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Celebrate the holidays via the World Wide Web
It may be the last month of the year, but December certainly is not the least eventful. Hanukkah, Ramadan, Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Eid al Fitr, St. Lucia Day, Christmas, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa and Omisoka are some of the many events and celebrations happening around the world during December. The Web is a great place to learn about these and other special holidays.
Education World http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson246.shtml provides a good introduction to different cultural events taking place during this time of year. Visit the site and explore the many customs and beliefs observed world-wide. Both children and adults will find this site full of fun activities, including ideas for holiday arts and crafts, and traditional recipes.
Discover the origins of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa at the History Channel's online exhibit at http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/holidays. Or brush up on your trivia skills and find out the answers to such questions as "Why do we have Christmas trees?" "How did Kwanzaa get started?"
Yahooligans!—Around the World:Holidays directory at http://www.yahooligans.com/Around_the_World/Holidays/ provides a list of holidays that fall around December, along with links to sites describing holiday origins and traditions. There also is a link to the World Fact Book, a great reference for learning further details about different countries.
For a unique collection of multimedia holiday celebrations, visit Holidays on the Net at http://www.holidays.net. The site also includes links to both educational and entertaining sites offering histories of traditions, recipes and songs.
Want a list of specific holidays, along with dates, celebrated world-wide? Use the World Public Holidays Database, available for free at http://www.tyzo.com/tools/holidays.html. More than 100 countries are covered.
And for those who cook or are adventurous in the food department, check out the Food Network at http://www.foodtv.com/. You can download recipes at no charge. Search under the holiday section, or simply choose from the 23,000 cross-cultural recipes available.
Don't forget to check out how various countries welcome the New Year at New Year's Around the World. http://k-6educators.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://web.buddyproject.org/web009/web009/.
And remember that December is the perfect time to share your own special holiday traditions with others.
—Stewart Brower and Laura Taddeo, University Libraries