Christmas Around the World

by DrFran Babcock

What’s better than Christmas decorations, holiday traditions, food, and freebies? Probably, you can add to this list, but this pretty much covers it for me. All you need is a few good friends or a will to explore to go explore Christmas Around the World (http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Irish%20Tropical%20Escapes/11/168/26 ).  This is such a good idea, because Second Life is the place where you can learn about people all over the world, and cultural diversity is celebrated and encouraged.

The best part about Christmas Around the World is that it’s not just a place to learn about how 30 other countries celebrate Christmas. It is also a place to see some of the best animated figures in Second Life, photo opportunity spots for your holiday snapshots, a place to shop for holiday items, a place to go ice skating, and a place to find some great freebies.

However, the real purpose of the sim is to give the visitor an idea of the variety of holiday celebrations. The different continents or areas are housed in charming cottages that encircle the ice skating rink. If you go inside any of these you can collect notecards with detailed explanations of the customs of different areas, and a whole collection of recipes from all over the world. There are houses for Africa, Europe, the United States, Slovakia, South America, and more. Chanukah customs and recipes are in the United States cottage. In addition there is a Santa’s Workshop, and the home of the sim owners to explore. The quality of the animated bots alone makes a visit worthwhile. Every direction in which I turned I thought: Oooh, what a great picture this would make. You will have no trouble finding a great place for a pose, if you send out Second Life Holiday cards,

Christmas Around the World is the work of Brendan Macarthur and Raegis Arrowmint, who open their home to you for this occasion, and with the help from many other people.

So, how is Christmas celebrated in Ethiopia? According to some of the information on the notecard I received at the African Cottage, Christmas is celebrated on January 7^th, and is called: Ye Ganna Bal (The Birth of Christ). Families go to church, play games, get practical gifts like clothing, and eat a stew called: Doro Wat and flatbreads. Another celebrations take place after this, on January 19^th, called Timkat, which involves a procession, drums, and honoring of the baptism of Christ.  My summary here is only a small portion of the information on the notecard.  Each notecard ends with more notecards filled with recipes from different cultures. For example, the Slovak notecard has a recipe for Deep-Fried Carp. Maybe not one I would try, but interesting anyway.

Don’t miss this great build, and chance to learn and play. Come to Christmas Around the World and get multi-cultural.

Veselé Vianoce, or Merry Christmas in Slovak!

NOTE: The white dress I am wearing in the photo (left) is available FREE on the Marketplace: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/2012-GIFT-MOTHER-CHRISTMAS-2012-CHRISTMAS-GIFT/4206698 .

DrFran Babcock