Lyra

A group of friends discuss their favorite aspects of Christmas, such as spending time with family, playing in the snow, and opening presents. They also talk about Christmas songs, the meaning of Advent, and how Christmas traditions vary in different countries. They mention late night shopping and a Christmas fair happening near them. Overall, they express excitement for the holiday season. Hello and welcome to our Christmas podcast. Today we'll be discussing all things Christmas. First of all, what's your favourite bit about Christmas? I don't... Maisie, you start. Spending time with family. Casey? I like the snow. Of course you do. Asha? I like spending time with family as well. Phoebe? I like to check snowballs at my younger brothers. To be fair, all of that is fun, but I think probably the best thing is the food. Like, food's amazing. So, what are you guys doing for Christmas this year? Do you have any plans? Phoebe? Oh, me, my father and my mum and my little brother might go on holiday. Cool! What's your favourite bit of Christmas? Like, is it when you first wake up? I always think waking up's really fun, but opening presents is the best bit. What about you guys? I like waking up my brother, picking him up, popping him on the bed. I never get to wake up myself. My sister always comes up at like 5 o'clock in the morning and wakes me up. She's really annoying, but it's fun. Casey? My mother normally wakes me up, but I normally jump on her bed when she doesn't wake up. To be fair, that is always fun. Phoebe? If my parents don't wake me up, I'll go bouncing on their bed and then I'll go open my presents. Cool. Asha? I just wake up whenever I feel like waking up. Okay. What's your favourite Christmas song? Like, this is a really big debate. Phoebe, what's yours? Jingle Bells, but the version of Batman. Oh, I know that one. It's funny. Yeah. Asha? What's your favourite one? Yeah, I'm not sure I have one either. Like, loads of them are really good. Casey, your favourite one? No. Maisie? I like Carol of the Bells. I haven't heard that one. Oh, the one we always used to have to sing in school was Silent Night, which means I don't like it very much now because we sing it every year. Right, I have a question. Can someone explain to me what Advent is, because I'm so confused. It's like, I know it's about, like, we open chocolates, but is there any, like, actual meaning? Is it just people want to open chocolates before Christmas? No, it's not that I know of. Okay, so it's... Hasn't it got something to do with Christianity, though? Like, hasn't it got something to do with that? Is it religions are you on about? Yes, that's... I wonder, is it in a religion, do you think? Yeah, isn't it, like, preparation for Christmas or something? Because I'm really confused about it. I think it's, like, counting the days up to Christmas. Oh, so the 24 doors on the calendar and then on the 25th is Christmas. Yeah. Is it when they do the thing for the kids? What? Sorry. I think it's... Doesn't it have something to do with, like, preparing for the birth of Jesus or something? Oh, that might be the deeper meaning, I really don't know. But, right. Pagans and Christians, what's your view? Like, should the Christian... Is it a Christian holiday, is it a pagan holiday? Is it right that Christians, like, got to take credit for it when it's actually... It began as a pagan festival, but then over time the Christians took it over, so now we have aspects of both, because the pagans celebrated the darkest day of the year and they brought in wreaths and fir branches, but, like, then the Christians took it over to do with the birth of Jesus. Like, do you think that's fair, or is that just how it goes? What's your ideas? Asha? I don't really know much about that. Anyone have any views? Didn't it used to be called a pagan holiday called Yule? Yeah, I think it was, because they brought in Yule logs sometimes, and I don't remember much. So, do we think it's, like, should the Christians have been able to take credit for it? I kind of feel like that's unfair if it was originally a pagan festival. I agree with you. Yeah. So, what's happening near us for Christmas? Because I know there was the Christmas fair for the school yesterday, because that was really fun, and there was loads of different stuff there. So, like, there's late night shopping at some point this week, isn't there? I don't know. I think it's on Thursday, isn't it? It's called the Markets in Town, because they're selling loads of stuff, and you can go and see Santa at the mustard seed. Anyone going? No. I went last year. I don't know. Really? None of you want to go? I haven't heard anything about it. How depressing is that? It's on Thursday. It's, like, I think it starts, like, 7? Maybe 6? It's Thursday. Yes, it's Thursday. I heard during Santa Christmas late night opening, November, 3am. 3am? I don't... You mean it starts at 4.30? Oh, yeah. Sorry. 4.30pm to 7pm. There'll be food and drinks. Yummy. Yeah, they're selling loads of different rolls, like, there's barbecues and stuff, but all the shops are open. You should... Why aren't any of you going? I might. Yeah, definitely come, because I think there's a couple of people, but one person comes and sells these homemade chocolates. They're amazing. Sounds good. They're really nice. So... Anyone know any different traditions for Christmas? Like, what happens in different countries? I know there's St. Nicholas in Europe, a lot of places, and they light a tall red candle in Ireland. Oh, yeah. Isn't it to show, like, welcoming to people coming to the home, or to provide warmth and shelter? I think. It's something like that. But, random fact. Did you know that decorating Christmas trees actually came from Germany? And George I brought it here when he married his German wife. She brought it to England. I thought I heard something about that, but I wasn't sure. Yeah. Like, there's so much cool stuff going on in different places. Because, did you know they have this massive lantern parade in the Philippines? Yeah. And the stars represent the Star of Bethlehem. And in Norway, they decorate and hide broomsticks around the areas. That's a bit weird, but probably also quite cool. In some parts of Europe, they have something called Krankus. What's that? So, he takes naughty children, steals them, puts them in socks. Better not be naughty in those parts of Europe, then. I know in Iceland, people celebrate 13 days of Christmas. Like, each night, children put their shoes out, and then 13 yule lads will come round and fill it with sweets and chocolates and stuff, but if they've been good. But rotten potatoes, if they've been naughty. That's nice, but at the same time, for them. Yeah. I think there's some kind of different traditions about food over the world for Christmas. Because, what do they do in Japan? They go for KFC. Yeah, they have KFC Christmas dinner. That's pretty cool, but also, I feel like, quite different to the average British roast dinner. But in New Zealand, they do a barbecue, which is pretty cool. Yeah. That would be fun. Are barbecues the summer there? Yeah, but it's warm in New Zealand most of the time, and when it's our winter, it's their summer. So, in our summer, they're celebrating Christmas. My cousin lives in New Zealand. How interesting. Yeah, it's pretty fun. It's supposed to be really good. Okay, anything anyone looking forward to before the New Year? No. Not really. What boring people we all must be. Well, thank you all for coming, and goodbye to everyone listening.