🇬🇷Talking about Greek Christmas traditions vs British ones! 🇬🇧 🎅🏽
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
- Thanks everyone for sending in your questions on instagram! I wanted to chat to my good friend George to make sure I didn't miss out on anything important for this one! 🇬🇧 🇬🇷
George is the founder of Language for Life and Business, of which I have been a student for the past year (best 2020 investment ever!) This is not an advert for his school although I would highly recommend looking into them if you're interested in learning Greek or one of the many other languages they offer! www.languageforlifeandbusiness.co.uk
🇬🇷 Kala Christouyenna se olous and thank you for watching another episode of vlogmas!
End card singing is me but it's a cover of the Avgolemono song by the fantastic So Tiri • So Tiri - Avgolemono f...
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Welcome to the official Lia Hatzakis TH-cam channel! On this channel, you’ll find a variety of travel, lifestyle, fashion, cooking, boyfriend and girlfriend vlogs, all things Greece, funny accent videos, American VS British theme and more! Make sure to subscribe and enable ALL notifications so you never miss a video! For instant updates, follow me on my social media accounts above.
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Lia, please do the boat for your dad it may bring back a wonderful memories for him. George is such an amazing man he seems like such a sweetheart.
This was interesting about the differences between Greek and English Christmases. George is so lovely. You need to make a video call with your dad to find out about decorating a boat.
We do that here in Corpus Christi, Texas!! In fact we have an illuminated boat parade complete with (usually) a Santa Clause in shorts because south Texas. It's interesting that so many, if fact pretty much all of the things that y'all do in both London and in Greece are pretty much the same as we do here in coastal south Texas!! It very well might be that we have a strong community of folks of Greek heritage here that some of our holiday foods are similar. But hey y'all don't have tamales, real barbecue, green mole or gumbo z'herbes. And Lia y'all still haven't had REAL tamales yet so when you come back to Texas I'll make sure to rectify that mistake!! They're a holiday tradition & my wife and I will make them for our friends and family this year as we've done for the past 21 years. And Lia, NONE of the ingredients will come from a can!! Best wishes for you and your family and from me and my family we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year!!
@@christianoliver3572 wow I would love to see all that one day. I’ve got a cousin in Houston Texas. Maybe she can show me one day.
@@ashp5597 I've never spent a Christmas in Houston so I don't really know what goes on there. It would be great to come and visit your relatives though and Houston is home to the most diverse population of immigrant traditions (especially food!!) Of any other city in the USA except for Washington DC. In Texas we celebrate where all of us came from and share our traditions especially during holidays. Houston is so damn huge though and traffic is a nightmare!! A good example: Houston has the second largest number of Indian restaurants outside of India. London is number 1. If you go y'all will have fun. Texas is very regional so it will be different as we have different traditions in Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, El Paso, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Austin. You get the idea!! Merrry Christmas from Texas and maybe if you've been a good boy this year then on Christmas day Pancho Clause will visit you from the Frontera (or the south pole) and bring you Pan de Polvo, Dulce de Leche and Bunuelos!! Merry and Happy Christmas and Feliz Navidad!!
Aw, it was lovely hearing about Christmas traditions in Greece and the UK!
We do go to church on Christmas day , the service begins at 5 in the morning, we get presents on New Year's Day from Saint Basil who was a great philanthropist
George! Such a lovely man.
I loved this one! I love learning about other cultures especially surrounding Christmas. ❤️
In my family growing up, the youngest would open 1 present first and then the next one up in age until everyone has opened a present. Then it starts all over again. We had a family of 10, so it took awhile to open all the presents. Inevitably, there was at least one present hidden away that my mom forgot about. Of course everyone wanted it to be for them!
We're doing that
Thank you for sharing that. And thank you to George as well.
Enjoy this video, thanks. I'm an American and when I was young my mom had us open one present at a time. But each person opened one, then we started the second round of presents. I enjoyed watching what everyone received. As an adult my mom changed it to mad chaos, everyone opening at the same time. I don't like it, I preferred the quiet enjoyment of watch others.
Yass - happy to see George making an appearance for Vlogmas! I'm with you, Lia; I'd die if my family watched me unwrap all my presents in a row...far less awkward to blend in.
I know! I want to decorate a boat too! I don’t know how much Greek blood flows in my veins, I’m “Heinz 57 variety” lol 😆
At my church (United Methodist) we go to church on Christmas Eve. We celebrate Jesus’ birth and sing carols. We also do a celebration, usually the Sunday evening after Thanksgiving. It is called Hanging of the Greens. We decorate the church, explaining why at each step,
The tree
The lights
The tree decorations
The wreaths
The green garlands
Etc...
We also sing a carol between each step too
It is a BEAUTIFUL service that I love. Then they lower the lights and we all have candles. We finish with singing Silent Night.
It’s so sad that we can’t do it this year bc of Covid. Next year! 😊
**We used to each have a regular candle. Someone would start theirs, then light the person next to them etc... That stopped after the elderly lady behind my dad, burned the back of his head with her lit 🔥 candle! Now we use battery operated ones! 🤣 it’s funny now, he wasn’t badly injured, just singed his hair. It was several years ago, and they are both deceased now.**
I love Melomakarona! I get them every year at our greek festival (we have a small greek community in my town). Now I need to make them for Christmas.
Please do. So easy. If you decide follow the recipe from Mia Kouppa.
So fun to listen to other people’s Christmas traditions. As far as decorating the boat. We live on the water in California and decorate at miniature boat in the house and actually watch a decorated boats parade around the island at the beginning of the holiday season.
Very interesting hearing the different traditions!
George is so nice! ps...the soup song at the end kills me 🍋 😆
😂😂😗
If you want to add a poetic touch to your Christmas festivities, have a ceremonial reading of that famous poem "Twas The Night Before Christmas" in front of the whole family. Hope that they look at the official poem reader with happiness and anticipation of the literary beauty of this famous poem.
The American tradition is that the mother reads the poem.
Loved the Greek song at the end! Wasn’t expecting it! So cool to hear singing in another language :)
The reason for gifts in January is the difference between the Gregorian calendar and Julian calendar. Some orthodox churches such as Russian still use the Julian calendar and therefore everything is shifted 13 days, I think. The catholics and others use the Gregorian calendar. The Greek Orthodox church adopted the Gregorian calendar but “only” 100 years ago so maybe the tradition still stays among people.... Never heard about the boat though, that’s so nice. I now read that the tree was introduced to Greece in 1833 and in 1970’s “it became a matter of intense discussion to abolish the decorating of Christmas trees and establish that of the boat instead”. I love learning about other cultures.
I agree with Lia about watching people open their gifts!
Most people in Greece exchange presents on New Years day, because presents are brought from St. Basil whose name day is celebrated on January 1st.
Melomakarona is a soft cookie dipped in honey and coated with walnuts. Kourambiedes are a short bread cookie coated in icing sugar and many times will have slivered almonds. Christmas day is celebrated by every one named Christina and Christopher. New years day is celebrated by everyone named Vasilios and Vasiliki. This is the day (January 1st) where every home will cut a sweet bread into as many slices as people plus one for Jesus, one for the home and one for the homeless. Whoever finds the coin will have good luck all year. Greek Christmas in a nut shell. Merry Christmas every one. Cheers and joy to all.🎅☃️🌲
I always made my kids eat, bath/shower get nicely dressed, then presents can be opened. They complained and so did my husband. So one year I gave in and let them open presents with pjs on. I showed them the pictures compared to the other years. And they finally got it that the pictures are so much better getting dressed first. Anyone else can take pictures in pjs if they want at their own houses if they want.
I love this! I lived in Greece for a bit and Melomakarona and Kourabiathes were my pre-workout of choice in December 😂
Loved this! Nice to see George again
Happy Holidays enjoy
And stay safe !!
Lia: Make some Greek cookies! I'd love to see that.
Almost every year I get obsessed with a new country for the Holidays. About two years ago I was obsessed with Greece culture, so I served as much greek type food I could find in the US for the holidays. This year is United Kingdom history and food. So this video is so perfect for me. 👩🍳🙂💙
Lia, I followed you here from "Joel & Lia".......I love these kind of Cultural explorations/differences video...thank you
Glad you did this. I was hoping you would. We used to do the one present on Christmas Eve. We also cooked our Christmas dinner on Christmas eve and ate it that night and then on Christmas all we had to do was heat it up and open the rest of our presents. Oh we had to watch each other open gifts. I life opening mine last. Yes we rounds.
I love learning about your Christmas heritage from both sides of your family. George is wonderful
Yassou! I love Greece. I go there every so often, but not right now, obviously. I've never tried those two things you mentioned. I want to. I do love loukomades, though. I was there after Christmas, and yes, the sales were still happening in January. Lia, I just subscribed to your channel (Joel and Lia as well) and I love watching you. You crack me up!! That random interview you did on the streets pretending to be American was so funny! I've always been interested in anything English. That's how I stumbled upon your channels. And obviously your name is Greek, so I wondered about the Greek part of you. So thanks for this! Efharisto para poli!
Love learning from George! ✨🎄❤️
Enjoyed hearing how Greece celebrates Christmas and New Years, I hope you're friend and instructor George is able to spend his holiday with family, cheers.
Hi Lia in 2019 I went to Greece for vacation . (Who knew it would be my last vacation for a while) .
Santorini was one of the place I went.
And I LOVE the Santorini Christmas trees.
I wish I could have one. But I live in Kentucky in the US.
Went to Athens, Santorini, and Crete
Love your vlogs Lia
From 1960 - 1964 I went to High School with 2 Greek sisters who had a younger brother and sister who all celebrated Christmas by the Julien calendar which made December 25 fall later than the Gregorian (currently used one). Their father passed away several years earlier and this gave them a way to afford many presents (bought on after Christmas day sales).
George forgot to mention the vasilopita tradition with a coin inside eaten on new year's eve. The one getting the coin will have luck all year round.
Unless they choke on it?
That's the biggest difference yes. All around Greece we have vasilopita
Yes! Maybe I’ll do a video on that this New Years
@@liahatz great idea! it's very easy to make, you just need to find mahlepi and maticha 😉
In our home we open the gifts on Christmas Eve. They are passed out and each person in turn open them. We watch each other. I love watching people open them, more then I like to open up my own. We usually go to church in the evening. When we come home we will eat better than before church. We usually fast before church in honor of Mother Mary. We are Byzantine Catholic and my Dad would celebrate the 6th of January, only with the food no gifts. Now, I attend the Roman Catholic Church, so I celebrate it the Roman way. Well anyway Merry Christmas to you all!🎄🎄🎄
Christmas eve is the grandparents and all the family with dinner and gifts than Christmas day is a personal day with the parents and kids
I've often wondered why there is always a lit up boat in Paphos at Christmas .
Awesome! I love learning about different traditions. George explains things so well, it's no wonder he is a teacher. I will have to ask my Greek friends if they know about the decorated boats.
George is adorable!
Lia I like hearing about other people's traditions for different holidays and religions. This was very educational and entertaining and I learned alot. This Christmas is going to be very different from other years.
George is so sweet! This was interesting!
Great video lovely Lia!!! 💖 In Australia our Christmas traditions are borrowed from the UK and US.However it is summer at Christmas, so there is a lot of outdoor celebrations and Christmas gatherings are normally relaxed and casual.
Heyyy it's George!! 😊. That was interesting, Lia! I did not know your dad was from Crete. Fun fact: I have a birthmark on my lower left abdomen that closely resembles a map of Crete!! 😂Seriously! So, I copied and pasted this for you and George, καλά Χριστούγεννα. I hope you can read it 🎄💗🎄
That was fun learning the differences!! Thank you Lia...🌹🌹
So lovely!!!
His description of Agios Vassilis🤣🤣
Loved the history lesson on Greek Christmas vs British Christmas ❣️
That’s a charismatic guy.
Nice to see George and hear about Greek Christmas traditions. Until you actually celebrate with other people in other places you don't realize how different traditions are or how much you miss your own. 🎄🎁
I love your singing at the end so much!
Praying that the virus will allow George to visit his family for Christmas.
I adore Greek pastry and melomokarona is one of my favorites!
Comparing cultures is so interesting. Keep the great videos coming. Merry Christmas 🎄 or as you say happy Christmas. I don’t know why. The only holiday we say “merry” with is Christmas.
We do get 2 presents actually one on Christmas Day and the 2nd one New Years Eve when Agios Vasileios comes!
Of course Kalanta is a big thing and not just once but 3 times (Christmas - New Year - Theofania of 6 January where people dive in freezing water to catch a cross... Long Story )
But HOW...HOW Could you guys forget the LiaPita😂 or as we call it VasiloPita!!!!!
We always open one on Christmas eve and the rest Christmas morning. A we do the one person opens one of theirs and then it's the next person's turn ect. Food is around 1 pm and then again later around 6pm.
I was looking forward to this one!
You are not alone, I cringe with all eyes on me opening gifts! 🙀
In my personal American female opinion, watching the recipient's face as they open the present to check whether their face lights up with joy is half the fun of giving. I don't like it when someone takes away half HALF of my giftgiving fun.
That was pretty interesting. I love George!
Sending Greek sagapo from Jacksonville FL US .. my father was born and raised in Athens then moved here to meet my mom and have me and 3 boys :)
Really interesting - cheers Lia
Coming from Hellenic parents in the diaspora.
Greek Christmas for those who observe the Greek Orthodox faith , starts 40 days prior to Christmas with the Nativity fast , up to receiving Communion at Church , on Christmas Eve ,during the Nativity service, which usually is St Basils Divine Liturgy .Once all the above done , Christmas celebrations start once the Nativity church services are done and you are home up to Theophany ( 7 Jan ) .. This is the actually Greek tradition.
When I was growing up , along with my family , aunts, uncles and cousins, who were also living and born outside Greece.
It was particularly very difficult to follow the Greek Orthodox traditions outside a non Orthodox country , in my case predominantly Roman Catholic and Protestant, whereby these two celebrate Christmas 12 days prior to actually being Christmas and suddenly all came to a halt.
For us Greeks who observe the Greek Orthodox faith, is not the case. For a reason , how can one celebrate a birth when the actual birth has not taken place yet ?
Not sure how traditional Greek’s in Greece are , however, Greeks outside Greece hold the above traditions to heart.
I know myself and my siblings grown up now , having each our own children follow the same tradition for one reason , to keep our faith, culture and continuity .
Sadness me that the according to the teacher, the Hellenes in Greece do not.
I guess it depends on how you were raised .
Your dad is not crazy about the New Years thing. My family is originally from New York but now we live in San Diego, which is a 3 hour time difference from NYC, but we consider midnight in New York to be the "real" New Year, which is actually only 9pm local time.
💝
Very nice video!!! So interesting!!!
Love, Love this. Take care
I would like you to show us what father Christmas in Greece looks like. And what he wears? I have seen the Brit and Irish father Christmas. But not greece. Thank you for your time!xx
If George is alone for Christmas, I would love to zoom with him and spend time together. 🙂💙
this is a really cool video to learn about Greek and English Christmas traditions. i'm 33.3% British and 1.4% Greek so, for me, it's the best of both :-)
hey Lia, have you ever had a peanut butter and miracle whip sandwich? if not, will you try it and let me know what you think? Also, i hope you have the happiest Christmas and New Years you could possibly have :-) ( ---- Big Christmas Hugs ---- )
First! Love your vlogs😊
In my family we take turns opening presents and watch each other. Sometimes opening presents can take literally hours! We don't do anything for New Years. It's not really a thing for our family.
Lia, I am surprised that there was no mention of Christmas Eve dinner that is exclusively vegan (as in no meat or animal products). Don't the Greeks do this as other Orthodox countries before breaking the fast on Christmas day? With St. Basil being the gift-bearer, it makes perfect sense that gifts would arrive Jan.1, just as the major gift day in Spain is Jan. 6 when the 3 kings arrived with gifts for baby Jesus, the newborn king. I love these different customs! Happy holidays!!!
🥰💞
Lia is your Dad like the Dad from my Big Fat Greek Wedding? Because what you said about your dad not celebrating new years until its new years in Greece, it reminded me of that Dad.
100% - windex and all
My Big Fat Greek Christmas! lol
I was brought up in a Christian home where Christmas is the birth of Jesus Christ and the Gathering and celebration of our savior.
Excellento
Maybe it's the shirt, but I just realized he looks a lot like George Costanza from Seinfeld!
I always get a bit confused about the date of Christmas since the Greek & other Orthodox churches are using a slightly different calendar. Russian Orthodox and other churches celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7th; Greek Orthodox on Dec. 25th.
Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus celebrate on the 25th of December. It's not only Greek Orthodox Church. Easter is on the same date for all Orthodox Churches though.
Lia I love your mug - is there a link somewhere??
aww thanks so much! i cant find a link to it but its from Sainsbury's homeware section
Oklahoma has the highest increase of Covid-19 cases of any other US State right now
This was very interesting to watch. I’m half Greek/half English (dads Greek, from Crete and mums English).
I, however, was born and grew up in Greece which meant that I spent most of my christmases in Greece and hated it. I loved English christmases, they were so much better, proper christmases 😆 unlike the Greek ones. I moved to England when I was 18 and 14 years later I’m still here, deep down I’ve always been more English than Greek I think, and to this day I still believe that nothing beats an English Christmas 😊
It makes me sad to see other cultures becoming Americanised. I'm not saying this out of shame as an American. I just don't want to see the old traditions of other cultures fade away because of our influence.
If they have Black Friday in Greece, do they also have Emergency Room Saturday? (LOL)
I really enjoyed hearing about different Christmas traditions in both Grease and The UK. It was so interesting and I always love to learn more about as many different cultures as I can! I’ve always found it really fascinating. 🎄🙌😀❤️
hello friends
no that opening gift in front of people is horrible, im American, I've never opened gifts in front of people (thank god) I know some ppl do
Εγώ προσωπικά σε θεωρώ Αγγλίδα; χαχαχαχα.