The most wonderful time of the year? Yes, Christmas is here! The magical moments, festive mood and a lot of twinkling lights are back! It’s December 1 and we can finally count days till Christmas Day! We know that you – our lovely expats – come from many different countries around the world and that you may be celebrating Christmas differently. Anyway, now you are in the Czech Republic and we are so happy to have you here! So we would like to show you how we – Czech people celebrate this festive holiday and you can learn more about Czech Christmas!
Christmas in the Czech Republic starts with Advent. It’s the period of four Sundays and weeks before Christmas (this year Advent started on Sunday, November 29, 2020, and will last until Christmas Day – December 24, 2020). The word Advent means ‘coming’ in Latin. This is the coming of Jesus into the world! For Christians, this time of Advent means preparing for the Christmas holiday, decorating the house, baking traditional sweets, buying the Christmas tree and the last Christmas gifts! It’s a time for us to just remember the real meaning of Christmas. We all have an Advent wreath at home, and we light one candle every Sunday – did you light up the first candle last Sunday? 🙂
Have you ever heard about the Advent Calendar? It’s a special type of calendar showing the 24 days associated with Christian Christmas and the time of Advent. The calendar is used to count down the days of Advent until Christmas Day. A paper version is widespread, in which there are 24 boxes filled with small sweets, usually with chocolate – I’m sure you’ve noticed that it’s available in all grocery stores! It is important to mention that Advent calendars used to be mostly for young children. However, more and more types of Advent calendars are created for adults as well. It’s just such a typical way of counting down the days – because everyone is looking forward to Christmas Day, right?
At Foreigners, we have prepared a special Advent Calendar for you this year – not filled with chocolate but with some Christmas tips, traditions, recipes, carols, and more. So, get ready for 24 days full of Christmas spirits! Follow our social media – especially Facebook and Instagram – Foreigners Brno, Foreigners Head Office, Foreigners Prague where we will post for 24 days Christmas photos of our colleagues from the office and blog posts related to Christmas only for you! Are you as excited as we are? 🙂
Source of pictures: everypixel.com
