Christmas special

The joy of celebrating Christmas with
all its fascinating traditions and customs in Romania has these days been
clouded by the commemoration of the 1,000 youngsters who died in the Romanian
Revolution thirty years ago. Notwithstanding, today we shall take the
optimistic path and offer you some basic elements on Christmas customs and
traditions.

As usual, we begin with a couple of
basic notions and phrases:

Gospodar=householder

A se trezi=to wake up

Devreme=early

Dimineata devreme=early in the morning

A face focul=light the fire

A stirni jarul=stir the glowing embers

Brad=fir-tree

A impodobi= adorn

Ajunul Craciunului=Christmas Eve

Now let us use some of the words and
phrases above in meaningful, communicative patterns.

In Oltenia, in sudul Romaniei,
gospodarii se trezesc dimineata devreme.

In Oltenia, southern Romania,
householders wake up early in the morning.

Ei fac focul in soba si stirnesc jarul,
rostind cu voce tare dorintele pentru noul an.

They light the fire in the stove and
stir the glowing embers, uttering their wishes for the year to come.

Obiceiul de a impodobi bradul in ajunul
Craciunului este foarte important.

The custom of adorning the fir-tree on
Christmas Eve is very important.

Obiceiul colindatului este legat de
celebrarea Nasterii Domnului Iisus Hristos.

The tradition of caroling is connected
to the celebration of the Nativity, which is the Birth of Our Lord Jesus.

Thank you
ALL for the interest you take in Romanian culture, and for being so keen on
learning Romanian with us. Good Bye! La revedere!