Islamic groups (Sunni, Shia, Kharijite…). Though there are different groups that make each celebration different, there are still similarities in our Eid al-Fitr Celebrations. The day of Eid al-Fitr is the moment when we are allowed to breakfast on this special occasion.
Date
Eid al-Fitr usually occurs around the month of June to May, but to be more precise this celebration occurs right after Ramadan. Eid begins by the new moon’s crescent, it is shown of the starting of each lunar month in the Islamic calendar. The next Eid al-Fitr in 2019 will occur approximately on Tuesday, June 4th and end in the evening of Wednesday, June 5th.
Praying
One of the most important things you do during this celebration is praying. On the day of Eid, there is a special prayer. The prayer helps you give thanks to God for all he has done. On the day of Eid we perform a special prayer because as you know, this day is not like any other. My family and I always go early in the morning to pray, because of the importance of this day.
Gifts!
Usually as gifts, my family and I donate to local charities, and generally to poverty like families. Eid al-Fitr is the day we can focus on improving and increased devotion and worship to god (Allah). On this occasion my parents provide my brothers and me somewhat of a reward (usually money) for our fast.
Greeting Someone
Often when we finish the first prayer, most Muslims would use the phrase “Eid Mubarak” , Eid meaning “celebration” and Mubarak meaning “blessing”. This ultimately portrays that Eid al-Fitr is to focus on the celebration of the blessing of what God has given us, and to remind us of our spiritual connection. While saying “Eid Mubarak” to someone, the simpler meaning would be “Happy Eid to you”.
As we near the holiday season, people start to stress about saving money during this time. And as a fourteen year old, buying presents for people is hard since I don’t quite make my own money yet. With the help of a few people, I’ve managed to make a list of a few ways to save money this holiday season.
The easiest of course, is baking things. Everyone loves getting cookies and little cakes, so I think that holiday treats are honestly the best way to go. Yes, you might have to spend a little on ingredients for whatever it is you decide to bake, but all together, you end up saving money as well.
Going with the theme of baking, making homemade crafts is a fun way to save money. You get to make adorable little gifts for people, and the actual activity is quite fun as well!
Lots of people love to do go out to do activities with their friends and family, and often times those cost money. So maybe, this year try doing something that’s free and outside, such as skating or sledding.
A good place to shop for gifts is, surprisingly, thrift stores. They’re always full of adorable little things, and you never know what you might find. You could end up with a unique gift for someone, at a pretty reasonable price might I add.
Doing a Secret Santa is also a fantastic way to not buy tons of costly gifts. You only have to buy one present and you can make it as personal as you’d like. And besides, there’s always the added fun of playing the game of who got who.
Try making your decorations this year. I know how expensive it can be to go out and buy decoration after decoration, so have some fun with some arts and crafts! It’s a great activity that you can do with friends, and you end up with some pretty cute original decorations.
These are just a few ideas I’ve found, I’d love to hear of some more! Happy Holidays!
This is a tradition my family has done ever since I could remember. Since I’m an only child, there’s only three of us in one household and you know what else has three items? A three course meal. Every year my family stays home on Christmas Eve and we have dinner together. But here’s the twist, we each take responsibility for one part of the meal and try to cook it at the same time. To choose from we have the starters, the main course, and dessert. Even though this makes the kitchen an absolute war zone, it’s given us great memories we can laugh at.
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