The document describes Greek Christmas traditions. It explains that Greeks decorate trees or ships before Christmas and write letters to Santa. On Christmas day, they sing carols with friends and have a big family dinner with pork and sweets. This year, many people are struggling due to the economic crisis and unemployment. On New Year's Eve, Greeks sing carols, visit houses for money, and celebrate at midnight with fireworks. They also describe the tradition of Epiphany where a cross is thrown into water and whoever retrieves it is blessed. Finally, the document provides a recipe for Greek Christmas buns.

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4. Christmas in Greece are special. Some days before Christmas we
decorate a Christmas tree or a little ship with decorations. Then
we hang a stocking over the fireplace and we write a letter to
Santa Claus which says what present we want.
On Christmas day we wake up early and we sing carols with our
friends. In the afternoon we send the cards and make sweets. In
the evening we have a big family dinner and we eat pork with
celery, chicken soup and lot of sweets.
This year, because of the economical crisis we can't buy
expensive presents and some parents are unemployed. so many
people don't have even to eat. We hope the New Year will be
better for everyone.

5. On New Year's Eve we sing carols and we go to a lots of houses
and we take some pocket money from the people. We wait till
midnight for the New Year to come. We make a wish when the
New Year comes. We kiss each other wishing ''Happy New
Year''. Santa Claus brings presents to the nice kids. Before that
we invite our friends and our family waiting for the New Year
change. We make a countdown from 10 to 1.
When the New Year comes we light fireworks and we sing and
wish to our family and friends.
Unfortunately , this year is very difficult for people in Greece.
We live a serious economic crisis, a lot of people are
unemployed and cannot afford to buy expensive presents. But
we hope that better days will come.

6. We are going to present to you a Greek Christmas
recipe:''Kourambiedes''.
Ingrendients
500 gr. butter
12 cup of cognac
2 cups of sugar
a teaspoon of orange peel
1kg of flour
1 kg icing sugar
2 cups of white almonds
Preparation
First, we melt the butter and we add the sugar.
After that, we whip it in the mixer, we add the cognac, the
orange peel and then the flour. Finaly, we add the white
almonds.
We make small balls and put them in the oven. We bake for 30'
minutes in 230oC.
When they get cold we add icing sugar.
We hope you will like it!

7. The morning of the New Year's Eve all the
children wake up early and sing carols from
house to house and to stores. They give us
money for that. When we finish, at noon, we go
home and all the family eats together!
Some weeks earlier, we sent cards at the North
Pole. At New Year’s Eve night we stay awake
because we wait for the Santa to bring us the
presents we really want if we are good and
friendly kids! Then, we wait for the
''HAPPY NEW YEAR''

8. On the 6th January we celebrate Epiphany. It's a
religious celebration. We go to church early in
the morning and around 11 o'clock we go to a
river, lake or sea. The priest throws a cross into
the water and a lot of people dive and try to
catch it. Whoever catches it is lucky and
blessed. The water is very cold but there are
always people who dare to swim in the cold
water. We also sing Epiphany
carols.

9. 2 cup of butter
½ cup of sugar
1 cup mastic brandy
2 eggs yolks
little bit rosewater
4-5 tea cups sift flour
Ingrendients
2 vanillas
640 grams sugar mist
1 cup baking powder
Preparation
In a large bowl we whip butter till it gets white for 45 minutes.
We add sugar and the egg yolks and we continue whipping. Then,
we add mastic brand and the flour little by little and we stir. We
add baking powder and vanillas and we go on making a dough.
We take pieces and make small balls “Buns” in any shape we
want. We put them on a tray and we bake then, in a moderate
oven for 15-20 minutes.
Merry Christmas!!!

10. In Greece, we celebrate Christmas with a lot of
different ways. At the beginning of the
December, we decorate the house with our
family. We used to decorate a traditional ship
but now decorate the christmas tree. On
Christmas Eve we sing carols and we have a
feast with turkey. We see our friends and we
tell Christmas stories. We do reverse counting
before the new year comes!