Christmas in the past and now

1. ME: Granny, do you remember Christmas, when you were a
child?
G : Yes, of course.
ME: Ok! So, tell me what Christmas was like then?
G: Well. We were a big family. We were 5 children and loved
Xmas. Before Xmas Eve (23rd
December) all members of the
family had to help mum and dad with big cleaning.
So we baked sweets too and cakes. Our family tradition was home-made chocolate.
We had to put chocolate in the snow so that to cool down.
ME: Wow, I love chocolate. And what was with chocolate after cooling down?
G: After that we took it out of the form and wrapped it in nice paper. We put the
wrapped chocolate on the Xmas tree.
Me: Who decorated Xmas tree? What did you decorate the Christmas tree with?
G: The Xmas tree was decorated by my parents. But we didn’t know it. Me and my
brother lay in front of the door of the living room and we secretly watched how
“Father Christmas” decorated the Christmas tree and put some presents under it.
(laughter)  On the Christmas tree there were glass balls, sweets, walnuts and sugar
wrapped in kitchen foil.
ME: It’s funny! I forgot to ask a question about food. What food did you eat on
Christmas Day?
G: We believed that when we were fasting, so we would see a gold pig! (laughter) 
For breakfast we had Christmas cake with cocoa. For lunch it was fish soup and for
dinner we had carp with potato salad.
ME: Well, and what was after dinner?
G: After dinner we went to the Christmas tree and sang carols. I played the piano
and my brother played the violin.
ME: When could you open the presents?
G: We had to wait for the sound of the bell. It was a sign for us that we could start.
ME: And what about people from the village? Did you Celebrate Xmas together?
G: No, we didn’t. But on Christmas Day a wagon with horses and Christmas tree
rode around the village. So we saluted Xmas.
ME: And last question: How many presents did everyone get?
G: Everyone had just about five presents. We had little money then.)
ME: Thank you very much, granny!
(Anežka from the Czech team)