- The OMILO Newsletter

Greek Language and Culture Courses www.omilo.com December 2013

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Dear OMILO friends,

We cannot believe 2013 nearly came to an end! Fortunately the last two weeks the temperatures dropped, so we realize from time to time we also need heating in Greece and get into the mood to bake Christmas cookies, decorate our houses, hear Christmas carols and enjoy warm drinks. For those wanting even more winter atmosphere, in Greece you can visit many mountain villages covered in snow or enjoy a beautiful ski-holiday. We thank you for all the cards, wishes, photos, gifts, calls, visits, smiles, emails, tweets and Facebook comments! It brings us in the right mood to end 2013 and start 2014 with full motivation and tons of energy! This Newsletter is dedicated to Christmas and New Year traditions!

Christmas traditions in Greece:

The month of December means Christmas. The decoration is a key element. All streets, squares and houses are full of lights. In Greece, we also decorate the Christmas tree. However, in case you see a boat instead of a tree, this is absolutely normal! According to the Greek tradition, mainly on islands we decorate boats instead of trees. The Christmas tree came later from Europe. This year also in Athens you see Christmas boats everywhere. It seems the longer the crisis lasts, the more people go back to their own traditions. If you are in Greece on December 24, do not be surprised if somebody rings the door bell, very early in the morning! On the 24/1 Greek children go around to sing for the birth of Christ , holding and playing the triangles! Open your door to hear the carols, because it is considered to be good luck for the house. Children say: Na ta poume? (=shall we sing?) and you answer: Na ta peite! (=Go ahead!). After their song, they expect some pocket money! We made a listening exercise for you, so you can learn the Christmas carol and sing along. Click on http://bit.ly/18S2anC and listen to the song. The same custom takes place on the morning of December 31st. This time a different carol for the New Year! Of course there are also different versions, depending on where you are in Greece. Greece is known for music and it never gets boring! For some other versions from Crete, Thrace, Ikaria or Dodecanese listen to the songs at : http://bit.ly/193a6Td

 - The OMILO Newsletter

Greek Language and Culture Courses Christmas food During the month of December, Greeks prepare (and eat!) many sweets! It's time to make or buy melomacarona (honey cookies), kourabiedes (=buns with powder sugar) and diples! If you are in Greece, you will definitely see lots of these delicious sweets in patisseries and in bakeries! Here a recipe and video of how to make Melomacarona yourself! Its simple, and you will learn some Greek by listening to the video! http://bit.ly/18tb3Jk The Christmas lunch also needs a long preparation. Certainly stuffed turkey is many times the main course, but the traditional food of the day is pork. On December 31 we also bake the Vasilopita. A sweet pie for Agio Vasili (= Greek Santa Claus), who comes on New Year to bring gifts. The Vasilopita contains a coin. The person who gets the piece with the coin receives good luck! You can find it in all bakeries and patisseries! Of course it is also easy to make yourself but we will give you the recipe another time! In Greece you can bake, eat and cut the Vasilopita till the end of January, so there is no hurry! www.omilo.com December 2013
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Gifts

Are you still looking for an original gift? An OMILO giftvoucher might be the ideal gift for all your friends that would like to explore Athens, learn to cook a Greek dish, learn more about the Greek culture during the Cultural week in Syros or .learn Greek! You still have friends, no matter which age, that only speak one language.OMILO can help them to cure their monolingualism ! http://bit.ly/17XyM1S

 - The OMILO Newsletter

Greek Language and Culture Courses Photo competition Apart from our best wishes for the Christmas days and the New Year, we would also like to remind you that the OMILO photocompetition is now online. We thank all the students that participated and have sent photos and we hope that many of you will participate in voting the BEST photograph! Just click on the link http://on.fb.me/1fAcIvW and like the photos you really like most. Those of you not having a Facebook account, no problem. You can see all the photos by clicking on the link, but you cannot like. If you also want to vote, just write us an email (info@omilo.com) mentioning the three photos (they are numbered) you like the most. We will then add those votes to the Album. The winners of the first and second price will be announced the first week of January. www.omilo.com December 2013
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We wish you a positive and happy end of the year and hope to see you or hear from you in 2014. Best regards from the OMILO-team: Dimitris, Maya, Konstantinos, Marina, Kostas, Terpsi, Christina

OMILO Greek Language and Culture in Greece

Pan. Tsaldari 13, 15122 Maroussi, Athens (GREECE) Tel. (00 30) 210-6122896 Fax. (00 30) 210-6122706 Email: info@omilo.com - URL: www.omilo.com FB: www.facebook.com/omilohellas - Twitter: www.twitter.com/omilohellas